All Sorts of Randomness (or my City Circuit)

Last night gets about as random as it can get. It starts with Beirut at 518 before the Giants game with Zena. Even though it's a preseason game, we're pretty excited, especially after a few games. We head over there in about the 4th inning, but not before leaving the apartment and running into a big group of guys hanging around outside the door on the street. I"m trying to protect us to move past them, and hear, "Is your name Adam? Is that you _____ (my last name, erased for protective purposes)?" I have no idea who this guy is, but he looks familiar, went to Crocker, and talks about blazing with me and Parker back at the old house.

"You still blaze man?" Look who you're asking! They hand me the blunt they're killing, and I watch in amusement as they all try to hit on Zena, even asking for a number to which she responds, "I'm a lesbian." They look at me like they don't believe this, but I tell them, that's the case. When they offer her the blunt, she declines, and one of them says, "doesn't like guys, doesn't like weed, I'm shit out of luck." Good observation buddy.

I've been told that her ex is at the game on a date, but we're not going to look for them. Of course, these are the first two people, avec the children, that we run into in the vastness of the ballpark. Of all the people and places in the stadium, we literally walk right into them on their date. Weird and random.

We stay through the end of the game, which ends 2-2 in the 9th. She goes home to "power nap" which turns into a passout session, I meet up with Mike, Julian and Sonya and get tricked into taking half shots of apple vodka. I think all is well and good until it's pointed out to me that it was actually apple rum. Not the same thing. By the time we get to City Tavern I'm well on my way to ridiculous behavior.

I step outside to smoke at this point and go for a walk. I've decided that the best course of action for me is to go to an atm, catch a cab and pass out at 518. I'm walking to the atm when I hear, "you need a cab?" Um...do you take card? He does, and I jump in. The cab ride sobers me a little, and I'm wondering why the hell I just left everyone at the bar to get in a cab by myself at 12, with no real place to go. We get to Van Ness and Pacific, and I say, "I have an odd request."

He looks in the back at me like I've just asked him for a backrub. "what do you want?"

"Well, I'm wondering if you might take me back to where you picked me up."

"You want to go back to where I got you?"

"Yea, I'm not sure why, but I want to go back."

He looks at me like I've fallen out of a tree, but he obliges and drops me back off there. My sobriety does not improve. At this point, Mike asks me to help out Julian by talking with him to these girls. I walk over, and this girl is both unattractive and completely trashed, falling around. I'm there two seconds and she starts flirting with me. I really just want her to take a nap on the bar. I don't want to be rude, but I don't want her to think in any way that I'm interested. I go back to Mike and ask him, "If we were walking on a bridge, would you throw me in front of a truck?"

Mike's confused. "No. Why?"

"then why would you do it in a bar?"

The night ends shortly after this, as I get in a cab and end up in the Panhandle. Not panhandling. Today, it's on to T's birthday in the Mission. Atta way!

Restaurant Review: First Crush

Went to First Crush last night, a place that specializes in California wines and cuisine.

The atmosphere of the restaurant was lovely...very quiet, intimate and dimly lit. The service was very nice, attentive, and allowed ample time for good conversation, without feeling ignored or bothered.

Had a cheese platter that was excellent...cheddar, bleu, sheeps and one other served with crackers, grapes and thin apple slices.

For my entree, had the ribeye and french fries. The fries were good, but the ribeye was poorly cooked (I said medium rare, it came out more medium well).

I would recommend this place as great for drinks, appetizers, the atmosphere and a quiet date, but there's better food around if you're looking for a good steak.

Books, Books and Books

I just discovered (thanks Emily!) a fantastic new site devoted to sharing books and reviews. You can find the link in my links section to the right there. I encourage you to join and share the lifeblood of true culture...books!

www.goodreads.com

Welcome Back, Long Islands!

That's right. Saturday night marked the triumphant return of the Long Island Iced Tea to my diet. For many a moon, the Long Island was my staple drink. Three in one night would set me up quite well for some mayhem. But then, upon going to City Tavern where one of the bartenders ridiculed me for ordering them, and my so called friends, if they can so be called, berated me for my drink of choice (like they're the ones that have to drink it!), I switched to the now usual Red Bull vodka.

Well, out on Saturday night for Christina's birthday at Andalu, and starting without any sort of pre-party, and not surrounded by anyone who thought it worthwhile to ridicule my drink choice, I went straight for the Island of Long. And boy, did it work.

