treasures under the bridge

Amy met me for brunch this morning after which we wandered down to the south street seaport.  I can't remember the last time I would have been down in this part of town, it's definitely worth the trip though.

Especially when there is an amazing market set up:

It was mostly food so I was glad I had been sated by brunch otherwise I may have gone nutty.  Instead I just enjoyed some casual browsing.

I did indulge in a soda from this place though:

June, take note, you may want to get some of these flavorings the next time you need a refill for your soda machine.

I had a hibiscus ginger soda and it was ridiculously delicious.  Neither Amy nor I was prepared for how good it was.

If TSA didn't take everything away from me I would bring some back with me.  Or maybe I should just not leave nyc...

this guy

I like how he was sitting up there, looking down on all the other doggies like they were so silly.

friday would sound better actually

Thank you Keith for suggesting I watch this yesterday at lunch.  I nearly choked and died from laughter when she got struck by lightning but it was so worth it.

I've never really been that in to Celine, but I'm thinking its time I start paying attention.

so hungry

Upon arriving in nyc I headed straight to the Met, as I usually do.  Meghan walked me past the line to see the McQueen exhibit again but it was far too crowded so we ended up turning around after the cape room.

Meghan then led me through the Greeks and the Romans before dropping me off in the Michael C. Rockefeller wing while she finished her last hour at work.  Even though I hadn't eaten anything all day I decided that I could nourish my soul with art for an hour to tide me over until Meghan and I could go get a bite to eat together.

Cut to 5:30 and I am still waiting at the top of the stairs to the costume institute, pacing back and forth between the open sarcophagus and the prints of hieroglyphs that would have appeared on his tomb.  I was so hungry that when I saw the one above my mouth actually started watering.

I mean that just looks straight up delicious.  What are those, doughnuts at the bottom?  I also like that they are clearly at a bar as you can see the upside down hanging martini glasses lined up at the bottom, as well as the pitchers of...what is that?  Infused vodka?  Sangria?  Either way it looks delicious.

By the time Meghan got out of work we only really had enough time to go downtown so I could watch her and Sam frantically pack for their dream vacation to Hawaii.  So now here I find myself in a nyc with no Meghan and no Dan.  What am I supposed to do with myself all day?

I will definitely be going here at some point to treat myself to lonely dessert for one.  Unless somebody wants to join me?

Ethel and I have a lot in common

I had to go to one of those mail/shipping stores to fax something down to my AMAZING realtor.  While I was waiting I noticed a (sadly empty) birdcage in the corner with this sign in front of it.

The shopkeep said he didn't bring Ethel to work that day, I was disappointed.  I think Ethel and I would have become fast friends.

it's miller time!

My sister and I spent the afternoon together yesterday, which also means that I got to spend the afternoon with this special little guy.

I need to prepare myself the next time I go over and have the video camera going when I arrive to capture his antics.  I don't know that I can think of a dog that gets more excited about visitors, even though he doesn't really want anything from them.  He doesn't really want pets, he just kind of runs up and licks your hand and then runs around in circles just smiling and looking at you with those adorable button eyes.

Trying to capture any part of this with a photograph is near impossible.  This is the closest (and actually best) representation I could come up with:

I feel like I would need one of those high speed camera's that they use in Planet Earth to photograph great white shark attacks.  Similarly, you never know when he's going to go wild, he just kind of sits still with a look of concentration on his face, then suddenly goes in to a whole body excited barking fit.

I LOVE HIM!

dessert

omg it was so good!  When I ordered it the bartender made a face like she was jealous and wanted one herself.  Now I know why.

It was not unlike a guinness, but with way more flavor.  I guess a guinness tastes kind of smooth and creamy to me, so much so that ariel can down one in literally a gulp.  At least I think she still can do that, I haven't seen her do it in years, but oh is it a spectacle.  We used to talk about running some kind of bar scam with her and all the dumb frat guys on the upper east side.  Why did we never do that?

