Musings of a Compulsive Thinker

Flirting: just add vodka

Last night I was at a piano bar called The Reef in downtown Boulder with a friend of mine. She was drinking vodka martinis because she enjoys them; I was drinking cranberry juice on ice because there were car keys in my pocket.

Around 1:15 a.m., two inebriated (but polite) young men from a few tables over came to sit with us. One of them, College Guy #1, swore he recognized me from his business classes at the university, I promised him that I had never taken a business class in my life, he proceeded to apologize (repeatedly) for making an idiot out of himself, and I reassured him (repeatedly) that it was a mistake easily made and just as easily forgiven. His friend, College Guy #2, struck up a conversation with my friend, bought her another vodka martini, and compared his friend to "that guy, you know, the one who says something stupid no matter what," after which my friend joined me in attempting to reassure College Guy #1 that he was not, in fact, "that guy."

You should understand that the entire interaction consisted of near-shouting to be heard over the (admittedly thunderous, but very good) piano-playing happening on stage, and I could hear maybe half of the words exchanged, my own included. This resulted in rather disjointed conversations and a frequent occurence of the universal "Huh?"

After a little while, during which College Guy #2 talked my friend (repeatedly) into taking "just one sip" of his alcohol-and-coke beverage ("it's really good, I promise") and College Guy #1 consoled himself in flirting with an equally-inebriated (and very appreciative) young woman at another table, my friend collected the phone number of College Guy #2 and we left.

We had a good laugh about the whole thing in the car on the way home.

That is the first time that a complete stranger has ever so much as attempted to flirt with me, regardless of the outcome. There is a little voice in my head complaining that he was just drunk; still, it was rather flattering, and I am inordinately pleased about it.

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Labels: everyday, ponderings

posted by the alygator @ 4:01 PM 0 Comments

Road trips

They are a great American rite of passage. Whether you strike out on your own or with a few friends, there is an undeniable sense of freedom that comes to you as you are cruising down an unfamiliar highway with nothing but a spare change of clothes, some snacks, and a toothbrush in the back, some money in your pocket, and prudent emergency supplies buried in the trunk.

As long as you have a few caffeinated beverages in a cooler (I recommend Starbucks Double Shots, or Mountain Dew), some bottled water in the back seat, one or two good road maps, and blankets stashed in the back for the cold nights spent in the car, you can get by in reasonable comfort.

It also helps if your travelling party includes a navigator who can read maps.

You drive until you're too tired to drive safely anymore, then you trade seats with your navigator and take a nap; when all of your potential drivers are exhausted, you pull into a rest area, and you sleep. Then you wake up with the sun and start driving again. You stop for only four other things: gas, bathroom breaks, food, and places that look intriguing; there are floating bonus points to be won if you manage to combine at least three of those things in one stop.

It's not the classiest, or the most expedient, means of travel, but it sure can be a lot of fun.

Even if your eventual destination is not quite what you expected -- or even if it completely fails to meet expectations -- well, the journey is at least as important as the place to which you choose to journey.

(Besides, Roswell may not have been as much of a po-dunk little nowhere town as I was hoping, but the UFO museum was just fascinating.)

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Labels: ponderings, travel

posted by the alygator @ 3:16 PM 0 Comments