Just Plain Chips

About one month ago I went out to a singles networking/happy hour “event”. I was very nervous about it, but ended up having a great time. The group is going out again tonight and even though I’ll know a few people (you know, having met them once a month ago) I still can’t help but be a little nervous. We’re heading to Brit’s Pub (warning: stupid flash intro) which is one of my favorite bars in downtown Minneapolis. Though I don’t think I’ve been there in 5 years, since my 5 year high school reunion.

I’m quite confident that I’ll have a great time tonight. It’s just in my nature to be a little nervous about getting together with people I don’t know all that well. Though I guess I sometimes even get nervous about seeing people I know, if it’s been a long while or something. Though that could just be excitement butterflies as opposed to trepidation butterflies, depending on who I’m meeting.

If you look at this google map of Brit’s you can see the bowling green that they have on the roof. It’s a pretty cool place.

I know at least one person from “Hicksville, USA” as she puts it. And I know there are a lot of small town people out there who say they’re from the same place.

But aren’t you glad you’re not actually from Hicksville? Hicksville, NY, that is. (If you’re from Hicksville, NY, I’m sorry)

I went along with Chey to a movie she wanted to see at the Lagoon Cinema. The movie was Yes. It is an independent, artsy type film. It is the story of a woman in a cold marriage having an affair with an exiled Lebanese man in England. Chey was thinking that the movie would be a little steamier than your normal fare and interesting. She was way, way, way off on both accounts.

First, it was pouring out. Luckily I had changed my head light since the last time we had seen a movie on a rainy night and I could see alright. We pulled into the parking lot at pretty much the exact same time, I parked right next to her, and we ran over to the theater. Being the gentleman that I am I had no umbrella for her to use. The partially transparent, white top she was wearing was not what one would normally consider “ideal” for the situation. There was a huge line outside the theater, which we got into. After only a couple of minutes of standing around we figured out that it was a line for another movie. We skipped by it, got our tickets, and headed to the theater. Phew!

And then we sat down to watch. Yikes. Chey will readily admit that she missed the ball on this one. She said that she usually picks out good ones, but not this time. It was pretty painful at times. At the beginning we were trying to figure out what was strange about the way everyone was speaking. It just all seemed so high-brow and unnatural. I started to notice a few rhymes every once in a while and a certain rhythm to the way they were speaking. After a while, it had become clear; they were all speaking in rhyming iambic pentameter.

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