Five years ago, as the New Year brought in a new decade, there was eager excitement for it to become a second Roaring Twenties. Instead, by St. Patrick’s day of 2020, forced Shutdowns created the worst period in American history, all but ruining life through to Cinco de Mayo of 2022, and still having some adverse effects reverberating down to the present. But if 2020 – 2021 were mid- apocalyptic, 2022 post-apocalyptic, and 2023 post post-apocalyptic, then 2024 was the year in which the Twenties began to roar like the lion of late March after a long, dark winter.

The year that was my 2024 was in many ways a continuation of the later half of 2023. The two most important developments of that year – joining the Young Republicans and becoming a dancer in the Quadrille Ball – both culminated in many amazing experiences. Between the New York City and Hudson County chapters of the Young Republicans, there were too many amazing parties to attend all of them, and those I did manage to make were all memorable (especially the ones I barely remember, such as the Fourth of July rooftop party). Tiki Tuesday, Make America Hot Again, Oktoberfest, the Vance/Walz debate, MAGAween, and the recent Christmas party at the country western speakeasy Under the Boot were all well worthwhile.

But the most memorable moments all occurred while watching the Trump/Biden debate with two hundred plus other conservatives. Our high hopes were immediately exceeded, and mere minutes into the stream we were looking at each other in shocked disbelief as the worst president in modern American history gave the worst debate performance in all of American history, losing all chance of reelection before the first commercial break. It was like watching the Death Star explode in slow motion – both a disaster that you can’t look away from out of moribund curiosity, but also a eucatastrophic cause for celebration at the prospect of restoring the Republic.

Would that I have made the election night watch parties! One of my many flaws is that I’m too diligent a worker, never calling off even when I ought to (such as the day in which this is being published, when I’ll be working a night shift on New Year’s Eve, sans even any bonus pay for missing the best holiday of the year). I’ll always regret not being out and about with my friends and fellow conservatives as the results ticked in and it became obvious that the Red Wave we were promised in ‘22 had hit like the Great Deluge of Noah’s day to wash away much of what’s been wrong these last ten years. It felt as though I was a knight of the Round Table managing the minutiae of feudal landholdings while the Grail Quest was complete, the Dolorous Wound and Wasteland suddenly healed, and far away in Camelot the celebrations all occurred without me.

As much excitement and enjoyment as Young Republicans provided, the Quadrille Ball and all of its adjacent activities were more engaging still. Despite my dance skills being on the low end even among white guys, I surprisingly was selected as one of the dancers. More surprising still, I managed not to embarrass myself, executing every step and move better than I ever managed during practice and rehearsal, even when the music mysteriously and suddenly stopped halfway through the fourth song.

Most surprising of all, out of the sixteen female dancers, I was unexpectedly paired with the perfect partner, who throughout the season I had best gotten along with, bonding over a shared interest in Tolkien, and who helped to make what was essentially my first prom well worth the twenty year wait between senior year of high school and the moment I finally had a boutonnière pinned onto my tuxedo.

Once the pressure of dancing was finally over, then Quadrille became all the more fun. The Ball moved from a stuffy black tie affair upstairs to a proper party downstairs, replete with Eyes Wide Shut masks, a quick change into my superhero alter ego The Cowboy, and an open bar with enough free libations to make even me think that I could dance. Despite having no plans for where to spend the evening, I awoke the next morning somewhere in Harlem, thankfully and conveniently already at the site of the next party – an after the Ball brunch celebrating the fact that we were now alumni of the Quadrille. Afterwards, I and two of the female Quadrille members continued drinking across the street, downing enough espresso martinis for the inevitable alcohol poisoning and caffeine poisoning to counteract and neutralize one another, finally ending the celebrations thirty-six hours after first arriving in the city the morning before.

Having successfully danced the Quadrille, I was invited to become a member of the Junior Committee. Wanting to be on its Events Committee (party planning long being a passion of mine), I took point as the creative force behind June’s JC Appreciation Party. I came up with its theme of “Mystery of the Murdered Music”, created the cocktail list, played bartender, and even wrote, directed, and performed in a one act murder mystery play. This earned me not only a coveted spot on the Events Committee, but its chairmanship, when the original chairwoman unfortunately left before the season properly started.

