Every once in a while, the captain holds a cocktail party for the World Cruise folks, and tonight was another one. We’ve been to maybe four of these things, but they’re not normally our thing. Our captain from New York to Singapore was a very social, hilarious guy whose daily announcements (every day at noon we get our location, the sea conditions, and the weather) always included some interesting anecdote. For instance, for military memorial statues of men on horses, if the horse has two legs in the air, it means that the man died in battle. If the horse has one leg in the air, it means the man died of his injuries. And, according to the captain, if the horse has four legs in the air, it means the horse died.

Since Singapore, our captain has been much more introverted. His announcements are very dry and dull, although in person, he’s hilarious. At these cocktail parties, the captain normally gives a small speech of some kind. This time, though, the captain was spared the stress of having to speak to us by leaving that task up to…SIR BOB GELDOF!!!!! He was excited to be on the ship because apparently his father was a chef on the original Queen Mary – who knew!

For these cocktail parties, there’s a dress code. Normally, they’re formal dress affairs, so all the men are in black tie, and all the women except me are in evening gowns. I am also in black tie, but my tuxedo jacket is jaguar print. And, as happens every time I dress up, everyone makes a fuss.

This is still such a novel phenomenon to me. I’ve always had very particular tastes in clothes, and people have always commented that they like this or that outfit or article of clothing. But never before have I been showered with dozens of compliments in the space of just a few minutes.

Here’s what this tells me: it’s not that I wear great clothes – I’ve always worn great clothes. It’s that now that I’m thinner, people actually see me in the great clothes. It’s kind of heartbreaking.