MAN-TASTIC

Another weekend here and gone. This weekend was a little different, however, because my old boy Cameron rolled into town. On his heels was his girlfriend Chastity, whom I had never met before. It was good to see old Cam, whom I hadn't seen since June of 2003, when he visited me for a week back when I still lived in Tacoma.

Cameron and I were coincidental roommates during our first year of med school. He and I both applied for housing long distance (he from San Francisco, I from San Diego). The third guy in that apartment, who had lived there the year prior, was a student who was a year ahead of us. He had two rooms to rent in the place. Cam got one, I got the other. Cam and I hit off immediately. I think he’s one of the easiest people to get along with that I’ve ever met in my life.

The other guy in that house (Rob) was kind of a train wreck. (We both should have figured that given his other roommates moved out after their first year with him). But overall, first year of med school was a good, if grueling year, and I enjoyed getting to know Cameron. He quickly became my best friend in New Orleans. (With rude dog a close second of course... :)

After that year, Cam and I both realized we had to get out of that duplex and Cam found a place by himself and I moved in with my super obsessive compulsive roommates (to include one mini Hurt) where I remained for the last three years at Tulane.

Cam and I remained good friends. I suppose one could expect to possibly see him in my wedding party one day. We have a lot of good memories going back, from our repeated outings on the New Orleans nightlife to long talks about female problems. I miss the days when we used to meet up at one of our various greasy spoon breakfast places (Bluebird Café, Riccobonos) on weekend mornings (er, early afternoons) back in New Orleans.

So it was good to see him. Friday night he rolled in with his girlfriend and the three of us, along with my friend John, had some drinks at a local bar near my house and caught up. Following that we rolled to this Irish bar on the corner by my house called “Kincora’s” It’s a cool bar, but WAY too damn smoky. I mean it was seriously like having a drink in a chimney – we all smelled horrible afterwards. The bar had this “heavy metal DJ” who was spinning discs of old Aerosmith, Metallica, Megadeth, Judas Priest (rocks!), and the like. He put on the Scorpions at one point. I asked him if he had heard of the Hurricane 2000 supermix. He said he hadn’t. After that, I rolled my eyes and we quickly left. “Heavy Metal DJ” - my ass.

Saturday I had to come into the hospital for a few hours – after that I drove back home and we had a nice breakfast at a place called Rosebud, also right near my house.

(TANGENT: I’ve realized that one of the elements to my personal happiness is having a good breakfast place near where I live. I suppose I can trace this concept back to my Camelot days with “JR’s”. Though not a great place (besides the infamous Hobo Scramble), I think I realized how cool it is to have a good place close to go eat breakfast, get some coffee, nurse hangovers, etc. In New Orleans I fell in love with Bluebird Café and the Riccobono’s, the latter of which was within walking distance (4 blocks) of my apartment. I settled many a hangover, had many a “next-day-conversation”, and read many a book over those sweet fried egg sandwhiches, omelets, and other assorted breakfast foods.
The first two years here in Washington, I was missing that. There was a good place in Tacoma I would go occasionally after work on weekends, post-call, or in the morning if I was so lucky as to have the day off. It was called “The Harvester”, but it was a good 15 minute drive from my apartment, making it less than convenient. Then, when I moved up into the city, I discovered Rosebud, which is possibly the best place of them all. Good coffee, great menu, and only 3 blocks away – I really feel at peace when I roll down there on Saturday mornings with a paper, book, or friend and start the day at a leisurely pace.)

On Saturday afternoon Cam, girlfriend, and I rolled out to Pike’s Market and had ourselves a day in Seattle. We cruised around the market and some other downtown sites (the second time in successive weekends that I have acted like a tourist). On the way back we bought a dungeness crab at the market. We had it pre-cracked, then took it up to my roof and ate the thing as an appetizer, dipping it in butter between bites while taking in the sunset. It was pretty cool. The weather had been absolutely gorgeous and sunny all day – a good time.

A little later we headed out to the old Wasabi Bistro in Belltown (one of downtown Seattle’s districts) for some sushi and drinks. Good sushi. But not cheap. Afterward we discovered this really cool bar on second street that had a bunch of 1980’s video arcades and pinball machines in it. Cam and I bought a pitcher and then went to town on Joust. Shortly following that, I set a new high score record (for the night) on an Asteroids machine, circa 1978. Then we headed in the back and played some pinball and Galaga. I

We cabbed back to my neighborhood at about 1:00 am and on a lark we decided to check out the Manray. That’s right. Cam, HIS GIRLFRIEND, and I all cruised into the gay bar – mostly because we were drunk and Cam’s girlfriend talked us into it. We were fairly giggily, but there wasn’t actually much to see. Basically a lot of gay dudes standing around chatting it up. Some looked flaming, some didn’t. Cam, his girl, and I basically stood around, chatted, had a drink, and then left. And that was that. First experience at a gay bar – done. (On the next one I plan to hook up.) I was a little miffed I didn’t get hit on, but I certainly wasn’t presenting myself in any inviting fashion. Oh well, back to the Banana Republic dressing rooms for me. (That’s where the flaming gay staff watch me try on jeans and tell me how sweet I look. What an ego boost!)

That night we got to bed late. I woke up early, only mildly hungover (YAY!) and headed out to the Fox Sports Grill to watch some football. The old Fox Sports Grill is right in the heart of downtown Seattle – it’s a pretty sweet place with multiple plasma screens. It’s become my new regular sports bar. Warren Moon actually runs a show on Fox Sports West out of it on Monday nights after the game. (We saw him after the Eagles/Vikings game a few weeks back).

So I spent Sunday watching football (very new and exciting, I know). Cam and Chastity met me down there later but they were in worse shape (hangover wise) by far than I was (oh shit, am I building a tolerance?!?) and they chose to walk around the city and get some fresh air while I dutifully remained and continued to watch every NFL game.

Last night we went out to have some Thai food. The afternoon was filled with naps. Today, I got up early and came to work, which is thankfully pretty slow. Cam and Chastity are heading out today to Olympic National park for a half week or so of camping. I’ll see them when they get back some time later in the week.

Gwen flies back in tonight from a conference in Toronto, where she was all weekend. She claims it was a neurology conference, but I suspect she’s scoping out places to flea to if Bush gets re-elected. So tonight Gwen and I will have and some dinner and chill out. I’m still tired from Saturday.

And there’s always Monday night football. Out.