I am not stalling. Okay, maybe a little.

Here is a brief recap of my weekend (Beth also posted about this. You should go read her post as well. It would be very exciting) and also the karaoke experience from last night (Thursday):

Beth picked me up Saturday night and we scrapbooked. I might actually finish my Vegas album sometime this year. Which would be good, since I went to Vegas in March, 2004. We watched several movies, the aforementioned "The Magnificent Seven." I cried. Not surprisingly. We also watched Secondhand Lions. I cried again. The incredibly hot Christian Kane (Lindsey on Angel) was in the movie, playing the young Robert Duvall's character. Yummy. There was a 3rd movie, I think. But I can't remember what it was. I am sure I probably cried.

Char was at karaoke! Yay! It was great watching Bryan do the classic double take. He walks in, comes over to say hi, starts to walk away to talk to Bobby and then turns around, completely confused. Classic (oh, I said that already. Oops. Oh, well, I am still recovering from the oddness). We had a great time hanging out with her and catching up. And then she left us. Again. Dang it.

This woman (Tonya) who comes in occasionally was there again and she referred to Beth as Buffy again. After Beth corrected her, we have the following conversation:

B: Hey. Apparently I am a vampire slayer.
DM: Well, at least you get to have sex with two hot vampires.
B: Woo-hoo (it should be stated, for the record, that this was a sarcastic woo-hoo. Beth is not a fan of either Buffy or Angel, although she did watch a few episodes in Portugal with Johnny and I. Beth doesn't watch TV that often. She does, however, listen to me when I talk about Buffy and Angel and has a slight understanding of who the characters are. This is the kind of friendship that we have. I listen to her when she talks about The Dark Tower books by Stephen King and have a slight idea of who the characters are. It is nice that we support each other's obsessions).

The woman and her friend went to sing a song called "Baby Boy." Don't know it. Don't care to know it. It was an interesting performance, obviously the first time that they had ever tried it and they were having some problems but they were trying. And since Beth and I are firm believers in the Rules of Karaoke (which we created so we had better support them), we were extremely annoyed by the girl behind us who was talking to her friend about how she wanted to kick Tonya and Vanessa (Valerie?) in the ass for "ruining the song."

Okay, first of all, did you pay a cover? No. Did you sing anything? No. Are you annoying the fuck out of me? Yes. Do you want me to kick your ass? Obviously.

You'll be pleased to know that I responded only with a dirty look and a "They happen to be friends of mine." Which, no, they really aren't but I think if I started spouting off about the Rules of Karaoke, it would confuse the annoying girl so much that she might explode and that would so be against my New Year's Resolution to not kill anyone this year (here's a question, Beth says that since I stated that my New Year's Resolution was to not kill anyone, that means I can't wait until January and then take out the people that have seriously crossed me, I have to not kill anyone ever. I think that since I said "this year" that means these people are fair game. What do you all think).

There was a very odd man that sat at the end of our table without asking. Now it was very crowded and no one was sitting there at the time but Beth and I typically get a larger table because we have people that will come up and join us. Such as Liz and company or Angie, Amy and Sarah (who weren't there and it was sad). So just sitting down at the table without asking? That's kind of annoying.

We were trying to figure out why he looked familiar and then it dawned on us. There was a night that we had gone to Michael's (dive in East Saint Paul) to see our friend Michael who was working there as a karaoke host. This man was there that night. We were sure of it when he got up to sing and we got to experience his high pitched rendition of songs by Journey. Joy.

He also broke the Rules of Karaoke by not applauding when others sang. Excuse me? Are you this big superstar that doesn't have to show common courtesy? No, I didn't think so. The whole fun of the karaoke experience is communing with others and joining in the spirit of fun. Not being a jackass.

Later on that evening, this somewhat frightening looking individual joined High Pitch Man at our table. This was Obviously Drunken Man. HPM & ODM began a conversation about football (oh, yeah, because we are all such football fans) and I tuned out as much as possible. Beth, however, has much better hearing than me and could actually hear HPM making these odd noises under his breath. A high pitched "AHHHHHHHH." Okay. You're a freak.

At one point, towards the end of the evening, we looked over and realized that ODM had fallen asleep. How you fall asleep in a packed bar is beyond me. Apparently ODM was much drunker than we thought.

Thankfully, Liz and a whole group of people came in shortly after that. James turned 35 on Sunday and they were celebrating his birthday. James was rather drunk and, as always, very funny. Dean was also there so it was great to see him, it had been quite some time since his last appearance. We moved over to a table by Liz and Company and Barry and Dean joined us. So did Cassie and James (on occasion).

There is a man that comes up to karaoke on Thursdays and Sundays named Ryan who is, quite honestly, one of the best looking men I have ever seen, outside of the movies. He is tall and dark and handsome and very nice. Cassie was rather drunk and started telling him how hot he is which he replied with a polite "Thank you." As he turned away, I said to Cassie "Yeah, and the black eye makes him even hotter (He has been sporting a black eye recently because he was mugged a little over a week ago and it makes him look a little dangerous. Yummy)."