The night started, as I just said, at Andalu where we were celebrating Christina's 22nd birthday. If you don't know who she is or what she looks like, see the charming picture of her in the "Happy Birthday Christina!" post. Andalu is a place I haven't been before, and still couldn't tell you what the food is like because I pulled my occasional drinking through dinner routine. But it's a tapas place with a cool vibe. The crew for the evening was T, Aliza, Wendy, Brigid, Molly and myself. Zena was supposed to come, but apparently blacked out before 8pm.

After that, we stopped at Casanova. But it was empty. We left immediately.

On to the Elbo room at that point. A red bull vodka there is the equivalent of a pint of beer in size. It nearly decapitates me. I step outside. Air is good. These are literally the clips of moments I remember. We get in a cab (which feels a bit rushed) and end up at Fluid. I find out later that this is the point where we lost T. Surprisingly, Mike and Julian are already in line with Sonya. They tell us good luck, because they've been told that they're going to be the last people in line let in.

At this point, Christina goes to the bouncer with the entirety of our group, as I hang back in line. She explains to them that it's her birthday, he cards us and lets us in (I've snuck back up to the front at this point).

First time in Fluid. Pretty cool looking bar inside, good energy in the music, and that's about it. Well, that's about what I can tell you. I'd say something about the crowd, but I've decided for the moment to pass on social commentary. I don't know why. I guess I don't have much good to say, other than surprisingly running into a guy that I knew from Green Cross and the excellent company and energy of the group.

Thankfully, I had Sunday off, relaxed and threw a frisbee around, had an excellent omelet for breakfast and watched basketball.

Can you smell the grass of the ballpark yet?

Yea, USC Lost. So What?

For those that know me well, they can tell you that I invest quite a bit of emotion and passion into the sports teams that I cheer for. This includes, but is not limited to: USC, Notre Dame, 49ers, Giants. Last night, the improbably run of USC came to an end against North Carolina. Truthfully, I was surprised that they made it that far...I thought Texas was sure to take them out.

Now, normally, this would send me into a funk for three days, with the only salvation in sight being the possible loss by UCLA to Kansas. But I couldn't get the smile off my face.....

The frosh/soph track team I coach won the Trojan Relay Invitational (no relation to USC). Not just won a few races, but won the entire Frosh/Soph Girls division. I can't ever remember being less upset about a team loss, and realized it was because all this time, I've been a spectator and a fan of other teams...this frosh/soph team is actually my team. Not a team I cheer for because of some city or school affiliation, but a team I'm helping to build.

Let me tell you how we did it. It was a mixture of depth, speed, and a few surprise performances.

My 4x1 mile team came through with a third place finish, with all four running under 6:30. My 4x800 team came in with all four running under 2:53 to win the race. Our hurdler completed an entire race three stepping for the first time. The jumpers and throwers stepped in with some crucial points in their events, and then, in one of the more excellent moments of the night, a Devil Takes the Hindmost Mile, my milers took 2nd and 3rd in the race.

It was done with over 15 PRs, and several more Season records. It was done with smiles, amazing performances, and energy.

Now who could care about 10 guys I've never met losing to North Carolina after a night like that?

That's euphoria.

Happy Birthday Christina!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen...the other half of the duo we know as Brigid and Christina (or is it Christina and Brigid?) celebrates her 22nd birthday today. She is no longer just lucky to be 21 when she gets stopped for looking like she's 17. She can no longer claim that she's a high schooler (not that she would want to), and she joins the ranks of people everywhere who are still 4 years from being able to drive a rental car.

You can see her here, in one of her happier moments as a 21 year old. May the coming year bring the lady some know as X the best of everything, or the worst, depending on what she's feeling like at the moment. Cheers to you!

Thoughts on Last Night's Madness

Anyone watch that Tennessee game last night? How do you blow a 20 point lead? How do you fail to hit your free throws, and then make the unforgivable mistake of not calling a time out when you get a rebound with 5 seconds left, down by 1? Bruce Pearl needs to be soaking his head in a tub of lye right now to get all that crap out of the middle of it.

UCLA won ugly. A Bruin friend of mine is trying to argue that they had the most dominating win yesterday. They certainly had the nicest point differential, but that hardly means anything when that differential is only 8 or 9, against a Pittsburgh team that couldn't hang onto the ball to save their life. When your starting point guard goes something like 3-11 and gets all his points at the free throw line, you could be heading for some serious trouble. Like Kansas.

