FlyBy donned our Sunday best every day last week while heading to each house's spring formal. Our guide to the balls being inadequate, a more thorough investigation was necessary. Below: Kirkland, Eliot and Lowell.

Kirkland:

When the uninitiated hear the words “Kirkland” and “Formal” in the same sentence, they usually raise their eyebrows in feigned comprehension and manufactured skepticism and say something like, “Oh, Kirkland has that incest thing, right?” It’s a classic case of fearing what one does not understand, a defense mechanism against that troubling desire to be rid of one’s society-imposed reservations and find out what goes on in that darkened JCR every December.

Fortunately, for the curious, Kirkland does provide one opportunity for outsiders to get a glimpse of the House at its most uninhibited with its Spring Formal. FlyBy was in attendance, and in the end we came to the conclusion that while Kirkland’s spring gala is not quite the family affair that its winter cousin is, Kirklanders will be Kirklanders and lit was as good of a time to see some Kirkland-on-Kirkland love as any. Check out FlyBy’s “live” blog of the formal after the jump.

9:05 – Officially, the Kirkland Spring Formal started at nine with hors d’oeuvres in the dining hall, but with the average Harvard student’s biological drinking clock just starting to tick, FlyBy sees a full table of food and just a handful of people when he peeks through the d-hall window on his way to Doma.

9:34 – Pregames are going full-swing by this point—with a seniors-only event going on somewhere in the house—and FlyBy’s room is no different. While FlyBy generally sticks to the finest that Mr. Rubinoff has to offer, we've decided to class it up even more this time around, splurging on some premium bubbly (re: Andre). Ok fine, there’s Rubinoff too. But you know how it goes: start wit’ straight shots, and then pop bottles.

9:56 – FlyBy starts getting the drunk munchies early, so we slips down to the dining hall to get some grub. HUDS has laid out an impressive spread, with all the necessary standards—cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, cocktail shrimp—along with some awesome chicken puffs and crab things. Tragically, all the pigs in a blanket are gone by the time FlyBy showed up.

10:21 – Dancing technically started at ten, but people are still milling around the dining hall chatting it up and taking advantage of the open bar. All you need to drink is a friend or two over 21 or the balls to tug on some random senior’s sleeve till he or she finally relents and goes to the bar for you. Spreading love (and drink) that's the Kirkland way.

11:13 – The HoCo hired Downtown Fever to play in the tent set up with a dance floor in the courtyard. The Top-40 cover band has an interesting style, putting a twist on your run of the mill radio hits with guitar riffs and blaring horns.

12ish – You can take the Incest Fest out of the Kirklander, but you can’t take the Kirklander out of the Incest Fest. Trust me, that makes a lot of sense to FlyBy right now. Anyway, the open bar is doing its work as people are making out and becoming more liberal with their dance moves.

Somewhere between 12 and 2 – Kirkland House Drama means more than just the unapologetic vulgarization of Shakespeare and Neil Simon plays. Harvard formals are sort of like proms, and just like in high school, sometimes tempers flare and feelings get hurt. Says one Kirklander and prominent member of The Crimson: “I’m too hammered and dateless for this.”

Around 2 – Downtown Fever plays Flo Rida’s “Right Round.” The song is appropriate. Most heads in the room are likely spinning at this point, FlyBy’s included.

2 – The dancing wraps up and people wander around the courtyard. Some head to quarters unknown, date in tow. Some linger, hoping to find something (or someone) to do. Some hear about champagne in the Adams courtyard and rush off, heels clicking away into the night.

Eliot: