Saturday, Part 1 (Delicious Fruit)

After getting up and heading to Best Buy to replace my camera, I hit Nini's for some of that drinking food and then race up to the city in time to go get my hand stamped. The destination is Mango, a day dance party that happens every last Saturday at a bar in the Mission called El Rio, and it gets so crowded by the middle of the afternoon that the process is to go when they open at 3 to get your hand stamped for easy re-entry past the line.

I meet up with McButter, Za, Xena, T, ACha and her girlfriend to head over around 4:30 or so. When we get there, there still isn't much of a line, and as we get inside I'm a little underwhelmed. There's just not that many people in the bar. We get our drinks and I follow T outside to find where the real party is. The bar opens up to a back patio type area that is huge. It's got a deck with a bar at the end, a huge open area for dancing, a stage/deck for more dancing and a little area in the back for what appears to be smoking. Now I see why the bar is virtually empty because the weather is fantastic and everyone is outside dancing.

Once there we run into Bini, Nah and Lei, Lina from the Carol and a blast from the past in Take. At this point, counting the one I had on the car ride up, I'm about 5 rokes in and starting to feel blurry. Za says we should go outside for a smoke, to which I wholeheartedly agree. While out there, I get embroiled in a phone conversation with my Grandpa, which I handle surprisingly well considering how faded I am. Now if only I could remember what date we agreed to have dinner.

When I get off the phone, I'm for some reason no longer at Mango, but Za and McButter have walked me, phone call and all down Mission to La Taq. It's right around 7:30-8 now, which means that the quesadilla I have is the perfect dinner interlude. I'm parked strategically back by Love Shack and after dinner, McButter and Za head home and I put on the headphones and go back to the car.

Once there, I change my shoes, shirt, put on a hat, roll up two more for the evening and brush my teeth while standing on the sidewalk. By the time I lock my car and head down the street to find Zeitgeist, I feel like a new man, and I'm ready to start the second part of my Saturday...Chaz's birthday.