Simple plans get bigger
On Saturday night I had plans to have dinner with Heather but instead she and her friend Liz decided to throw a little party. So we got together at Liz’s apartment along with several of her friends. What a fun group. Along with Liz and Heather there was Ari who is a jazz sax player, Phil who works as a promoter at Sol but is on his way to Tucson for school and Andy who is a tech/engineer for Liz’s DJ brother and one of the biggest Doors fans I’ve ever met. Oh and let’s not forget Dr. Watson; a thin, hairless and friendly cat with blatant homosexual tendencies.
We talked about music, ate food and drank some wine. Of course this was after several bouts with stubborn corks. We actually wound up calling the wine shop to have a new corkscrew delivered. The one we had was not up to the task. A little later we were joined by Liz’s roommate Tae who was smoking a fat cigar and refused to wear a jacket in the frigid night.
We went over to ICU Bar (765 Washington Street) for a few drinks. A couple of us had a conversation with some girl in the courtyard who was conspicuously but nonchalantly smoking a joint. The others were inside shooting pool. We lost a couple of the guys to a handful of slutty-looking girls as a bunch of us left to go to Sol (609 W. 29th Street).
Formally Ruby Falls, Sol is a huge, high-ceiling, classy joint with exposed brick walls and 40 foot skylight. This is combined with an ultra modern decor, state of the art lights and sound, scantily clad dancers and a capacity of nearly 1,000. It’s also cool that there is no discernible dance floor, rather dancing takes place all over the space. As in most clubs like this, the drinks are fairly pricey but the are large and strong. So you’re still getting your money’s worth.
At one point I ran out to use the ATM at the gas station around the corner. While out there I saw my friend Lisa and her cousin Rosanne. Phil had told the guys at the door that they were coming and to let them in since they were going to be part of our party. Instead, when Lisa asked for Phil at the door, they replied with, “Phil who?” and made them wait on line and pay. Phil was cool about this and offered to buy a round of drinks. Not long after, Lisa’s friend Michelle showed up to join our little party tucked away in the larger party.
There was a fashion show going on which was probably the reason for us having such a hard time getting comped entry, drinks or whatever. Still we we all wound up dancing and having a really good time all night. At one point a girl was going around taking pictures. I didn’t think anything of this until I went searching the web for the Sol information on the web the next day. Imagine my surprise when I discovered a picture of me and Michelle on a site called www.velvetlist.com as well as a couple of other shots of our group.
Michelle and I (www.velvetlist.com)
Heather and Rosanne. I’m in the background with Lisa.
Looks like we’re either fighting or making out (I wish).
More likely we were making fun of someone. (www.velvetlist.com)
Ari and Liz (www.velvetlist.com)
Heather and I stopped at the overcrowded Spa Diner in Hoboken afterwards for a bite to eat. And if it wasn’t for one drunk old woman jumping in front of us to take the table we were waiting for, we would have done just that. Instead I got us a cab to the Malibu Diner on the other side of town.Even though it is a whole lot bigger, it too was packed with hungry, hungry drunks. This time I did the sneaking and quickly snagged two spots at the counter. I ordered a Swiss cheeseburger; she got the turkey melt I think. Then it was off to my place for some sleep. Interrupted sporadically by my spinning head and abrupt moments of my cat wanting to eat or play or something.
