Hot Fun in the Summertime

This is supposed to say "best friends". Apparently, they couldn't get all their feet in the frame.

Kids, I am exhausted. I've gotten so much done the last couple of days and I've been running at least six miles every day, that I'm wearing myself down a little. That's okay. I'll take it. I know better than to look a gift week in the mouth. I've had tons of time to hang out with my girls, I got new tires and my car realigned, I got new running shoes, I got the battery on my phone replaced (for free, I might add) and tomorrow I'm going to try and clean the hell out of my house. Whew. See what I mean?

Stinky and her friends took these funky shots the other day. They also drew all over the driveway in sidewalk chalk. My girls will probably never grow up either. Awesome.

This weekend though? This weekend is mommy's fun time. We were supposed to go to Elkader for canoing and camping for my girl crushes bachelorette party, but I think we all know what a bad idea that would be right now. So, instead, we're going to meet at a friend's house for Summer hijinks. We'll have a kiddie pool and Slip and Slide and Twister and I'm sure, tons of food and drink. We may end up downtown for a bit in the evening, but then we'll go back for a fire and camping in our friend's backyard. Seriously, how much fun will all that be? Tons. I know.

Here is Stinky in mid-cartwheel.

Now. All you all's job is to help me with the iPod playlist. What are your favorite dance songs/ Summer fun songs. I'm looking for happy, cheesy, faster songs that we can dance around like total idiots to. Got it? Please feel free to be as shameless as possible. You know I always am.

Everyone is Helpful, Everyone is Kind

Well, I didn't have my camera on me this morning when I went to relocate sandbags, but I did use my phone. The quality definitely suffers, but at least I was able to document the clean-up a little bit. This first pic is of the railroad bridge between EPB and the main library, for any of you Iowa Citians or ex-pats. You can see the water reaches right up to it. It has gone down some, so I don't know how high it actually got.

This is partly how we moved sandbags. We formed what we used to call a bucking line when I was in the California Conservation Corps. and used to buck wood from a crib to a bonfire. We then deposited the bags into a loader, which in turn dumped them into trucks that took them to flooded areas South of here.

It was great how much help we had. I know some of the athletes at our school have had their run-ins with the law, but today there were plenty of football and basketball players to make up for those other assholes.

This is a photo of the passing line. These bags of sand came out of the engineering building and were not only heavy with sand, they were also wet, so they were gross too. They left weird brown patches on our forearms and Coadster joked that we all looked like people who didn't know how to apply our quick tan lotion correctly.

There were also some who joked about how there really wasn't any flooding South of us and that this was all a ploy by the University to get people to remove all the sandbags for free. I'm sure CNN and all the other news websites were in cahoots using old pics from other floods, right?

The one thing I love about these kinds of experiences, is how they bring people from all different backgrounds together. So that the Middle Eastern engineering professor is cracking jokes with my high school aged daughter who is warning a college student wrestler from Las Vegas how heavy the next bag is. I just hope all this work actually does some good.

Ice Age Heat Wave, Can't Complain

Here is a picture of my reflection in the windows on the backside of Halsey Gym.

So, this will be another one of those quickie posts. I think my natural disaster hangover is finally lifting. I slept way to much the last two days, but I'm going to try to change that starting tomorrow. I am finally old enough to realize that being in denial about negative emotions I have will only come back ten fold and bite me in the ass later. So now I try and let myself feel that shit, until I'm back up and laughing and otherwise acting like a total dork ass. Coadster and I also went to a movie, because as I've said a million times, escapism is one of my favorite coping mechanisms. We saw the M. Knight Shamalamalama movie, The Happening. All I'll say about it, is that the premise was way more interesting than the actual movie.

Tomorrow I have to get up early. I think Coadster and I will try to go down and help load our unused sandbags onto trucks so they can take them to communities down river who are now eating the same shit sandwich we were just served up for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the last couple of weeks. I hope it helps them.

Okay, that's all for now, kiddies. We'll see how sore I get from lifting sandbags and if I'm able to type tomorrow night. Have I admitted to you that I have no upper body strength before?

Everything Will be All Right, Tonight

Here is a bench next to a tree and behind some flood water.

First of all, I need to name the next Saturday Scavenger Hunt word maker upper. I think I'll choose Laura B. at My Boring Life blog. 'Kay?

