When I was in grad school, a few friends and I discovered something very very good was going on at a local dive bar every Wednesday night.

What was this thing, you ask? Just a little gift from God called... karaoke.

OK. This was more than just something we did every once in a while. This was an all-out addiction, starting at 9 pm and ending anywhere between 2 and 4 am. We also had jobs, and early morning classes, but were a lot younger then, and it was just impossible to leave karaoke. It grew and grew, and we made lots of friends.


Karaoke is even part of the reason Mr. Bossy and I are together, as he was a regular patron of this bar as well. One night he was asked to be a judge of the monthly contest they had there. This particular night was an '80s contest. Some of the people came decked out in full costume, knowing what they were going to sing, and did a great job. I wasn't planning to enter, as country karaoke is my genre of choice, but I decided to just sing for the fun of it. I wasn't wearing a costume, wasn't really giving it my all... but somehow I won.

Turns out Mr. Bossy (who was also Mr. Inebriated) liked me, and wanted me to win. I didn't know him at the time, really, and we didn't start dating until several months later, but that's where it began.

You might also be interested to know that the karaoke DJ wouldn't let me win because the judges were too drunk to make a fair decision. Ah, romance.


Anyway, for a variety of reasons we stopped going there (after 2 years) and they no longer do karaoke. I haven't done karaoke in over 5 years, and I miss it. A lot. Every time I hear the song that was my "signature" song, I get all excited and nostalgic at the same time.

BUT.

A couple of weeks ago, my dear friend and partner in karaoke crime sent me a text message that said another local pub was starting up karaoke, and on FRIDAY NIGHTS.

Nothing could have given me greater pleasure, and Friday is the perfect night for me. It starts tonight, and you can bet your ass we'll be there with bells on. I am so excited, it's all I can think about. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Sweet Relief

Well, I appreciate your support of my previous post and your well wishes for last weekend's block party. I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

Last Saturday was my favorite neighborhood day of the two years we've lived there! I feel redeemed.

First of all, we had a yard sale Saturday morning. This was one of those neighborhood deals, so there were about 15 houses participating. We didn't think we had much, but we had a couple of things I wanted to get rid of, so we decided to give it a try.

(My use of the word "we" may be slightly misleading. Mr. Bossy was in no way involved in the yard sale preparation or the sale itself. He did help me carry some of the stuff outside before he left for work. That's it).


ANYWAY, so I'm sitting outside all Saturday morning, and some of our neighbors were out too, so that was a good start. We talked some, and I was feeling more confident when I heard they were going to the party that night. So, we made a little bit of money and got rid of the main things I wanted to get rid of. Success!

Later that afternoon, we walked down the street to the place of the party. Before the party we were supposed to have a Neighborhood Watch meeting to discuss the PEEPING TOM problem in our neighborhood. After that, we went right into block party mode.

Fortunately for me, the main neighbors that we know were all there, and we all sort of hung out together. Everyone was saying how much better this party was than last year's, and I couldn't have agreed more. We ended up staying for quite a while, and then went to another party in our neighborhood (we didn't even know this person, but she put flyers on our mailboxes, so we all went as a group).

All in all, I was so happy to have put that previous party behind me. I haven't seen any of my neighbors since then, but I have visions that we'll all be best friends forever after last weekend. I'll be sure to let you know.

PS-- The title of my previous post, followed by the title of this one sounds like some sort of digestive issue. I apologize and assure you that was not my intent.