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missroseroseWow, and I thought last Saturday at the Viking was fun. I'm starting to see why it is some people hang out at bars frequently - the more people you know who're there, the more fun it is.
To be fair, it didn't start out super-promising. I got there at 10:00, which is usually when things are in pretty full swing on a Saturday night, but it was near-dead. I met up with Lydia and her boyfriend Zack; we chatted for a bit until Monica and Eric got there. Then, since the line wasn't super-long, I went up to sing.
Related aside: I realize that this is Juneau, and we don't have all the nifty-awesome things that other places have because we're so out of the way. I'm cool with that, really. But - not having "My Sharona" available as a karaoke track? The #1 hit of 1979? What is wrong with you, people?? End of aside.
I found myself singing "Hand In My Pocket" sort of on the spur of the moment (hooray for my high-school obsession with Alanis Morrisette; I memorized that entire album in high school so I can always fall back on it). It was pretty fun. Obviously there weren't too many people there, but most of them were paying at least partial attention, and I think I did a pretty good rendition.
Afterward we went upstairs to play some pool. Monica and Eric beat Lydia and me three times in a row, but it was okay - we had a lot of fun anyway. (It helped that whoever was in charge of the music upstairs had much better taste than the usual hip-hop, hip-hop, hip-hop, and more hip-hop.) And midway through the game, Alfie (a mostly online/work friend that I'd invited along) showed up, so there were lots of people to chat with, which was pretty awesome. Zack bought me something called a Jamaican 10-Speed to try. I had about five sips of it and decided it was way too dangerous for me; it tasted good, but there was a pretty serious amount of booze in there. So the rest got split up between Monica and Lydia and Alfie. Which is probably the safest way to drink something like that.
Eric ended up leaving after the last game, while the rest of us went downstairs to dance. I'm not sure what happened this time around - I usually only have the stamina for one or two songs at most, but I was really grooving and having just a fantastic time out on the floor. (Maybe there's Red Bull in a Jamaican 10-Speed?) Lydia and Monica and Alfie all danced with me, and if the music wasn't more varied than the usual hip-hop, it was at least decent hip-hop. After about an hour of dancing on and off (mostly on), though, I was starting to figure that maybe I should have a break. We all went to check out the karaoke section again.
Things had picked up in the meantime, and I was impressed; there were some truly good singers going. Just for the heck of it, I put my name in for Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger". It's not exactly musically challenging, but it's a lot of fun to perform nonetheless; I actually managed to get a few folks' attention while I was singing, which I took to be a good sign. (Amusing story: When the MC called my name, some other dude was up there with me asking what he was supposed to be singing; I guess his name sounded like mine. The MC explained to him that I was the one he'd called, which seemed to relieve the other guy. He turned around, caught sight of me, and looked taken aback; I quirked an eyebrow at him and he said, "You're beautiful!" before heading back to his friends. It made me laugh, partly because of his seeming wonderment but mostly because it seemed genuinely sweet [not to mention much classier than the usual cadre of "compliments" girls hear from drunk dudes in bars]. It was probably due in part to him I sang as well as I did.)
Shortly afterward, Alfie sang "Basket Case"; quite courageously, I thought, since the woman who was on before him was one of the aforementioned excellent singers. But he obviously had fun with it, and he managed to charm a decent segment of the crowd, so he got some cheers and applause. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun seeing someone else I knew have fun performing. He didn't do a half-bad job, either. I guess Green Day's one of those bands that practically anyone can sing.
After that, I was about ready to go; I went back to the dance floor to go find Monica and tell her I was leaving, but ending up dancing to another couple songs. Go figure. :) I did get out eventually, and was making my way through the karaoke section when a young-looking dude shoved a slip of paper in my hand. I didn't really get a good look at him, just an impression of longish brown hair and black clothing. But once we all got outside, I looked at the paper (it was a karaoke request slip) and found this scrawled on the back:
STAB ME,
DIRECTLY IN
MY HEART.
LIVING WATCH
ME BLEED, LYING
AT YOUR FEET.
DYING, LIVING
FOR JUST ONE
LAST BREATH
WITH YOU.
...I guess I *would* attract the goth/emo fans, wouldn't I?
For all the OMG! DARK!ness, it was sort of sweet, even if the only emotion it really evoked in me was laughter at its absurdity. Alfie thought it was hilarious, too - apparently he also used to write poems for random girls in bars when he was younger. (Although to be fair, I don't have any way of knowing whether he wrote it for me or just wrote it offhand and was looking for some cute girl to foist it onto. But Alfie said it was definitely for me specifically, so I'll trust his judgment.) I think I'll put a date on it and save it in my memento box. My first fan letter. :D
Going home, I had a bit of a scare; as I turned onto our street out here in North Douglas, I saw a black-and-white cat by the side of the road with markings very similar to Dexter's. I stopped the car and got out to make sure, of course; fortunately, I could tell from the pitch of her Miaouing that it wasn't him. I coaxed her to come up for some skritchings; she was definitely a well-fed house cat, so I figured she wasn't lost or a stray. Hopefully she enjoyed her nighttime sojourn.
