--The younger Secret had a birfday last week, and one of the
gifts he received was a 4GB iPod nano.Over the past few days he’s been borrowing CDs from the
massive Surf Report sound library, and loading them onto the
impossibly tiny device.
And what’s he been requesting?Well,
I’m glad you asked…He’s
nine years old and rocking out to Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Green Day,
Fountains of Wayne(!), Paul Westerberg(!!), and get this – Graham
Parker’s Squeezing
Out Sparks.
Both Secrets really
responded to Graham Parker.It’s
a hard thing to understand…I
play all manner of music around the house, but their ears instantly
perked up the very first time they heard Squeezing
Out Sparks.Now they request I bring it along when we’re driving
somewhere, and have memorized the lyrics by this point.It’s baffling, but pretty cool.
Just a few minutes ago he came in here (no school today because of
“conferences,” or some such bullshit), and asked if he could
borrow Exile on Main
Street.I located it, handed it over, and was unable to speak because
of the large lump in my throat, and the tears welling in my eyes.
I’m sorry, I’m getting a little emotional…
--Toney told him he could pick
a restaurant for his birthday dinner, and he went with Red Lobster.Or, as it’s known in Atlanta,
Ret Lopster…He really gets into the dismantling of crab legs with tools and
various instruments, and I think the food is secondary to the
dismantling event.
I don’t really like to eat crustaceans or creatures from the ocean
floor, and think Red Lobster is criminally over-priced, but it was a
kid’s birthday dinner and society doesn’t allow for bitching in
such circumstances.
So we went there on Saturday evening, with Sunshine in tow.We decided to go early to try and avoid the crowds; I think we
arrived around 4:45.And the place was PACKED.They
told us it would be a 45 minute wait, and the foyer area was already
loaded with people looking at their watches and leaning against walls.
I went over to the bar and saw that they had Samuel Adams Winter Lager
on tap, and ordered two pints.They
were $4.25 each, and I gave the guy a ten.
I went over and handed one of the beers to Toney, and Sunshine seemed
offended I hadn’t offered to get her
a drink.But, as far as I know,
she can’t have alcohol anymore.That’s
what she says, anyway…
But she insinuated herself into the crush of people at the bar, and
instantly got into an altercation with the bartender.She ordered something called a Separator, and the guy didn’t
know what she was talking about.Needless
to say, comedy ensued.
Then we stood there and waited, and waited, and waited.Eventually I got us two more beers, for
another ten bucks,
and we waited some more.
Sunny climbed down from her bar stool at one point, went over to the
hostess, and began raising nine shades of hell.It hadn’t yet been the 45 minutes quoted, but Sunshine wanted
to be seated right
now.Again, there was comedy to be enjoyed.
When we were finally allowed to breathe the rarefied air of The Chosen
People, I promptly ordered a New York Strip steak.The waitress didn’t seem to care for my choice, and tried to
talk me into adding sea creatures to my order.But I held my ground, so to speak.
While we waited on our salads, Sunshine said she needed to go to the
bathroom, and asked us if we knew where it was located.I told her it was all the way on the other side of the
restaurant, and she groaned.
Then she got up and walked straight into the kitchen.
What the??I figured she’d
instantly be escorted back into the dining room, but she didn’t
return.We later learned that
someone confronted her about her little shortcut to the crapatorium,
and she’d played the disabled card.The
person backed down, and Sunshine went through the kitchen on the way back
to our table as well.
And just so you know… the steak was excellent.I think I shrieked a little when we received the check, but the
food was better than it had a right to be.Of course, there was probably a booger in there somewhere,
because of Sunshine’s shenanigans, but I choose not to think about
it.
--And here’s a new blog that
Metten may or may not be contributing to.The whole thing’s quite confusing, but I believe Metten and
Granger are maintaining the site, under assumed names.Or, they might not have anything at all to do with it…I’m just not sure.
--I have even
more
job search crapola to deal with today, and need to cut this one a
little short.I’ll leave you
now with a couple of lame Questions, in lieu of a single good one.
Since I was talking about the Secrets and their taste in music, have
your kids ever surprised you by taking a liking to a CD you never
could’ve predicted?You know,
if you have kids, and all that…Use the
comments link below.
And here’s a good one…Have
you ever known anyone who’s owned a monkey?I’d like to hear about that, as well.In fact, there’s no need to limit it to just
monkeys.Any exotic pets will
do – except reptiles.Reptiles
bore me.
Now I’m going to drive across town in fancy pants, and I’ll see
you folks tomorrow.
