explore the city wherein I live

last thursday @ holy frijoles, on the avenue in hampden
so last thursday we went with corey to happy hour at holy frijoles where i got drunk off of pomegranate margaritas and mexican beer, couldn’t find the bathroom, then found the bathroom but couldn’t find the light so stood in there in the dark for about 23 seconds before returning to the bar where I promptly called anyone who lived the ‘hood to pick us up so we could pee. Thankfully, Chippie obliged as he and the ladyfriend were about to go out for Korean food anyway. the food was pretty good there, not so good as leftovers and i liked the vibe, but the bathroom thing made me think I am never going back there again. Death by embarrassment.

the depot 80s dance party in station north
again, with corey, he drags me to 80s dance night at the depot several weeks ago now (right after MJ died) and there’s no cover which is great, but as we go upstairs into the bar, the overwhelming stench of dirty, indoor public pool hits us. We ALL noticed it. There’s also no one dancing. And also they’re not playing good 80s music whatsoever-sounded like the Wedding Singer soundtrack-YAWN. I requested anything by Altered Images which got a high-five from the cute butchy DJ but they didn’t have any to play? So I asked for The Waitresses OTHER THAN I Know What Boys Like. What did they play? Yeah. I’ve always stood outside Club Chuck smoking and made fun of people standing outside the Depot and now we know why for realz… superlamerz.

more to come if I can remember any of them…

@ maryland film festival
05.08.09 10:15ish p.m.

joe swanberg and one of his producers to the right of h while we casually ate crepes before the showing of alexander the last. I totally got caught taking clandestine photos and he was a little creeped out by us. good thing we were way in the back of the theater during q & a.

his film was incredible. it was my first time attending the actual festival; in years past i’ve merely gotten drunk at the bars across the street

he said he’s thinking of filming something baltimore-based

I went to a juice party in the Woodberry section of town. It was a cool little area. I need to explore it further. The only notion I previously had of the area was the Light Rail stop and Woodberry Kitchen, to which everyone who’s ever eaten there gives rave reviews (I have yet to venture…I have restaurant shyness troubles). But, cool!

Friday!

With Hubby, David and H, went to the Hamilton Gallery for a coworker of Hubby’s art opening. The stuff was wicked good and he has a show in June at El Rancho Grande I would like to attend. Good shit. Have to check that little art collective out more often now.

Then, we hit up dinner at Golden West in Hampden, which I haven’t been to in a long, long time. ‘Twas fun!

Then home to bed, as was exhausted from NYC and crazy-craze day at work.

Today: work until 5, then who knows? Going to see what shows are playing where, if any. Perhaps not spend money and just drink in a simple game of scrabble or something. Sunday, planning on bagels and CLEANING THE APARTMENT. Eee-gad, it’s messy.

(because they messed up our order) but i read some of my book and h read some of hers and all the cute girls and hot boys were working today.

the first bookstore was awesome because h got a magazine she’s been looking for and a jane austen book.

the second bookstore didn’t have anything for which we were looking.

the third bookstore was fucking asl;dmszwet90wer90dskdyqh incredible. it also had a decent looking record selection, but i didn’t take the time to browse. however, i browsed quickly, as h was fading, and got a first edition orwell, first edition donleavy and a paperback donleavy i already have, but will make a good gift at some point. so t and i are going to go again thursday and check it out more in-depth.

oh, and sadly they won’t order me anything, but he asked for my card so he could let me know if any come in.

then home to find the ravens winning the football match. how thrilling! so far…

overall, a good day as of yet! i am totally excited about the book and record store.

Post-bagel, I will be venturing to the book store a few blocks away to see if they can get me my 3 remaining Donleavy novels. Then… then we move onto Donleavy’s plays and nonfiction. What an exciting time to be alive in Baltimore! New things! New places! New, independent shops!

dogwood restaurant in hampden
the daily grind coffee house in canton
ummmm….? (I need to get out more)

is random people screaming at random strangers. i suppose it happens everywhere, but baltimore might be extremely screamy.

this all occurred within a space of 2 or so hours, within the same neighborhood:
1) white truck for a rental company of some sort stops in the street in front of jhu, blocking a lane of traffic. dude in the altima behind him would have none of that, jumps out of his car and starts screaming at some official looking guy with a clipboard who seemed to be directing the driver of the truck where to go on campus. i thought someone was about to get shot. he finally gets back in his car after the truck starts to move, screaming the entire way. kind of cool.

2) h and i were walking home from the hopkins library, when we notice some chubby white guy standing next to a van, screaming. as we get closer we can make out that he is YELLING the lyrics to the beatles’ song “I Saw Her Standing There” which becomes very directly pointed at us as we walk by. It is… creepy.

3) a squirlley lady in safeway keeps a steady stream of talk up all through the produce section. we meet her while trying to select good strawberries as she squawks about frostbite or something.

the current favorite local commercial. hehe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HM6ZMmZEVQ

(^ one of my favorite billboards; by the Charles Theater)

Just off the top of my head, places I want to explore:

Visionary Art Museum
More of Hampden
Pigtown
More of Fells
More of Canton
Blue Moon Cafe for breakfast
Some of our good wine shops/wine bars
The Bicycle Cafe
Pimlico (I feel bad for the horsies, but always wanted to see a race, don’t know if I can handle going, so we’ll see…)
Hippodrome
Fort McHenry (field trip in 4th grade, but don’t remember it well)
And more of my very own Charles Village!