endurance
On Saturday morning, I sat in this local barbershop/tattoo parlor happy to have had a full night's rest. They're few and far between. I'd decided, on a whim, because that's usually how I decide most things, to have a proper straight razor shave (with the hot towels and everything) and head buzzing (I was sick of cleaning up the bathroom after doing it myself). My appointment was scheduled for Friday, but a three-hour black out through most of the downtown and surrounding areas of town caused me to have to reschedule. On Friday, when I showed up for my original appointment time, the shop was full of tattooed patrons and employees sitting on the various barber chairs and waiting room couches. They regarded me as an outsider as I entered, but offered me a beer or something else to drink from the fridge. It was hot as fuck, so I opted for a water and occupied an empty stool. The shop is full of retro paraphernalia, mostly pinup art and '50s and '60s barbershop signage. One such sign displayed the eight or so hair cuts for men and the phrase "we cut your hair the correct way, the way you want it" proudly emblazoned on it. It's a pretty cool place. After the crowd at the store had thinned out some, one man re-entered from the back. I was one of two left in the shop; the other guy was reading tattoo magazines in the waiting area. The man who re-entered sat on a brown barber's chair, reclined, and asked me what hair cut I wanted. I told him I wanted it buzzed to the scalp, and I wanted a shave as well. Turned out he was the owner and also the barber. The power wasn't coming back on any time soon, so he asked me if I wanted to reschedule and I said sure, so we made an appointment for 11am on Saturday. He told me the shave thing was "very relaxing," and that every man should have it done at least once in his life, and that our fathers and grandfathers all had it done. It was his sales pitch, but I didn't need one, I had my mind made up about it before I entered the shop. It just seemed like something I should have done. Which brings me back to where I started.
I was the first appointment of the day. The owner let me in and I had a beer and waited in the waiting area as he and this other woman got the place set up. I was joined in the waiting area soon after by a group of young women who the owner later accurately described as looking like "a group of sorority girls from a sorority that you had to have double Ds to get into." They were all there for tattoos, I assume of flowers or butterflies.
I drank a Corona and got all shorn and left feeling like a million or so bucks. I may have to make it a yearly thing. And since my appointment was moved because of the black out, I got five bucks off. As I was in the chair, I was informed that the shop was going to have an afterparty that evening for the girls of the roller derby and that they'd have a keg and a DJ and I should come by. Since I had tickets to the roller derby anyway, I said that I probably would. The festivities would start at 12:30am.
Meanwhile, I'd received word that the commish of my fantasy baseball league would be in town, and that he and a few other guys in the league (though some of them live here, I don't really know them. I'd gotten introduced to the league by someone I'd known through my roommates who I used to get into baseball discussions with at parties. I've only met the other members of the fantasy league once before at a poker game). I was informed that they'd be hitting up the bars and that if I could, I should meet them up.
Roller derby was fun. The action, I think, was better this week than in previous week. And at the event, I bumped into an old tenant from my apartment managing days, so we shot the shit for a while and got caught up. I also met up with some coworkers and scored a ride downtown where I thought I'd try to meet up with the fantasy baseball crew. They were at this bar close to campus, and the line to get in was really long. It was moving quick, though, so I hopped on. I ended up waiting 20 minutes. Once I got inside, the place was ridiculously packed, and it more and more became apparent to me that I really didn't know who I was looking for. I eyed people I thought was them only to receive looks of confusion or agitation in return. I made four or five sweeps of the floor to no avail, so I left.
When I got outside, I found there was a message on my phone from my coworker/LOST buddy, who was downtown at a bar a block away. It was the first of the two roller derby after parties. The place was about 20 times smaller and just as packed, but I had drink tickets there. Somehow, my order for one Summerfest yielded two, but this unexpected bounty didn't last long, as walking to the less crowded back area resulted in a collision with another intoxicated patron, turning my two full pints into two halves. I combined the two in one glass and ended up at a table with my coworker, three people I didn't know and the dude who used to be my tenant.
