Q:
Why are you keeping a list of your drinks?A: I guess I thought that it would be interesting. I've heard of other people keeping track of their food online, or keeping and tallying their garbage, or taking a picture a day. I like alcohol, so I thought a list would be interesting.
Q:
How do you remember what you drank? Sometimes it seems like you drink a lot, so how do you remember all that?A: Most of the time I just remember and make a mental note as I get a new drink. Each time I get a new drink, I review what I've had before that. Kind of like that game you played in school where a student would start with "A = aardvark" and then the next kid would be like "A = aardvark and, uhmmm, B = bronco" and then the next kid would repeat A, B and then add a C, and so on. So it's kind of like that. And I also use my phone. Some people think I'm texting, but I'm really typing a list on my phone's notepad.
Q:
Do you think you drink more or less now that you keep a list?A: I'm not really sure. I do know that I try to get out to more places to try a drink so that I can post the location. But really, if I was to search back through the past 8 months, there probably are very few new places that I've been.
Q:
Do you list every drink?A: Yes.
Q:
C'mon, eVeRY one?A: To the best of my knowledge that I can remember, yes. There are only two times that I can think of that I've left a drink or two off the list.
Q:
Ooohhhh, what are they?A: Not saying. There's a reason I didn't list them. :)
Q:
What's your favorite drink?A: I don't have a favorite, but I have been drinking much more beer over the past few months than I used to. It's kind of funny - I love cheaper beers...Pabst, Rainier, Oly, Miller High Life; but I love the stronger, well-made beers too like IPA's, summer brews, winter brews, Belgians, etc. I first remember tasting Miller High Life at Noc-Noc back in December or January. I bought it because it was only $1 a bottle or something like that and it tasted sooo good and refreshing. So I had another one. It's my favorite macro-brew right now. I especially love the bottles; the shape of the neck isn't that of a typical bottle. Plus, the glass is clear. I like that.
Also, I tend to drink heavier drinks in the colder weather, like whisky and wine and higher-alcohol beers. I was also drinking a lot of tequila in the spring. It might have been my trip to California that got me all excited about tequila, but I really haven't had as much this summer as I thought I would.
Q:
What's your favorite bar?A: Hmmm....? I tend to like more of the divey places...those with pool tables (even though I can't shoot worth sheet), dart boards, video games, pull tabs, remnant cigarette smell, carpet on the floor, karaoke, cobwebs, etc. Places that are broken in. The Cloud Room on top of the Camlin was awesome. A piano bar. To go out on the rooftop at night and look at the moon, or the array of clouds reflected off the Camlin's neon, was unforgettable. That's not to say I don't like the swankier bars either, cuz I enjoy those as well, although they're usually not the places I end up going back to.
LA has/had some really cool bars, both divey and swanky. I was in one a few years ago called the "Little Cave". It was designed to look like a bat cave on the inside - it was very dark and black with little coves and hideouts within.
Check it out. It was cool because it felt divey, but actually it was very designed and planned. Tacoma also has/had some really cool bars. Magoos was a tiny bar around the corner from where Susan used to live and they served beer and wine and had a few places to sit and one video game. And if you tired of just drinking beer, you could walk next door and get a cocktail at a *really* divey bar.
Anyway, if I had to name a bar that I really like, it's
Shorty's. They have tons of cheap beer, awesome video games and pinball, a swanky seating area in the very far back, a few seats on the sidewalk for outdoor looky-loo'ing, but the clincher is, it's the only place I can get a veggie chili cheese dog with my Hamms. I usually only get down there once or twice a year.
Q:
What's the worst hangover you've ever had?A: I can't think of any absolute killer ones I've had lately...usually I'm just tired the next day because I didn't sleep well the night before. I do remember one I had about 6-7 years ago. I went to the West Seattle Street Fair with a good friend, Matt L. whom I used to work with. I hadn't had anything to eat most of the day and we went to the beer garden and we drank a lot of beer; and that might have been all we had to drink, but I had a lot. A LOT. We were out most of the night and he dropped me off on my front porch with my pants around my ankles (not sure how THAT happened) and Susan pulled me into the house, or maybe I stumbled. Anyway, I was hung over for two days. Two days! The. Worst. Ever.