Next, I think I should warn you that I'm in kind of a weird space. Things have been so bizarre the last week, that it's hard to process. Our town feels like a ghost town too. On Friday there was this mass exodus out of town on Governor Street and now it's quieter than I've ever seen it. You can even find a parking space downtown. No, really. I'm not kidding.

Another thing that feels odd, is the fact that the University shut down for a week. It rarely ever closes. I think before this year, it may have closed for bad weather once in like twenty years. When people call us during an ice or snow storm to see if we're holding classes, the guy who works behind me always tells them that we would only close at the threat of nuclear war. Now, we have a paid week off and it feels surreal.

Of course, it's wonderful that the waters are receding and we're not the first article on every news website anymore. At this point, I'm not so worried about the creek overflowing its banks either. It's not supposed to rain until Friday and the weather pattern we have right now is for non-humid temps in the seventies and eighties - in other words, perfect. The thing I didn't count on, is how kind of lost I feel after waiting for a worst case scenario that never happened.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's just that I'm used to the worst case scenario. I expect it. In my world, when my daughter gets sick, she has meningitis, when I take a quaint Sunday buggy ride, there is a horrible accident and my baby ends up in a cast, if there is a nasty storm, it turns into a tornado and takes the roof off of my house. This whole pretty good case scenario is uncharted territory for me. I find myself waiting for the next shoe to drop. What am I going to do with my gallons and gallons of bottled water? What will it be like to go to a grocery store that's actually stocked with food? Incidentally, did you know that peanut butter is the first thing to sell out when there's a flood? I didn't. It makes sense because you don't have to refrigerate or cook it, but it was still news to me. What is the etiquette when there's no need for them, after calling all your friends with trucks and asking them to be on stand-by in case you have to evacuate? Do I call them back and give them the all-clear?

Anyway, today was just a strange day for me. The town felt lonely and quiet...Too quiet. I kept waiting for the Indian warriors to come riding over the plains, ready to attack. Just like it always happened in all the bad Westerns I used to watch. Is it possible that sometimes things turn out just fine after all? Weird.

It's the Time of the Season

I picked the word this week for the Saturday Scavenger Hunt and I chose the word season. Apparently, this year, Spring is the season for flooding. Although the rivers are finally receding, we still don't know if the creek across the street from me will go out of its banks and we might have to relocate.

Right now, I walk across to check it out a couple times a day. I'm also watching the news closely, because if they start talking about Ralston Creek, I'm going to have to start moving my shit out. I have a bunch of friends on stand-by who are willing to help me get it out and my amazing neighbors on Hotz Street have offered up their garage to store said shit. Wish me luck.

This is also the season for weddings. There were some who considered not attending my friend Rory and Erika's wedding because they weren't really in the right space with all the flooding, but some of those same people went anyway, and had a great time. This being my second natural disaster in a couple of years, I'm discovering that it's not always a bad idea to blow off some steam here and there. And that's what I did. I figure I'll have plenty of time to stress out about whether that stupid creek across the street will rise or not.

So, I went to the wedding and my date showed up after driving for nine hours to get here. It normally takes him five hours, but with all the detours, it almost took him twice as long.

He was a great date. He only knew a few people, but I didn't feel like I had to babysit him at all. We ate, we drank, we danced, and had a great time. He was good at walking that line of meeting new people and being autonomous without ignoring me, but also being attentive to me at other times, without hovering. That's always kind of tricky when you don't know someone that well and you're suddenly surrounded by all of their friends.

The only annoyance for me was my dress. It didn't fit quite right, but I loved it, so I wore it anyway. My girl crush was awesome about helping me with safety pins, but duct tape might have worked better.

Another friend of mine stood behind me and held it up at one point so I was free to dance with wild abandon. I seriously have the best friends ever.


Okay. I guess there were two annoyances. Earlier, the weather got sucky again. My daughter called to tell me there were funnel clouds above the Old Capital and they were headed our way next. As you can see, the bad clouds found us, and got a little scary, but after the downpour, it cleared up and got nice again.

By the end of the night, everyone was out on the dance floor having a great time.


And the storm actually left a beautiful rainbow in its wake. Of course, I still never saw a unicorn, but maybe they're out of season right now.

The Tide is High

Okay, kids. I promised you flood pics and now I'm going to deliver. Like I said, we aren't as soggy as Cedar Rapids. Most of our flooding (at least for now) is contained to right by the river. They are predicting that the water could reach the Pentacrest by next week sometime.

Here are some National Guard guys talking to the kids who just found out their dance camp was canceled. They were showing them what their C-rats looked like.

