this page intentionally left blank

Yesterday, after Thai Spice, Sean and I went to Dave and Buster's because Yvette had given me two $10 gift certificates and I had never been there. It was pretty cool. I'm not much of a computer gamer... I have always been more of a Q3/RA3 guy that a stand-up-and-put-money-in game player. There were some impressive games... my favorite out of those tried was this game called L.A. Machineguns. It's basically a collaborative effort between you and your partner (Sean) to mindlessly fly through the streets of L.A., Vegas, etc. and destroy the bad guys. You have unlimited ammunition and these neat little flying scooters. It was quite entertaining. The other thing notable about Dave and Buster's (besides the extensive video games) was the size. This place is huge. It had a billiard room, a full restaurant, a bar area, etc. You can drink and/or eat anywhere in the place (including the game rooms) and it's 21 and up at night, so alcohol consumption is encouraged. We played our free credits and left. When we arrived at Dave and Buster's, it was clear skies and sunny... when we left, it was pouring down rain... Texas weather strikes again! I strongly wanted to see this import film called The Piano Teacher, so we drove to River Oaks where I thought it might be showing, but it wasn't. Traffic in the rain sucked, so it took forever. When we stopped, I grabbed a Houston Press and found out it was playing the Greenway 3, but the showtimes didn't match our schedule for the day, so I was kinda disappointed. Maybe I'll go by myself this evening after Sean leaves. We stopped for some happy hour beers at the Outback steakhouse by my house and ran into Danielle. We stayed for a few beers before heading over to Dirk's for dinner. He is an excellent cook and spent 9 hours the day before preparing this bar-b-que brisket that was delicious. I don't eat bar-b-que very often, but when Dirk cooks, it's always something not to miss. We went to Baker's Street Pub in the village to see Harry and Eric's gig. That is a good venue for them... the acoustics are better there than the other places they play in town. It wasn't too crowded and Sean and I found a great table where we could see/hear well and still be able to talk. Harry's wife showed up to see him (she normally doesn't), so Harry sounded especially good. He'd probably deny it, but you could tell he was playing to her all night. I think that is so cool. Danielle stopped in for a drink a little while after we arrived. She, Sean, and I listened and talked through the sets and ended up going to Rucci's after they kicked us out of Baker's Street and closed the doors. I am still amazed at the 2:00 closing time here. In NY, it was 4:00... in Europe, you just party all night... drink 'til the sun comes up. Oh well, we probably stayed there until 5:30 this morning just talking and laughing. It was so great to spend time with Sean again after being apart for so many years. He is a brother to me. Anyhoo, we got home safe and sound before the sun came up. We both had an e-X-cellent time last night. I was tired and feeling no pain when I got home, so I really didn't feel like typing... sorry about the wordiness, but I think I'm still smiling for a great night out with friends. Sean and I are going to get some Bombay Palace buffet for lunch and hang out a bit here before he has to leave. Ciao.