2001-04-04 11:39 p.m.
Rotted walls and 42 bars
As Mark left for his gig I decided to do something productive and I took out my handy rotary tool to remove the bad mildewed grout around the shower and replace it. A simple enough task. As I got to the tiles that were crooked along the back wall of the shower they started moving and coming off and I realized that the wall behind the tiles was soaked through and rotted. Yes, I ended up pulling off about a dozen tiles and pulling off the rotted wood and sheetrock and taking it back to the studs and insulation. Of course, now I'm at a point that Mark will have to help me and I can't finish this project on my own. And I can't take a shower tonight.
Yesterday was B!'s birthday. If you closely follow along with this diary, B! is my best friend that lives in Idaho. Not to be confused with the B that has appeared in a few entries later. The B is short for something other than her name, are we clear? Now B! (with the exclamation) has always been a happy birthday celebrant. In earlier days she once celebrated a "29 Bar Birthday" and went to 29 bars on her 29th birthday (with lots of help from her friends).
The following year she decided one day was not long enough for the celebration so it became the "30 Bar Weekend." The party began at lunch on Friday and continued through the weekend. Friends were recruited to be designated drivers. Rules were developed. Someone had to drink a drink in each bar but the birthday girl didn't have to have a drink in each bar (but she frequently did). A diary of the weekend was kept as events occurred so actual conversations and observations could be recorded as they happened. A souvenir had to be taken from each bar and there could be no duplication (therefore matches could only be taken at one bar).
I was an active participant in the "31 Bar Weekend." It was a weekend I will never forget. In Austin, a 31 Bar Weekend could be done very unimaginatively. In Amarillo, you had to plan ahead carefully to go to this many bars. The bar at the airport, gay bars, corner bars that no stranger had ever entered through the smoke---we went to them all.
Thinking back on the fun bar weekends, I found my new quest for this year. I decided I would make this a 42 Bar Year in honor of my 42nd birthday. I resolved to go to 42 different bars before I turn 43. At the time I thought that might be a challenge. Now that I've already been to 11 and it hasn't even been a month, I don't think I'll have any trouble.
I am going to keep a more complete listing of the places I go, who was there, who I saw play, etc. Tonight, I'm just going to put the beginning list:
1. Antone's
2. Ego's
3. Horseshoe Lounge
4. B.D. Riley's
5. Shakespeare's Pub
6. Ginny's Little Longhorn
7. Railroad Blues in Alpine, TX
8. Luckenbach Store
9. Speakeasy
10. Continental Club
11. Babe's
Wow. Sounds like I'm a real boozer. At this rate I'll have my 42 by June! Of course, I've already repeated some so the challenge will be to find places that I might not have even been to before. Any suggestions of cool dives (my favorites!), please e-mail. Abbycat let me know that my e-mail from the menu on the left isn't working. He's right. If it doesn't work for you the e-mail address is [email protected]. Yes, I know there is a way to make that a link too but I don't know how.
Thanks again to Abbycat and Jonathan for showing me how to put in the html for links. I didn't have the link for Looped by Jonathan Bownds when I mentioned him Sunday but now I do so I'll give him a plug and a link.