And then Ryan turns around and I realize that he had heard me. We have a good laugh over it and he leaves. Beth had missed the whole thing so I told her when she got back. She was amused over the fact that he caught me and Dean said "I think that was the best part."

James got called up to do the last song of the evening because it was his birthday. There was hooting and hollering and calls of "Take your pants off!" Which he did. He also took his sweater off, standing there in his t-shirt and boxer briefs. What a way to end the evening.

But wait. It wasn't over yet. Liz invited us over, we followed her there and then helped escort James into the house. It was quite amusing, watching him stumble back and forth and then stop when he saw the flute on top of the piano.

"I'm going to play the flute," he announced. He then picked up the flute and started blowing on it while Beth and I tried very hard not to burst into hysterical laughter. The look of concentration on his face was priceless, especially when he was not able to make a single note come out of the flute.

A few minutes later, Liz made the wise decision to take James home and let him sleep off the effects of his birthday. We remained and had a good time watching Liz and Bryan try to build a fire, playing with their adorable dog Theo and talking to the various other people at the gathering.

It was a good night. It was a bit odd because Barry decided to vanish for awhile and Beth and I later found him hiding behind the fence when we were leaving. Barry is a great guy but he does give off the occasional serial killer vibe. So having him walk up to us in the dark? A little freaky.

Beth and I returned to her apartment and watched some Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episodes. I had never seen the show before so Beth was exposing me to it and I did enjoy it. It was kind of cheesy in some parts but Dean Cain is very attractive and more than makes up for it. I did find myself yelling at the television a few times, especially when Lois was thinking about marrying Lex Luthor. What was she thinking? We did this on Monday as well and then watched Evolution and scrapbooked some more.

It was a good weekend. Things didn't work out exactly the way that I wanted but you can't always get what you want, right?

Last night, I took my nap and woke up at a little bit after 11 PM, realizing that I had set the alarm clock for 10 AM instead of 10 PM. Fortunately Beth doesn't get off work until 11:30 so I had more than enough time to jump in a cab (nice guy, he's driven me before, we had a good discussion about Batman and how I once had a crush on Aquaman (don't laugh. It is the perfect match, he talks to fish, I am a Pisces) but the most horrific BO).

It is nice to be greeted with a "Oh, I'm glad it is you" when you walk into the bar. Bryan had been concerned when he saw the cab pull up because that means that either the person is going to get drunk or they are "pre-drunk" and sometimes spoiling for a fight.

I said hello to Andrew and Ryan, got to feel Andrew's hair (he has a sort of Mohawk, his hair is longer in the middle but his head is not shaved (thank goodness)) so I got to feel the Mohawk part. It was very soft. I practice flirt with Andrew so he knows not to take me seriously.

The Reverend James, Joe Funko and a group of their friends were there, including Marian (Mary Ann?), the good reverend's fiance. They were playing Russian Roulette which involved taking the list of songs you normally sing and putting it into a basket. Then, when it was your turn to sing, you would draw out someone else's list. I decided to play as well and it was a lot of fun, I ended up singing two of the Reverend's songs (Daniel by Elton John and Come a Little Bit Closer by someone other than Elton John) and one of Bryan's songs (Drift Away, the Uncle Kracker cover). I didn't suck horribly. Reverend James sang one of mine, Wicked Game, and I leaned over to Marion (MariAnn? I really need to learn how to spell her name) and told her I had never been jealous of her before until that moment because the Reverend was "freakin' hot." She told me they met when he sang karaoke at the bar she worked at. I'm getting to know that group a little bit better and it is nice to have them to talk to when I'm waiting for Beth.

Liz and James also came up, I was able to give James his birthday present and card. The present was a velvet Batman folder I found at Wal-Mart (shh! James hates Wal-Mart) and I had to buy it for him even though it was completely cheesy. Batman is my favorite super hero and I knew he would appreciate it. Liz and James tried some of Beth's sukudo puzzles which Beth is now completely addicted to. I will not touch them because they involve numbers. Numbers are not our friends.

Karaoke was, as always, a great experience. I am glad that I have this time to spend with Beth and our other friends.






Yes. I did see Gil. While I still think that he may be The Guy, there is a very good chance that he has found The Girl and her name is not Dana. I have nothing to base this on, other than a few brief overheard conversations. Anyway, I still really like him but, as I've said before, he's also my friend. If this person (said with gritted teeth) makes him happy, then I am all for that. Plus, this will help me relax when I talk to him and I will stop being such a dork around him. I really do believe that if it is meant to be, it will happen.

Oh, and just so you know, I'm going to either become a nun or find myself a nice mail order bridegroom. I'm leaning towards the mail order bridegroom, actually, because I miss kissing and I don't think nuns get much of that in the convent.