That was pretty much it. I'm still a touch worked up, so I might have a bath before bed. Hooray for not having to worry about waking up the neighbors!
To be fair, it didn't start out super-promising. I got there at 10:00, which is usually when things are in pretty full swing on a Saturday night, but it was near-dead. I met up with Lydia and her boyfriend Zack; we chatted for a bit until Monica and Eric got there. Then, since the line wasn't super-long, I went up to sing.
Related aside: I realize that this is Juneau, and we don't have all the nifty-awesome things that other places have because we're so out of the way. I'm cool with that, really. But - not having "My Sharona" available as a karaoke track? The #1 hit of 1979? What is wrong with you, people?? End of aside.
I found myself singing "Hand In My Pocket" sort of on the spur of the moment (hooray for my high-school obsession with Alanis Morrisette; I memorized that entire album in high school so I can always fall back on it). It was pretty fun. Obviously there weren't too many people there, but most of them were paying at least partial attention, and I think I did a pretty good rendition.
Afterward we went upstairs to play some pool. Monica and Eric beat Lydia and me three times in a row, but it was okay - we had a lot of fun anyway. (It helped that whoever was in charge of the music upstairs had much better taste than the usual hip-hop, hip-hop, hip-hop, and more hip-hop.) And midway through the game, Alfie (a mostly online/work friend that I'd invited along) showed up, so there were lots of people to chat with, which was pretty awesome. Zack bought me something called a Jamaican 10-Speed to try. I had about five sips of it and decided it was way too dangerous for me; it tasted good, but there was a pretty serious amount of booze in there. So the rest got split up between Monica and Lydia and Alfie. Which is probably the safest way to drink something like that.
Eric ended up leaving after the last game, while the rest of us went downstairs to dance. I'm not sure what happened this time around - I usually only have the stamina for one or two songs at most, but I was really grooving and having just a fantastic time out on the floor. (Maybe there's Red Bull in a Jamaican 10-Speed?) Lydia and Monica and Alfie all danced with me, and if the music wasn't more varied than the usual hip-hop, it was at least decent hip-hop. After about an hour of dancing on and off (mostly on), though, I was starting to figure that maybe I should have a break. We all went to check out the karaoke section again.
Things had picked up in the meantime, and I was impressed; there were some truly good singers going. Just for the heck of it, I put my name in for Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger". It's not exactly musically challenging, but it's a lot of fun to perform nonetheless; I actually managed to get a few folks' attention while I was singing, which I took to be a good sign. (Amusing story: When the MC called my name, some other dude was up there with me asking what he was supposed to be singing; I guess his name sounded like mine. The MC explained to him that I was the one he'd called, which seemed to relieve the other guy. He turned around, caught sight of me, and looked taken aback; I quirked an eyebrow at him and he said, "You're beautiful!" before heading back to his friends. It made me laugh, partly because of his seeming wonderment but mostly because it seemed genuinely sweet [not to mention much classier than the usual cadre of "compliments" girls hear from drunk dudes in bars]. It was probably due in part to him I sang as well as I did.)
Shortly afterward, Alfie sang "Basket Case"; quite courageously, I thought, since the woman who was on before him was one of the aforementioned excellent singers. But he obviously had fun with it, and he managed to charm a decent segment of the crowd, so he got some cheers and applause. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun seeing someone else I knew have fun performing. He didn't do a half-bad job, either. I guess Green Day's one of those bands that practically anyone can sing.
After that, I was about ready to go; I went back to the dance floor to go find Monica and tell her I was leaving, but ending up dancing to another couple songs. Go figure. :) I did get out eventually, and was making my way through the karaoke section when a young-looking dude shoved a slip of paper in my hand. I didn't really get a good look at him, just an impression of longish brown hair and black clothing. But once we all got outside, I looked at the paper (it was a karaoke request slip) and found this scrawled on the back:
STAB ME,
DIRECTLY IN
MY HEART.
ME BLEED, LYING
AT YOUR FEET.
DYING, LIVING
FOR JUST ONE
LAST BREATH
WITH YOU.
...I guess I *would* attract the goth/emo fans, wouldn't I?
For all the OMG! DARK!ness, it was sort of sweet, even if the only emotion it really evoked in me was laughter at its absurdity. Alfie thought it was hilarious, too - apparently he also used to write poems for random girls in bars when he was younger. (Although to be fair, I don't have any way of knowing whether he wrote it for me or just wrote it offhand and was looking for some cute girl to foist it onto. But Alfie said it was definitely for me specifically, so I'll trust his judgment.) I think I'll put a date on it and save it in my memento box. My first fan letter. :D
Going home, I had a bit of a scare; as I turned onto our street out here in North Douglas, I saw a black-and-white cat by the side of the road with markings very similar to Dexter's. I stopped the car and got out to make sure, of course; fortunately, I could tell from the pitch of her Miaouing that it wasn't him. I coaxed her to come up for some skritchings; she was definitely a well-fed house cat, so I figured she wasn't lost or a stray. Hopefully she enjoyed her nighttime sojourn.
That was pretty much it. I'm still a touch worked up, so I might have a bath before bed. Hooray for not having to worry about waking up the neighbors!