From there it was a pit stop at the local watering hole, then the liquor store, then the tattoo/barbershop for the after party. When we got there, the place was dead, and like all after parties, I felt totally out of place. As time went on, though, more people trickled in, we made a fruitless effort to siphon beer from the world's foamiest keg; I pissed in an alley and spilt beer on myself for the second time. I got home at 3:30am to find that my front door was wide open and a police car patrolling the street that flashed its spotlight on me three times and never stopped to ask me who I was or where I was going. The house was free of intruders nothing looked stolen, but I never checked the spices in the kitchen cabinet. We have an extensive collection for a group of people who rarely cook.
I've typed all of this while a house spider that I thought was a brown recluse (there aren't any in California, I looked it up) has been perched on the window sill above me. It hasn't moved an inch. I think it's waiting for me to leave. I haven't decided whether or not to smite it with a broom yet, but I think I'll let it be. For now. I also found out one of my old roommates became a cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks, which delights me on a many different levels.
Sorry you had to read all that.
I was the first appointment of the day. The owner let me in and I had a beer and waited in the waiting area as he and this other woman got the place set up. I was joined in the waiting area soon after by a group of young women who the owner later accurately described as looking like "a group of sorority girls from a sorority that you had to have double Ds to get into." They were all there for tattoos, I assume of flowers or butterflies.
I drank a Corona and got all shorn and left feeling like a million or so bucks. I may have to make it a yearly thing. And since my appointment was moved because of the black out, I got five bucks off. As I was in the chair, I was informed that the shop was going to have an afterparty that evening for the girls of the roller derby and that they'd have a keg and a DJ and I should come by. Since I had tickets to the roller derby anyway, I said that I probably would. The festivities would start at 12:30am.
Meanwhile, I'd received word that the commish of my fantasy baseball league would be in town, and that he and a few other guys in the league (though some of them live here, I don't really know them. I'd gotten introduced to the league by someone I'd known through my roommates who I used to get into baseball discussions with at parties. I've only met the other members of the fantasy league once before at a poker game). I was informed that they'd be hitting up the bars and that if I could, I should meet them up.
Roller derby was fun. The action, I think, was better this week than in previous week. And at the event, I bumped into an old tenant from my apartment managing days, so we shot the shit for a while and got caught up. I also met up with some coworkers and scored a ride downtown where I thought I'd try to meet up with the fantasy baseball crew. They were at this bar close to campus, and the line to get in was really long. It was moving quick, though, so I hopped on. I ended up waiting 20 minutes. Once I got inside, the place was ridiculously packed, and it more and more became apparent to me that I really didn't know who I was looking for. I eyed people I thought was them only to receive looks of confusion or agitation in return. I made four or five sweeps of the floor to no avail, so I left.
When I got outside, I found there was a message on my phone from my coworker/LOST buddy, who was downtown at a bar a block away. It was the first of the two roller derby after parties. The place was about 20 times smaller and just as packed, but I had drink tickets there. Somehow, my order for one Summerfest yielded two, but this unexpected bounty didn't last long, as walking to the less crowded back area resulted in a collision with another intoxicated patron, turning my two full pints into two halves. I combined the two in one glass and ended up at a table with my coworker, three people I didn't know and the dude who used to be my tenant.
From there it was a pit stop at the local watering hole, then the liquor store, then the tattoo/barbershop for the after party. When we got there, the place was dead, and like all after parties, I felt totally out of place. As time went on, though, more people trickled in, we made a fruitless effort to siphon beer from the world's foamiest keg; I pissed in an alley and spilt beer on myself for the second time. I got home at 3:30am to find that my front door was wide open and a police car patrolling the street that flashed its spotlight on me three times and never stopped to ask me who I was or where I was going. The house was free of intruders nothing looked stolen, but I never checked the spices in the kitchen cabinet. We have an extensive collection for a group of people who rarely cook.
I've typed all of this while a house spider that I thought was a brown recluse (there aren't any in California, I looked it up) has been perched on the window sill above me. It hasn't moved an inch. I think it's waiting for me to leave. I haven't decided whether or not to smite it with a broom yet, but I think I'll let it be. For now. I also found out one of my old roommates became a cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks, which delights me on a many different levels.
Sorry you had to read all that.
1 comment:
LMFAO. you looked up what kind of spider it was? OMG LOL!! I read that whole post, and the spider is the main thing that cracked me up...your reaction to it!!!
I see you've gone politically correct and added wheelchair access to your word verification!
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