Here are some more guardsmen. I haven't been this close to that much camo since the tornado. I still have total respect for the work they do during natural disasters.

The finally gave up on securing the student union and moved the sandbagging efforts over to the University Services Building and the brand new Communications building. I know that lots of people spent most of the day moving books out of the library and into the Old Capital too.

Here is the student union. See why they gave up?

Here's a big ol' pile of sandbags not doing any good and an unnecessary sign letting everyone know that whatever sidewalk used to be there is now closed.

Here's a family taking their kids to witness all the water by the laser center.

Danforth Chapel next to all the sandbags that probably won't save it.

If you look to the back of the photo, you can see the old Art Building about halfway engulfed in water.

Okay, that's what I got so far. The only good thing that's come from the flood, is that they closed the University down for a week and that means I get a week off with pay.

Jordan's Water is Chilly and Cold

Here's a view from the inside looking out.

Okay. All this flooding is getting really annoying. At first they closed roads and we had to maneuver around, then they did some evacuations and now, especially in Cedar Rapids, it's out of control. There was a photo on one of the news sites, of someone driving a boat through the downtown area. They're electricity is off, so they are only supposed to use water to drink. Whacky, isn't it? We have so much water, it's messing with our supply and now people have to try and conserve it.

Today at work was a lot of dealing with frantic parents. We had one of our first Summer orientations and it was chaos from the git. We could still use the parking lot we had reserved, but no one could get to it, because they closed almost every road leading to it. Then they kept threatening to close the student union. They finally decided to close it for real at 5 pm today. Ugh. The bad news is, it's still raining and the river isn't supposed to crest until maybe Tuesday next week. The good news is, that the raining and storms are supposed to finally calm the fuck down after tonight.

Coadster went to the river to fill sandbags today and she's going back again tomorrow. I might try to bring my camera to work tomorrow to get some flood and levy building shots for you all...As long as I'm not in the way. I remember all too well after the tornado how annoying it was to have people stopping by to gawk at our devastation without ever asking to help.

I texted my friend H. today to see if she needed anything. She lives in one of the evacuation areas. She told me that she was okay right then, but that she could really use a beer. I promised to buy her a hundred beers during the wedding festivities this weekend if she wanted. Again, I'm always there for my friends when they need to self-medicate during bad times.

Just in response to some of the comments so far, Iowa City isn't that bad. Most of the worst of it is in Cedar Rapids. Here, the areas closest to the river have been evacuated, but it shouldn't be anywhere near like it is in a couple of other towns. The girls and I are totally fine. Thanks for your concern.

Bells Will Ring, the Sun Will Shine

Hey, here's another flower shot that Stinky took.

Sooo, tonight we're onto the usual Wednesday, it's late and I'm tired post. I went to Shakespeare's for supper club and it was great, as usual. Then I headed to the Dublin. My friend J. was there. She said she stopped down because she knew I came down on Wednesdays and we had a fun time and a great talk.It was the perfect mid-week break.

Now, for more wedding talk. I think Stinky and I are going to do a little shopping for something to wear for it tomorrow night. I have one dress that will do, but it's not exactly what I want. I thought I'd check out another store because my friend K. said she found really cute sun dresses for $17 and that sounds like exactly what I want. I'll let you know. I'm sure you're all just dying with anticipation.

The other thing is that I have an actual real live date for the wedding. Weird, I know. He's a boy who lives out of town, and he's coming down for the weekend, so it should be fun. The guys I know who are single and hang out at the bar, say they purposely don't bring dates to weddings because that's the best pick-up place ever. I've never met a guy at a wedding before, but I've known people who have. How about you, gentle readers. Have you ever met someone at a wedding? Inquiring minds want to know...

What You Tryin' to Hand Me?

Well, kids. Guess what? That's right. It's time for another random post. This time with 50% more pictures. I took the one of Coadster and the one of my girl crush, but Stinky took the rest. I think she did an awesome job, don't you?

This one is Coadster getting ready to go to some community teen dance. Please note Coadster's new hairdo. She let me and Stinky cut it right after soccer season was over and she didn't have to wear the eternal pony tail. As she would say, she looks almost like a girl there.

