People come up to me all the time and say 'Oh I love to watch Food Network ' and I ask them what they cook and they say 'I don't really cook.' They're afraid they're intimidated they know all about food from eating out and watching TV but they don't know where to start in their own kitchen.
I would say stay the hell away from the party scene. Anything you put in front of your goal and especially something like that whether it's too much gambling too much food too much cold beers on the weekend – anything that you put in front of the prize is going to end up getting in the way and hurting you in the end.