-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fly Me to the MoonBar

I just did something that I never ever do. Lots of treats show up at the office, and I will never be the one to take the last donut or take more than one cookie or maneuver to get the perfect slice of cake. Typically, I'll take whatever's given to me and be happy with that. Yesterday, I attended Kiki's baby shower hosted by the Snow Princess. Because the Snow Princess and I work together, and there was a ton of leftover goodies, it was a safe bet that some of them would show up by the water cooler this morning. Sho'nuff! I was just in talking with the Snow Princess and saw her enjoying some cantaloupe and a slice of baby shower cake, so on my way back to my office, I cruised past the water cooler. Jackpot! The fruit tray was set out still laden with honeydew, antelope, pineapple and strawberries. Ladies and gentlemen, I took ALL of the cantaloupe and pineapple. There was only enough left to fill a small Styrofoam bowl, but rather than leave some for others, I took it all. It's so liberating, and tasty, too! I've justified my actions in a variety of ways while enjoying this fruit #1 - the company brings in fresh fruit, so there's plenty downstairs - granted it is apples, oranges, bananas and pears, but they can get fruit downstairs. #2 - I paid for the cake that is now sitting on the counter by the water cooler, so I transferred ownership of the cake to the fruit. #3 - I got there first. And so on and so on. So the question is - which is worse, that I took all of the good fruit, that I felt guilty about taking all of the good fruit, or that my lame justifications have made me not feel guilty about taking the fruit?  All I know is it is damn good!!!

My parents were in town this weekend, and we joined them, Paco, Jane and Holly in Lawrence on Friday to watch Elliot's play. Elliot did a fantastic job, so afterwards, we tried to go to dinner to celebrate. Only it was a Friday in Lawrence on Mass. St. The first place we tried greeted us with an hour wait. The second place was only a half an hour, but they'd just seated three softball teams and said the kitchen was running way behind. Finally, we ended up at Yello Sub where Holly passed out on a booth. By that time, it was after 10:00 pm, so I figured my younger brother, Chris, would be finally waking up. I called, and he and his friends were headed to a pool hall for the evening. The Boy and I went to the first location where he got carded hard core - like seriously, the lady would not believe that he was 28 or for that matter 21 and asked for multiple forms of I.D. Sadly, she had no problem believing I was 27 so I taunted her and laughed at her as she made The Boy provide credit cards, car insurance, etc. to prove he was who he said he was. All this to walk into a dingy pool hall, order a beer and then promptly receive a phone call from Chris informing us of a change of venue.

We drank down our beers and proceeded to a second pool hall called the MoonBar. This one was located right next to a motel and had a really odd smell. Lawrence recently passed a ban on smoking in all public places including bars and restaurants. The first place we had gone must've purchased a the bonus pack of "Like Licking a Ash Tray" scented air fresheners because it certainly had retained it's authentic smoky pool hall smell. The second place smelled of new carpet, T.S.P. and ginger. We enjoyed a second beer and conversation with my brother. The bar consisted of an open area with eight pool tables spaced evenly throughout, a bar area along the back of the building, and booths along one side. Surrounding the open area were multiple doors with inconsistent numbers on them. I asked Chris, and he said they just assumed it was leftover from when the bar was part of the motel, BUT.... When I went to buy a beer at the bar, I saw a sign. The SIGN. And then it all clicked. The man who checked my ID at the door was a hip young man of Asian decent.  All three bartenders were also Asian, and the sleek young man with the shirt unbuttoned just so who was to be the DJ for the evening was also Asian. Two guys in security t-shirts with the sleeves rolled to accentuate their bulging muscles? Asian. Every car in the parking lot save my parents GMC? Asian-made. The sign??? It read "A 10% surcharge will be added to all bar tabs for groups using the private Karaoke rooms."  OHMIGOD!!! I was inside the beast! A real karaoke bar! Chris said he didn't know that karaoke was the purpose of those rooms, but now I imagine he has a secret karaoke life. I've never been one to want to get up and perform karaoke in front of large groups of people, but in the intimate company of 10 of my closest and most drunk friends??? Oh hell yeah!!!

In other weekend news, it rained like mad all day Saturday and was unseasonably cold. Wait, that's an understatement - normal July temperatures hover in the high 90's to low 100's. At one point on Saturday, the temperature gauge read 59 degrees. The good news is that that cold front brought forth a beautiful Sunday and allowed me a chance to get out and weed my garden. I harvested my first crop which consisted of one habanera pepper, one smallish tomato and one strawberry which I subsequently squashed when trying to escape a spider who had built its web in my oregano. 

Parting Shot: One of the weekend projects was to add curtains to the front door and side lights that comprise the entry to my home. The purpose of this project was to keep thugs from peering in at my shit. The unintended consequence was that Eli can no longer pop his head up to notify me he's ready to come back in the house. Twice this weekend, he climbed the tree in front of my house and jumped onto the roof thereby needing to be let in via the second floor windows. Here he is, lording over the neighborhood.

10:02 a.m. - July 26, 2004

previous - next