Just so you know, our town isn't completely underwater. That seems to be the word on the street. We're getting tons of calls at work from out of state folks who see shit on TV and actually believe it. Silly people. A woman I work with said she looked at some MSN news site that said our entire town of 65,000 was flooded. It is true that there are certain streets that are closed and locations that are being evacuated. One of my friends lives on Park Road, right by the river and had a police officer show up on Friday and recommend that they buy a canoe. I love cop humor, don't you? No? Neither do I. I just lied to you all.

The smoking ban goes into effect on July 1st. For those of you who aren't from Iowa, that means no one will be allowed to smoke in public places, except for casinos and beer gardens. Is that it? I can't remember. It has some people up in arms, but I don't smoke, so it doesn't concern me much either way. I guess I'll just not smell so bad when I come home from a bar, and I may end up sitting by myself for periods of time while all my smoking friends go outside to bond.

I painted my toenails for the first time in forever. I normally don't, because I'm afraid it will draw attention to my scary feet, and nobody wants that. The only thing is, that I'm going to be wearing really cute white sandals to the wedding on Saturday and I kind of had to. Now, who looks almost like a girl? I do.

If you attend the wedding, please feel free not to look down when you're standing next to me. I painted them bright red, and you might really be tempted, but don't. I'm not kidding. Just don't.

Coadster and I had talked about going to the Iron and Wine show on Thursday. Coadster even invited me to go with her and her friend Mel. The only thing is, we were full of misinformation. We had the wrong price and the wrong date. Oops. So, now Coadster is going to babysit for the Creekside Review blogger's child and she's still pretty happy about that.

You Always Keep Me Guessin'

My favorite bartender S.'s wife is an amazing ceramics artist. She made this piece and the one below for my friend Libby.

So, when I got home on Saturday night, I started getting texts from an unknown number. The first one said:

Churlita I hear yr HOT!!!!!!

There are a few boys who drunk text me, and I figured it was one of them using a friend's phone to mess with me, but I didn't want to venture a guess, in case it was the wrong boy. So, this is how I responded:

Me: Who the hell is this?

Them: Does it matter?

Me: Yes it does. Would it matter 2 u? Don't u wanna know whos heard yr hot?

Them: No. I'd b curious.

Me: Me 2. I'm assuming someone I know is messing with me thru u. So who is it?

Them: Someone!

Me: Um duh. Where's a 402 area code from anyway? I have my suspicions but I still feel like Drew Barrymore at the beginning of the movie Scream.

Them: Kind of creepy but you feel hor.

Them: Opps. Hot.

At this point, I was pretty sure I knew who it was. One of the boys who texts me is notorious for text typos and he always writes opps, instead of oops. I was still getting annoyed that he wouldn't come clean. Especially since, in the middle of this, he texted me from his own phone, so I wouldn't think it was him.

Me: Yeah it is creepy but more hot than hor, thx. Ok. Enough bullshit. Who gave u my number. I'm sure they're right there with u.

Them: U r very curious.

Me: U would b 2. Again its getting a little creepy 4 me.

I was pretty much done with the texting, and I think he figured he'd gone further than he should with it, so the guy who I thought it was called me. The weirdest thing about the phone call, is that we talked for about an hour, and neither one of us brought up the dorky texting incident. He didn't own up to it, and I didn't ask him. I didn't bring it up because I knew he was just trying to be funny, and then didn't quite know how to end it once he realized it had gone too far. It was definitely an interesting way to end my Saturday night, but if he ever does it again, I'll make like Barney Fife and nip it in the bud.

Libby calls the top one goosey and the bottom one goatie. Of course.

What's That? Who's Driving? Where We Goin'? Who Knows?

Okay, kids. All this vacation time is exhausting me. Don't get me wrong, it's awesome, but it's action packed and busy and I never get on the computer because my girls are always on or I'm not at home, or whatever. I'm trying really hard to get to all your blogs, and I'll continue to try again tomorrow, but that's my lame excuse.

I was also picked to choose next weeks Saturday Scavenger Hunt word. I thought about it, and then forgot about it, and then remembered again and now I think I'll choose the word season. It's another one of those words that you can take a few different ways, so have at it.

I'm going to do a quick, lame weekend update post and then crash. So, here goes:

Friday night was Arts Fest downtown. Stinky went to a sleepover, and Coadster babysat for some people that I only know through my blog. Well, they know my blogging ex-neighbors, so I knew they weren't serial killers, but I'd never met them in the real world. Weird, this whole blogging thing. Coadster declared their boy, the happiest sweetest child she had ever met. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, with the girls busy elsewhere, I mosied downtown and caught a bit of Sam Bush's performance. If you like bluegrass at all, you would love him. If not, it's a good thing you weren't there. I also went down to the Dublin for my friend Libby's birthday shenanigans, and it was all very fun.

