In Which Our Ringmaster Imbibes

I walked down Walnut Street yesterday thinking I'd drop into a local watering hole for a little refreshment.

Just about 2 blocks from where I live is Cahootenanny's. Since they opened a few years ago, I've sort of avoided the place. No reason, the domed building was once a dive called the Dome, then a great italian restaurant, and then another italian restaurant/bar. The place was always small, crowded, and I spent too much of my misspent college years there.

Immediately, I ran in to a couple of friends and sat down to chat. At that point, who walks out from the kitchen? Jeff, owner of Mid City Grill. Suddenly, I notice the fliers all over the place!

Jeff has temporarily set up shop at Cahootenannys! They have a limited menu - just 5 items, but they're first class! Da Big Daddy, Tofu Burger, fries, and a couple other items all served with his incrdible garlic sauce!!

I ordered a tofu burger! I love the tofu burger. That's a significant statement because I generally can't stand tofu in anything but frozen desserts. He complained that he didn't have the right type of bun or avacado, but I asked him to please make me one! It was great, Smothered in garlic apricot sauce, I closed my eyes and missed the Mid City Grill.

According to him, he will be opening up the new shop in about a month on Market Street across the railroad tracks from the usual block of downtown. I think this is going to be great! I've always wanted a reason to hang out on the wrong side of the tracks!

Mid City Grill, disembodied, but STILL one of the very best restaurants in town!

It was a great night! I had started out at Poor Richards writing a scenario for the Marvel Universe RPG that I'm dying to play (no dice!) I asked the bartender what her personal best drink was. She wanted to make me a Grateful Dead, but they had no pineapple juice. She ended up making a drink with vodka, long island iced tea mix, and some sweet and sour mix. She said that it was supposed to have Grand Marinier on top. I tasted it and it was very sour, so I asked if she could drizzle in a shot of blue curaco. She did and for a moment, the blue and the red colors looked like the superman logo. It was a new drink, so, in my head, I called it superman. I must have missed something, though, I don't know what she put in to make it red. Just before I left, a good samaritan bought me a jager-bomb. Jagermeister and red bull...it was suprisingly VERY good.

After a while I moved on to The Casbah which was actually OPEN! They had the TURNTABLE PIMPZ, DJs that actually had a good mix and a decent flow. Nothing fancy, but they played nothing but good stuff. My buddy Marion was working the door, so I spent a while catching up with him. I just don't get out like I used to, I'm usually too broke. Shirak made me a drink with Grey Goose vodka and cranberry juice. It was very tasty! I don't usually care for either.

Moving down the street I go to Cahootenannys! I've avoided the place since it opened under it's current name. No rational reason, really. Hippie and the lovely Cathy were there. I hung out with them and their hilarious friends for the rest of the night. A tofu burger and a bit of beer later, I was on my way home.

I had left my dog Verbal alone in the apartment. I've been working with him for months a little at a time so I can leave him without worrying that he will start tearing stuff up. Well, last night the trust ended. He tore up my books, my electronics from work, my comic books were scattered everywhere. He chewed on my PDA, I still haven't found the leather case. He scattered an entire ream of paper and knocked dirty dishes into the floor. I'm still not brave enough to venture into the living room to start cleaning the damage up.

I was furious and he knew why. He ended up sleeping in his cage all night to avoid my wrath. Luckily, the electronics he scattered seem to have been merely scattered not chewed on or damaged. Likewise most of the books seem to have had the same rough treatment, but little chewing. I think my Politically Correct Bedtime Stories is a total loss. It could have been worse, he could have chewed on cables or really rippeed things apart rather than scattering them. I'm still pissed off at the dog, though.

Naturally, to add insult to injury, I had a cramp in my leg this morning. Walking is currently agony, so here I sit on my Linux laptop writing blog entries.

I hope your day goes well...anyhow, I had a great night last night!