Radiohead, Erin's pad stories, extremely drunk women, WHITE people, Emily Choi

I had a great time out with my friends last night. We played Ultimate, had snacks, and then went out to eat. (we're used to eating twice on Fridays) Sean and Adela had brought their San Francisco pictures: you could see Alcatraz in one of them; there were pictures of Treasure Island (where they went for the July 4 fireworks); pictures of the guys (Sean, Alan, Hon, Hon Fei, and Edwin) clubbing, riding on ATVs, and visiting Alan in the hospital (he got injured on an ATV); pictures of this expensive dinner that Sean and Adela had at some restaurant (want Dungeness crab cocktails and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, anyone?); and the pictures of Adela's relatives. (plus Sean looking really drunk / hungover.. yes, people DO notice these things! :P)

Eric H. was back, which was a good thing. I'd begun to miss having him around. Steph was trying to figure out his name later, and Jon told her that he had the same name as his friend in Victoria. (she got what he was saying, luckily)

Stella noticed Jen holding Jon's copy of Kid A, and wondered about Radiohead. (she's vaguely heard of them) After explaining that we couldn't sing along to their more experimental stuff (and not even to their other songs, at times!), Jen and I got Jon to play some of Radiohead's tunes on the guitar. He then played and sung Fake Plastic Trees, Paranoid Android, High and Dry, and Street Spirit (Fade Out). That answered Stella's question. :)

Jon, Steph, Emily, Eunice, Dawn, Norman, Kristy, Sean, Adela, Erin, Danielle, Nathan, Eric H., Phil, Melia, and I went to the Cactus Club. There are none in Toronto, so Emily's never been to one. (she did seem to like it just fine) It wasn't the one where Sean told us just a little TOO much information about how much he liked the Caesar salad there.. but that comment definitely cleared the table a couple years back!

Melia asked us: "Did you guys know that hot dogs are made of PORK?!" We all looked at her strangely.. turns out that she always thought they were made of beef, until they were discussing it in Bible Study last night. I was going to tell them about potted meat, but we were already eating. (though there ARE chicken dogs and veggie dogs out there, we know)

Eunice said that the Richmond Crew would be proud of her. She had made a food combo some time ago that involved perogies, lettuce, and A-1. (we had this old joke involving A-1 steak sauce, and how it was absolutely the best stuff around)

Erin objected to Jon mentioning her embarrassing pad stories, even in passing. He didn't say anything, but just mentioning "Erin's pad stories" got a group of us laughing. Jon then had to tell Nathan the "gummi bear" story in point form; Danielle wanted more detail, but I think we'll tell her later. Steph said that even Emily knew about Erin.. that was kinda funny.

When I ordered a Flirtini (a martini with raspberries and such in it), Jon said that I just HAD to have my alcohol. That was SO not true. I'd had a rough week, and it's not like I'm an alcoholic or anything! Just needed to relax a bit, is all.

Adela then passed her 30-Hour Famine pledge forms around the table.. I remember doing this for a few years back in high school. (it's to raise money for a World Vision cause.. or was when I did it) When Jon upped Nate's $5 donation by giving $6.25, I decided to better THAT by giving $8. But it's all for a good cause, and I could afford it.. if I couldn't, I wouldn't have done that. :)

Discussed Daniel Fellowship doings; Sean had this to say about the increase in newcomers: "It's like an explosion of newcomers!" (um, sure it is..) Some of us also toasted Eunice's serving on the Daniel committee next year. Erin says she enjoys serving in Timothy (the high school group), but some of the kids are so quiet. Jon jokingly suggested that she should liquor them up, then they'd tell her a lot.. they're underage, dude!

Eunice told us that she was listening to Amy talk about Brian, so she joked to him: "Can I trade Eddie up for you? Wait a minute, I'd NEVER do that!" Apparently, the expression on Brian's face was priceless. (Eddie's a hair model and a restaurant kitchen worker in Edinburgh right now; he'll come back in about a month, but won't tell anyone [not even his mom] exactly when.. it's a surprise)

Later, Erin said that she'd cover Nate's meal for his birthday. Jon told her that she didn't have to.. Nathan had had a meal covered before his birthday (the Memphis Blues outing), two meals on his birthday, and one meal afterwards. She insisted, then found out that she didn't have enough cash anyhow. Yet another laugh at Erin's expense.. it sounds SO classy: "I'll pay for you.. wait, I don't have enough cash! Maybe next week.."

Afterwards, some of us were demonstrating our skills at being the champions of loitering. We hung around outside the restaurant and talked for a while. Jon, Steph, and I recalled the extremely drunk woman we'd seen outside this same Cactus Club once.. she looked very sad inside the restaurant, yet they kept serving her. Outside, she was extremely hyper.. it was a good thing that she had two male friends with her.

We discussed the Daniel evangelistic meeting next week, how old Norman thought Emily and Danielle looked (the girls are 25 and 24 respectively), unity, bonding, our gifts (Nathan's gift is being the "chauffeur / hook-up man"), Eric M. (whom we had to describe to Eric H. as "not you.. *white* Eric!".. then we looked around and noticed Kristy's presence; um, oops.. hahaha), and a bunch of other stuff. When Jon started in on chopping Norman and chasing him around, Kristy looked very surprised. I told her that Jon was always like that, and she'd figure it out for herself soon.

So all in all, a very good night out. "Good times, good times.. and lots of company," as Nathan would say.


Today, I'm off to Sean's place for a family dinner.. the "support group" time is fun. :) Jon won't be there with us, as he's helping out at a "street church".. but the rest of us will be sure to tell him what went on. It'll certainly be the usual good time.

My uncle is also in town again; tomorrow is the family dinner. We'll be going to the Keg.. mmm, steak. It'll be all right, but SO fraught with obligations. Eh well.. nothing I can do about it.

I'm also looking forward to a visit from a Seattle friend of mine on Monday.. it'll be a go unless something really bad happens. It will be good fun.. we'll have to have some bubble tea, among other things. Definitely will be interesting.. :)