I don't get faded, I get extremely lucid

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated... yeah. Wasn't able to blog this past Friday since after Josh's bachelor party (part 2) on Thursday night, I crashed and hung out with him, his brother, and his cousin Adriel all Friday too.

A lot happened Thursday night (I didn't take pictures and even if I did, they wouldn't have been G-rated), but all I can say is that I was a pilgrim in a unholy land - albeit, a non-sober monk surrounded by a parade of flesh with aftermarket parts. 'Nuff said... but the best part of Thursday was kicking it for like 3 hours in this completely ghetto bar hidden in the back of a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. Our entire group of guys had the place to ourself... hell, the bartender even knew the (white) guy by name who brought us to the joint.

It's nice not having to drive onself after having some drinks... good deal.

Friday I hung out with Josh and Adriel... morning was spent dropping off Val and running some wedding errands, then an hour at the driving range (I suck), a stop at Pike Place Market for flowers, and then lunch at Costco (yum, 1.50 Polish sausage and soda).

We then drove to the 1:30 wedding rehearsal, which lasted a bit longer than I thought it would... I think it ended up being almost an hour and half. No big snags, Mr. Chris Fong was late (doh), but otherwise... smooth sailing. Got to meet more family from both Josh and Val's side, plus check out the wedding site... pretty fantastic place they got. I wish I brought my camera to take pics, but I guess I'll have to wait until Sunday.

After the rehearsal, we rushed off pretty much to rehearsal dinner, stopping only by Val's place again to pick up the bouqets Josh had bought at Pike Place (which has incredibly cheap deals on flowers) as presents for his mom, Val's mom, and the grandmothers. Rehearsal dinner was at Sea Garden in downtown Bellevue... nothing like a full Chinese meal to keep the family happy. Shiv got off work around then, so she was able to join me there.

An informal dessert for whoever wanted to come was held later back at Josh and Val's apartment complex at the main office / clubhouse which the tenants can reserve for events... when Forrest was going off to LA last year, we had a shindig for him there. We get to the clubhouse, but the bonehead managers forgot to unlock the place for us and Val had to call the emergency maintinence phone number to ask for help. She got no immediate reply when she called, but about 10 minutes later, she gets a voice message from the manager saying that we should try using... a butter knife.

Well, nobody's sure if it'll work or not, so the whole family wisely decides to chill at Val place while I get to dispatched to run down to the clubhouse with butter knife, Val's keys, and cell phone in hand (the duties of a groomsmen are many). Apparently, the lock is not completely tight, so even though Val's key can't open the locked doors (all the keys to the locks in the apartment complex share a common shape), it fits the lock enough that you can turn the door knob a couple of degrees. Turning just those few degrees exposed the beveled back of the lock's bolt, enough that I could jam the butter knife into the breech and push the bolt back, to force it open.

Whoohoo, unlawful entry! Sorta.

So with the clubhouse open, there was a pretty comfortable and large sitting room, enough that all the about 2 dozen family and wedding party friends can sit, chill, and eat ice cream / cake. During all the fun, one of the bridesmaids (from Hawaii) starts to complain about how there's no good bars to kick it at back home, how everything's either A) too high-brow / snotty / bling-bling or B) sleazy / dirty / trashy ghetto. So Josh's cousin Adriel suggests we hit up a bar post-dessert and we did... it was nice small gathering of Josh & Val, plus groomsmen & bridesmaids... minus Justin (underage), minus Kristy (bugged out with BF) and plus Adriel (the bar expert), and later Shiv.

We ended up at this place called Tini Big's in Seattle's Belltown area, which specializes in martinis, but also serves regular beer and liquor. Adriel, being the loving cousin he is, was quite insistent on everybody having something to drink, especially after the drivers and riders were designated. Since Adriel, myself, Lisa (the bridesmaid from Hawaii), and of course Josh & Val weren't driving, several rounds of shots were consumed, and everybody had a great time. I think the plan was to go dancing at a nearby club, but since nobody was particularly keen about paying a $10 cover-charge, we decided to go to Dick's for burgers... following an inebriated Adriel and Josh, I think we walked up the same street 2 or 3 times before we finally got there.

When we finally got there, I had to piss like a racehorse and I immediately grabbed the bathroom key to visit the little boys' room. I had trouble finding it, since you actually have to leave the restaurant building and walk around the back, but two cool homeless d00ds chill'n outside with their cigs were nice enough to give me directions to where it was. After relieving myself, I came back outside talked to the homeless guys for a little, thanking them for their help. I noticed they were sitting outside the restaurant and had nothing to eat, so I asked them if I could buy them something at Dick's for them. The guys laughed, and said they'd actually prefer a cold beer to a burger. I think I got a kick out of their honesty, so I gave $5, which isn't a lot, but they were pretty excited - they thanked me and were walking into a gas station mini-market as I left to go back inside Dick's. Yeah, I'm horrible... helping homeless old geezers get faded.

But yeah... Dick's. What a great joint. Nothing like a 1950's style deluxe burger, fries, and a chocolate shake to keep the fire water inside my belly company.

After Dick's, I walked Shiv to her car and she went home... Chris also was driving home by himself, so he left too. The uncorrupted bridesmaid (and DD), Alena, drove the rest of home, while I, being the most lucid of the drinking club, rode shotgun to give driving directions since Alena is from Cali and doesn't know her way around Seattle. That meant Josh, Val, Adriel, and Lisa piled into the backseat of the Accord, trading insults, random grabbing, and laughing all the way home. Thanks to Alena's safe driving and my alcohol-enhanced navigational abilities, we made it back fine, and I crashed at Josh's again before he drove my back this morning around 10:30AM.

Good times, good times... I can't believe tomorrow's the day.

I better get cracking on writing that toast I'm supposed to give at the banquet...
posted by G at 1:18 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33