omg.

me and crazyczech decided to go out to the castro last night. just because.

Badlands was boring as fuck, so we went to Booty Call Wednesdays at QBar.

such an attractive clientele, and fun fun fun! well worth the $3 cover.

ugh. and i’m still hung over.

it’s busy at the hotel tonight.  there’s some convention in town. and lots of stupid-ass people, with stupid ass problems that are not necessarily concierge-related, but they call me to help them anyway: 

- i’m at pier 40, and i can’t get a cab.

- your wireless is slow.

- i lost my phone in a cab. can you call the cab company and have the driver bring it here?  why aren’t they calling me back? i need that phone!

- where can we eat that’s good? we’ll eat anything. 
no, we don’t want sushi.
no, we’re vegetarian.
no, we don’t want italian
no, we don’t want american.
etc. etc. etc.

in other news, i’m working at the Other Hotel tomorrow in the am, because Lana is on vay-cay.

in other, other news, except for the stupid-ass people, i kind of enjoy the busy-ness of it here.  the DJ is pumpin!

and in other, other, other news, i’m going to the ‘hoe again on wednesday! good times!

not, it’s not gemini’s twin, it’s actually twin sister.

but if you remember the SNL skit, you’ll know what i’m talking about.

anyway, twin sister is playing tonite at the hotel. it’s hipster central in the lobby tonite. i can’t even count how many ironic moustaches i’ve seen already, and the show doesn’t start for another hour.

i don’t know who the hell twin sister is, but thanks to the power of google and youtube, i’m totally well-versed. they’re kinda ethereal-sounding. reminiscent of the bands from 4AD from the early 90s:  cocteau twins, dead can dance, this mortal coil, throwing muses, his name is alive.  (note: before all of you music geeks lash out at me, here’s my disclaimer: i’m not sure if the aforementioned bands were actually on 4AD, so don’t get all crazy on me.) 

i don’t really know how to describe their music, but it’s sorta like unicorns and stars and rainbows and waterfalls and “material girl” era madonna, with a backdrop of raindrops and flashdance and chimes, and lots of airy, breathless chanting, and charades. weird.

have a look/listen:

so many people dislike this song.  why all the hate?  i quite enjoy it.

i just saw this movie today at the wesfield center.  it’s so charming and witty.  and full of shakespeare references.  loved it!

CrazyCzech says that gnomeo reminds him of Sy.

i think so, a little.

and btw. i created a gnome of myself. i am hilarious!

today at the gym i saw the most horrible footwear on 2 seemingly sane and normal people.

bleah.

but clearly anyone who would wear these are nowhere near normal.

15 feb 2011. 

me and crazyczech are going to the ‘hoe tomorrow! haven’t been in a few weeks, and it hasn’t snowed there in about a month. *GASP*

this time, we’re going to heavenly in the south ‘hoe. should be good times!

it was wed. 9 feb 2011.

it starts as it usually does. concierge event.   free booze, free food, good times!

two events were scheduled at the wharf at the same time.  one at the Franciscan, and the other at McCormick&Kuletos. rather than choose between events with free food and booze, i went to both of them.  (research, people! it’s only fair to the venues.)

first, CrazyCzech and i were at happy hour at Puccini. not ideal, but its close to his place of work. some fries and pizza and meatballs. oh, and 2 glasses of sparkling wine! (ugh, no wonder i was so drunk. read on, you’ll get the idea)

now, on to the event. aries was gonna go with me, but he had other stuff going on, so i txt JNayNay. she met me at the wharf.

first stop, theFranciscan. big eye-talian and seafood restaurant at pier 43 1/2. sweeping views of the bay and alcatraz. and if you crane your neck to the west, you can see the golden gate bridge. the event was sponsored by where magazine, and most of the concierge and hospitality community were in attendance.  after a few minutes, i saw my BFF concierges from the hyatt,  eye and maz–whom i love love love, btw!  i wasnt drinking anything complicated–sparkling wine with guava juice, quelle tropicale! food was coming fast and furiously. pictures were being snapped. i felt like san francisco glitterati.

an hour into the event, i’d had 2 sparkling wine with guava juice things, and part of JNayNay’s fruit-a-licious rum drink. more of the concierges suddenly appeared. hm, they must have been at the other event. now’s the time to make a move!  said the voices in my head.

me, JNayNay, eye, maz, and flo, all head over to McCormick&Kuletos. not too crowded, and i recognize a few other hospitality people. bar’s still open,  and wine and specialty cocktails are flowing freely. good times.  the bunch of us snag some real estate at a small table and proceed to discuss how intoxicated we all were the last time we got together, and that it’s par for the course for a concierge event. we talked to the manager, the events person, the host, etc. etc. etc.  more wine, and then more sparkling wine.  yeah!

8:00pm rolled around, (full on 30 minutes after the event ended) and we departed McCormicks. our destination: the bar-formerly-known-as-the-DirtyMartini, and currently-known-as TheParlor. Eye offered to buy the first round. and then somehow we had another. we become BFF with the bartender because we’re in the industry, (and probably because we’re the only ones in the place, ‘cept for 2 other drunkards at the bar.) in a fit of over-animation, Eye spills the last bit of  his Junipero martini, and since the bartender is our BFF, he buys everyone a round. *urgh*

this is when everything starts to get haaaaa-zzzzzzz-yyyyyy.

as we finish our free round, we’re discussing our next place of imbibement. we want somewhere fun! and cheap! with strong drinks!  ok, the cinch it is.

