Summer Fades On Cue

It was the very last few days of summer and with the onset of the autumn imminent by Monday morning, it was no time to dilly dally. There was quite the tumultuous weekend of  commemorative activity to be had.  The final hours of summer were  whiling away, but there was nary a moment spared when it came to getting the festivities started.  Those last couple of sentences were a little redundant, and while so is the constant vicious cycle of weekend drinking, I engaged in it anyway without the slightest of hesitation.

My friday began as I shoved off into the city sometime around 6pm to meet up for Andy S.’s birthday at Lorelay on the LES, a seemingly regular haunt all of the sudden.    As I approached the front door to the establishment I ran into Gia who I had met through my friend Asha a few months back.  She was waiting for Asha and so I made some conversation with her prior to Asha showing up and heading in.

I expected to see a relatively small crowd at first, not because Andy’s not popular, but because our friends are generally late.  When I arrived however, there seemed to be about 20 people (give or take) crowded around two tables…and there was nowhere for me to sit.  This wasn’t a big deal as there were plenty of other people in our crowd that were not seated at the table.  I joined Rich M up by the bar and shared a small beer table and hung out for a bit.  More people gradually arrived and eventually we were spread out over four tables or so in the backroom causing a racket, eating and drinking…you know…having a good time.

Andy Meets 29 Head On

I was pretty sure that the  gathering would lead to an exorbitantly priced bill based on large beers and generous amounts of foot being ordered…but mostly the huge liters of lager.  On cue at around 10pm or so we received a bill for several hundred dollars at the main tables, which I believe was also the story with the smaller tables.  As is usual for an outing at Lorelay or any smaller venue where people gather for a birthday dinner and drinks there is never enough money for footing the bill.  Per usual, plenty of extra scrounging had to be done, but given the fact that I’m not currently in the possession of gainful employment I ponied up as little as possible yet as much as I could at the same time.

Jason Practices for Marriage

From there the majority of our crowd worked it’s way over to Home Sweet Home, another establishment on the Lower East side.  Something happened to me between being at Lorelay and making it to Home Sweet Home.  I’m not sure what it was but sometime between walking in the door and moving to the back of the bar a sort of mental nausea overcame me.  I’m not sure if that’s an accurate term but the next 3 hours or so were kind of miserable for me.  People were dancing and having a great time, but I just sort of felt empty. I’m not sure why.  It had nothing to do with being unhappy about being with my friends…or being drunk, because I certainly didn’t feel drunk.  I just sort of felt mentally somewhere else…like a switch went off.  I snapped out of it slightly as I caught a car home with Jason, Kayvalyn, and Enisha.

Andy and Andrea Dancing And Generally Having A Good Time

The next day I woke up without any hangover type feeling which has been somewhat rare over the past few weekend days.  It was refreshing.  Nonetheless, I was still relatively lazy.  I knew I had something to do that day, but I was almost wishing it came earlier.  My old roommate Rob was having his third rooftop party of the past several months, and I was excited for the prospect of more grilling before the leaves began to brown.

It was 3:30pm when I finally made my way over to the South Slope happening.  I arrived to find a scant few standing inside as I dropped my beer in the fridge.  A few familiar faces including Rob’s roommate Chris, whom I had run into the night before when he was leaving Lorelay, were talking about Fantasy Baseball.  Upon putting my budweiser and fresh sausage which I had purchased from a specialty store into the fridge, I went outside and greeted the rest of the party which consisted solely of Rob, and two familiar faces from Syracuse, Scott and Chris.  As we made small talk the party gradually began to grow, though never reaching the mass gathering of the two previous get togethers.

That was quite alright as I enjoyed the smaller-ish gathering.  There was conversation to be had with Adam, Erica, Marty, Colleen, Chris M, Hope, Josh, Reva, Cyrus, Austin, and whoever the heck else was there.  There was also plenty of food on hand.  The only distressing point in the culinary proceedings was when the grill needed reheating with my Sausages still on the fire.  After the charcoals were replenished some recent arrivees had taken it upon themselves to start making s’mores despite the fact  that my half-cooked sausages were getting cold waiting to be thrust into grilling glory.  I had to put an end to their charade and stand up for those whose meats had been unceremoniously cast aside.  In one or two fell swoops Marty and I reclaimed the grill, though a few folks still roasted marshmallews nearby.