As chairman, I was responsible for assisting with several parties, including the Christmas party at the Liederkranz and a soirée at the German Consulate. But I truly had a chance to flex my creative muscles with the Halloween party. I chose the theme “Hollywood Halloween” due to the association of the holiday with horror movies. I selected the venue, decided on the decor, invented games, made prizes, and, per usual at my parties, created a custom cocktail list, including one which was made to glow under a black light. Given that I went into the chairmanship with no intentions of retaining the position next year, the Appreciation Party and Hollywood Halloween were my chances to make my mark on the Quadrille, and I’m incredibly proud of how both turned out.

The other major party I planned this year was all the way back in January, when I once again hosted my annual Mattmas party, replete with a game of my invention. Wanting an excuse to wear my Cowboy Ken costume, the theme was Ken & Barbie. The game, entitled Dudes & Dojos: Dinner Party at the Mojo Dojo Casa House, used D&D’s mechanics as its base, but began to be its own thing entirely. Unknown to the players, it was a murder mystery full of political intrigue, as the victims were the analogues of the 2024 presidential candidates, albeit if they lived in Barbieland.

Quadrille, even during the off season, still offered plenty to do. Having been to one Ball, I began to receive invitations to many others. I busted out my tuxedo and tails for one at Carpathia West, a gorgeous estate in the foothills on the border between New York and New Jersey. Thrown by the Pretender to the Crown of Albania, it sported delicious hors d’oeuvres, free flowing drink, and delightful socialites with whom to socialize. Still, it was a stuffy affair until Matthew made an inconspicuous exit and soon after arrived The Cowboy to save the party from fizzling out. But I didn’t just don the cowboy hat; after a few hours, I ditched the tuxedo and everything but my underwear, jumping in the hot tub and leading other partygoers to follow in my footsteps like the Pied Piper (if his musical talent was limited to country karaoke).

If the focus of this retrospective seems to be leaning heavily on the parties I attended in 2024, that’s because the year has essentially been one long party interrupted occasionally to go to work and earn the money necessary to pay for said partying. Before switching focus to what I did while at work, one more blowout bears mentioning, the longest one by far. In August, I accompanied Daria and her entire family on a week-long cruise to Bermuda for her little sister’s destination wedding. A full account of everything that happened there would merit a post as long as this one, but time does not permit such. Suffice to say I’m thankful for having been invited, glad to have finally gotten my passport, and now I know that, having experienced a cruise firsthand, it’s not something I’ll seek out again in the future. I’d much rather spend the same amount of money hopping all around a city with much more diverse offerings of what to eat and drink and do.

Work-wise, 2024 was not as productive as I had anticipated. I produced little on the book which I thought would be done by now, even after stepping away from In Deep Geek in order to focus on it. Nevertheless, when I gave presentation at NerdNite (a cross between a TED-talk and stand-up comedy), much of the research for my topic (“The Science Fiction of Middle-earth”) proved useful towards the latter chapters, and when the time comes to write them, much of the groundwork has been laid.

Another distraction has been my desire to do less in the way of research and more in terms of creative writing, particularly poetry. Though I’ve not written anything as substantial as my epic The History of the Decline and Fall of Faerieland, in addition to several shorter poems, I produced an approximately 250 line ballad in the meter and style of Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came. Titled Prince Charming: The Unauthorized Autobiography, it too deals with a knight on errantry, albeit instead of Charlemagne’s paladin Roland, it stars Prince Charming as he attempts to find love from various fairy-tale princesses. It is in many ways my definitive memoirs, musings, and personal philosophy when it comes to love, life, and relationships.

When the mood did not strike me for either poetry, prose, or party planning, I instead read, focusing this year on discovering authors new to me, especially among the classics of the science fiction and fantasy genres, such as Kenneth Graham’s The Wind in the Willows, Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn and The Road Home, and Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, and Starship Troopers, many of which became among my favorite works not written by Tolkien. Heinlein perhaps even rivals Asimov as my favorite science fiction writer.

Perhaps the most telling thing I can say about 2024 is that my resolutions for 2025 are for next year to be a continuation of this. I hope to stay involved in Quadrille and Young Republicans (and the Ball scene and conservative politics more broadly); I hope to finish several poems in progress, written entirely new ones, and make monthly progress on my book about Tolkien; and I hope that life continues to be an adventure, and that I as the protagonist of this very strange American fantasy story always continue to answer its call.