you remind me of the babe

Okay, Druid, you can stop asking me now: I finally saw “Labyrinth” … and loved it. David Bowie was so pretty! And now I can finally appreciate the crystal ball tricks that Shae was so fond of doing, except he used to do them with steel ball bearings. I’d tell people I knew about that so invariably upon first meeting, they’d ask him, “Do the thing with your balls!” Hilarity ensued. Ah, I miss the days of the Birmingham Boardgamers, nights full of Scrabble and new folks popping in to join the cool kids. And I was one of the cool kids. So many of us have moved away since then, and it’s only been a few years. I wish the Celestial Realm Coffeehouse didn’t have to close. I still have my mug, even with its...

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Posted on 13 Apr 2003 | 1 comment

realm

I bought a mug from the Celestial Realm Coffeehouse in Birmingham, Alabama. At work, it disappeared from the communal kitchen for weeks, once. It’s just a mug, and I was heartbroken. First of all, the Celestial Realm Coffeehouse no longer exists. I bought the mug from the owner who, while scrutinizing me over the tops of her pink-rimmed bifocals, asked if I wanted to buy the entire coffeehouse. She said she’d make me a great deal on the place, furniture included, freezer and coffee bar too, only several grand. I wanted to, and yet I could not imagine another anchor to Birmingham, not when I was so miserable there without a coffeehouse. Secondly, so many of the precious few good times happened for me in the ‘Realm, the most important ones...

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Posted on 18 Dec 2001 | Comments Off

intentionally blank

The worst part about having a journal is feeling compelled to write simply because I haven’t in a long time. I set aside today to catch up on a lot of things, including tandem, and now it’s nearly six in the evening with no end to the two entries I’ve already started in sight. They both have really great titles, but I’m going to have to keep those for later entries, and just blather for a bit … ï ï ï Living outside the city and not wanting to commit ourselves to the hell that is parking, Chad and I spend a lot of time on public transit. More time, actually, in the past month and a half than I’ve spent in my entire life, and that includes my eight-year stint in Chicago. I’ve come to understand that not only do I not mind...

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Posted on 2 Oct 1999 | Comments Off

tight pants and cold beer

Liquid360, the café where Birmingham Boardgamers is held, got their liquor license. They’ve also reportedly gone “corporate,” which means to a teenage boy (and sort of to me too) that everyone has to wear the same ugly style of logo-emblazoned polo shirt and … *gasp* … tight pants. Mind you, “tight pants” means to this teenage boy “pants with legs that are loosely based around one’s own actual size,” as opposed to what we old people call “skater pants.” Or used to, anyway, until we realized we were old and that was the lamest thing ever to call them and by the way, no one says “lame” anymore either. Regardless, I love skater pants. I love pants with legs larger than the...

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Posted on 20 Jul 1999 | Comments Off