I left the spicy sausage on the grill assuming it would all go to plan and cook into an ideal state, but when I returned I noticed that two strangers had swiped two of the sausages I was preparing.  This wasn’t the end of the world seeing as I had two more left and wasn’t planning on eating all of them, but I was sort of annoyed that they assumed it was a free for all.  The same thing happened to Chris M, who had put two sausages on for him and his girlfriend and they were swiped by a bunch of meat thieves.  In some places that’s punishable by hammurabi’s law.  You know, an eye for an eye.  Or in this case, a sausage for a sausage…gulp!

A few minutes after the great sausage caper, Hope asked me if I wanted to be Chris M’s darts partner.  My first instinct was a negative one.  I had been roped into darts games before and they all seemed to be neverending.  Couple this with the fact that I don’t really have good eyesight or aim and you’ve got the recipe for the neverending darts match.  I don’t know why exactly I ended up agreeing to play, maybe it’s because Chris M is a friend and I had really nothing better to do or maybe it was because the prospect of getting a bullseye greatly outweighed the thrill of small talk.  Either way, Chris M and I took on Host Chris and his friend in an intense match.

Chris M (a.k.a D'artagnan)

Dartist in Residence: Evan Kessler

On either my first or second turn the unthinkable happened.  BULLS-EYE!  Not just any bullseye…and not the barbecue sauce being poured over my head…but a double bulls-eye!  Hot damn!  I was full on channeling Phil “The Power” Taylor.  I should say that everyone else was a much better player than me and they actually had aim, but I had the aura of the nine time world matchplay championship on my side.  In a hard fought battle Chris M and I took home the crown.

Bulls-eye! Phil "The Power" Taylor Would Be Proud

I was hoping that my darts career had come to an end with that victory, and certainly I was ready to retire.  The losing team, however, had different plans.  They had designs on a dish best served cold…and by that I mean, revenge.  The modestly reluctant champion and sore winner that I am, I trudged back into the darts arena for a rematch feeling less than confident about the prospect for a repeat.

In the early goings it seemed as though we’d get our asses kicked…but Chris M kept a steady hand and eye on the prize.  And then, just like that…it happened again.  I had actually scored a bullseye yet again.  I don’t remember exactly, but I think I scored one more during the course of the night, but I had done my job to secure the win with aplomb.  Chris M and I once again emerged victorious and the thrill of victory was apparent for the moment, provided nobody wanted winners.  Luckily, nobody did and I was able to end the evening a champion. Actually, the evening ended watching SNL in Rob’s living room but before that…a champion.

After leaving Rob’s apartment at 1am, I happened upon Robert A’s roommate Megan standing outside Bar4 with a friend.  I joked that the bar rhymed with Darfur.  Everybody loves regional African genocide humor and Raymond.  I was tempted to go inside and join them for a drink, even though they didn’t technically ask me to come inside for a drink…but I thought that I had entirely too many drinks already for the weekend and called it a morning.  Sunday

I awoke ready for some football.  I had made plans to go to Fort Greene to watch with Jamie Y, Jeni, Carlos, and whoever the hell else was around, but they were going out to lunch and I couldn’t afford to miss a beat of the Giant game… and what a game it was.  I felt like I was having a heart attack the entire 4th quarter.  In the end A 26-23 overtime victory, in which the lead changed six times, propelled the Giants to a 3-0 record heading into the bye.

When the game was over I headed over to Ft. Greene and watche the Broncos beat the Saints in a close one and returned home to the agony of knowing that both of my Fantasy teams were most certainly going to lose.  Oh the pain of fake-owning an unsuccessful team.

Anyway, I suppose that’s it.  Summer really is over now.  Now comes the Autumn of our discontent or content. I guess that depends on how it goes.  Wish me and yourself luck.