16/14
Sixteen years ago today I was at The Cuff, where you could find me most Thursdays for karaoke (actually called Beareoke) and Sundays for the Tea Dance. There was never as much dancing happening at that one as at The Timberline, but The Timberline closed ages ago and The Cuff is still going strong. But it was always a big, fun crowd. A great place for singles like me to hang out with friends while trying to meet someone who would turn out to be more than a friend.
It was on November 9 of 2008 that I spotted a guy who I never remembered seeing before, which was unusual considering how much I'd been going out, and for how long. So I figured I'd better talk to him, and the rest is history. Two years later on Sunday, November 7, 2010, Garrett and I became domestic partners in a ceremony on Claire's condo building's roof. And two years and some change after that, when same-sex marriage became legal in Washington, we upgraded at The Cuff, the same place where we met and where he also proposed.
We took a little anniversary trip this year, and it's quite funny how it happened. We were watching Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List, and there's an episode where she does a night of stand-up at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, BC. The performers the nights before and after here were Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick. We figured we should see what was on the calendar since it was clearly a happening venue that's not particularly far away, and we could even stay there.
The first few pages in the list of events were pretty disappointing, mostly local bands. I'm glad I didn't give up, though, because A Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats were playing!
We've had a string of bad luck with concerts lately trying to see Information Society, our favorite band. First they dropped out of the lineup at a show in a concert shell on a beach in Florida. Tiffany and Taylor Dayne were also on the bill. Information Society unfortunately dropped out of the show and we canceled our trip. Then we got tickets to see them in San Antonio, but were already dreading the show because there was no seating, a late start, and two opening acts. And it was in Texas. We changed our plans when they announced an earlier show with one opener at a beautiful outdoor theater in Ojai, California. We booked it, they canceled it. They announced another new show somewhere nearby the night before, which was the day we would have arrived. We could have potentially still gone, or just gone to LA, but for financial reasons, we chose not to go. We still lost a lot of money, but we would have spent tons more if we went down and did our original plan of doing lots of studio tours.
I mention all of this to help you understand our new attitude, which is that we should definitely go to shows that sound good and are nearby. I have a long string of shows I regret not going to, like Animotion at the Historic Everett Theater about ten years ago, and A Flock of Seagulls at the cool new art center in Everett last Halloween. The lead singer of Bow Wow Wow was there recently, and I probably should have gone to that.
So we were all in for A Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats, and we had such a great time. We do still have a hard time with how late shows start, 8pm in this case. But we had all afternoon to enjoy as we saw fit, so we had some food and drinks, I played some slot machines, and we had a nap before time to have some dinner at see the show.
Whoever runs that Starbucks was really stupid for not keeping it open before the show. A bunch of 50+ year olds waiting for a show? The perfect crowd to sell a shit-ton of coffee to.
The theater had comfortable, sloped seating, so the view was good from everywhere. A Flock of Seagulls opened, and it was a little annoying how the younger bass player was trying to get everyone up and dancing. Later on when Men Without Hats came out, they accomplished that the correct way, by starting with one of their hits. We were still in the drink line when we heard the first few bars of "The Safety Dance" but the usher let all of us rushing in that they play it again later in their set so we didn't need to rush. And there's no railing going down the steps to the seats, so rushing is the last thing you want to do.
Anyway, nobody danced to A Flock of Seagulls until the last few songs, because they made us wait to hear the songs we knew. Men Without Hats had a crowd down front the entire show. And if you ever get a chance to see Men Without Hats, do it! They put on a really fun show and the lead singer is absolutely amazing. Somehow at 67 he's a bearded sex god in leather pants who never stops moving, which is something I wouldn't have expected based on his appearance when they first broke out over 40 years ago.
I sent the picture above to my friend Chad because we were always big fans, especially of the song "Pop Goes the World." I used it in my class playlist this week, I hope everyone who saw me mouthing "everybody here is a friend of mine" was able to hear it and catch the sentiment.
The boarding facility said Tilly was very well-behaved when we got back to pick them up, which was a relief.
For this trip, I took Wednesday-Friday off. I taught my class on Friday, then went to the Korean spa for a scrub and massage. It was another new guy and unfortunately he's more of a deep tissue guy like the other new guy. I really miss the guy before them who no longer works there. And the guy before him. From there I grabbed what I hoped would be a quick lunch at a crepe place but I couldn't eat it as fast as I wanted because it was lava hot. Then I went to the pharmacy for a walk-in shingles shot, which took forever.
