First, a word of warning: This man will bring you all the martinis you order! His genial smile hides a cruel, mercenary heart.
He may, after a time, appear to you like this. Tricksy! Learn to recognize the danger in all its forms.
Our participants
Our progenitor,
pegkerr. It was her recent travails that prompted this long-overdue expedition.
Sprucing up and ready for action,
90_percent_sure.
Working the goatee and bringing levity not in congruence with his appearance,
huladavid.
Your humble narrator and organizer of the expedition,
jbru.The first venue
We settled in at King & I a bit later than we anticipated. Our reservations for 8:00 did not keep our table until our 8:30 arrival.pegkerr and I arrived via taxi just as huladavid was leaving, having given up on us and 90_percent_sure was getting her car valeted. It was a meeting of synchronicity and I took it as a good sign.
We found our first table. It was ideally suited for two, but we took two chairs from an adjacent set of tables and the four of us crowded around. It was cozy but tended to get cluttered with appetizer plates and drink containers in various states of fullness.
pegkerr is starting to feel the martinis.
While
huladavid watches intently.
90_percent_sure explains an important concept.
huladavid contributes salient points. With his hands.
pegkerr contemplates. I think at this point we were discussing the socio-economic implications of the post-9/11 world-view and its impact upon the politics of feminism as expressed in Harry Potter novels.
jbru is about two-and-a-half sheets to the wind at this point. And the wind is picking up.
90_percent_sure explains moderately her theories on designing for world peace.
pegkerr listens intently.
One of our goals for this expedition was happiness. I think this shows success.
The second table
Chafing at our confined spaces, we moved to a table that had been vacated by a large party.
At the new table, we were watched over by this goddess.
Even with the greater space afforded by our new venue, things are cozy.
huladavid entertains us with his interpretation of traditional Thai shadow puppet theater.
We're feeling sufficiently chummy.
At this stage, the report of your faithful narrator cannot be assured of complete accuracy. Fully three sheets. Perhaps 3.5.
As if to make things even more difficult to record, the world is becoming much more unstable.
pegkerr is really far too sober-looking at this point.
Amusement continues to run high.
huladavid is still intense.
90_percent_sure brings enough funny for the whole team.
No, no, silly
jbru. Pick up the martini before drinking....
Oh, yes, the funny was out in full force!
This appears to be a happy, contented
pegkerr. Success!
This is how I felt at the end of the evening. Warm, happy and ever so slightly out of focus.
When we had drunk our fill and the time came to leave, we poured
pegkerr into a cab. The rest of us set off on a little jaunt along Nicollet Mall.
After
huladavid left us to wander, strangely stable, back to his domicile, someone had us (us!) watch their sound equipment while they fetched a car or something.All in all a fun, successful evening. Even if I feel a bit of it here on Monday morning, I would do it all again. Just not next weekend, OK?