we pile into a cab (or so they tell me). and we drink more. and btw, it’s only 9:00pm. eye tries to pay with a CC 2x, and shot down each time, because the bar is cash-only. at one point JNayNay returned from the restroom to find shots of fernet lined up for everyone. (oh… em… gee…)

somehow, Maz’s ex GF arrives, and she’s the butchier than any of the chromosonal males who are present.

this is when it gets reeeeeeealllllly.  hazy. so, bullet-points include: 

JNayNay tries to leave repeatedly. we don’t allow her. CrazyCzech runs into us, as we’re leaving theCinch. we go to LushLounge. i have no recollection of this.  a few drinks later, we stumble to blur. i still have no recollection of this. we finish drinking (or so we thought), and our posse disbands.

apparently, we go to RBar. i try to hold it together, and order a corona. i hardly drink it.

next thing i know, it’s 10am the next morning, and i’m in my bed.  wtf happened?

 because i usually work at night, i get lotsa question about nightlife. last night, i got outta work early, so i tried to go to jones. it’s a lounge of sorts. it opened a few months ago, then closed, strangely. yesterday, on urban daddy, i read that it was open again.

LIES! 

when i got there, it was closed closed CLOSED. like a prude’s legs.

i decided that it was going to be a night of research, so i checked out the DJ at LeColonial. the last time i was there was in… 2007 (?) i remememember that canada boy was visiting. its the same as before. pop music. anything and everything that’s tres populaire, which you’d hear on the radio. bartender was a little Dbag-ish though. i stayed for a drink, and headed over to…

full frontal fridays at Cafe Cafe. pop music. hot go-go boys. more pop music. butch lesbians wearing neckties and vests. throw in a few cocktails and it’s fun fun fun! within the first few minutes, i met a butch lesbian who was watching the go-go boys shake their gogos. later i ran into other butch lesbionics who were wearing ties and vests.  they looked kinda like justin beiber to me. kinda. the rest of the night was mix of jocky boys, rice queens, europeans, and even several straight couples. pop music. the cure for the common boredom!

after my night of research, i hung out with aries.  which is always fun. i don’t know what the hell we talked about till 4am, but we had tons of fun. and then we ate hummus. (totally makes, sense, no?  well… no, but just go with it)

i was off yesterday. i went to aries’ place to pick up my bag of stuff that didn’t sell when i tried selling to crossroads last week. i drove him to work. since i had the car, i drove around a little. realized that it was a nice day in SF–sunny and fog-free.

“what the hell am i doing driving around?”  i thought to myself.

i return the car and ride around the mission/castro/dolores park area. i have a hankering for sushi, so i go to webe sushi. eventually, i end up at buffalo (s)exchange. exciting things abound over there. did you know that they’ve made the switch from analog to digital in terms of issuing certificates for trade? well, they’ve made the switch from analog to digital in terms of issuing certificates for trade. wow. i bought some crap i don’t need, and also a present for aries. i hope he likes it.

i ride around some more, without a destination, without a purpose.

i tap out a message on my cell phone:
off 2nite. whos around 2drink w/ me 2nite?

i select JMcD, CJo, JNayNay, Mikeytown and hit SEND.

i wander on my bicycle, and let the streets lead me. up, down around and over. without realizing, i end up near the castro. and suddenly i have to pee like a motherfucker. *fuck* i briefly consider going into one of the many bars down there to take a leak, but decide it’d be counter-productive. i’d have to buy a drink, which will in-turn, lead me to pee some more. and the endless cycle starts.

as i ponder my conundrum, JNayNay calls.
“me me me!” is the answer to my txt.

we decide on Casanova.
it’s happy hour, and a hibiscus cooler is on special for 5 bucks! i have no idea what the hell a hibiscus cooler is, but it sounds light and refreshing. later i watch the bartendress make the drink, only to discover that it’s Stoli Ohranj and cranberry, shaken. but who cares. it’s deeeee-licious. i’m wearing my northstar at tahoe firefighters association t-shirt and i overheard 2 people debating whether or not i was an actual firefighter. (uh, obvi, i’m totally not. they don’t make firefighters in my size. 38R. they usually come in larger sizes like XL or XXL.) hilarious nonetheless.  some other random guy stopped me when i was at the bar and asked me, pointing to my firefighters tshirt, if i worked at northstar. 

wow. i never realized the power of tshirt advertising. it’s better than facebook. someone should harness this power stat.  are you listening, marketing people?

soon thereafter, emmy meets us, and more drinking ensues.

and before i know it, me and JNayNay are eating chinese food at Big Lantern. it’s the best american-style chinese food in the mission! we order excellent faux-chinese dishes like sesame chicken! and they have dim sum too!  at night!  i know, how dreadfully exciting! our american chinese feast comes to an end, complete with a bottle of reisling. we are sooooo luxurious.

eventually, i meet up with aries. we try to go to the Burritt Room but its too damn crowded. we walk up the hill to chelsea place.  it’s sad and depressing in there, and the korean(ish) bartendresses barely speak english. but they know enough to charge $8 for a drink the size of a thimble. capitalism at its best–ya gotta love the free market system.

we finished our shotglass-sized drinks in a few sips. we needed somewhere divey with divebar prices, not schmancy bar prices! summer place it is! its everything you always wanted in a dive bar. weird, random decor, an old fireplace, video games. and you can smoke inside. excellent! i can destroy my liver AND get my fill of second-hand smoke at the same time! it doesn’t get better! 

3 drinks or so later, we’re stumbling home–yet we find ourselves at the pinecrest. (didn’t i JUST have dinner with JNayNay?–yes, but that doesn’t matter now, does it?). i proceeded to order a plate of chicken wings with a side of fries.

we discussed the german tourist murder from the past summer, amongst other things.

and thats where my memory gets all swiss-cheese-y.  

although, i totally had fun!  YES!