Besides this chocolate stout being amazingly delicious, while I was enjoying it "my guy" came on the radio.  I told the bartender that I was just talking about sister act so now I felt like I had to go home and watch it and she very earnestly said, "listen, there are worse things to have to go do".

I couldn't agree more.

comfortable?

I went over to Kitty's yesterday to hang upside down for a bit, which meant I also spent some time with one of my favorite ladies.  I love how initially she can't decide if she wants me to pet her head or her butt so she just spins in circles and stomps all over my feet.  I need to remember not to wear open toed shoes when I come over next time.

Eventually she decides that she just wants to sit on me so she kind of backs herself up against me and sits, and I just have to deal with it.  We sit like this for a while until she gets bored and wanders away, releasing me to go hang upside down for a bit.

After my hang I let her outside to run around and say hi to all her nice squirrel friends.  That's actually the only way I was able to get this show dog quality photo of her:

She was locked in a battle of wits with a squirrel and nothing could distract her.

By the time we came back inside she was over me and went right over to her bed and laid down.  I like that because it makes me feel not bad for having to leave her again.  I want a nice doggy like her.

Maybe just a little bit smaller...

best book introduction ever

My sister loaned me Ape House by Sara Gruen to read, all I had to get to was the introduction page to know I'd like it.

Sara Gruen wrote Water for Elephants which I had read earlier in the year at my sisters suggestion.  I had mixed feelings about it so I wasn't sure what to expect from Ape House, but so far I like it a lot.

My problem with Water for Elephants was that I felt she needed to choose a style and go with it.  Gruen is obviously a talented writer, and I think she wanted to show that.  With Water for Elephants it seemed like she had been researching early 20th century circus' and got enamored with the story she felt needed to be told.  As she poured over her notes she began developing characters to bridge the gaps and fill the holes, which goes against everything I was taught about writing fiction/character development.  The wondrous thing about making shit up is that you can write whatever you want, so the more you try to force characters to do plot driven things the more obvious it will seem.

With Water for Elephants I always felt like I could tell when a chapter was about to end or when some dramatic turning point was going to happen.  I knew the difference between the scenes that were based on historic events and which ones were the product of her imagination, which always kept me outside of the narrative and unable to really get in to the book.

With Ape House however it seems more like genuine characterization.  It seems like Gruen did the same amount of research before she began writing, but somehow it didn't affect her as much.  She allowed the research to influence the characters but not drive the plot, which is much nicer for me.  I am only a few chapters in but I already feel more invested in this book than I did in Water for Elephants.

And here's hoping that it won't get turned in to a movie featuring WILDLY inappropriate actors playing the main love interests.  Talk about ruining the visual I had in my mindseye.

still creepin' and peepin'

He's passed through my mind a few times in the past week but I hadn't seen him since the first time until yesterday when I opened the blinds in my room.  He was in between the two panes of glass, but on the inside of the house so I guess that means he's still hanging out.

Since I first saw him in the bathroom and have no seen him on my bedroom window it leads me to the conclusion that he gets around.  He must feel pretty comfortable to be willing to traverse that much open space, especially with that angry cat lurking around.  Of course the gecko has probably realized by now that the detective is far too busy with his crime stopping to worry about a tiny gecko.

And thank goodness because I hope this little guy stays around for a long time.

orange you glad I didn't say banana?

I have to admit I chose this beer initially because of the 13% alcohol content.  I needed a quick fix.  I knew I had made the right choice when I saw both the happy go lucky devil in the moonlight, and the wee goblet that my beer was to be poured in.

Then my eyes travelled down and saw why this beer and I were meant to be:

I was just explaining to somebody how I've come to realize that twirling your hair is a lot like smoking a cigarette.  If you've never actually done it you are really bad and awkward at pretending to do it, but once you've actually done it as a habit you understand the subtle intricacies.  It's not that I twirl my hair because I'm a dumb blond, it just really does feel good and gives my busy hands something to do while I think about dumb blond things.

