Around 8:30, I show up at Heather’s place for a pre-bar drink. The other people who were to join us haven’t called, so we wait a bit and see what happens. She’s got a really nice apartment, and some very cool cats. She also lets me see a few copies of books by David Sedaris (who we had talked about, during lunch). The bit that I read was quite good, and my ex-coworker Tracy had recommended him to me a few months back. I definitely have to get my hands on a copy of "Me Talk Pretty One Day."
Around 9-ish, we decide to go to the California Clipper, and maybe Heather’s friends will show up. On our way out, we run into her neighbor Steve, and he says he might join us later on.
At the bar, the atmosphere is quite relaxed and cool. Low lights, and on the stage… there’s this spotlight focused on a lone table, two chairs, and a bingo-cage with all the numbers/balls. A bit Brazil-esque, from my viewpoint. Amazingly – within the first three games, Heather and I have both won once. Seemed to be a bit of good fortune. Heather’s win resulted in two free beers; my win resulted in a Beefeater T-shirt and a rather nice looking bottle opener.
Bingo strikes me as a surprisingly successful Bread and Circus approach – and one that works well. The two guys announcing the Bingo letters were pretty funny – and at one point, they were showing off their "Indiana Jones" ringtone on their cellphones.
A bit later into the night, Steve shows up and joins us. I have to admit, when I saw him arrive – I felt a bit weird. I guess I had gotten used to the idea that just Heather and I would be hanging out. By the time he shows up, I’m pretty much tipsy. And my god – the urge to smoke came back with a vengeance.
The bar got smokier as the night went on, and I was very tempted to smoke. They were selling Camels behind the bar, and at one point a woman came by asking us what our "brand" was, and was giving away Camels. Heather handed me one of her spare packs, and I pretended it was mine – and gave my free packs to her. Lord – talk about temptation.
Throughout the remainder of the night, I actually had to walk outside twice. Just to get out of the smokiness a bit, but also to walk around. I have this thing where I’m "pretend" smoking, just drawing deep breaths, holding it a bit, and then exhaling slowly. It’s rather silly I know – but it seems to help. Partly it’s going through the motions, but a lot of it is just deep breathing. What is it now? Three and a half months? Less? The cravings aren’t daily… they just seem to come out of the blue. Mainly at bars, it seems.
At one point, Heather and I mention going to Chinatown. She’s looking for a bunch of chopsticks she can paint and use to make hairsticks. We kick the idea around a bit. And then… I’m a bit embarrassed by this. At some point in the evening, I start to nod off. WTF? Given how much I can drink normally, I’m surprised that I can’t handle my shit better. Quite embarrassing, actually. Before I know it, we’re all getting up to leave. Steve said goodnight to us, as he drove on his own. Heather drops me off at my apartment.
Like an idiot, I ask if she wants to come inside for another drink. Probably not the smartest thing for me to do, but I do it anyways. She declines, and I ask again about the Chinatown excursion. She says to give her a call tomorrow, and I say goodnight.
