Bicycles, Bourbon and Attention Whoring

Well, Monday hasn’t started out too bad.  When I arrived at the office, someone had made good (normal coffee) and there were donuts!!  I haven’t had a donut in FOREVER!  It almost satisfies my craving for cake, which I’ve had since August, almost…

And, my Jack White tickets arrived in my email box this morning! HELL YEA!!  I was a little nervous, I’d never ordered from Stub Hub before and they didn’t arrive on the day that they said that they would.  But, now I have them and I’m soooooooo psyched!!!  Not sure yet who I’m taking with me.  I don’t really have a romantical interest, so that doesn’t seem to be an option.  But I need to decide soon!

Now for the weekend round-up!!

Friday night I went bicycling with WR and MR.  We went up to the bike trail in Newtown at Bass Island.  It’s really a great flat trail.  The ride was plagued with technical difficulties though.  WR and MR were riding borrowed bikes, trying to determine if they want to become bicyclists or not before they invest in new bikes. 

This was a good idea.  However, the bikes that they were riding didn’t have gears.  For flat rides, it’s really not a huge issue.  The bike that MR was riding was the most craptastic bicycle I’ve ever ridden. 

The first issue with it was that MR is tall; it isn’t a bike for tall people.  We raised the seat and the handle bars as far as we could to make the riding more comfortable.  The handle bars kept sliding back down, we didn’t have any tools to tighten the bolt up.

So, after MR struggled with the handle bars and the uncomfortable position.  I offered to trade bikes.  I’m significantly shorter, so the handle bars at the lowest position really isn’t an issue for me.

Riding that bike was like riding through a river of molasses!  I don’t understand, it shouldn’t have been that hard, the road was FLAT.  I wouldn’t ride that bike if someone gave it to me, I wouldn’t ride it to the dump to throw it in!  No wonder MR was struggling so! 

So we only rode a few miles.  I let MR take my mountain bike home and try it out for a while.

Bicycles without gears are only good if it’s 1923 and you are wearing a seersucker suit and carrying a parasol. 

After the ride I treated them to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse, we had a really great time.

I LOVE margaritas, lime margaritas with salt on the rim.  Who like sugar on the rim??? GAG

Saturday morning C and I took his kiddos to the Race for the Cure at the Red’s stadium.  We didn’t RACE, but participated in the Family Walk.  We had a great time walking, and then walked around the city, down by the river and back across the Purple People Bridge to Newport.  Finished the morning off with brunch at the Pepper Pod in Newport and checked out a couple of thrift stores.  I didn’t buy one thing! Very unusual for me!

Saturday night I went to Chez Nora with T for dinner.  I love the rooftop deck.  I had never been up there before, I’ve only had drinks downstairs at their bar.  I had some yummy bbq beef brisket, a veggie medley and mashed potatoes!

My Saturday night look.  I wanted to show off my super cute hairband, but it didn't photograph too well.

After dinner we headed up to The Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar, still my favorite bar!

The last sip of my Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon.  I need some of those glasses for my party glass collection.

The, as of yet, unnamed drink that Josh whipped up.  I, of course, suggested naming it "The Cy".  He did say that if I drank enough of them, he'd name it after me!

All the bartenders said “HI” when I walked in “Hey, you haven’t been here for a while!”  It DOES feel like Cheers!!!

T asked “Are you a regular here?”

Actually, I’m not a regular anywhere.  I just don’t blend in I guess. 

“Yea I can tell that you like attention” T said.

Uuuuummmmm WHAT?!?!

I don’t think that I like attention any more than anyone else.  T back peddled a little bit, but still totally meant it, I could tell.

I did suggest to Josh, one of the bartenders, that they should have a singles night, with an informal bourbon tasting and a simple mixology class.  I think it would be a great idea!  Maybe I’ll email that idea to them on Facebook as well…

There aren’t enough singles activities.  Except for the occasional POF dance and I’ll never attend one of those again… UG!!

And with a singles function at OKBB, even if I wasn’t interested in any guys, there would still be BOURBON!!

Sunday, I was a slug.

I did laundry, napped and cleaned out a closet.  I finally got C to get his stuff out of my closet on Sunday.  So I actually accomplished something even though I was a slug!!

I was also consumed with thoughts of my next tattoo yesterday.  So I spent some time researching symbols that I'm interested in.  I want to get in on my inner arm, right below the antecubital space.  More to come on this...

And now…. It’s Monday again!!

One week until Jack White!! I'm so psyched, I can hardly stand myself!!!!

Festive Armadillos in Bib Overalls

Monday……………. What can I say?  No one really likes you Monday….. I realize that I’m being harsh, but come on…. Who likes being snuck up on?  I mean, we are all just chillin’ enjoying our Sunday, staying up too late……

Then…….BLAM!!! There’s Monday, taking us out at the knees…..

