Perma-Vaca
If only I could stay in this state, permanently. I've had a gin-soaked and relaxation-full run since class let out on Friday afternoon. Despite the academic pace I hoped to keep up, I've enjoyed indulging in indulgence and kicking back at the start of this wonder of a week off.
Jeremy and Jody were in town apartment hunting and they found a place they love and can afford (it's so nice when those two things converge). Since I am on vacation, I was finally able to host them properly and show them a good time in town and introduce them to some of the "supposed friends," I've mentioned but could never produce before now. Friday afternoon brought cocktails at Paul's Club, followed up a satisfying late dinner at the Great Dane, and a nightcap at the local cigar bar. The one down side of said cigar bar on Friday nights is a Mr. Joe Scalissi (check out www.joescalissi.com, I dare you) - a lounge singer complete with the full Sinatra and Martin soundbook. His back up "band" is called the Dry Martinis and it is nothing more than a semi-professional grade karoke machine. His jokes are canned, the suits are shiny like sharkskin, his tan is fake, and he drives a white Buick with the license plate "Rat Pack." If only the choice was greater or I was willing to try bars further away from home then I might escape his many talents, but until that happens, I'll just have to watch middle-aged couple slow dance to "That's Amore," sip my wine, and bite my lip with contempt.
So Saturday... the day exhausted me, although I didn't do much physically except exercise my capitalist muscle. I took a much needed pilgrimage to Target and Woodman's, a giant Wisconsin grocery store that bears a haunting resemblance to a warehouse. It's not much in the way of aesthetics or a clean / pleasurable shopping experience - but they have everything under the sun, and they are cheap, cheap, cheap. And I was down to eating PB&J and eating the heels of bread, so I was ready to go for quantity instead of quality. Now I am fully stocked and ready for anything in the way of a natural diasaster or deep hunger pains. I may have gone a little nuts - you have no idea how far $150 goes at Woodman's - but at least I can add some variety into my dysfunctionally mundane diet.
Following this trek, we went over to Eric's where Jody and Jeremy made squash curry, we drank many bottles of wine, and played cards. It was an incredibly enjoyable evening and we all had fun. After the wine was gone, the smart thing would have been to stay in or go to bed. But, I was never one for smart choices. Instead, we went to Charlie's birthday at the Essen Haus, a German restaurant / bar near my apartment. It's hard to explain the Haus-scene, but I'll give it a try - first of all, this is a crowded bar. It is very big and yet teeming with people. There is a live polka band, the waiters and waitresses wear Leiderhosen, and it feels "authentic" in that Epcot Center kind of way. They sell these "boots of beer," it's a house special. It's probably the size of a pitcher, but it's a big glass boot. You order a few for the table and people just pass them around and swig liberally when presented with the opportunity. Because of gravity and physics, there is a right way to drink from this and a wrong way - the wrong way will leave you with a lapful of beer... but anyway, my entourage arrived late and handicapped by drunkenness. It was very loud and I think I must have screamed all night, straining to hear someone talk. I had fun, despite some continuing frustrations of a typical sort. A well-earned hangover this morning.
In the morning, armed with a full arsenal of groceries, I played the happy homemaker hostess. Eric joined us and I made pumpkin pancakes with carmelized bananas. It was a fun meal to make and I sent my guests away contentedly full. Since I wasn't capable of much after the recent string of corporal abuses, Eric and I went to the movies and saw two terrible, hangover films -
Starsky and Hutch (just terrible - my feeling is that the show itself was terrible and they were dipping from a pretty shallow pool to make this film) and then
Secret Window, a Steven King movie starring the ever talented Mr. Depp. This movie is conveniently predictable for a thriller, but Johnny Depp makes it worthwhile and watchable. He is a such a talented performer and he really pins down a quirky, slight-embittered, and demented best selling writer (rumor is that he bases this performance on Beach Boy Brian Wilson - not to be confused with the
other Bryan Wilson from Middlebury). My sense is that this movie is worth sitting through and sneaking into, but not really a stand alone $8 investment.
Tonight I am looking forward to the other perks of vacation - the sense of kicking back and taking it easy, do a little reading, maybe drink a little espresso, but I am ready to enjoy being a slave to my passions and not having to be anywhere for the next eight days.
posted by lmjasinski at 5:39 PM
