American Drag

Here's the real American Drag (not John's band), there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to age and cool. The older you are, the less likely it it that you'll ever be cool. There are exceptions, but they come in the form of rock legends and actors. Mick Jagger will still be cool when he's 80, KC from the Sunshine Band will not.

Tonight, John's band, The American Drag played at the Red Devil Lounge. They hit at 11:30--p.m. So for those of us no longer 20--that's late. I had a choice, stay in or nap. I chose nap. Yep, a good old-fashioned nap; well, maybe a little more than a nap - I slept for about 2 hours, got up, tossed on my favorite biker bar T-shirt, jeans and cowboy boots and sped (yes, sped) into the city.

Red Devil Lounge is on Polk, so no easy parking. I did what any good bridge 'n tunneler would do, I circled the block then found the nearest garage. It had been way too long since I had lived in the city to know the "secret spots" or the "cool spots". The secret spots are where you're sure to find parking and the cool spots are where it's cool to park, but most people don't know it. Also, when you're no longer 20, you figure, what the hell, it's only $10 bucks for parking. I don't need to drive around for a half hour as a matter of pride to find that last parking spot. No siree-bob - pay the man and walk half a block.

I won't go into the details of the show - it was great. It was the after show that was really meaningful. I exited the club (got kicked out actually) at 1:30 a.m. and headed down the block to my garage (it's mine now). As I was walking down Polk the aroma of freshly cooked donuts wafted my way. I was still energized from my nap and socializing, and if the line hadn't gone out the door and past the shop, I would have grabbed a couple of donuts. Instead I drove home. But as I was driving up our street, the thought crossed my mind - Donuts. I was like Homer Simpson. Donuts. Donuts, donuts, donuts! Damn it! I needed a f-ing donut. Thankfully, there's a 24-hour shop down on Lakeshore. So as I drove up. low and behold a parking place was empty. The place was full and as I stood in line (short -line) the counter dude pulled out a tray of freshly fried holes. (this is where sound effects would come in handy). The sound of angels were heard from above - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - warm, fresh donut holes. I paid for my donuts and raced home. I poured them onto a plate and popped one of those warm little gems in my mouth. I have to imagine that this is what heroine might feel like - the warmth spread over my body and the sugar entered my blood stream. the taste of that little morsel was heavenly. I wanted more.

Luckily for me, I'm not in my 20's any more, so the late nights are few and far between. That's a good thing, because as you get older, your body's ability to metabolize donuts is directly proportionate to your cool factor. That--is The American Drag.

It's All in the Planning

It's not easy to do different stuff all the time, and every once in a while you just need to take a "pause" and figure out what you're going to do. This week I looked over the myriad events that are forthcoming and reached out to my peeps to see if anyone wanted to join me. Apparently I've been a little too spontaneous and I've excluded friends/family from some funky/fun stuff. Tonight I took that little breather to plan.

Tomorrow night I wrap up my commitment with Temple Sinai's Social Action Committee. I've been the co-chair and chair for three years now and my enthusiasm and commitment have waned considerably. Tomorrow night will be the wrap up and I'll be handing in my proverbial yamulke.
Thursday I'm having girls night with Sarah, just like when we were in our 20s and 30s where we'll plop ourselves down on the couch (with wine) and pour over catalogs, figuring out what we "must have" (even though we're both on shopping restriction due to the evil IRS).
Friday I'll be learning how to ride a bike (don't laugh!). I'm a bit like the characters on the 60's show "Laugh In" where they get on a bike and fall over - yes, that's me. But Cheryl has graciously offered to take me to the park to help me start fresh, like a 6 year old, but without the training wheels.
Saturday: American Drag at the Red Devil Lounge (11:30 p.m. show)
Sunday: Tattoo shopping with Dale!
Monday: Tequila Monday at Tommy's in SF with Diana and friends
Tuesday: (pending)
Wednesday: New Orleans!!

and with that, here's the list of forthcoming activities:

A.C.T. Play: "Vigil" with Olympia Dukakis
Berkeley Rep Musical: "Girlfriend", music by Matthew Sweet - now through 5/9 ($27 & up)
Epidemic Film Festival: Friday, 4/16 from 4 - 8 p.m. Free at the Castro (I won't go until after 6 p.m. if I can make it)
Oakland Museum Grand opening on Sat 5/1. begins at 11 a.m. - likely in the afternoon
S.F. International Film Festival: Friday, 4/20 and evening with Robert Duvall $25. Castro Theater 7:30/movie: Get Low with Duvall and Sissy Spacek
S.F. International Film Festival: Sat 5/1 5:30 p.m. - an evening with Roger Ebert and Friends. $15.00 Film Julia with Tilda Swinton.
Top 100 Restaurants: Let's eat!
- Baker & Banker (1701 Octavia at Bush) tues-sun
- Flour & Water (2401 Harrison St at 20th) dinner nightly
- RN74 (301 Mission at Beale) dinner nightly
- Flora (1900 Telegraph at 19th in Oakland) tues - sat + brunch
- Adesso (4395 Piedmont ave @ Pleasant Valley in Oakland) mon - sat

Giants/A's Baseball game (any time - bring it on!)
Walk the Golden Gate Bridge (any weekend - could start either end, SF or Marin)

Today I paid my taxes, I worked for "the man" and now "girls just wanna have fun".

I Do Rock Stars

I own a tank top with silver letters


which says, "I do rock stars". I normally wear it when John has a gig, but I suppose there might be the tiniest bit of truth to that shirt.

Monday night out friend Will had a small party at his place for his birthday. Invitees included band members of American Drag, Alan Hirtz, drummer for Scott Henderson, and Jack Blades of Night Ranger (Sister Christian). Unfortunately, tonight I was not wearing my "rock star" shirt--it's such a good conversation piece.

I was well behaved. I didn't start singing or fawn, or tell him that every time I hear that song I think of the movie "Boogie Nights", and start singing, "motoring!" Rather we chatted about his 50 acre property and I invited myself over to go horseback riding. Only problem--he doesn't have horses. So what I really wanted to say was, "what kind of rock star are you anyway? You have 50 acres and no horses? Sheesh!" But as I said, I behaved, laughed pleasantly, and enjoyed the company of my friends.




-- Post From My iPhone