On Saturday, Coadster and I drove down to Ottumwa for my niece and nephew's combined birthday party. Strangely enough, both Coadster and I forgot our cameras, so we were not able to document all the stuff we would like to have documented. Damn!

After I got back into town, I ran my four mile route, because it was too hot and humid to go much further and headed downtown for those wonderful mojitos I talked about yesterday. Mmmmm.

On Saturday night CJ Chenier and his band (they play zydeco music) played for Arts Fest, and after the show, some of his band came down to the Dublin Underground for a drink. The washboard player was still wearing his apparatus/instrument, and my favorite bartender S. asked him if it was his night to do the laundry. See? That right there is exactly why S. is my favorite bartender.

At this point, I need to sleep. Hopefully, I'll come back tomorrow, well rested and not half as lame.

Show Me Where to Look, Tell Me What Will I Find

The Saturday Scavenger hunt word this week was chosen by Tara at Eclectic Spaghetti. She said shine and we did. So, first here is a shiny neon bagel sign at night.

Then here are some things I took a shine to this weekend. First and foremost, I took a shine to the mojitos that my favorite bartender S. made for me tonight. he brought the mint that he grew in his garden and everything. It was the perfect drink with all this heat and humidity. And best of all, they were served with bendy straws, and you know how much I love bendy straws.

Then I took a shine to boys wearing novelty t-shirts. It isn't often that I run into two. Count 'em, two different boys wearing novelty t-shirts out and about, but it happened this week.

I didn't drink enough to want the other guy, and I have no idea if the bottom guy really hits like a girl, but I appreciated the messages they were sending in their clothing.

Clouds of Mystery Pourin' Confusion on the Ground

Here is a photo of Stinky that she doctored up to make it all funky looking.

So, I begin my four day weekend tomorrow. The girls finished their last day of school as well. Next year, they'll be at the same school for the first time in four years.

The good news is that I've been able to run the last two days. It's still raining all the time, but luckily for me, it stops in time for me to get off work and run. We're supposed to get more hideous storms tonight. They've already closed two main roads because of flooding, so it will be interesting to see where we'll be able to drive tomorrow.

...But I can't think about that tonight. I'll think about that tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow Arts Fest starts, it's my friend Libby's birthday and another friend is visiting from Omaha. I love this town in the Summer.

I'd Love to Try and Settle Down

I've been doing some more planning on my trip that will take place in about two months. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on how I want it to go. I'm still vacillating between trying to plan and reserve rooms on a day to day basis or if I want to just wing it, so we don't have the pressure of having to be somewhere at a certain time, if a better option comes along.

The other thing I've been thinking about is how to get in contact with the three most important people in my life when I lived in San Francisco in the eighties. Apparently, none of them are Googleable. Two of them have fairly common names and the other must have changed her last name.

I know I've said before how bad I am about staying touch with people. I'm trying much harder now, and now that there are cell phones and email, it's easier, but I'm still dealing with my past mistakes, like losing my three best friends from the mid-eighties. Here's another one of my roll calls:

1.) Neal was my first real boyfriend. We dated from the time we were 19 until we were 22. I think he may have set my expectations too high and ruined me for any other guy who followed. We definitely had plenty of issues, but as I've said before, no matter how heinous or cranky or insecure or annoying, I ever was, (and I was in my early twenties, so just imagine...) he always loved me and told me how amazing he thought I was and meant it. I don't think I've ever had that since.

I'm certainly not interested in anything romantic, I just want to see how everything turned out for him. I wonder if he still eats live grasshoppers to freak people out, or if he still sings the wrong lyrics to songs to see if he can get people to believe him, or if he's still as passionate about the principle of a thing, at the risk of everything else.

2.) I'd also like to see my friend Pitti (a nickname). She was my roommate in San Francisco and the first woman I bonded with in that city. At the time, I was pretty fucked up and not very open or emotional (hard to believe, huh?) She was all emotion and feeling and she laid out all her joy and pain for anyone to see. I thought she was so brave and she scared the shit out of me. She did a lot to help open me up, just by her example.

I wonder if she still paints every day, or if she has found some kind of happiness, or if she still drives around flashing the peace sign out of the sun roof of her car.