Kansas had to face an experienced and determined team in S. Ill. The problem is, the longer that game goes on as close as it was, the less pressure S. Ill has and the more Kansas has. Yet they faced that, held on and won.

Memphis over Texas A&M? Who cares? No matter who the winner was, they only had a shot when OSU didn't come back from 20 down with Oden on the bench for most of the game to win. Neither team had a chance, and neither team has one now. Unless of course OSU wasted all of its energy and motivation trying to erase Tennessee's monster lead.

Tonight, I don't hold out much hope for my Trojans, but hey, this is Madness, right? Good luck to Butler tonight, they'll need it to not get waxed by Florida. 3/4 for me are still intact (Florida, Kansas, Georgetown), with my championship game still intact as well (Florida v. GT, Florida wins)...

Fight on Trojans.

Spring is Here. Baseball Rejoices

That's right people...as you can see from the Places I'll Be links...baseball season is upon us, my season tickets are in full force, and Opening Day is less than 2 weeks away. In preparation for this joyous event, enjoy a video of Bonds hitting a home run last season (career #723 to be exact), and a picture of the beautiful ballpark.

Should you want to go to games during the season, let me know!

An Obama ad bitten from a Futurama ad bitten from an Apple ad

The Hilary 1984 ad has been getting craaaazy press. I saw it and immediately recognized it from a Futurama episode called "Futurestock." I didn't know that they had taken it from an Apple ad actually aired in 1984. Here are all 3 in one convenient place for your convenience. Cheers.

Man Dances in Street. World Celebrates.

In preparation for the creation of my "Dancing in the Street" video soon to be posted on YouTube, I thought I'd brighten the day with some footage from Pier 39 I got a few weeks ago. This breakdancing crew totally tore it up. Here's one of them. You can see all the videos I got from that day on my YouTube site (link to the right).

St. Patrick's Day

When you’re not sure if you’re coming or going, how can you be either? This, my friends, is my thought of the day for you. I’m actually just stalling until I can remember what I did Friday night. Ah, yes…started at Morty and JK’s place to play some Wii…this video game system seems to be popping up everywhere lately…I don’t know that it’ll be too long before I have to get one of my own.

From there, we stopped at City Tavern for the first time in weeks, but our barman Chris wasn’t there, so it didn’t seem the same. I watch in horror as Julian, Mike and Morty have Patron shots. As in two each. I want to throw up just watching Mike trying not to throw up on the floor of the bar. From City, I hopped over to the Sunset where I met up with Charles, Bob, Ferrer, Derek and Jordan. At this point, seeing straight is not an option, they’re closing the bar and I pass out at Damie’s place so I can wake up at 8 the next morning to go to Kezar Stadium for a track meet.

Where my 2 miler PRs by 55 seconds. And my miler PRs by 9 seconds. It’s a good day out at the track when our Distance Medley squad takes second to Carlmont.

I run home, shower, and this all feels like the same day and routine of Friday night, except I head up to Mike and Julian’s place where I’m introduced to the drinking version of Liar’s Dice. After a few games, I manage to convince them to break out the Beirut, where Mike and I get beaten pretty badly. Then Sean and I get beaten. Then we leave.

This time, Chris is at City Tavern and we get some drinks. Julian mentions Merlin’s, to which I puke. The place is crowded as hell for St. Patrick’s Day, and I see an awesome shirt that reads “Fight me, I’m Scottish.” After chugging my red bull vodka in an attempt to get out of there, I smoke a joint on the sidewalk and start looking for a cab, which at that time of night, on St. Pat’s day in the Marina is not a very good endeavor. I finally spot one and watch as a girl runs across the street and jumps in. I’m feeling friendly, so I ask her if she’s going my way.

“Where’s that?”

“Where are you going?”

She tells me, and I tell her that it’s close enough to on my way, and there’s few enough cabs, that I’ll take my chances and split the cab with her. Instead, she pays the entire fare to her place, tips the cabbie and has him restart the meter. I don’t know if this helped me or not, mainly because I don’t know where she was in relation to where I was going.

