Booze Wench.

I have been a busy busy bartender.  Went to Fontana, CA, where I bartended at a Nascar race and was on my feet for 33 hours in 3 days.  Exhausting.  But profitable.  And, oh my, the rednecks.  I don't like to stereotype people, but Nascar brings out a certain ...shall we say... breed of people.  The mullets.  The toothless grins.  The middle-aged men making extremely inappropriate jokes that make me thank the Lord above that there's a wide counter between us.  The women that look like teenagers from the back with their tight jeans, midriff tops and bottle blond hair, only to turn around, revealing their age in a face with all the creases and coloring of a rotten apple.  I don't mean to be nasty, there are also some really lovely people there that defy the stereotype.  People who make friendly conversation and don't egg me on with "pour some more, darlin', I'm a grown man, I can take it" when the glass is already half full of liquor.  There are some people that are so nice & generous that I just want to reach on over that bar & give them a big hug.  But it really is quite a fun place to people watch.

our bar at Nascar

It was a tiring weekend; the company put us up in a hotel but it was 4 adults in a room with 2 full-size beds, waking up at 4am to open the bar at 7, crowds 50 deep pushing toward your bar as Styx (yes, Styx live - those guys are old but I gotta admit, they sounded good) blared "come sail away..." and I had to communicate with customers via pointing.  BUT I worked with friends, which makes everything better, and we made enough for my March rent, which is a relief.

Then, tonight, I bartended a pre-made margarita stand in a Banana Republic & it was the easiest job I've ever done.  And I got tipped!  Tomorrow I'm bartending at a sailing club and Saturday I'm bartending a wedding.  Yay for easy, un-attached jobs!

I like bartending; everyone loves a bartender.

In other news, my friend Todd did his first public stand-up comedy performance & it was brilliant, as we all knew it would be.  Everyone else at the coffee shop was a comic; he had a fan club.  :)

Two of our friends here just got engaged & are moving back to the east coast.  It's sad, but we all knew it was their plan all along.  They had a goodbye party last night & it was really fun but also a bit depressing.  We're growing up, going our separate ways, moving on.  It's inevitable.

 saying goodbye

And I suppose it's good as well.  Change keeps us alive; everything changes & you have to change with it.  In the words of Ani Difranco: "Buildings and bridges are made to bend in the wind, to withstand the world thats what it takes. All that steel and stone are no match for the air, my friend, what doesn't bend breaks..."

So, ok, I'm bending...

Today I'm so happy and grateful for:
~ profitable temporary jobs
~ creative & talented friends
~ courage to move on

xo! n.