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Chicago VI: More red please?
Jul. 31st, 2003 09:11 amAlright, I've uploaded two pages of pics, here and here, with more to come later. As you can tell, I'm an Architecture nut, and I also seem to have a problem remembering to photograph my friends more...got to work on that, it's important.
We got to the rows and rows of Brownstones that make up Olive Street, and I knew I wasn't at home anymore. many of these houses had been around since the 1920's or so. Houston is just getting into a townhouse building boom, so anything like this has been built in the last 10 years. There just wasn't the history or the look of this neighborhood. Everyone parked on the street, I hate parallel parking, and i don't know what I would have done here. John (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
blithwulf) was able to park is car in some of the smallest spaces i could see.
John and I had been invited by Richie (richie741) and Owen (murphy) for dinner at their place. Roger (aadroma) was with us, so I called and informed them that we had one more. There were actually two calls, Once to Richie, whom after he answered I asked, "Owen?", no, it's Richie. The second call, to say we were close, played out this way..."Hello?" "Richie?" "No, it's Owen." I couldn't win. See Michael's meeting-people stress level rise. Really, they were very good hosts and put me at ease right away. Looking back I should have gone and picked up something, bread, wine, something to bring to the gathering, it would have been nice of us to do so...next time.
So as I've said before, Richie is quite the cook, and I don't know if he did his homework or not, but London Broil and mashed potatoes are right up my alley (there was salad and asparagus too, but I let the others have it) and it was all very delicious. The was a nice red wine and some great jazz music (I so need a copy of that CD) that complemented conversation all very good.
Richie and Owen's house is really nice. It's set up well, and decorated well too. What would you expect? I really got into the idea of living some place like that. Owen told us that the place was just renovated before they moved in, and that Richie used to have the basement apartment. The owner gave them first crack at it once they finished working on it. By this time, I knew that the wine had started to go to my head. I think I had three glasses, and already I was getting a buzz. I'm such a cheep drunk. Another friend came in and we chatted with him for a bit. Then Owen and Richie suggested that we go to Big Chicks. Heck, I had heard of Big Chicks, sure. I asked my compatriots and off we went.
A few blocks later and we're in the bar. The TV is just finishing a re-run episode of Queer Eye and then they go to a Cirque performance. The guys turned away when the Cirque show came on. I can think of nothing more boring on TV than that. I really don't get it, but whatever. I tried seeing if they had Shiner Bock, but they didn't (no surprise, really) so I ordered a Guinness which seemed to cause Roger some distress, claiming I'd need a knife and fork for it. Really, I like the darker beers, and Guinness is at the top of that list.
Owen told me that all of the art at Big Chicks was from the personal collection of the woman who owns the place (the big chick herself, I guess). There were definitely some unusual pieces there, and I took time in my somewhat drunken state to look. One notable piece was an actual photograph of Frieda Kahlo that was interesting. John, roger and I decided to leave after about an hour, I was a bit tired (and drunk) and we would have to take Roger home in the morning. So we said our farewells and left.
In the car, Chris (oakleycub) calls, and I'm trying to tell him what's been going on the last few days. I'm coherent enough to talk, but I'm certainly not making much in the way of sense as I keep repeating things. John and Roger are having a big kick out of seeing me drunk, trying to relate stories to Chris. This is the weird thing. John's car is a four door sedan, and we had the windows down, but there's a roof on it. My memories keep telling me that I was in a convertible looking at the stars as I talked to Chris. You can't even see stars in Chicago, so I don't know what I was thinking. Strange.
Alright, I have to go to work...I know this re-capping is just getting more and more drawn out, but these are details that i feel I must keep for prosperity, so I'm taking the time to write them down. I hope you all aren't bored of them. There will be more coming, I'm only halfway through the week. Whew!
We got to the rows and rows of Brownstones that make up Olive Street, and I knew I wasn't at home anymore. many of these houses had been around since the 1920's or so. Houston is just getting into a townhouse building boom, so anything like this has been built in the last 10 years. There just wasn't the history or the look of this neighborhood. Everyone parked on the street, I hate parallel parking, and i don't know what I would have done here. John (
blithwulf) was able to park is car in some of the smallest spaces i could see.John and I had been invited by Richie (
richie741) and Owen (murphy) for dinner at their place. Roger (aadroma) was with us, so I called and informed them that we had one more. There were actually two calls, Once to Richie, whom after he answered I asked, "Owen?", no, it's Richie. The second call, to say we were close, played out this way..."Hello?" "Richie?" "No, it's Owen." I couldn't win. See Michael's meeting-people stress level rise. Really, they were very good hosts and put me at ease right away. Looking back I should have gone and picked up something, bread, wine, something to bring to the gathering, it would have been nice of us to do so...next time.So as I've said before, Richie is quite the cook, and I don't know if he did his homework or not, but London Broil and mashed potatoes are right up my alley (there was salad and asparagus too, but I let the others have it) and it was all very delicious. The was a nice red wine and some great jazz music (I so need a copy of that CD) that complemented conversation all very good.
Richie and Owen's house is really nice. It's set up well, and decorated well too. What would you expect? I really got into the idea of living some place like that. Owen told us that the place was just renovated before they moved in, and that Richie used to have the basement apartment. The owner gave them first crack at it once they finished working on it. By this time, I knew that the wine had started to go to my head. I think I had three glasses, and already I was getting a buzz. I'm such a cheep drunk. Another friend came in and we chatted with him for a bit. Then Owen and Richie suggested that we go to Big Chicks. Heck, I had heard of Big Chicks, sure. I asked my compatriots and off we went.
A few blocks later and we're in the bar. The TV is just finishing a re-run episode of Queer Eye and then they go to a Cirque performance. The guys turned away when the Cirque show came on. I can think of nothing more boring on TV than that. I really don't get it, but whatever. I tried seeing if they had Shiner Bock, but they didn't (no surprise, really) so I ordered a Guinness which seemed to cause Roger some distress, claiming I'd need a knife and fork for it. Really, I like the darker beers, and Guinness is at the top of that list.
Owen told me that all of the art at Big Chicks was from the personal collection of the woman who owns the place (the big chick herself, I guess). There were definitely some unusual pieces there, and I took time in my somewhat drunken state to look. One notable piece was an actual photograph of Frieda Kahlo that was interesting. John, roger and I decided to leave after about an hour, I was a bit tired (and drunk) and we would have to take Roger home in the morning. So we said our farewells and left.
In the car, Chris (
oakleycub) calls, and I'm trying to tell him what's been going on the last few days. I'm coherent enough to talk, but I'm certainly not making much in the way of sense as I keep repeating things. John and Roger are having a big kick out of seeing me drunk, trying to relate stories to Chris. This is the weird thing. John's car is a four door sedan, and we had the windows down, but there's a roof on it. My memories keep telling me that I was in a convertible looking at the stars as I talked to Chris. You can't even see stars in Chicago, so I don't know what I was thinking. Strange.Alright, I have to go to work...I know this re-capping is just getting more and more drawn out, but these are details that i feel I must keep for prosperity, so I'm taking the time to write them down. I hope you all aren't bored of them. There will be more coming, I'm only halfway through the week. Whew!