But back to the beer.  I liked this Belzebuth from France, it had a very orange flavor to it that was unexpected and nice.  It almost tasted like a blue moon after you've dropped the orange wedge in it.  Except way more alcoholic.

After my Belzebuth and my dinner I decided I should have one of the dessert sounding beers.  I had been eyeballing this one last time so I figured I'd just bite the bullet and get it:

And let me tell you, gross.  Actually, Gross, with a capital "g".  The banana flavor was just so intense.  It was as if somebody had taken all the banana runts they didn't want and dumped them in to a beer.  And I was so optimistic about it too.

I will say though that had I not gotten it I wouldn't have read the neck and been reminded of one of my favorite memories of all time:

Andrew came to visit me in new york for his 21st birthday way back in the college days.  Andrew's birthday being in February meant that it was one of those "blizzard of the century" kind of deals that it seems new yorkers claim every winter.  I was determined to show Andrew a good time so we went downtown and bummed around from empty bar to empty bar.  Somehow as midnight approached we were at a bodega and I insisted that Andrew get a beer to chug at midnight to celebrate being 21.  Andrew (of his own volition) chose one of those big cans of Foster's.

I will just never forget Andrew standing on the street in the falling snow outside some random bodega in downtown new york, trying to chug a freezing cold fosters, saying over and over, "I can't do this!  It's like trying to drink a loaf of liquid bread!"

But he had to, it was his duty that night.  And it was all worth it when we finally arrived back home and he threw up all over his own car before he realized it was his car.

Good times.

this is happening in north korea!

source via reddit

I have never wanted to move to North Korea as badly as I do right now.

I finally found my calling in life.

haha this was on the radio

Unfortunately it was the original and not the Bette Midler version but it made me find this clip on youtube and I'm always glad after I've seen it.

How is this movie so good?  Somehow it seems a totally appropriate movie for Bette Middler and Kathy Najimy to have done but I'm always delighted to see a young Sarah Jessica Parker and a young Thora Birch.  It reminds me of the time I came face to face with Juliette Lewis but was too afraid to tell her how much I loved "Enough" because I thought she would think I was making fun of her.  But it's true, it's all true!

Similarly "Hocus Pocus" will always be one of my favorite movies.  I always really liked their mom and dad, I feel like they should have had bigger roles.  I love when Max comes home without shoes and the mom says, "must be some form of protest".

Speaking of Halloween, it's fast approaching.  I wonder what I should go as this year.  I wonder where I'll be.  Invitations?  Suggestions?

a nice nice guy

Last night I met Karla downtown for drag queen bingo at the golden apple, which was an experience all its own.  The best part as far as I was concerned was this nice guy, trey.  Karla is training him to be a seeing eye dog so she said she has to take him out to places so he gets used to being in all kinds of different environments without getting freaked out.  He certainly seemed confused by the drag queens, but who wasn't.

At least he had his special little vest on so people realized what the deal was.

Puppy in training!  It's really quite fascinating to learn what all Karla has to do with him to prepare him for his life as a seeing eye dog.  At intermission when we took him out to "make busy" Karla explained that she has to stand still and he is allowed to walk around her in circles until he decides to go to the bathroom, but she can't walk him around because blind people wouldn't walk their dog around a park to find somewhere to "make busy".  It makes sense but never occurred to me.

The saddest thing is that she said Trey has to be conditioned not to run because he obviously wouldn't be running with a blind person.  I felt bad but Karla reminded me that he was a dog called to a higher purpose.  It's kind of like how maybe sometimes Mariah doesn't want to sing, but she does because she realizes that her gift needs to be shared with the world.

Of course having Trey with us meant constant attention from everyone, which was fun too.  If it weren't for the fact that Karla only gets to keep Trey for a year before she has to give him up I would say I want to do something like this too.  I just think I would get too attached.  Well that and I wouldn't be able to stop a dog from running and playing.  Karla, you're a better person than I.

