First off, it was a year ago today Michael and I got engaged. Hooray!
It’s gloomy out and I’ll probably be spending most of today working on the computer. I have a whole pile of projects to get to work on, so many that I’m sitting here staring at IRC overwhelmed because I don’t have my priorities straight. So, priority 1) write journal entry in order to get brain working 2) write a list of things I want to get done so I can prioritize and tackle things properly.
Michael took me down to South Street yesterday, he wrote about it here.
South Street is a part of Philly with lots of little shops and things. The last time I was there was in 1999 on a double date with Michael, and the airheads we were both dating at the time. It has changed since that last visit, the neighborhood has really gone down hill. Such is the way with cities I guess, but it’s a real shame. We only stopped a a couple of stores, 611 Records so Michael could pick up some vinyl and What’s on Tap?, a store specializing in beer and related merchandise. What’s on Tap? was going out of business, so we got a nice deal on a couple of pint glasses and a set of wine glasses. When we asked why they were closing shop the guy at the counter replied “the neighborhood has changed,” confirming my thoughts about the state of the area.
After that we headed over to west Philly to grab some food, and ended up at Marathon Grill. I was not impressed. Their beer menu had some good microbrews on it, but when we tried to order them they seemed to be out of stock of everything. No more Hopdevil on tap. No Dogfish head in bottles. I ended up getting a Guinness which was certainly the worst guiness from a tap I’ve ever had. The food was ok. Service was mediocre.
In spite of these things, and the drizzle that followed us around all day, I had a nice time. After eating we headed over to The Last Word Bookshop on Walnut street, which is a great little bookstore that I don’t visit often enough. A very strange thing happened while I was there. I was browsing the scifi/fantasy section, and suddenly thought that I should look for The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny. I can’t remember who recommended it to me so long ago, but it’s a book I’ve been meaning to pick up for years. I’d never seen a copy in a used bookstore, so when I was pawing through books on the floor I was shocked when I laid my hands on it. Wow!
After picking up some books we headed over to Bucks County Coffee Co. for some coffee before the concert. The place felt just like a Starbucks, same chairs and everything, it was kind of creepy. I enjoyed a cup of cafe mocha and we sat down at a table with our new books until it was time to go to the concert.
The concert was good. I think my only complain was that some of the images shown on the screen during Michael Bentley’s preformance were a bit much to take visually (flashing, waving stuff) and I had to close my eyes. But I like to close my eyes at those concerts anyway to imagine the ambient landscape for myself, and Bentley’s music is good for that. I really enjoyed Saul Stokes’ performance.
The concert wrapped up shortly before 11 and we made our way out of the city to be home by midnight, in time for Michael to do his show. I stayed up until 2AM doing email and generally puttering around online.
Now on to that list of priorities…