Turns out I'm not as cool as you thought I was…
Last night was pretty fun. After the somewhat frustrating day that I had, it was a good release. The baby never went down for a nap until around 6 when he passed out in his playpen while eating a Girl Scout cookie. It was pretty funny. Judging from his position, it looked like he was sitting and then just keeled over to the left. Poor kid.
It's important for you, my loyal readers, to understand how essential the baby's nap is to my day. Without it, I don't get a shower. Usually if I just leave him in his crib and go shower he cries the whole time and I feel like a horrible mother. I also don't get ample opportunity to sit at the computer and get work done if he doesn't take a nap. So by 5 p.m. yesterday we were both losing our minds.
But anyway, a little after 7 p.m. I headed down to Emma's coffeehouse on Butler St. I had never been there before but it's simply a charming space and the coffee is very tasty. I had a cappucino with a shot of hazelnut and they put just the right amount of syrup in. Scrumptious. The Shanleys were there (I know she doesn't go by that last name but I've forgotten hers. apologies), she for a meeting, of what sort, I never thought to ask, and he for transportation, coffee and conversation with yours truly. My cappucino made me extremely hyper and talkative, but that was okay because I always have plenty of dumb shit to say.
Emma's is sort of this “we're-cool-and-laid-back-about-everything” place so I guess I shouldn't have been too puzzled when some folks filed in and started playing Celtic music. They were pretty good and amazingly Shanley and I got used to yelling over the bagpipes and flutes.
From there we went to this event at the Rex Theatre on the South Side called Character. It's hard to explain but it was basically an audience-participation game show to find the biggest character in Pittsburgh.
Now, before I go any further, I need to say that the gal bartender at the Rex makes a mean Cosmopolitan. So mean, in fact, that by my third sip I was already thinking in sentence fragments. When I was called upon to be a contestant, I became instantly nervous…not because I was afraid of being onstage but I realized that due to the drink all of my wit and wisdom was floating around somewhere in my bladder.
During that round I was competing against a girl named Helen who was into hardware. I remember looking at my shoes a lot and then the host, Sturling, asking me about different celebrities I'd like to shtup. At one point, I became dumbstruck and stared at Sturling, clutching the microphone while he stared back at me through these goggles. For a brief moment, I thought, “Where the hell am I? And why can I not think of one goddamned thing to say?” For what it's worth, Helen wasn't a whole lot sharper.
When it came time to judge, Mama, the official judge did pick me. However, in the spirit of democracy, the audience was allowed to rebuke and rebuke they did. Helen was pretty popular among the men in the audience so I was sent packing with a Tom Jones record as my consolation prize. I guess the consolation prizes were supposed to be ironic but I was pretty happy with it. It has some jams on it and is in very good shape. I put it on the boyfriend's pillow when I got home as a little surprise.
Shanley and this gal Ginger got to the final round and today I was thinking that it would have been rather silly if Shanley and I had to have the final face off. But Ginger ended up taking the crown.
Mama entertained the crowd with some music and tap-dancing, wearing this rather fabulous red dress. Her evening wear never fails to make me green with envy.
Overall, it was a very fun evening. When I woke up this morning I was so tired, though. I got a decent amount of sleep but I was having trouble just opening my eyes. I'm not sure what the problem was.
Alright, enough fooling around. Gotta go get some stuff done.