I specifically got it yesterday so I would have as much time as possible to recover before the next time I teach. That was the right thing to do, as I feel pretty worn out today. If it could be just one day of side effects, that'd be lovely. It'd be nice to take a walk tomorrow morning, assuming the weather cooperates.
It was on November 9 of 2008 that I spotted a guy who I never remembered seeing before, which was unusual considering how much I'd been going out, and for how long. So I figured I'd better talk to him, and the rest is history. Two years later on Sunday, November 7, 2010, Garrett and I became domestic partners in a ceremony on Claire's condo building's roof. And two years and some change after that, when same-sex marriage became legal in Washington, we upgraded at The Cuff, the same place where we met and where he also proposed.
We took a little anniversary trip this year, and it's quite funny how it happened. We were watching Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List, and there's an episode where she does a night of stand-up at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, BC. The performers the nights before and after here were Bette Midler and Dionne Warwick. We figured we should see what was on the calendar since it was clearly a happening venue that's not particularly far away, and we could even stay there.
The first few pages in the list of events were pretty disappointing, mostly local bands. I'm glad I didn't give up, though, because A Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats were playing!
We've had a string of bad luck with concerts lately trying to see Information Society, our favorite band. First they dropped out of the lineup at a show in a concert shell on a beach in Florida. Tiffany and Taylor Dayne were also on the bill. Information Society unfortunately dropped out of the show and we canceled our trip. Then we got tickets to see them in San Antonio, but were already dreading the show because there was no seating, a late start, and two opening acts. And it was in Texas. We changed our plans when they announced an earlier show with one opener at a beautiful outdoor theater in Ojai, California. We booked it, they canceled it. They announced another new show somewhere nearby the night before, which was the day we would have arrived. We could have potentially still gone, or just gone to LA, but for financial reasons, we chose not to go. We still lost a lot of money, but we would have spent tons more if we went down and did our original plan of doing lots of studio tours.
I mention all of this to help you understand our new attitude, which is that we should definitely go to shows that sound good and are nearby. I have a long string of shows I regret not going to, like Animotion at the Historic Everett Theater about ten years ago, and A Flock of Seagulls at the cool new art center in Everett last Halloween. The lead singer of Bow Wow Wow was there recently, and I probably should have gone to that.
So we were all in for A Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats, and we had such a great time. We do still have a hard time with how late shows start, 8pm in this case. But we had all afternoon to enjoy as we saw fit, so we had some food and drinks, I played some slot machines, and we had a nap before time to have some dinner at see the show.
Whoever runs that Starbucks was really stupid for not keeping it open before the show. A bunch of 50+ year olds waiting for a show? The perfect crowd to sell a shit-ton of coffee to.
The theater had comfortable, sloped seating, so the view was good from everywhere. A Flock of Seagulls opened, and it was a little annoying how the younger bass player was trying to get everyone up and dancing. Later on when Men Without Hats came out, they accomplished that the correct way, by starting with one of their hits. We were still in the drink line when we heard the first few bars of "The Safety Dance" but the usher let all of us rushing in that they play it again later in their set so we didn't need to rush. And there's no railing going down the steps to the seats, so rushing is the last thing you want to do.
Anyway, nobody danced to A Flock of Seagulls until the last few songs, because they made us wait to hear the songs we knew. Men Without Hats had a crowd down front the entire show. And if you ever get a chance to see Men Without Hats, do it! They put on a really fun show and the lead singer is absolutely amazing. Somehow at 67 he's a bearded sex god in leather pants who never stops moving, which is something I wouldn't have expected based on his appearance when they first broke out over 40 years ago.
I sent the picture above to my friend Chad because we were always big fans, especially of the song "Pop Goes the World." I used it in my class playlist this week, I hope everyone who saw me mouthing "everybody here is a friend of mine" was able to hear it and catch the sentiment.
The boarding facility said Tilly was very well-behaved when we got back to pick them up, which was a relief.
For this trip, I took Wednesday-Friday off. I taught my class on Friday, then went to the Korean spa for a scrub and massage. It was another new guy and unfortunately he's more of a deep tissue guy like the other new guy. I really miss the guy before them who no longer works there. And the guy before him. From there I grabbed what I hoped would be a quick lunch at a crepe place but I couldn't eat it as fast as I wanted because it was lava hot. Then I went to the pharmacy for a walk-in shingles shot, which took forever.
I specifically got it yesterday so I would have as much time as possible to recover before the next time I teach. That was the right thing to do, as I feel pretty worn out today. If it could be just one day of side effects, that'd be lovely. It'd be nice to take a walk tomorrow morning, assuming the weather cooperates.