Weekend

I tell you what, I really needed this weekend. Between being sick, stressed, and broke, I've just been grinding the days out.

This weekend was peaceful and fun in an entirely necessary mellow way. Plus I got paid a couple days earlier than I expected. Just in time for next weekend's long sojourn to Chi-town. But that's a story for another blog post.

I spent Friday home, working. Kind of. I slept in late, worked a bit, went and met a friend and her friend over at Talkie's, where I had a bite to eat and did a little more work, then went home and finished up a long overdue paper for next week's conference (i.e., the reason for the aforementioned sojourn to Chi-city). On Friday, my friend Tina came over with a family pack from Hot Sauce Williams and some Boondocks dvds. We gorged and watched the tube, before falling victim to what Grandpa (on the Boondocks) calls "the itis."

When I woke, groggy and still stuffed the next morning, I did a little more work, then went over to the Cinematheque to catch a screening of "Billy the Kid." If you get a chance to see it sometime, you really should. In the meantime, here is a link to a great story about the film that ran in the New York Times a while back. The movie is funny, but also visceral, and was really difficult for me to watch at points. There were moments that were almost physically painful, especially when watching the rise and fall of the protaganist's romantic relationship (his first) with a visually impaired gal he meets at her family's local diner. I'll leave things there, in the hopes you will find a copy of this to view, but let me just say that the director excels at putting forward moments that remind any honest person of their more humiliating decisions and moments when they were coming of age.

After the film, we walked down to The Barking Spider Tavern, drank a couple pitchers of Molson while watching the Cavs play terribly unimpressive basketball. Or should I say we watched the Cavs play terrible, unimpressive basketball. Either way. Eventually some drunk lawyer kept going on about the Chicago Bulls and how they refused to allow Ben Wallace to wear a headband, and any time anyone else said anything, he'd just shout "You don't know anything!"

We finished up our beers and took off, as wasted lawyer dude had apparently taken a shine to my pal while I was in the restroom. After getting back to the CIA parking lot, my friend took me over to her favorite dive bar, The Knotty Pine, where we had a couple average burgers and yet more beer. The Knotty Pine is a cool place, apparently these two brothers have owned it for going on 50 years. Very inexpensive, very neighborhood. I like it, though probably not enough to make a special trip back. But, if I was ever in the neighborhood, looking to kill time, I'd head over.

After all the boozing, it was time to head home, so I returned to my abode, popped in something from netflix, and passed out. Today, I woke up, did a little work as my apartment was being cleaned (!!!!!), then went to brunch at the West Side Market cafe. I don't really like this whole brunch thing. It feels bougie and Carter-era 70s and stupid to me, but everyone my age fucking loves the whole concept. Doesn't anyone go out for lunch anymore?