First things first. Thank you, Sean and Amy. You were wonderful hosts. I did not want for anything during my visit. Especially food. Steaks, burgers, chili, and the wonderful fish I had at the fancy joint for Amy's birthday. I could not hope for better friends, and I thank from the bottom of my colon.
I finally made it to the casino last week. I didn't do as well as the last time I was there, but I can't complain. The first hand was dealt before I was even in my seat. The action was coming around as I looked at my first card. Ace of spades. Underneath that, ace of hearts. Yeah, I think I'm gonna raise this up a bit. A little over $20 in the pot at this point as it was raised up to $5 to go by the guy across from me with a few callers. I raise to $20 and the initial raiser pushes his stack of $50 into the pot. Everybody folds, except me of course. And my aces hold. First hand up about $75. I played for a while, the dude across from bought in a couple of more times. But then he started getting lucky. And he was gunning for me. A couple hours later, I lost $50 to him in what I believed to be a good fold. I looked at my stack and realized it had doubled exactly plus a dollar. And I thought it best to just call it a day. No use in feeding my money back to Mr. fast and loose.
For my last weekend, we traveled into the Jemez Mountains. It was a gorgeous day filled with gorgeous views and picture taking. Also of note was the lunch we had at the Los Ojos Restaurant Saloon in Jemez Springs. It had a real "out West" feel. The bar stools were all carved out of logs and I was surprised to not find sawdust on the floor. We took our seats at the bar. While we were eating our food, a guy who said he was from Pennsylvania sat down near us and struck up a conversation with the bartender. It seems he was a bit unhappy, as his buddies "out East" had said this was supposed to be a rough and tumble biker-type joint. And now he's here and it's too tame and ordinary. Sean was shaking his head, and it would have ended with that simple yet vague derision, but this guy kept going on and on. Finally, Sean locked eyes with the guy and said, "I'm sick of listening to you. You want a fight? Really? Cuz I'll cave your fucking head in, even if only to shut you up." Amy was mortified and trying to quietly calm Sean down. I put my sunglasses on and smiled for a second as I looked the guy up and down. Sean railed on, "Ask my wife here. I'm a helpful guy. You want a fight? I have no problem lending you a hand, or a fist. I believe in working together to make each other happy. It would seem to me that punching you repeatedly in the face would make us both happy." The bartender then quipped to the man to be careful what he wishes for, and backed away from the bar. Now Sean was on his feet and bellowed, "So what it's gonna be, huh?!" Up until this point the yank hadn't spoken a word to Sean. And when he did, the backpedaling was so fast it was nearly impossible to understand. This, of course, just infuriated Sean further. "What the hell are trying to say here? Are you familiar with concept of enunciation?!" As Sean kept repeating, "E - NUN - SEE - A - SHUN," Amy was quickly settling the tab. After which, she tugged on Sean's arm, and pleaded, "Let's go. Please." Sean turned toward the door and replied, "Alright baby. How was your sandwich? Mine was fantastic." And then it was over. Well, there was a moment of contemplation in the parking lot after Sean eyed the guys car and said he should key it with the words EXCITEMENT BOY. Amy quickly shot him a look accompanied by a, "Don't you dare." She even used his middle name so he knew she was serious. Sean quickly changed his tune, but then asked with a smirk, "What about Excitable Boy? You know, get this guy thinking about Warren Zevon." Amy gave her final, exhausted, "Seanny..." and we were on our way. We got out of the car a couple miles down the road at a scenic rest area. We all kicked back and looked for shapes and faces in the rockface in front of us. Sean and I both saw a pony eating a soft serve cone. We were so mesmerized I forgot to take pictures. Anyway, we decided to head back. Once we began to leave the Mountains, we checked the radio to see if we could pick anything up. We could. And just then, "Lawyers, Guns, and Money" started playing. Sean turned it up and we all sung our hearts out. Especially the "huhs..."
