Sunday, October 30, 2005




Priorities

Here is a sampling of the options I had for my Saturday night:

1. Drive-By Truckers concert at Jannus Landing. After I whined about the live music events in the Bay area, this was the obvious plan, particularly since I had already missed a chance to see these guys here once. The one caveat was that I would likely be going on my own, as the one friend I have that digs the alt-country was playing at #2.

2. Guavaween. It's sad to say for someone who tries to sing the praises of this town, but I've never been to Guavaween. It took me eight years before I went to Gasparilla (I've never been to the Florida State Fair or the Strawberry Festival. Do I actually live here?). The fact is, folks, that I am not the parade type. Public drunkenness is not my thing, and if I was really that hard-up for inebriated breasts, I'd buy a Girls Gone Wild video (link not included for good reason).

3. Ceviche's with my wife and friends. One of my friends was taking the EIT exam that morning - a brutal 8-hours of all things engineering. She knew ahead of time that she would want to do something to celebrate afterwards, but she knew the early start of the test would probably keep her from having any Guavaween-type fun. So she had asked my wife and I if we wanted to join her and her boyfriend at Ceviche's for some lovely tapas and sangria.

So come Saturday, it came down to 1 and 3. Music or food? Anyone that knows me knows how trying a choice this is. But it came down to one thing and one thing only - friends. Call me a sap, but I will probably make the same choice every time.

And as it turned out, it was a wonderful evening. But then again, it's Ceviche's; how could it not be wonderful?

Highlights: after paying the bill we all headed to the restroom. We had been sitting in the back of the restaurant, although in a restaurant that is simply a hole in the wall of a condominium building, it's hard to identify a back. And yet we quickly appreciated the location of our table, because as we made our way forward to the restrooms, we were engulfed in a peculiar odor. I'm glad we didn't order that. It turns out that a heavily coiffed woman had caught her hair on fire.

After that, we took a wonderful stroll along Bayshore Boulevard. How can you not love Tampa taking that walk? For anyone who was out at Guavaween and not too drunk to notice, the weather was perfect. Save the occasional waft of high-bacteria levels off the Bay, nothing could break our spirits.

So I'm marking my calendar for Guavaween 2006. As for the Truckers, well, hopefully they continue to be the hard-touring group they have been to this point. But I have no regrets - the friends come first.


I met a Christian in Christiansands
And a devil in Helsinki

- Tricky, "Christiansands"


Posted by Joel at 10/30/2005 10:32:00 PM