--I didn’t do my homework last night, folks.When I got home from my job, at an hour usually reserved for
nurses, insomniacs, Waffle House cooks, and mental patients, I was
red-ass exhausted (whatever that means).
I’m supposed to prepare the site for the next day at that time,
it’s what the contract with myself states, but I went to bed.Charley West would just have to wait.
And now I’m running WAY behind.This
update is going to be written like an email, will probably jump from
topic to topic with no discernible segues, and will be as long as I
can make it before I have to quit, shove a chicken salad sandwich
down my neck pipe, and go back to work.
So let’s get started…
--On Sunday Toney and I sat
down at the dining room table with our massive stack of London tour
books, and began the task of boiling it all down into one
personalized and portable guide.
I focused on pubs (naturally), while Toney tried to compile a list
of interesting but reasonably-priced restaurants.I received my Moleskine London notebook in the mail last
week, so I was recording my beer-themed findings there.And it was a lot of fun; the planning of a big trip is
sometimes as enjoyable as the trip itself.Ya know?
I’ve still got plenty of research left to do, but I think I’m
doing a pretty good job of identifying the must-visit drinkeries in London.I’m especially drawn to
the ones that have been around since 1667 (the year after the whole
place burned to the ground), and that sort of thing.
This site has a lot of valuable and fairly bitchy reviews, and
everything’s going straight into my little pretentious book…
We’ll be staying in Kensington, within walking distance of the Earls Court
tube station.If you have any
suggestions for places to eat and/or drink near there, please let me
know.‘Cause I’m in the
process of amassing data.
--Toney was taking the
oldest Secret to a friend’s house a few days ago, and actually
uttered the phrase, “Did you remember to bring your guns and math
book?”
He and this other kid were going to have an “airsoft war,” you
see, and the boy’s mother wanted to borrow our kid’s math book,
because her son forgot to bring his home.
So it was another of those sentences you never could’ve predicted
you’d ever say.Usually
there’s children involved when that sort of thing happens, but not
always, I guess.
Two that immediately jump to mind, in my case, date from when our
boys were really young, and we lived in California:“Good God!Would you stop licking that chimney?!” and “Hold still!You’re going to get poop on your cape.”
Got any unlikely phrases to add to mine?Please help me out here, I’m struggling like a bastard…
--I saw a car parked in
front of Borders over the weekend, with a Led Zeppelin air freshener
hanging from the rearview mirror.What
do you think it smells like?Marijuana?Robert Plant's assless slacks?The
burning flesh of a human sacrifice?Any
ideas?Use the comments link
below.
--Here’s
scruffythejanitor sporting his Smoking Fish shirt, out in the land
of golfers and black widow spiders.
--And there’s nothing
funny about this one at all…Over
the Christmas holiday Surf Reporter Susan lost her dog Takeo.He was a Staffordshire Terrier, and was hit by a car.
Susan wrote about it in the comments, and there were requests for me
to post some pics of Takeo, aka Taco Dog.And here they are.
I’m very sorry Susan; Takeo looks like one of the good guys.I
hope you’re doing well.Please
let us know.
--And finally – the
Smoking Fish caps.Some of
you are getting understandably impatient, but I just don’t have
them yet.I can’t mail them
out, because they don’t currently exist.
It’s partly my fault, because I didn’t order them as early as I
should’ve.And I believe the
T-Shirt Lady shut down for a couple of weeks around the holidays; I
wasn’t able to reach her during that time.
But we exchanged emails yesterday, and the hats are in process.I’m planning to call her while driving to work this
afternoon, and hopefully will have a firm ETA for you guys next time.
I’m very sorry about the delay, but it shouldn’t be too much longer.
