02/24 - 02/26 - Dinner with the Guys and the loss of two Roxy Friends

I left work and met Russ in the city. I waited inside Century 21, out of the cold while he came over from BK and he picked me up and drove me up to the Village where we were having dinner with the Softball Team. The dinner was at Cowgirl Hall of Fame on Hudson Street and we arrived first and waited at the bar for everyone else to arrive. After everyone came we hung out a bit and then went to our table and everyone had a great dinner. It wasn't too expensive and we had fun just seeing the guys for the first time since the end of last season. We finished up dinner and decided to head uptown and visit with Dave in Hellsea (Chelsea-Hells Kitchen). Those of us who had traveled uptown, Donnie, Hal, Mike, The Jimmy, Russ and I hung out at Dave's place with Dave and his San Diego friend before deciding to move the party out to the club. The Jimmy was expecting to go to Krash and we talked it up enough so that it seemed interesting enough to bring the whole crew. Dave left his friend behind but the rest of us took the two vehicles and showed up at Krash. Lisa was able to get us in without too much drama even though the boys still had to pay full price. Once inside though everyone was entertained to the fullest and DJ Superdave made sure to keep us dancing. Dave, Hal and I headed downstairs to see how the Reggaeton and R&B crowd was moving. After Dave said hello to one of his friends in attendance we escaped the smoky downstairs and returned to the rest of the gang upstairs. After splitting our time between the back bar with Barman Davey and the dancefloor where the DJ played my current fave "Don't Forget About Us". I promised both Dave and Hal that the next time Manny Lehman played at Roxy I would invite them out for a night of vocal house music. Russ and I stayed at Krash until around 3am when we told the rest of the gang goodnight and good luck. We picked up a late night snack at Mickey Ds and then flagged down a taxi to head back to BK.

The night of drinking so soon after eating my big burger dinner meant I did not feel like working out the next day but I did entertain my sister and my Mom when they came over to pick up their tax information. We ended up taking a road trip to Staples in Bklyn and then Staples in downtown NY to pick up printer Ink and a Fax-Scanner, Copier Printer for the office. We returned home and I was able to finish printing while Russ went back into the city for work. After Moms and my sister headed back to Staten Island I fell out for a few minutes before Russ returned and it was time for dinner delivery. I had my chicken caesar salad and then began the preparation for the evening. Once I was haircut, clean shaven and cleaned up I was ready to head out. Russ decided to stay in the for evening as he was still recovering from our Friday Night out but I was interested in seeing what the night had ahead of me for Saturday Night. So I headed down the block and walked into the Car Service and received my driver for the evening so I could head into the city.

I was dropped off on 18th Street and 10th street and headed over to Roxy to step onto the line and head inside. A few random people did not have their IDs and a few other guys needed directions to go smoke their cigs (in the front, in the cold). I headed inside and was surprised at how not full the place was at 12:15. The $1 drink bar before midnight was not enough to pull in the boys (the same lushes get all the drinks) and I made 2 circuits of the place trying to find my two bartenders. (Alas, tragedy had struck, with management issues causing both of my barguys Barker and Matt to be let go, I hope they can bring them back somehow before the summer). Anyway I settled on mistress Cathy as my bartender for the eve and dodged the 10 Cane Rum pushers to get my drink on. DJ Paulo was spinning for the crowd this eve but it seemed that he was still keeping his best beats for later on in the night. The crowd was not willing to dance until they heard the best beats. It was some kind of mexican standoff with no one having a really good time. I said hi to Steve and his bud and also hung out with the usual crowd in attendance but it wasn't until after 1:30 am that I felt the energy was sufficient enough to go and dance on the speaker in the asian section and then stay on the speaker and go shirtless for the DJ Paulo Mix of "My Humps". The crowd ate it up and I was happier with the turnout despite the late start. Even dancer Dave commented on the lax crowd but enjoyed the slowly filling place as it was really busy around 2:30. But the crowd did not seem to want to stay. I liked the tribal beats and energy music myself and even went on the stage and danced on the stage solo while the light guy Mitch kept the lights in the place out. Just me and my lit up hands on stage until I felt the crowd had gotten the point and I stepped away to get myself something else to drink (gatorade or red-bull). Of course the crazy glowstick guy in black took over the stage space but by then the crowd seemed to have found something else interesting to do and the place began to lose coherence. By 4am the crowd seemed restless and so the DJ teased us with bits of music mixed in with tribal beats from songs we recognized and I was already on the speaker over muscle beach when I stepped down crossed over to the speaker near the door and awaited the song to come. I did my final dance to "Someone to Hold" fully on beat and hands ignited and stepped down and returned to coat check to reclaim my wrap and head home. Even the coat check made a point to tell me that a lot of people had left early and it ended up being a kind of off night. I still enjoyed and looked forward to the next time. I flagged down a taxi on Tenth avenue and got the driver to bring me back to BK with no issues. I paid for my ride an headed upstairs, another night over and under wraps.

Sunday I just hung out inside watching TV and newswires until it as time to pick up dinner from KFC. Thank goodness the Olympics were over and I would start having more programming choices soon. DVR programming and movies before going to sleep. A weekend of change, surprises and new directions. And March has not even started yet.