So, today I'm 31. A youthful 31, mind you. Carrie picked me up for lunch, and we headed to the Reef. Seemed the appropriate venue. Or maybe it's just my default. I had grilledswisstomato&bacon. As always. With onion rings, as a special treat. I can never finish them. But just three or four are so nice.
Kat was behind the counter. She offered birthday wishes and a funny face. Sad to say, she's off to San Francisco shortly. Already secured an apartment near Mission Dolores. It's surely good for her to get out of Olympia. But eating at the Reef won't be the same. Odd to already feel nostalgic after less than 3 months in town. But Olympia seems to inspire those feelings. The town is infused with a kind of tragic ennui. Or maybe that's just teen angst. Depends how cynical you are, I guess. But birthdays and cynicism don't mix. Note as illustrations, my birthday presents to myself, as follows:
#1: The X-Ray LED watch. Yep, vintage 70s technology as manufactured today. Just push a button and it tells you the time or the date. For about 5 seconds. Guess the LEDs such up electricity, so they can't just stay on. And yeah, it's a little hard to read in daylight. But still. It's so cool. Had to have one. Even though I haven't worn a watch in upwards of 10 years. Incidentally, the damn things are heavy. Which is going to take some getting used to.
#2: The Vidster. Essentially, a digital version of the PXL 2000. Same frame rate (15fps) even. But it's in color. And has a little screen, instead of a viewfinder. And records on flash memory instead of a cassette tape. And plugs right into the USB port on your computer, exporting AVI clips. It's absolutely genius. And I love it. If I'm ever to start making videos, it's happening now.
After work I went out for drinks at the 4th Avenue Tavern with Josh, Kylee, and Jennifer from work. Josh kindly got me a birthday drink. And Carrie joined us soon afterward, as did Lucinda, Josh's girlfriend. Carrie had to work, but the rest of us went to the Brotherhood. Where we played shuffleboard.
Josh...
... & Lucinda ...
... squared off against Kylee and me. Lucinda kinda sharked us. She knew the rules and everything. But I was blessed with drunk's luck on several occasions. And the inevitable defeat wasn't nearly as grisly as it might have been.
Carrie turned up just as everyone else was leaving. So we settled into a booth. Her friend Brendan (pictured) turned up. We had a nice conversation about NYC and medium-format photography. He runs the lab at Evergreen, and offered to process a few rolls of 120 film. If I ever get them shot. Omu gave me her old Agfa box camera aeons ago, and I always mean to use it. And never seem to make it through a whole roll.
Friendly drunken revelers invaded our booth and kept us entertained for a bit. And they kindly took a snapshot of the three of us.
As you see, I wore my favorite lime-green cardigan. Not the most masculine of garments. But an oh-so-comfortable solution to the newly chilly Washington evenings...
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