I think Trey is almost ready for his calling, don't you?

ew

This was in the front window of a store in downtown Sarasota.  I want to believe that it was an accident but I don't think so.  I mean the fact that she is facing away from the store front, and she has her dress pulled up ever so slightly is just too damning.  Somebody must have thought this was a good idea.

I disagree.

I love her

She's just the right mixture of beauty, talent, and crazy.

Which is why this duet is one of my favorite of all time:




the part at 1:40 where mariah "appears" in butterfly fantasy target is the best.  I love the expression on her face.

I am in awe of how comfortable nicki minaj seems with mariah too, or just in general.  She knows how good she is.

This is going to be me when I get my car back

source

if the gif isn't working click on the image, it's worth it.

omggggg so exciteddddd

It's like it never got smashed by an angry youth in a Ford Ranger!

When I asked about the damage to my rims she said they were sending it to a tire specialist which I was skeptical of at first.  I have been proven wrong however, the wheels look fantastic.  And not just this wheel, they cleaned all four of my wheels and put all kinds of shiny product on them.  I love how much depth it gives them when they're cleaned up all nice.  And however they filled in the scratches seems to be flawless as I can't even tell where they were.

I apparently have to wait for them to return my car to the body shop so they can "clean it up" before they give it back to me which seems silly.  Besides the fact that I had just detailed it not but a couple hours before it got smashed it looks like the wheel person and the BMW people cleaned it as well.

I'm hoping that they won't drag this on any longer than it's gone on.  All I wanted to do in Ft. Lauderdale was drive down A1A with my ragtop down so all the girlies would see me fly by.  Is that so much to ask?

I'm glad I snuck in to the lot this morning to see my car by myself so I don't have to deal with the awkwardness of inspecting it while the mechanic is hovering over my shoulder.  Now I can just grab the keys and go baby go.

why?

This was in the entrance to a condo that I saw the other day.  It was like a wallpaper panel of a beautiful forest scene.  Well two different beautiful forest scenes.  This wall separated the kitchen from the living room.

I have to admit the longer I looked at it the more relaxed I felt.

But still, why?

is there a heat wave?

source

Apparently there is a heat wave going on?  I had no idea, in Florida it's always a heat wave.  I for one welcome our new inferno overlords.  I am getting my car back tomorrow so you know it will be top down, windows up, ...you know the rest.

I really just wanted to reference the heat wave so I had an excuse to post this clip:



I would kill for one ounce of whoopi's talent.

a nice guy!

I love that Ft. Lauderdale is overrun with snails of all shapes and sizes.  Jon and I spotted one last night just creepin' along in the middle of a hallway at our hotel just being nice and saying, "Hey guys, please don't step on me".

This picture is actually from this morning when I went on a walk and suddenly came upon like 8 or 9 of them all on a section of sidewalk.

He looks just like Gary!

the best thing I saw all day

This was hanging in the last condo I looked at yesterday, I took it as a sign.  A sign of what, I'm not sure, good taste if nothing else.    The woman who owned this condo (as well as this amazing embroidered picture) was pretty fabulous.  I almost feel like if I were to move in to her space I wouldn't be able to live up to the grandeur that it's become accustomed to.

Some of the other places we looked at were quite grand.  I felt like I was in the Bellagio or something.  I think the places we are seeing today are going to be a little older and more modest which I am hopeful about.  I think Jon hit the nail on the head at the last place we saw, which was an older florida style building, when he said, "this looks like the place where Rose would come to visit her friend".  That's the kind of Florida I want to live in.

Wish me luck!

dreamy

The fact that my phone camera chooses to focus only rarely anymore provides for a lot of bad pictures and a few kind of cool pictures like this one.