Cabbie takes me to 8th and Folsom for the Cat Club, and it’s definitely one of the better nights I’ve been there. In fact, hilarity ensues on multiple levels. Carolina’s working the door and is shocked to see me out, though Aliza explains to her that this isn’t really a new thing. Joanna, Aliza, T, Zena and Jackie are all out en masse. As I walk towards Zena, she stares at me like I just fell out of the sky before going, “Oh my gosh, is that you!?” Apparently, taken out of context, I can look like a very different fellow and she didn’t recognize me.

I step to the bar and ask if they take card. They do, but their machine is broken. He points me towards their ATM machine, which is also out of order. I’m 2 dollars short of a red bull vodka and the guy next to me at the bar gives me the two. “I’ve been there” he tells me. I tell him I have often relied on the kindness of strangers. This isn’t really true at all, but it feels to me like it fits the situation and I enjoy the way it sounds…I heard someone say it once…think it was Blanche in Streetcar.

I’m trying to chat with Zena about a variety of topics, but keep getting interrupted by every girl in the bar coming up to her with mention of her being single. I feel like I’ve mistakenly sat down next to a movie star and have to wait while she signs glossy 8x10s of herself with the quote, “Single again, Love Z”

Joanna’s faded and tells me that we should consider making out later in the evening. Her exact words are, “why don’t I drink this, and you drink that, and we’ll see what happens.” This leaves me, literally, speechless. I have no idea what to say to that. I think I come back with, “that’s very flattering!”

Jackie gets me out on the dance floor, which is trouble no matter how you spell it. And let me tell you…that girl can cut rugs! In fact, for a moment, I feel like I’ve walked into a funhouse and am watching myself dance in the mirror, but all my clothes are different. And I’m wearing glasses. And I’m a girl. It’s confusing, then I realize that we just dance very similarly. Being this part of the night though, it takes me a good 3 minutes to piece this all together.

All of this goes on as Aliza is talking to the Jolly Green Giant. Now, this nickname used to be reserved for Courtney Greene from middle school, but this girl Jen gets it now. I walk up to the bar and see Jen. I’m about eye level with her neck. Then I look closer and realize that she’s leaning against the bar. She’s not even standing up straight! This girl HAS to be at least 6’2”…I feel generally short as it is, and this girl straight makes me feel like a dwarf.

Aliza asks my second opinion, and I tell her if she’s got the chance, she better take her home. It’s close to closing time, and we step outside, where I see my old friend Patrick. For those of you that don’t know, Patrick is the owner of the building that Cat Club is in, and I had the pleasure of meeting him several weeks ago (see previous blog, “ Cell Phone Stupidity”). I chat it up with him…not sure if he remembers where he knows me from, but he certainly smiles and pretends that he does, which in and of itself works for me.

Aliza and Jen have disappeared. I somehow (I think it’s with T), make it back to their place. But not before buying kit kat bars at their 7-11. I swear, nothing is cooler than having a 7-11 two doors down from you. I think I’m going to petition the church across the street from my apartment to give up some of their property for a 7-11 and the overall betterment of society.

I wake up this morning on their family room floor, nicely bundled in a blanket and sleeping bag, not too terribly hung over. Somewhere in the background, I can hear Aliza walking Jen to the door.

A List of Movies, by month.

Friday, March 16, 2007

a List of Movies, by month. Current mood: cinephilic Since November, I've been keeping track of the movies I watch. I'll post at the end of each month with the current list. For now, here's since the beginning. November (8): 6: Borat 14: Walk the Line 15: Brick, The Sea Inside 20: Casino Royale, Favela Rising 23: Home for the Holidays 26: Down to the Bone December (11): 1: Happy Feet 5: District B-13 6: Color of Money 9: Apocalypto, Edward Scissorhands 13: The Proposition 15: Hard Candy 28: Clerks 30: Clerks 2, Baraka, Silence of the Lambs January (11): 5: Manito 8: Thank You For Smoking 9: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 13: The Conversation 21: Flight Plan 22: Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 24: Pusher 27: Talladega Nights, Children of Men 30: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, All About My Mother February (7): 3: Accepted 6: Hustle and Flow 15: Slam 19: Ferris Bueller's Day Off 26: End of Suburbia 27: Reno 911: the Movie 28: Munich

Trippin' Politicians (old)

