Back from the dead

The Meme that will not die. Asked of me are questions five, and I to answer them shall strive. Should you wish to join this chase, just assent and yours I will not rhyme, but instead ask of you in return.

Who do you think I am, anyway?

ironymaiden sez (sneakily adding a 6th):

1. what Schwan’s product do you wish you had in your freezer right now?

Without a doubt, the finest treat I ever had during my tenure at Schwan’s was the basic Schwan’s bar.

In my “prime” I could eat a whole box at a go. But usually one a day as a reward was the norm.

I miss them, at times. But the dairy will mess me up these days.

Sigh.

So I’m going to say Tri-tip steaks. These cuts are so tender, you can eat them on a hot dog bun. Yum.

2. a) do you live in the area because you like it here, or because it’s where you work? b)is there anywhere in the US you would refuse to live, no matter how cool the job was?

a)This is a very long story to tell. I’ll need companionship and laughter to get it all out. The EXTREMELY abbreviated version is that I work and live in Seattle, not the other way around. But I do really like it here. 5 years from now I may sing a different tune altogether.

b)Las Vegas, Nevada. My first impulse was to say Los Angeles, but mainly through habit, not by preference.

I travel to Vegas one week a year on business, and it is like stepping into Hell. Again, long story. But I am frequently mistaken for my father at the checkout counters of McCarran.

We look nothing alike.

3. a nuke hits downtown Seattle. what’s the first thing you do?

Reach 1 million degrees. I have lived on first strike targets my entire life. I take some comfort in knowing that unlike the movies, no-one beats the bomb. I have no interest in being a survivor of a nuclear conflagration.

If I am in Bellevue at the time, I will go blind from flash, then most probably be killed by flying debris and glass propelled by the shockwave.

If I am far away, I greive for all of you, and then go on with my life.

4. will you start biking again?

Yes. But not just yet. I just began Chiropractic treatment, and want to get completely readjusted before I do something that motor-intensive. Since I’ve spent the majority of my life out of alignment, I want to start fresh with a whole lot of things.

I plan to start swimming again within the month.

5. describe your first tequila experience.

I’m going to assume here that the intent is “out drinking.” I grew up in a mexican restaurant, and spent a lot of time in the bar. Never touched a drop. Never needed to. But I got to observe tequila culture and consumption every weekend for a long, long time. Which prepared me quite well for

The Story.

April 13th-16th, 1990. Leprecon 16, Phoenix, Arizona

College was a very interesting time. I did not drink overmuch, mainly because my metabolism was such that to become intoxicated was a supreme act of will, and most of my friends passed out long before I got even a little bit buzzed.

I did, however, like my friends very much. and since they were going to the Science Fiction Convention, so was I. I also did not sleep much (a condition that still plagues me from time to time), and during that month I was not really sleeping at all. 1-2 hours a day was the average, and I got that for the weekend. Friday was good (I had managed to nap 3 hours before the show Thursday afternoon), but as the night went on, and my compatriots fell by the wayside, I found myself drawn along in a room party train. More than one were serving Tequila, and I drank quite a bit of both that spirit, and my former life companion, beer.

One group into whose orbit I fell had a very interesting young woman whose name I cannot remember at present. (It’s on the edge of memory, but I can’t pull the trigger. Her freinds were named Steve, Jack, Teri and Fish. but hers I can’t quite place.) She had not my tolerance for alchohol, and in fact seemed to be pretty hammered most of the time I was with her. But she was…very friendly, and we hit it off. She even stole my checkbook to get my address, which at the time was a little endearing. I also had to forcibly remind an accquaintance that yes indeed, I am talking to her, she is indeed with me, and why don’t you go over there and talk to that sliding glass door for a while.

From the other side.

In retrospect, she was a bit off, smoked like a chimney and kisssed like an ashtray. There is a followup story that takes place a week later, which explains why I laugh out loud every time I hear Sinead O’Connor and “Nothing compares to you.” There was tequila there too. And one of the many drunk walks I performed in preparation for the time when I really needed one for myself.

Pay it forward. Always.

But I digress.

Saturday night I walk out of the Rocky showing (my first), mainly because I don’t have time to read two sets of subtitles (Mandarin and English), while trying to listen to the baddly re-dubbed original language track through the interference of both the French the print was prepared in, and the cast. Plus, I’ve been drinking for three days, and I’m almost there. I leave right before the Time Warp, and then it’s Sunday. Off to a raucous dance I go, where they play… the Time Warp.

There is more booze. Things get a little blurry over the next 7 hours, but as the sun comes up I am finishing off my first ever viewing of the Wall, and I freak out during the Final Bathroom scene. You know the one. My buddies pour some breakfast into me, and I sit down to play a D&D tournament, the real reason I attended to the convention in the first place. We finish things up, I claim my prize for second place in the round, and first place over all. We drive home, play our sunday night campaign, and then I bicycle home to pass out on my couch.

7 hours later, I’m in class.

I have much, much better tequila stories. I miss it, too. But not that much. Tequila made me stupid a lot of times, possibly every time. But the longer I am mostly sober, the more I really don’t want to go back to the life.

Jeebus, I feel old sometimes.