The weather is beautiful, wish you were here.

with 5 miles to spare

I guess I didn't understand that the drive from Sarasota to Ft. Lauderdale is a desolate no mans land.

I am not exaggerating when I say it pretty much looks like this the whole way down:

source

So there I was scooting along, talking on the phone with Dan, completely unaware that I had entered alligator alley (that's actually the name of this stretch of road) and that any hope of getting gas was apparently futile until I entered Broward County.

I have mixed feelings about this digital readout of how many miles you have left until you run out of gas.  I probably wouldn't have gotten myself in the position of almost running out of gas in alligator infested swamplands had it not been for the digital readout and my thinking, '50 miles?  That's a long way!' and continuing to drive on the assumption that I would find a gas station when I needed a gas station.  I think if I had just been looking at the gauge that showed I only had a quarter of a tank I would have probably filled up sooner.  On the other hand once I realized that I was potentially going to run out of gas it kind of put my mind at ease to know when it was going to happen.  Just counting down the miles, waiting for the inevitable.

But I guess I did find a gas station when I needed one.  I was curious about what was going to happen when it got to zero, I have a feeling there is a reserve tank.  Oddly when I got down to 10 miles left it disabled my cruise control.  I mean, I was relying on the cruise control to keep my speed steady so I could get the most out of what precious little gas I had left.  Once it was gone those final five miles was like the ultimate test in "steady foot".

I'm here now though, safe and sound.  Just looking through some listings that Rob gave me and waiting for Jon to get in so we can cruise the streets and terrorize this town.

i can so relate

I can't stop laughing at this page, it makes me feel so good and so bad at the same time:

first world problems

flavorful

I was drawn to this beer initially because of "unibroue" because frankly, who doesn't enjoy a good unibrow.  When I read the description I was even more interested, something to the affect of, "green apple beer...NOT CIDER...beer".

When I poured the beer in to the glass the aroma of green apple was so strong it made me nervous to even try it.  After having had some bad experiences with green apple-tinis I am very particular about when I can drink green apple flavored things.  Surprisingly though the beer tasted nothing like green apple.  It was very strange, but not unpleasant.  The bartender asked me how I liked it and I told her and she said, "I know right?!" before taking a big sniff of the empty bottle.  That was also strange, yet not unpleasant.

Most of the beers on the list are about the same price give or take a dollar, but there are a few that are dramatically more expensive.  I decided that I should knock one of them off my list while I was feeling adventurous so I ordered this barn owl beer:

It was described as having a toffee flavor (which it did) that sounded delivious (which it was).  I figured toffee must be hard to add to beer or something and that's why it was so expensive until I turned the bottle around and read the back:

First lets discuss how "fuggles" sounds like a word Meghan would play in scrabble and then look at me patronizingly when I doubted its actually being a word.  I'm sure she would just nonchalantly say something like, "Oh I have some leftover fuggles in the fridge from the last batch of beer Sam and I made"

But the point is that suddenly the price of the beer made sense and I felt like I had done something good for the barn owls.  Won't somebody please think of the barn owls?!  Apparently these lushes are.

All in all I was pleased with my beer selection last night.  They satisfied my cravings in exactly the way I didn't even realize they needed to be satisfied.  That's always the best scenario, like when Mariah surprises you with a high note, or when Oprah pretends she's doing a show about sex offenders but then it ends up being her favorite things episode.

I think I'm still drunk.

i'm too stupid

The first day I got this rental car I didn't know how to turn it off.  I had to get Scott to help me, I couldn't understand the concept of a "start/stop" button.

I feel like the me of 10 years ago would beat myself up for being so out of touch with car technology that I've become one of those bumbling blonds in my BMW that I don't even know how to use.  Most of my experiences with this car have been similar to this:



Except ironically if I had just hit the gas cover I would have realized that that is how you open it.  Instead I spent 15 minutes scanning the drivers area for the gas cover release button.  It's like when the last thing in the world I'm looking for is a button, that's when I should be looking for a button, and when I think there should be a button there is no button to be found.