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Trippin Politicians (old) Current mood: okay September 23, 2005....little weird reprinting it here two years later to see that most of it is still much too relevant. Politicians trippin while dippin their feet in baths, Made of the oil and blood spilled and soaked up in rags In Iraq, while the homeless in our country moan and scream, It mocks the freedom and idea that makes the American dream, its obscene, To watch relief in days make its way around the world for tsunami relief as New Orleans swirls with no peace. And for what, to fuel our ever growing constant patriotism, while the senate's got our vision locked up in a prism? You can't listen or open up your ears to the fears they preach, Democracy in the Middle East is always just out of reach, We're no closer to world peace then when we killed Hitler's beast Watching silently from afar as the entire army feasts close your eyes humming happily while driving gas guzzling cars And don't forget the muzzles on al qaeda's guns are all ours, Supplied years ago by Reagan who didn't see in Osama a star It's not far From being ended, listen and you can sense it And now, well now it might just be too late, We could maybe walk and chew gum for a while but now we're caught spinning plates It just has to bring a smile as we write our own fate in the blank slate of the sands abroad Because we all know the Bible, but no one's read the Koran And we trod Overseas to bring our version of freedom, Bring to their knees insurgencies that we nurtured and feeded, make them bow to democracy recite the Pledge of Allegiance Maybe when we're done with Iraqi's we'll go take out the Koreans But liberty and justice for all is a hoax, Spewed by the common denominator of republican folks, Getting confused that the church and state are supposed to be different, How long before the whole Muslim faith gets on their hit list? Freedom for all is more like just freedom for some, How can we bring it to foreign countries when our own gays can't have none? Either homosexuality's a choice, or it's something innate, Either way there's supposed to be separation between church and state. Then all of a sudden the separation quickly blurs, as gays get banned from marriage, military and constantly slurred Then law makers feel justified bringing the Bible to the table And they limit the scope of others' freedom because God's in their stable. So now the founding fathers' first idea is gone, we still think that salvation came with the topple of Saddam So long, to the government talking out of both sides of their mouth, Breaking covenants A big joke while the whole damn economy goes down, their pay never goes south, in fact they vote yearly for a raise, to reflect the rising cost of living for which the taxpayer pays Senators making 150,000 a year Does it make sense? Or is anyone else feeling the fear of skyrocketing debt? when CNN brings top stories, and surely they will, when will the people decide enough blood has been spilled? My guess is maybe in a few short years, When threat levels, dead bodies and death induced tears People finally stand up and end those bastards careers. And for now, well it might just be too late, Cause there's only so long that Mr. Bush can spin plates.

The First Post

So here it is. After looking at the 518 blogspot while simultaneously laughing and crying, I decided to create my own, rival blog. I laughed because it's hilarious and a fantastic idea. I cry because I can't handle 10 hours of YouTube video hand selected by Julian.

As I already blogged on myspace, I'll be re-posting them here for the amusement and archival purposes of all. This will ensure maximum coverage as well as creating for me a back-up in case myspace gets destroyed or something like that.

