I wasn't really planning to go to Rich O's last night. I also wasn't planning to not go. I was just going to wait and see if I was invited. Because I'd already screwed things up Thursday night, I didn't expect any such invitation.

So I was trying to take a nap. I'd just been woken up, actually, by a text message from MusicalYuppieDude telling me that it was "fuckin loud" at Rich O's. Then a few seconds later, my brother-in-law called to invite me down to Rich O's.

Okay, so not the invitation I'd been wondering about, but a welcome one nevertheless. I threw some clothes on and went.

Upon arrival, I immediately saw the source of the noise that MusicalYuppieDude had complained about. There were a half-dozen drunken idiots over at the bar. Lucky for me, Dina and Kenny were at the island, so I was able to join them and pretty much ignore the noise. Pretty much.

I had a Schlenkerla Marzen (3972) and a little pizza and I talked with Dina and Kenny for an hour or so. LaptopGirl came in and, after some gentle coaxing, talked with us briefly. So Dina got to met LaptopGirl, finally. She had, I'm sure, suspected that I'd just made her up. Like she used to think I'd made HatGirl up.

Speaking of HatGirl, at about the time I ordered my second Marzen (3989) HatGirl texted me that she might be coming to Rich O's. This was a huge relief for me, because I was very seriously dreading what would happen to my mood when Dina and Kenny went home and I was left alone in that crowded room.

I could feel the stirrings of an anxiety attack. It was going to be Thursday night all over again, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

Anyway, after Dina and Kenny left, and a million PBDs stole my seat at the island, I sat at the bar and tried to contain myself while I waited for HatGirl. I had a third Marzen (4006). I went outside and got some air about a million times.

When HatGirl arrived, I was in a pretty crappy mood. But HatGirl was also in a crappy mood (probably not for the same reason) so it all worked out. We were crappy together.

After I'd finished my Marzen, I had what was left of HatGirl's Delirium Tremens (1317). By the time HatGirl left, LaptopGirl was already long gone, so I just sat at the bar drinking a Diet Coke for another hour or so and waited for my hands to stop shaking.

It was a better night than I'm making it out to be. It certainly could have been worse. Like after I got home I managed to install my new toilet thingy without somehow burning my house down. So that was cool.

Please sit down before reading this.

I'll wait.

Okay.

Today, get this, I actually left my house on a day off work!

I know, unbelievable. But true nevertheless.

After spending the first half of the day thinking up creative ways to kill myself*, I suddenly found myself energized this afternoon. This was a good thing, because I had important and pressing shit I needed to do:

1. Buy a toilet thingy, because my old thingy broke.

2. Buy some water-softener salt.

3. See what new DVDs were at Wal-mart.

So I did the first thing, then I skipped the second thing and went to Wal-mart. While I was buying some new movies, and contemplating going back home to preheat my head at about 400 degrees*, my phone rang.

HatGirl!

Yay!

So instead of offing myself*, I ended up going to Louisville to have lunch with HatGirl. It was, of course, very nice. though this is now twice in less than a week that I've had lunch with HatGirl. I may be becoming spoiled. I may just start showing up at her house to demand, "What are we eating?"

Anyway, I didn't eat anything today. I had a Breckenridge Porter (146) though. It was good. And the company was so good that I didn't need to eat.

And AlliGirl got to meet HatGirl, and vice-versa.

Then we went upstairs to check out some bar prospects for HatGirl's bachelorette party. Because AlliGirl might be able to get HatGirl and her friends in for free.

HatGirl begged and cried*, but I had to put my foot down and tell her that I wasn't available to be the stripper at her party.

Then I went and took care of item number two from above, then I came home.

Fun!

* - Not really.

I wonder if she really understands, why I did what I did. What I had to do.

She says that she understands. She says that she wishes me well.

I believe her when she says those things, and I can tell that she believes it when she says those things.

But sometimes, every now and then, I see something out of the corner of my eye.

I see her looking at me, out of the corner of her eye.

I see something that doesn't quite fit.

I see something.

1. They did it already.

2. It's called Sideways.

3. But it could still be good.

4. I want Cusack to play me.

5. Or Jason Alexander.

6. Really, I want a cross between the two of them.

7. Not particularly attractive, but cool, you know?

8. I'd like a cameo, please.

9. Don't tell me the ending.

10. I want to be surprised.

I get a fair amount of comment-SPAM at barenada.com. Maybe a couple hundred a day. Most of them I just delete. But this one I thought was funny enough to post.

Your site has very much liked me. I shall necessarily tell about him to the friends.