I miss my car where things make sense.

two secret friends

A woman came to Starbucks yesterday while I was working outside and tied up this nice lady while she went in to get coffee.  The woman came out several times to check on her and she would say, "have you been behaving?" and the little doggy would sit exactly like that, like a perfect little angel.  As soon as the woman went back inside the dog would resume running around the table and chairs as crazily as possible in an attempt to get attention from any person she could possibly see.  Somehow she was always untangled and back in that spot right before the woman came back outside to check on her.  I would have tried to pet her but I was convinced the woman would blame me for luring her dog away from her spot.

Later at home I had finished taking a shower and was brushing my teeth when I suddenly spotted this ninja hiding behind the mirror:

I'm not sure if geckos can't see mirrored surfaces so he thought he was really well hidden or what but he never even flinched while I was taking pictures of him:

I once enquired at Petco about releasing a gecko in the house as a form of pest control and they all said it was a foolish idea.  I feel very vindicated for having found this guy in the bathroom all by his own doing.  He chose it here, and I like to think it has something to do with the "wet coral" paint job.

I wonder if there is any way I can make his life more comfortable.  I certainly want to encourage his survival as he will provide sure protection from all kinds of jungle creepy crawlies that exist down here.

I'm certainly not getting any protection from this guy:

haven't heard from this precious angel in a while

I barely even see him anymore, this was a rare moment.  I have been using the closet in my dad's guest room as a personal junk storage area for the past several years, so recently it's started resembling a hoarders home.  Of course this is the only place kitty wants to spend time.  The problem is that it's so overflowing with junk that by the time I realize he's gone in there I can't really do anything besides listen to him stumble and crash around.  He's really the least graceful cat I have ever encountered.

If he's not in the closet his other favorite place is underneath the dining room table.  Basically anywhere but with me, so I was shocked when he spent some time with me the other day.  Of course this picture was but a moment in time in between aggressive biting and kicking, so I guess he's still the same little guy deep down inside.

And in that I can find comfort, when nothing else seems to make sense, at least I can count on the detective for biting and kicking.

a little more my speed

I finally found out yesterday that the are estimating the damages will take a week to fix, though Leslie said that all they anticipated needing to do was a re-alignment to the back wheels.  I told her I would be happy if that's all it needed but I doubted that would be in the case.

In any event, Enterprise was very obliging to the fact that I could not drive that Jeep for another week.  They even matched my color scheme.  And though I lost my beloved satellite radio it was replaced by one of the most amazing features a car could have:

It's a good thing this 3 series is automatic, otherwise I could have fallen in love.

bats & cotton candy clouds

I've been taking a lot of coping walks lately, the area around my father's is not a bad place for it.  I'm getting to that point where I feel like once all these issues in my life get resolved I won't know what to do with myself because I've forgotten what life is like when I don't have Leslie from State Farm on hold on line 1, and Crystal from Enterprise on hold on line 2, with the Jerry behind "Tom and Jerry's body shop" beeping in incessantly.

I feel like it's a lot easier to be irritated in NYC, not so much down here.  Walking on the nature trail it was impossible to be upset when the sky was filled with the fluffiest pink clouds you could ever want to see.  Then when I realized the sky was also full of bats I forgot about all my worries and enjoyed the bizarre scene.  It made me think of Esha, or the Addams Family, WHICH DAN HAD NEVER SEEN!

Morticia: Have you spoken to her parents?
Susan Firkins, Wednesday's Teacher: Well, Wednesday brought in this picture: Calpurnia Addams.
Morticia: Wednesday's great-aunt Calpurnia. She was burned as a witch in 1706. They said she danced naked in the town square and enslaved the minister.
Susan Firkins, Wednesday's Teacher: Really?
Morticia: Oh, yes. But don't worry. We've told Wednesday college first. 

source

I really can't believe Dan had never seen it.  Her dress alone is enough to sell anybody on that movie.  