A Busted Camera and Other Nonsense

Monday, March 05, 2007

A Busted Camera and Other Nonsense (Fri & Sat) Current mood: cheerful The relocation of my pre-partying this weekend led to an interesting set of evenings. Friday night, it all started at Vincent Chang's place…an apartment on the 37th floor of a downtown apartment building. These views were incredible, and basically felt like you were penthouse status. It was some usual Crystal cats…Charles, Alan, Vincent, Phil, Matt Goldstein, Anjali, Mona…we partied and I got my first chance to play Wii…trying Tennis, Baseball and Bowling. Pretty damn fun stuff out there for anyone that hasn't tried it! Let me just say that it's hard for me to get in the drinking mood without an hour or two of pre-drinking or Beirut. We left from there and I jumped over to meet up with T and Aliza in the Castro. I had trouble getting a cab, which meant another marathon walk from 3rd and Market to about 10th. I jumped a cab the rest of the way, and then got severely confused by the text messages saying, "come to the bar." I'm like, there's thirty bars around here! "No, the bar!" Finally, I realize she means The Bar, and I walk into a trendy gay bar with a smattering of women…mostly Aliza and her friends. The place is cool enough, but T, Zena and some others are heading over to meet up with Christina. As of 6pm on Friday, she was not very happy with me at all, so going there didn't seem like the best idea. Aliza and I hang around, kill another drink and then head out to the corner. I bring out a joint, but I'm not ready for it. The speed with which I finished my last red bull vodka combines with the pot and I feel like I want to unload everything in my stomach out onto the street. Meanwhile, as I fight nausea, Aliza is touting the benefits of going to the Marina and meeting up with the rest of them. I tell her that she's only making me want to throw up more with those kinds of ideas. I settle my stomach and put what's left of my game face back on. I tell Aliza to lead us to a bar, to which she responds, in her own neighborhood, that she doesn't know any good places. She tries to take me into this place called "Boy Bar," but I explain very nicely to her that as a straight guy and a lesbian, we should probably be exploring our options in a bar with more actual women of either orientation. We stagger down Market and I suggest the Mint. She doesn't want to do that. I suggest another bar, that one sucks. Then she tells me, "dude, no good bars are going to be open." "Aliza! It's Friday night at 12:15. If we can't find another bar to get a drink in, you're fucking fired!" She takes me to Lucky 13, which is basically a biker/punk/goth type crowd on Market. It's cool enough and we have another drink before Aliza starts looking sloppy enough to take home. We walk back to her place, relax on her couch and smoke another joint. She's convinced that there's three of us in the room, asking me about Renee, their roommate. I explain to her that Renee is most likely in bed and that there's only the two of us in the room. She asks who the third person is before realizing that this is just her seeing double of me. She excuses herself and I get to listen as she throws up in the bathroom. She then politely tells me that she's heading to bed. I walk out of her house and immediately think that buying a 22 of Mickey's for my cab ride is a fantastic idea. The cab driver looks at me sideways, but I keep the can down so he can't say anything. By the time I show up at Swig, the momentum that I lost listening to Aliza vomit has been regained through the power of Mickey's. Swig is just how I remembered it, and it's already late. I get one glass of water in there by the time last call hits, and I jump back in a cab to go home. This is where my night turns to shit. I get out of the cab at the Caltrain station and think that hell, this is the perfect time for some dancing in the street videos. I take two good ones. I'm on my third, and as I head back to the camera, I make the exuberant mistake of scooping, rather than picking it up off the ground, and watch in horrified slow motion as it somersaults, bounces off the palm of my hand, and lands lens down on the sidewalk. I almost get mad, then realize I could have prevented it. I almost cry, then realize that it's a spilled camera, so no use in that. I look at it very disappointedly, like somehow shame on you camera, get in my car and drive home. Saturday night I head up to the city with the idea of hanging out with Brigid for her birthday. I mean, c'mon people, this is Brigid we're talking about here! I start in the Sunset at a place called Ireland 32 with Damie. They're there to hear a friend of theirs play drums for the band on their cd release party. We're there for a bit when Aliza and her crew of basketball coaches make it over from 6th and Clement to meet me. Solid crew, those people. They want pizza, they get pizza. At this point, it's almost midnight (yea, I got started real real late Saturday, mostly, I think, from being exhausted from the ultimate frisbee tournament I played that day, which I then followed up with 3 taco supremes, 2 gorditas and a chalupa from Taco Bell). You can call me a chalupa! Aliza, again, is agitating to go to the Marina, which is odd because she wanted to go there Friday night, and here she is again going after it. The difference is that tonight, we have a crew to meet there…Cella, maybe Julian and some others for Nicky Gillette's birthday party. We walk into Mauna Loa, and the excitement that was moving Aliza towards the marina fades when she enters and sees what she will only refer to as "straight white America." She begins to get agitated. I explain to her that A) she had wanted to go to the marina, what did she expect? B) we're only there to meet some people, and C) I happen to be straight and white, so she should stop trying to stereotype it all. All of a sudden, I'm seeing shades of Aliza wanting to fight. Talking loudly about the people she doesn't like in the bar, getting aggressive when someone bumps into her, and yelling at some poor girl playing the arcade basketball machine…the girl misses a few shots and Aliza "Michael Jordan" Parpia yells out, "What the hell are you doing?!" I take her away from the game and back towards the bar. Mike and Julian never show up. I don't know what their story is. We head outside, and Joanna, our companion on this little adventure into straight white America, is confused as to why I'm not taking a cab with them. I explain the triangle that is the city to her, and how her destination and mine are on different ends of that. She gets it, hops in the cab with Aliza, and they're gone. I stagger up to Bar None where I had seen JK walking to while we were outside Mauna Loa. We hang out for a bit, and then he heads home, I head up the street, walk around the corner, sit down and smoke until the infamous Maurod the Cabbie shows up to drive me back to Damie's, where much to Derek's dismay, I smoke him out at 3:30 am before passing out. Another successful night in the city. Stay tuned.