I see, looking back, that it's been over a month and a half since I last reviewed a new beer. This is inexcusable, but the excuse that I'm going to use is that Schlenkerla Marzen has been readily available at Rich O's, and so I've been drinking a lot of that.

Well, tonight was a bust at Rich O's, in several ways, so now I find myself sitting at home almost stone-sober. This can not stand. So I've broken into my 'fridge and am now imbibing a new beer for me. I even took a picture of the thing.

Slaapmutske Triple Nightcap

Hazy dark yellow. Decent head that faded rather quickly. Much more yeasty aroma than others of this style, quite intriguing, though. Mouthfeel a little thin, but standard for the style. Flavor pretty much what the aroma had led me to believe. Apples and yeasts, and some spices in there as well. Pretty goddamn good. I will definitely have more of this.

Tonight was, like I said, a bust at Rich O's. There were several reasons for this. First, I had a glass of New Holland Dragon's Milk (104) in honor of HatGirl, who couldn't make it. I've liked the Dragon's Milk okay in the past, but tonight it just didn't sit well with me at all. It seemed a lot stronger than I remembered. I barely finished the 10-ounce pour.

Next, I tried to drink a Smithwick's, but I couldn't finish the glass (1724). It wasn't helping at all.

The other reason that tonight was a bust was that I, once again, managed to forget what's really important to me. I get so fucking selfish sometimes, I forget almost everything besides my own wants and my own needs. Like those things ever mattered in the least.

I forget that this is all real now, present-tense, and that my actions and my behaviour can have very real consequences.

I ended up coming home at 9:30 or so, and then managed to make matters worse by spending a good part of the next hour and a half flinging giant greasy turds into spinning fan blades.

I hope I can be forgiven. And, if not, then I hope I can forgive myself.

So I'm off work tomorrow, for at least the first half of the day, so I've got to decide what to do tonight.

I could go to Rich O's for a while, or I could stay home and work on some performance appraisal stuff for work.

Let's see, I'll flip a coin.

Heads I'll go to Rich O's, and tails I won't stay home and do performance appraisal stuff.

Here goes...

flip flip flip flip flip catch reveal

It's heads!

Looks like I'm going to Rich O's tonight.

My AlliDay lunch started out on a sour note for me, but it got better.

First, the Newcastle keg blew as AlliGirl was starting to pour it.

Slightly undaunted, I asked for a Breckenridge Vanilla Porter.

That keg blew as well.

I figured I'd go ahead and go for the trifecta, so I asked for a Young's Double Chocolate Stout.

Imagine my surprised relief when AlliGirl was able to pour me a full glass (500). It was very good.

Also, AlliGirl has agreed to help me test my video chat capability. I guess she's not afraid of seeing my dick, like everyone else. So, yay for AlliGirl! Way to be brave!

Now all I have to do is find my old webcam and microphone for her, then we should be able to video chat. Wait, maybe she'll need chat software as well.

Anyway, here's a picture I took today. It looked cooler in person.

I've been spending some time reading through some of my old blog entries. I do this sometimes. One of my random quote thingies will catch my eye and I'll go read the original entry. Then I'll start reading all the subsequent entries for a while.

Like, I just read the stuff from December 2006.

I was in a weird mood for almost that entire month.

I think that the last entry of the month was also my favorite.

I guess I've been fooling myself, pretending with so much effort that there for a little while I actually believed it. I actually believed that it might be different this time.

But the hour looms nearer. The alcohol in my body fogs my senses even as it magically makes things more clear. I can see the truth. I know what's about to happen.

The same thing that happened on the past two occurrences of this date.

This little annual ceremony of mine has been polluted and corrupted. It's not even close to what it once was. It used to be something I'd look forward to. Ring out the old, usher in the new. Crap like that. It was kind of fun.

And now, now it's nothing more than a séance. Intensified, surely, because of the date, but otherwise no different than any of the dozens that preceded it this year.

In less than an hour, it begins again.

I'll extend this invitation to the rest of you. Even though I don't know you, and you could all be perverts, I'll ask you anyway.

I've got a new computer with a new webcam and new chat software.

I want to see if I've got all this stuff set up correctly so I can do a video chat.

I've asked several people, and all have declined. I think it's because they're all afraid that I'm going to whip my dick out or something.

Well, I've already done enough damage to the internet, when I uttered the word fuck in all its cursed glory.

I have no desire to sully the internet any more by introducing nudity to its pristine purity.

So, I promise, there will be no whipping-out of my wee-wee. I just want to see if I can video chat.

Can somebody help?