I’m meeting with some people from the Green MBA program at New College on March 10th in Santa Rosa.After seeing a play called ‘Ballyhoo’ at Rebar, my friend Camille and I head to a restaurant named Toi (pronounced ‘toy’). The DJ in the lounge has just started, and most of the guys in the place look and dress like Matthew Perry’s character, Chandler Bing, from ‘Friends’. Two exceptionally-scantily-clad women dance together on the tiny dance floor, which leads me to believe they might have been hired to draw people in.
Outback Mountain Ramjam
From now on, it’s two drink maximum per evening. I so didn’t want to break my no-hangover vow this year. Last night I went out with my friend Jeannette, and a couple of her friends, for happy hour at a steakhouse. Not much for vegequarians.At least we left the steakhouse to sing karaoke at the Comet Tavern. I belted out “Black Betty” by Ramjam (where are they now? One-hit wonder.) I think the taps were unclean at the Comet. I only had two pints of Guinness.
Largest focus group, ever.
I don’t know why, but I watched the almost-final episode of Joe Millionaire. It’s amazing how vapid most of the contestants were. “Joe” chose the good all-American girl rather than the gold-digger.The protests have been all over the mainstream news. This is wonderful, although Bush has deemed them a “focus group”.
Sakani to ’em!
Sakani! What a fiery orator, and co-author of “Taking It Personally”. She reminds me of why I cherish the weekends at New College – lively discussions accentuated with a variety of fascinating speakers. Tonight I hung out with Laura and a gaggle of her friends at a bar in Noe Valley called the Dubliner, but the real fun was when we all went out to a bar in the Castro called Lucky 13 – it reminded me as a collage of several bars that exist in Seattle, like the Tractor Tavern, Molly Maguire’s, the Comet Tavern. I loved the vibe, and they had a great jukebox. If I take up drinking as a hobby again, that’s where I’d want to practice. And it’s right down the street from the Mint.
Going Coastal
Nicole, my partner in the cleanse, and I had “real” (and by real, I mean not) food for breakfast at the Ccoastal Kitchen. I had the goat cheese rhumba, with spinach and eggs and cilantro, and some tea. Not the healthiest breakfast, but a little gift to myself since I stuck religiously to the cleanse for two weeks.Diana and I were going to have dinner this weekend at Platanos in the Mission, but just found out that the chef there was killed a couple of blocks from there last night. I think that’d be kind of creepy to eat somewhere when the body’s not even cold yet.
Gerald Collier
I got to go out tonight. Gerald Collier — a former bartender at my old watering hole – played at Molly’s tonight. He has an alt-country sort of feel to his music, and probably the most pleasant voice I’ve ever heard. He’s one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met in this city, and has the sort of inner peace that attracts people to him. After trying out what a national scale feels like, he’s found happiness in a local existence, where his conversation and musical talents don’t need to be watered down via a media company.
The shuttle Columbia exploded on re-entry – Yow.
I’m on Day 10 of the cleanse. There was great temptation tonight, however, as Molly’s makes really good Irish food, and the smell of mashed potatoes and shepherd’s pie was permeating the establishment.
Day 6
Day 6 of cleanse… I’m not really even missing food or alcohol, but then I haven’t been putting myself in situations that require those things to be around. I saw “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”, the alleged autobiography of Chuck Barris, with Kimmay and Celeste. It was brilliant in the way that we have no way of knowing if his CIA story was true, through the way his tale is told. Anyway, they wanted to go out to eat after the movie, but I had to decline – I don’t want to go off this now.One of the side effects of a cleanse is also emotional release. I’m living past experiences in reverse, newest ones first – sort of like peeling back layers.
I watched the State of the Union address. Yow. Hydrogen funding for cars? Getting off foreign oil? Dubya was sounding like the Green Party a bit, but there’s no way he’ll fund these programs. He’s simply moving to the center (just talking about these ideas) to further co-opt the Democrats, and then will do nothing about it.
BWI without the WI
I bowled with my brother today. Without the influence of alcohol, I averaged in the 150s. I’m on to something here.
Zed and cabaret
I’ve discovered my new favorite show. It’s on CBC, and it’s called ‘Zed’. It showcases short independent films, and musicians, from mostly Canada, but including the US, UK and Australia. My Tivo taped it while I was gone, and I’m hooked. It’s on five nights a week, and positively the best television I’ve seen in awhile. I don’t know if PBS has an equivalent – I doubt it.
Tonight I had my last real dinner, and alcohol, for awhile, as I begin my cleanse tomorrow night. Thankfully, my Italian cabaret-chantreuse friend Julie is cooking at her place. She’s a true artist, and really believes in what she does – the pursuit of her craft is at the forefront of her existence. I’m fortunate to know her.
Excurscaladerer
On the Santa Monica freeway today heading out to SF, I witnessed an accident in the lane right to the left of me as I was passing them – a large sedan rear-ended a Ford Excursion, which in turn ran into one of those Ford Explorer or Cadillac Escalade combo pickup/SUVs. No one was hurt, but the vehicles each crunched a bit like tinfoil. A side of me was compelled to watch, and reminded me of the fragile and fleeting feeling of security, and the perpetuating SUV safety myth.