Steve Thornton, perhaps best known to readers of The Stranger as Fnarf, the pithy, prolific Slog commenter, who is also a blogger and the founder and longtime moderator of the Indiepop List, celebrated his 50th birthday two weekends ago at his house three blocks north of the zoo. He wore blue-striped seersucker ("Frowned upon after Labor Day but fuck it, I'm a rule breaker"). He danced between flipping beef patties on the grill. He proudly pointed out a painting in the living room of his extended family that his father, who'd worked for Boeing, commissioned; the artist painted aircraft portraits for promotional materials, had no skill whatsoever at painting people, and couldn't paint eyes, so everyone depicted appears squinting or blind ("It's my favorite painting"). He walked into the kitchen, where someone was explaining the incestuousness of this social circle—contributors to the Indiepop List, readers of the Indiepop List, members of bands written about by the Indiepop List (namely, Tullycraft), people who used to work at Kinko's with members of Tullycraft, people who work for the label (Magic Marker) that puts out Tullycraft's albums—he heard the word "incest" and said, "Incense?"

"Incest."

"Oh, incest," Steve replied. "A game the whole family can play."

Guests came from as far away as Germany, Portland, and West Seattle. One of them was a 3-week-old baby with one of those little old man faces—he looked decades older than the man of honor. The party concluded with covers by members of Tullycraft of songs Steve loves, including a gorgeous rendition of the Lucksmiths' "Smokers in Love," and a game of trivia about Steve. He used to work in the Harvard University Library system, although he doesn't have a college degree; his favorite writers are Vladimir Nabokov and Kingsley Amis; and the most quarters he's ever stuffed into his nose at once is 16. "They just go right in," he said, taking a quarter out of his pocket and slipping it effortlessly into a nostril. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

Want a random Stranger staffer to eat gallons of homemade guacamole at your next house party? Send details to partycrasher@thestranger.com.