3.) Katie was a few years older than I was, and she was a huge ball of happiness and joy. I was still pretty punk rock at the time and she was so good in helping me get over myself. She was a Chinese medical doctor and had us drinking all kinds of weird fungus teas and eating bizarre herbs. I used to come home to find her boyfriend sitting on the couch with gigantic accupuncture needles sticking out of his forehead. I remember one instance in particular with her that makes me miss her to this day. There used to be one day a year where the city of San Francisco would pick up any crap anyone wanted to put up on their curb. On the eve of that day, Katie and I got high and wandered up to Diamond Heights where the rich people lived to look at their incredible cast-offs. We found this really expensive couch that didn't smell at all like cat pee and sat there for hours lost in our stoned tangents, holding our new found treasures.

I wonder if she still works on AIDS patients, or if her hair is still way bigger than mine, or if she still cranks up music and dances around her living room in September on those first few warm days where the fog finally lifts after the cold, cold Summer in San Francisco.

If I had tons of money, I'd think about hiring a private detective, those people are so important to me.

I Am Something That You'll Never Understand

I am sick. Just sick I tell ya, of all this rain. it makes me go right back into hibernation mode and now I'm tired, tired, tired as well. So, in order to combat my rain induced crankiness, I'm posting photos of flowering trees and daisies. Believe me, if I had some pics of rainbows and unicorns, I'd post them too.


Can you tell I wasn't able to run today after work? Yeah, I could use every one of those endorphins right now. Actually, I'm doing just fine for the most part. I just really wanted to go running tonight. But here's what I have to look forward to this month: I'm giving myself a four day weekend starting on Friday. I'm not sure what all I'll be doing, but I'm seriously thinking about writing a list so I don't forget to do important things like buy a season pool pass, pay bills and get my oil changed, in addition to lying around reading comic books. The girls' last day of school is Thursday, so we'll see if they want to hang out with me at all any of those days.

Then next weekend is my friend Rory (Ruadhri, if you really want me to spell it correctly) and his lovely E.'s wedding. I'm excited for the people watching part. There should be tons of folks coming into town for it. I'll know some of them, but others I've just heard stories about and I can't wait to put a face with the deliciously ridiculous behavior. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll take tons of photos.

The weekend after the wedding, is my girl crush's bachelorette canoeing party. Camping, canoeing, beer drinking and some of the bawdiest dames you'll ever meet? It should be the best time ever.

Okay, all this talk of fun and adventure is really lifting my spirits. Here's hoping for sunny days where I'm able to run every day after work in the future...And if you happen to spy a unicorn or rainbow, point it out to me and I'd be happy to photograph it and post it right here on this blog.

Now Bo Diddly Didn't Stand No Mess

My friend Rory was getting all artsy when taking pics of us on Saturday night. I look a little befuddled there, don't I?

Okay, this one makes me a little dizzy to look at.

My big goal tonight is to go to bed as early as possible. So, we'll see how quick we can make this. I'm sure you'll all appreciate that.

The girls are supposed to go to their dad's on Monday nights, but for the last few months it either hasn't happened, or they had choir concerts or last week, Stinky needed me, so I haven't had the night off. It was all fine, except that tonight when they actually went to their dad's at 8, I really appreciated a few hours to do with whatever I wanted.

My friend J. emailed me this Sunday and said our friend C. might be back up from Fort Madison and wanted to know if K. and I wanted to meet them at the Vine for all-you-can-eat wings. We actually tried to organize this in May. Our friend J. has been so great about hanging out with us and watching the Steelers on Sundays in the Fall and Winter, that I figured we'd try to be cool about watching a St Louis Cardinals game with him in the Spring or Summer. The big problem with that, is that Iowa City is apparently Cubs territory, so the only time you can really go to a bar and watch the Cardinals is when they're playing the Cubs, and it didn't work out last match-up and the next time they meet is during the July 4th holiday.

So, we decided to say screw watching a Cards game and we watched hockey instead...Well, we kept an eye on the game and ended up paying more attention to our friend C. sweating and his legs spazzing because he ordered the hottest wings they had, and they were seriously kicking his ass.

Anyway, it was a nice mellow night. We all drank soda instead of beer and talked about such interesting topics as Bo Diddly's death, all the movies coming out based on comic books, the last time and the first time we tried psychedelics and if there was any way in hell we'd ever even think about dropping acid at our current advanced ages. The answer was a resounding hell no. The boys went to The Picador to catch Buckethead, and I made it home by nine. Perfect.