So here we find ourselves, at the dawn of another day.  I am chomping at the bit for it to be 9:00 so I can start calling all of my new best friends.

trapped in paradise

The only thing keeping me going is the thought that somewhere one of you is sitting at a desk wishing that you could be here.  I'm doing it for you, don't you understand?!

Still no word on how long its going to take to repair my car, thus I am stuck here in Florida for now.  I would like to go down to Ft. Lauderdale but not all by my lonesome.  I might have to just suck it up.

Maybe I should just get a mail order bride.  That could be fun, we'd surely become the best of friends.  Just me and mai ling v. the world.

I wish any number of my friends going to fancy pants law schools actually had a law degree so I could ask them for advice regarding situations like this.  Unfortunately I just get a lot of hemming and hawing when I manage to get Andrew on the phone.

I was telling Jon last night that I'm also trying to think of some kind of skill I can immerse myself in mastering.  I brought up fencing as an option which Jon felt was appropriately white for me.  I agree but I've always wondered how much of an investment fencing really is.  I mean I imagine you have to buy that funny white outfit and everything.  I certainly wouldn't want to wear a communal one.

But what are the practical applications of fencing?  Maybe, maybe, someday I would be confronted by a maniac in a spooky old castle and I would have to defend myself with the sword I pull from the coat of arms guarding my bedroom, but I see that as being as likely as me and mai ling becoming the best of friends.

Jon suggested learning a language which, while being a great suggestion, sounds like it involves a lot more "learning" than I'm really interested in right now.

I think I should figure out something to chronicle on my blog, Julie & Julia style.  But what?  Maybe I can incorporate my desire to go down to Ft. Lauderdale.  What's interesting about south florida that I can write about?  Tervis?  I think I've covered that pretty well.  Ooh maybe I should make my goal to meet Gloria Estefan and then just do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.  Knowing my luck I would get rear ended by her upon arriving in Miami, thus ending that great idea.

But I think I'm on to something here.  Maybe I can do a tour of scenic highways as seen from a freshly repaired roadster.  It would be helpful if I had somebody in the passenger seat to take pictures for me...

...

...

hint hint...

I am going to go research Florida's scenic highways, please let me know when you are available to be my copilot, thanks.

how i feel in this rental car

I still haven't gotten an estimate on how long these repairs are going to take but if it's going to be several weeks then I might have to request a different rental car.

This clip is hardly an exaggeration.

still working on it

I was browsing the list of beers, feeling like I had no idea what to go with, when Kelpie jumped off the page at me.  I was expecting something that tasted more like seaweed but it actually had more of the smooth quality that comes with kelp, as Mr. P would have been quick to point out.

I quite enjoyed it, and the bartender enthusiastically said, "It's got seaweed in it, that's gotta be good for you!"

I realized I hadn't had a draught beer here in a while so I looked at the tap right in front of me and said, "I'll have that one next".  Little did I know I was going to get the most delicious beer served in the most fantastic glass:

It was so sweet and delicious, I could drink it all day.  The glass kind of reminded me of the boot, its shape is misleading as far as how much booze you have drunk/have left to drink.  I like mind puzzlies while I drink, like erotic photo hunt.  Makes me feel like I'm exercising my mind while I kill brain cells.

The best part of this trip to Shakespeare's was that they had AMC on which showed the original Rambo followed by Kill Bill part 1.  I basically got to see the best of both.  My favorite part about Rambo was when the closed captioning said, "[vietnamese shouting]", and for Kill Bill we stayed through the whole opening sequence with Vivica A. Fox (amazing) as well as the whistling scene with Daryl Hannah (also amazing).

I feel like if I had a bar I would be so good at picking out things to watch on TV or listen to or whatever.  I just don't get bars that don't understand the dynamics of entertainment.  Yesterday at Shakespeare's gives me hope for them yet.