Wednesday, January 28, 2009

the days are much too bright


Busy weekend. I drove up to Independence on Friday to stay with Vince and Christi while I worked the weekend in Salem. I first stopped at the office to check out the new software I would be working with. Vince was a little late getting home from work because he picked up a Wii. We spent a quiet evening together after eating some yummy food from Yang's Teriyaki.

I worked a full day Saturday. My voice was still weak. I had been sick since the previous Wednesday. Luckily, I didn't have much of a cough. It helped to keep a bottle of water at my side in the exam room. After work, I met Michelle and her family in Woodburn for some food. It was neat to get to see them someplace different. I really enjoyed seeing the kids. They're fun. While Vince and I were working that day, Christi made it her job pick up some more Wii games and accessories. We spent a good part of that evening playing Guitar Hero World Tour and watching Powerpuff Girls. Christi just got The Powerpuff Girls: The Complete Series - 10th Anniversary Collection on DVD. I'm going to have to pick that up too. Around midnight, Vince invited me out to Lenora's Ghost. You might remember that I was disappointed with the bartender last time I went. This time was much better because college was in session. There were two much younger and able bartenders. Though, I still had to spell out exactly how to make my shot of tequila, which really shouldn't be that hard. Vince and I got a nice table by the front window. We talked some and watched the college kids enjoy themselves like only college kids can. I felt ok about going out for a drink that night because I didn't work until noon the next day.

After a solid half-day at work, I got some rest. Then I ate some stir-fry that Christi made. I mentioned Dante's and Sinferno the previous day to Vince. He's always eager to go out and I was surprised when he suggested that we make the trip to PDX so he could see what it's all about. I was really excited to go. I was actually surprised at how excited I was. It had been more than a month since my last visit.


After getting the ok from Christi (Sinferno isn't exactly children's entertainment), we gassed up and drove to PDX. The Slants opened for Sinferno. I had heard of them, but never seen them perform. I'm sorry I didn't check them out sooner. They're so rockin' that I have since snagged a copy of their album from eBay. Vince bought pizza and drinks.

There was only one fire act that night. Because the fire marshal doesn't want people approaching the stage during the fire entertainment, they sometimes send the dancers around the crowd with a tip jar. I was greeted with a hug and a smile from my fav gogo as she passed by. We talked for a few moments and Vince introduced himself. It makes me feel like home. One thing different is the air in Dante's. This was my first time there since the ban on smoking in bars.

Towards the end of the evening, I went up to the stage to tip my fav gogo a couple bucks. While I was standing up front, a cute (and obviously drunk) girl started grinding me from behind (I think). It was kind of a strange experience because my attention was on the stage at the time. At first I just figured that someone was being careless because there were a lot of people dancing at the time. It took a couple seconds to realize that she was dancing with me on purpose. Actually, it was more like dancing "to" me, because I wasn't reciprocating.

Vince + booze = courage. I took notice of a blonde girl sitting about 15 feet away. Vince and I sat at the bar. She was at a table. At the end of the show, she got up to leave and I let myself stand up also, trying my best to hold nothing back. I approached her and let her know I thought she was very pretty. She said thanks. I said you're welcome. I've never done that to a stranger before. Easy as pie, though, since I didn't mean to hit on her, just pay a compliment. I hope I made her day a little better.

We left Dante's at 2a and walked across the street to Voodoo Doughnut. Vince had never been there, though he has had their doughnuts before at work. We ordered a fritter, Old Dirty Bastard, Dirty Snowball, and Butter Fingering doughnuts. It was beyond bedtime when we got home around 3a, so we saved the doughnuts for breakfast the next day.

On Monday, I finally got a bit of a fever and chills. I thought I had escaped that part of being sick. Instead, it just came late. I played a little Guitar Hero. It was Vince's day off, so we drove to Keizer to check out some stores. We ate Subway for lunch. I spilled my water and it was then that I decided I wasn't well enough to drive back to the Burg. Vince treated me to a caramel macchiato before we returned to Independence. I was not hungry and really self-conscious about bringing my illness to Vince's house. I spent the first part of that evening in my room, skipping dinner and giving Vince and Christi some time to themselves. Later, Christi and I watched Cruel Intentions while Vince did some grocery shopping. He was kind enough to pick me up some ChapStick.

Vince worked from home Tuesday and I slept in. I got up and got myself packed, then Vince and I ate lunch at the Starduster Cafe by the Independence State Airport. You should see all the houses surrounding the airport. Large houses with attached airplane hangars. After lunch, I took off for the Burg.

It's too bad I'm not well this week. There are a few things going on in PDX that I would have liked to check out. I was going to meet photographer Sophie Brock for some drinks and chit-chat. Another Cynthia have a show tonight (Wednesday) at Someday Lounge. Tomorrow, Dirt Nasty is performing at Xotica Go-Go. I'm a little more disappointed than you might think because I've gone through a cycle of going>not going>going>not going. Oh well, I'm rescheduling my meeting w/ Sophie. Another Cynthia already expected me to be unavailable to help sell their merchandise. Missing Dirt Nasty is probably the most disappointing. I missed him when he performed last November (that was the night I saw Vic Chesnutt). Someday, I guess. Things are looking up anyhow.

2 comments:

JeannéJuliet said...

You had a very eventful weekend dear cousin.
I must say, your bold encounter with the woman in the bar reminds me of a chapter "You just ask them?" in a book called "Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!" Hella funny. In a nutshell, the book is a funny biography about a scientist who helped develop the atom bomb. In the particular chapter I pointed out, he was trying to figure out the art of how to get a woman in his bed (since he was a nerdy scientist who was a bit socially awkward). He goes through all the steps and figures out that all he has to do is ask. Hilarious yet interesting book. I recommend.

Of course I am not saying you should have bed her, or were thinking of it...nor am I saying you're socially awkward. The situation just reminded me of the book.

As for your previous comment, I don't hate you cousin. We all have our own views. Thank you for expressing yours.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like fun. It looks like you're doing pretty well for yourself. Congrats on the brave! You should do more of that, life's too short not to, heck who knows, maybe one of those girl's will turn to you and tell you you're handsome and ask for your phone number...