I made it in to the office, you stealthy bastard….. TrippyBeth -1; Monday – 0.

Now for the weekend round-up!

I actually had a pretty sedate weekend.  Those are good from time to time.  Friday night I did NOTHING!   

And it was good!

Saturday I got up fairly early straightened up the apartment and went to the Goodwill…… FINALLY found a coffee table! I’ve been looking for one for almost a year, and I got it for $10!! WOOT WOOT!

Then my parents picked me up and we went to the Great Inland Seafood Festival.  My parents were actually in a great mood, I enjoyed our time together.  I, however, did not really enjoy the food. I first got a stir fry thingy that wasn’t really good at all.  Then I relented and got a lobster that was ok.  There were people there eating multiple $10.95 lobsters.  Gluttony at it’s finest.  I just wasn’t feelin’ it.

On the way back to the car, my parents got cheesecake.  I did not, I am no cheesecake fan, it feels too weird on my tongue….GAG!

Saturday evening I went to the Cincinnati Blues Festival at Sawyer Point, it was a perfect night….

The Main Stage.

The Big Mac Bridge watching over the blues crowd.

The first band we heard was Trampled Under Foot, they were awesome!  Best female singer I’ve heard in a LONG time! The whole band was tight, they were fucking nailing it!  If you dig the blues, do yourself a favor and check them out! http://www.tufkc.com/

TrippyBeth at Bluesfest, cropped to protect the innocent.

The biggest treat of the evening was the band Absolute Value, they are part of the Blues Society Blues in the Schools program (http://cincyblues.org/bits) those kids threw it down!

It wasn’t a late night, walked back across the Purple People bridge to retrieve the car and head home.

Cincinnati from the Purple People Bridge

Newport from the Purple People Bridge

Sunday consisted of lunch at Cracker Barrel, someone wanted mashed potatoes soooooo badly….. then some shopping.  I only got 2 martini glasses and 2 headbands; I didn’t exactly score on Sunday.

On the way home from shopping, I got rear ended! AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY!!  There was a van a couple of cars ahead of me that stopped short.  I slammed on my brakes, miraculously stopping before I hit the car in front of me.  The jeep behind me was not blessed by the same miracle!

THUMP as he hit the back of my car. Dammit.

We pulled off to the side of the road to inspect the damage.  There was no obvious damage.  My car was checked underneath, still nothing.  It was a very low impact accident.  The young guy that hit me was pretty shook up.  Me, eh I’ve been hit before.  I assured him that we were all fine and we both departed on our merry ways.

I have decided to nickname my car.  It is a Pontiac Vibe, but it shall henceforth be called the Silver Armadillo!

My plans to attend a play at the Know Theater on Sunday had to be postponed.

So, as you can see, TrippyBeth was very boring this weekend… this week remains fairly unplanned, I may be boring all week!!

As I perused the racks of donated clothing at the Goodwill on Saturday and Sunday, I noticed an abundance of bib overall-type dresses, I must have seen at least a half dozen. 

They reminded me of a date I once went on……

I had been chatting with this guy; I’ll call him DG, for a little while.  We decided to meet on a Saturday night at a bar in his neck of the woods.  I hate to drive but I love an adventure, so I didn’t mind.

I arrived at the restaurant before him; I took a seat at the bar, ordered a drink and waited.  I would casually glance at the door from time to time, didn’t want to appear to be overly anxious.

After about 10 minutes I watched him walk through the door.

I know I was staring, but I couldn’t help it, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of him.

Our hero was wearing a tracksuit, a poufy nylon tracksuit. One that goes “swish swish swoosh” as the wearer walks.

Now I wouldn’t say that I’m superficial or materialistic.  I could deal with a tracksuit.  Even if it did puzzle me, he had, obviously, not come from the track.

DG spotted me right away and walked over to sit by me.  We made small talk for a little while, he seemed pleasant enough.  After about 30 minutes he says “I don’t normally dress like this.”  I breathed a sigh of relief.

“I normally wear bib overalls” he says.

What the actual fuck? Bib overalls?  He was neither a train engineer nor an elderly farmer!  My mind was reeling.  “I wonder if there is a banjo in his car?”  “He does have a pretty mouth.”  Bib overalls aren’t a good look for anyone.

I cannot let it be said that TrippyBeth is rude.  I hung in there.

He had told me in previous conversations that he had been at his job for 11 years. So I thought it would be safe to ask about his job.

“I’m going to barber college now” he says.  I asked what made him decide to do that.

“They were taking too much child support out of my check, so I quit.”

What a douche bag.  I stood up, gathered my jacket and purse.  “I’m done” I told him.  As I turned to walk out he says “I don’t live far from here if you want to come to my place.”

“Uuummm, yeah…..NO” I replied.

Are you beginning to understand why TrippyBeth is disillusioned with dating??