a word to the wise

Do NOT go to Flour City.  We went last night, and in a word, AWFUL!  There was hardly anyone there, on a Saturday night, which right away gave me an uneasy feeling.  So what if they just opened at the beginning of May?  That's no reason for us to sit there a good 10 minutes after ordering our beer!  What was the server waiting for?  An engraved invitation? 
 
And the food...!  I ordered the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad.  The chicken wasn't grilled (it appeared to have been boiled - limp, tasteless, and room temp), nor was the salad "Caesar" (no fresh grated Parmesan, limp greens, and dressing that wasn't really Caesar).   Atleast the beer was semi-adequate.  I'll never go there again, and don't you, either!   
 
The only redeeming part of the evening was the company, and following things up with a pint of Guinness at Shamrock Jack's afterward.  We should have just gone there to eat.

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." Anais Nin

Perhaps I am spreading myself too thin. 
 
I keep two journals...one under my bed that has been the undoing of many relationships, and one I carry in my bag with me everywhere.   Lately I have been neglecting both, which loosely means, really, that I have been neglecting myself.  Again.  Or, still?  I write of what I think I know, but actually it is more of what I do not know.  I feel uninspired, stressed, used up.  I said I was going to do so much and have accomplished so little in the past four months.  Big plans deflate easily with muse and distraction.  How much of that is circumstance and how much is free will?
 
There were always in me, two women at least, one woman desperate and bewildered, who felt she was drowning and another who would leap into a scene, as upon a stage, conceal her true emotions because they were weaknesses, helplessness, despair, and present to the world only a smile, an eagerness, curiosity, enthusiasm, interest.  -Anais Nin

*yawns*

First, before I post, *EXPLETIVE DELETED*.
I had another post but it is now lost.  Balls.  Hopefully I can remember what it was I had written.....*thinks*
Nope. 
Anyway, the bulk of my time in the last week or so has been spent on wedding preparations.  I depart for Buffalo in exactly one week.  What I have been doing (mostly wedding-related):
 
1.  Picked up the bridesmaid dress and obsessed over the fact that it does not fit quite right.  Scrambling now to have alterations completed in time so that I will not be forced to skip down the aisle in merely my unmentionables and my ultra-cute, a-la-Audrey-Hepburn kitten heels.
 
2.  Driven all over town looking for an appropriate wedding gift.  Found one...custom...will be ready for pick up on Thursday. 
 
3.  Consumed copious amounts of beer that have resulted in the participation in some very interesting conversations, including the following:
  TJ:  (something about the matching orange, "crabby" pants we both happened to be wearing at the same time)
  Me:  Take my pants off! 
  (roaring fits of laughter)
     .....and 
  Brett:  I masturbate a lot...I wore out a porno DVD.
  Random Guy in Bar:  Which one?!?!?
 
4.  Experiencing mad food cravings, including ice cream, cheeseburgers, french fries, pizza with mushrooms (actually consumed), egg salad, corn on the cob, Caesar salad with grilled salmon, and lobster.  Ooh my stomach wants to be fed!!
 
5.  Racked my brain for wedding toast topics.  How does one adequately embarrass the bride and groom without pissing off their parents?  They all know where I live. 
 
So, if I'm getting this nervous already about a wedding which isn't even mine, I can't imagine how the Bride is feeling.  A week from tomorrow.....! 

drinking madness

A short account of the very liquid-y weekend, had by all...

Friday: Many, many pitchers at MacGregor's, Lenny Kravitz played on the jukebox just for me, some scheming that was not so obvious (or was it?!?! TJ?), LOUD exclamations about relations, Julia missing her fries with the salt shaker and hitting the plate several times in a row instead, finger-wagging, lots of ass-grabbing (friends' asses and strangers' asses), and all around way too much fun. See Ryan's post for full details.

TJ trying to defeat Amazon Woman at pool.

Sean and Beth

Saturday: Oooh, the Mad Tea Party was a great success!




the fabulous 'mad' favors


Julia: "OH! They look phallic!"

wandering aimlessly

I felt a little questionable last night, so we drove all over town looking for a relatively uncrowded bar. We found ourselves at O'Loughlin's around 9:30ish and discovered the Fast Ferry was about to come in and dock:


The Fast Ferry

The photos are slightly blurry due to the motion of the boat- that thing is faster than a minnow can swim a dipper. It pulled into the channel, whipped around, and docked in probably under 2 minutes, if that. It was pretty incredible to watch.



Afterwards, more wandering, and ending up at Dick & Mare's.

Note to self: Do NOT tell anyone else about how I hocked a major lung oyster on the car plastered with "W in '04" stickers, parked next to me at Kitchen's Etc.

playing catch up

4 July
Rain, rain, and more rain...got utterly drenched on the High Falls bridge while craning our necks to see the fireworks. Afterwards, we warmed ourselves at Bru with brew.

6 July
Anne and I spent most of the day running around, finalizing the preparations for the Mad Tea Party on Saturday. It was a day of aggravation, helplessness, and car rides from Spencerport to Henrietta, to Penfield, to Victor, and back to Spencerport. With only time for about 1 margarita in between. Oh balls. As if the day couldn't have been worse, on the way back to Spencerport so Anne could pick up her car, we got stuck in a major traffic jam:

Route 531, 5:15pm on Tuesday
We sat in the car, not moving, for almost an hour. Perfect.

7 July
The best day of the week so far was yesterday. Gretchen and I got in the car around 9:30am and headed toward Jamestown. We stopped in Westfield to have lunch at the Main Street Diner. Not realizing that we weren't yet in Mayville, we headed to the library. This proved to be quite fortuitous, because we collected so much information for our research on the towns of Ellington and Poland, that we didn't even find it necessary to go to Mayville. Once we figured out we weren't there yet.

We wrapped things up around 3-ish and headed to Jamestown for a short visit with Julia and Matt. This is why I love my best friend:
Julia - Hey! Want something to drink?
Me - Yeah, do you have any beer?
Julia - Um, we have Moosehead and Blue Light
Me - Can we go to the brewery?
Julia - Sure!

So, we got back in the car and drove to Southern Tier. For the second time in the last month. HOWEVER, I'm smoking mad because as soon as we pulled in the parking lot, they locked the goddamn doors! NO!!!!!!!!!!! Julia pulled incessantly on the door handles, in disbelief, but to no avail. So we went to Weggie's and got 2 12-packs instead.

We had pizza at Pace's, and Gretchen and I were on the road to come home by 8.

And, to top off the evening, I knocked a bottle of the Mild on to the floor once we got home. It smashed. Oh balls.

you know that apple green ice cream can melt in your hands

The other night I had my first Abbott's of the season. Even though I was kind of in an iffy mood that night, I was somewhat comforted by the familiarity of Beach Avenue.

The two months before and after I moved back to Rochester sucked all my energy out. My attitude needed a major adjustment - it took a while for me to stop looking at myself as a victim of circumstance.

you're just an empty cage, girl, if you kill the bird

I've danced with my demons, and now I'm laying them to rest.