We took a trip to Sante Fe this weekend. It was my first visit there. Not knowing what to expect, I was a bit surprised by all the cowboy culture. Plenty of Stetsons and "y'alls" to go around. We had a nice lunch at the Cowgirl Bar, where I injected even more beef into my ever clogging colon. Then we stopped by a place called, Cowgirlz. It's a southern fried heavy metal strip club, just outside the heart of downtown. All the girls wore pasties that were shaped like cowboy hats and danced to Toby Keith songs covered by the likes of Metallica wannabes. I drank Shiner bock from an old boot. Amy, being a more traditional and proper lady, was a bit miffed by the whole experience. But we kept her liquored up just enough to keep her eyes from rolling out of her head every 30 seconds. Sean's communication skills gradually devolved into a series of emotive "yee-haws." I got a lap dance from a gal named, Mabel. She was the elder matron of the place at 50+. She asked me how I liked it, and I told her to tell me that I was special and ever so good, and that father was coming home soon from his extended trip to the gas station for cigarettes. She was a good sport about it, so I tipped her an extra sawbuck, which I tucked into a pastie that hung near her waist. Eventually, we emptied the majority of our wallets and left. Which was a good thing as Amy was starting to enjoy herself a little too much in there. At one point, I overheard her asking for an application...
We also went to a flea market that was full of arts and crafts, and clothes, and a bit of everything. Unfortunately, everything that I really liked was way out of my price range. Amy did find a nice little painting tho. I'm regretting that I didn't get one or two of those, as they were quite lovely @ $22 and would have made great gifts for a couple of friends. But I did decide to pick up a souvenir on the way out of town. I've never been one to get a shirt with the name of the town emblazoned on the front. To me, that's like getting a tattoo of somebody's name or even worse, your own. Anyway, I'm not one for sentimentality in the first place, so I picked up a lighter which I will give to a certain friend when I get home.
Still haven't gone gambling yet, but that's on the docket for tomorrow. (I just need to sew one more ace in my sleeve.) I've got one more week left here and then I'm off to Arizona, where it's even warmer...
After spending every single miserable winter in the midwest for the last 43 years, I decided it was time to get the fuck out and visit all of my friends that live in warmer climates. A 3 month tour. I wasn't sure how it was going to happen, but I was determined to make it go. Somehow, the stars aligned just short of winning the lottery and afforded me the opportunity.
First stop, Albuquerque, visiting my good friend, Sean, and his lovely wife, Amy.
I first met Sean over 20 yrs ago. He was brought on as second percussion in a band I was drumming with. We hit it off, and a few months later started our own band. Sean turned me on to lots of good music, and possibly more importantly, introduced me to the Gallery Cabaret. Sean's a hard man to sum up, but suffice it to say, he is one of the most good-hearted and generous people I know. He and Amy moved out to Albuquerque a couple of years ago for work. Previously they had been living in Kouts, IN, where Amy had grown up. A move they decided to make to be close to her family and buy a house with some land that they could afford. Sean had been a Chicago native all his life and I tried to warn him what a racist shit-hole Indiana was, but he had to learn that on his own. And learn it, he did. Work was what brought them to New Mexico, but everything about this place suits them well. They have been lovely hosts so far during my stay. Possibly a bit over-doting, but that seems hardly a thing to moan about. I only mention it because I'm getting the urge to don a cape and scepter and I think that it's related.
Not much on the docket. Just enjoying the good weather and sunshine. We've done a little thrifting and are going to do some more later today. I'm hoping to make it to Santa Fe and check out that scene. But before I attempt that, I will be doing some gambling at one of the casinos here. Last time I was here, I profited about $100/hr. I'm hoping I will be that lucky again and there will be similar chumps at the poker tables.
-corn.
PS. The other night we all watched a movie. I can't really remember right now what it was, but Sean and Amy and the animal clan didn't make it through, so I snapped a couple of pics. I especially like the one of Sean that startled him with the flash. There's a 1000 words quality about it. I promised Amy I wouldn't post them on Facebook because they are most unflattering. But this isn't Facebook, now is it?
