Party!

The evening starts off askew. Despite Kent’s having called on Friday, to ensure that Nola’s was open on Monday and offering their patented "Three Oysters for a Dollar" deal… we show up on the sidewalk to find the establishment closed. One of the workers (cleaning the patio and installing some flowerbeds) was nice enough to lend us some paper, and let us tape a sign up on the front door.

As a group, we headed over to Papajin on Milwaukee, and continued the evening there.

There was a lot of friggin’ food ordered. Almost everyone got an entree, and the whole meal was a bit free-for-all, with everyone sampling a bit of everything else. Mixed into the meal were numerous pieces of sushi and sashimi, which made things even better.

Lots of food, but from a different angle. :)

For some reason, a lot of us got into the girly-drink mode. So there were several Mai Tais ordered. Yeah, I’m not sure either. But just go with it.

Wow! Sometimes, you get really lucky with a photo. I wish the background (to the left of Stu) wasn’t so dark… but I’m loving this picture to no end.

Ah, and Stu brought with him his newest portfolio. Great stuff in there, and the physical object itself is a work of art. If you haven’t seen Stu’s photography yet, you need to go there now and check it out.

After the meal, we walked to Dave’s car and headed over to Intertown Pub. We stopped to admire a Spanish dentist’s office which, despite the world’s progression into the twenty-first century… remains rooted, steadfast, in the 1970’s.

BEST_WAITING_ROOM_EVER!

At the bar, I ended up meeting Greg, who’s been in Chicago a few weeks. He had his notebook with him and I got to peek through a few images. I asked him to show me the one that was his favorite, and took this picture of him.

I think that’s a tattoo on the inside of his lip, and I think it says "Martyr." I don’t recall exactly… he might have explained this, I might have made it up.

And this would be Orie (sp?). He’s been in town a few days and wanted to find a bar that was open until 4 AM or so. He was staying somewhere, but didn’t want to pay the money to actually stay the night, since it was already so late. He and Greg happened to meet each other, drinking at the Double Door. And somehow, Stu ran into them and brought them to Intertown.

Greg, adding some flourishes to an illustration. I was rather taken with what I saw in his notebook, and I hope Greg finds a way to show some of his work. He had slides with him, but I couldn’t really see them all that well in the lighting. I found out he’s currently waiting tables, which in my mind is a terrible waste. He’s got talent, and I hope to hear about his first show in the coming months.

As I was making my leave, he was nice enough to offer me one of his images. I tried to decline, but he was rather insistent. I picked an illustration of a trumpet player, and he added a note to it.

Another shot of Orie, flipping through Greg’s book.

The Trumpet Player. Honestly, I preferred just the plain sketch version, which had the player leaning against the post and the train tracks in the background. But this was more than an illustration – I take it as a postcard, as a memento.

Greg – if you’re reading this, good luck with the artwork. I look forward to hearing about your first gallery showing, and I expect a proper invite. :)