My Maudlin Career, er Evening

When I was out artwalking on Friday night, I'd paused in front of 27 to see how busy they were and wave hi to whomever might be working.

From behind the very busy bar, Dave the comedian spotted me, smiled and pointed and began to unbutton his shirt, as if to strip down.

Naturally I smiled back and since I was conveniently wearing a wide-necked dress, began to pull the dress down over my shoulders as if to bare my chest.

At that moment, no less than four pairs of male eyes turned around to see what Dave was looking at.

So there I was, grinning like a fool, with my dress heading south on my arms, no doubt viewed as part of the street theater that is First Fridays.

Needless to say, I decided not to go into 27 after that, but I knew I'd take crap for it, so I went tonight instead.

And I did take crap for not coming in the night before, but, hey, I was here now.

It was hot, so while I had aspirations to drink red, I began with Carlos' favorite white, the Tenuta San Pietro Gavi di Gavi, which went down like water.

Not surprisingly, the staff and I were talking about the impending Broad Appetit and one of the dishes Carlos will be serving tomorrow is his ensalata caprese, which put me in the mood for a full-size serving of it myself.

He was telling me how poorly suited he'd be for assembly line work; a day of repetitiously making hundreds of the same two dishes had resulted in a monotony headache.

I could commiserate because I'm no better suited for routine than he is.

We talked about how much fun the Memorial Day cookout had been and 27's new late bar hours, which I'm thrilled about.

Many's the time I want to stop off in the neighborhood on my way home from an event , so now that'll be a no-brainer.

And speaking of drinking, with the Gavi di Gavi gone, I was ready for red and Carlos suggested switching to the Andes malbec, knowing I'd like it.

The problem then became deciding what to eat for dinner and I wasn't leaning in any particular direction.

Ron saved the day by giving me a peek at the soon-to-be-debuted menu and letting me choose off of that.

Score!

I'll have the Spanish Blood Sausage over a spicy potato mixture, thank you very much.

The sausage was outstanding and Carlos came over to join me while I ate it.

There were no good bar sitters last night, but fortunately all my favorite staff were there to take care of my conversational needs, which were extensive.

After nearly finishing the bottle of Malbec (don't judge), it was time for me to high-tail it over to the National for Camera Obscura.

A friend had told me he'd chosen not to go to the show because he'd heard that they sound exactly like their records, but I didn't care about that because I'm so fond of their charming little girl Scottish voices.

Besides, how can I not love a group that sings "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken"?

(Been there. Not ready.)

The crowd was smaller than it should have been.

In fact the last time I saw a crowd so paltry was at the Passion Pit show last June and that was just as inexcusable.

In any case, I took my usual spot, chatted up a nearby fan (like me, he didn't care either how album-like they sounded) and settled in for a night of pretty and poppy.

When all was said and sung, I left my second destination of the evening as well sated as the first.

That's what we call a good night.

And bonus points if you can appreciate the positive connotation of maudlin.

I do so love a word nerd.