Q:
Speaking of hangovers, what do you do to prevent one?A: Well obviously drinking less isn't usually an option, but I try to drink A LOT of water (when I remember), eat a good amount of food, take ibuprofen before bed (I've been doing less of this lately because it's not good for your stomach), take a vitamin before bed, sleep with a damp, folded washcloth on my forehead, eat a good breakfast with protein, and also drink tomato juice, or V8 or something like that. I heard somewhere that tomatos can be good for hangovers, and I love tomatos anyway, so there you go.
Q:
Bud Light Lime. Really?A: Have you tried it? That's real lime in there my friend.
Q:
One last question...can I drink with you?A: Love to! Know of a good place?
Being bonsai.
Zen
I've always loved Japanese bridges.
Candid
London (kind of), Susan, and Michelle
This is Matt. He, his wife, and two daughters live in Pasadena. He was my best man, my first college roommate and is a great friend. They had us over for dinner tonight and it was great seeing him and his family.
Ivy covered facade
twigged ceiling, "Christmas" lights for ambiance, wood benches
fish aquarium behind bar
puffer fish lanterns
firepit provides additional ambiance
beach-pebble wall
open bbq pit in back corner
Arrogant Bastard is probably their most well-known beer, but my favorite is the Double Chocolate Oatmeal Stout. Hmmm...I wonder why?
The bar.
The restaurant, with indoor/outdoor seating. (Note the heat lamps in the background.)
I always love returning to Southern California. It brings back such great memories from when I lived there and it's always great to see my sister, Michelle, or SOJO (Sister Of Jon), as she has nicknamed herself. We're in the OC for the next several days enjoying the sun and sand and surf and suds (and miSHELL).
Bellevue and I-90
King Street Station - International District
Seattle Skyline (wished my camera was steadier)
Shangri-La along Lake Washington Blvd.
Police along Jackson Street
Telephone Poles along the waterfront
I-90 Bridge
Chelan Cafe (not open 24 hours)
Cadillac Hotel - Pioneer Square
Pod: Band of Horses. Sun(moon)roof open. Visit to Alki. Liberty: Blue glow. Alki Asleep. Only sound heard; water over rocks. Soothing. Sleepy. Further...
Lights deceiving. City sleeps. Alki drive. Up gully...
Lonely - longer. Couch! Stop. Snap. Gully, gone. Down Admiral. Solo. West Seattle Bridge (Freeway) 60 mph. Timberlake 90 decibels. 1st Avenue.
No one. Wait! Sanitation! Seattle Times! Through Pioneer Square. Contour >> people! Continue 1st. Lusty Lady - open. Hungry now. Beths? Hurricane? 13 Coins? WHYM? Never been. YNOT? Veggie scramble. Coffee (decaf). 76 mph, I-5 drive, 4 am; passing cars. West Seattle Bridge (Freeway). Off at Alki. Streets still. Sodium lamps lit. Walkers - 2, not together. Back home, Charlestown. 60 mph up, over, bumps, round corners, and down; left on 48th, right into gravel. 4:30. City Asleep.
Sometime from when I was 2 years old or so until 8 years old, I lived in Puyallup, a small town about 40 minutes south of Seattle. It's grown much since I lived there 32+ years ago, but Main Street is still the same as it was when I lived there. The Western Washington Fairgrounds inhabit much of the downtown area of Puyallup and it was here that I have many great memories. Riding in the backseat of the car down the steep hill of Meridian and into downtown, I never forgot to look into the fairgrounds, vacant most of the year, dreaming of the late summer days when I could finally ride the rollercoaster and enter baked goods for prizes. The wooden rollercoaster was my very favorite ride, and I still love coasters to this day. It would clackety-clack up the first steep hill; the large chain pulling it, pulling it to the top, where the sign at the crest read "Keep arms inside the car at all times." When the final car was released from the hold of the chains, the coaster would speed down, rickety-ricking over the steel tracks, shuddering the wooden supports below and securing my body against the boxed confines of the cart. I loved the roller coaster and looked forward to it throughout the year.
