Good friends are great fun

I went out to dinner with a friend of mine from DC. He wasn't in DC when I was there for CHIT a couple of weeks ago, although he offered me a place to stay. After the $300 for the room for two nights, I wish I'd taken him up on his offer!

He had been in town for a podcasting forum / panel discussion somewhere in Manhattan. Podcasting has become a lucrative venue and venture for him that started out as a hobby (which usually happens if you're good at it!).

Chris and I met about 8 months before Matthew and I met - around late 2003 just before I lost/quit my job in Princeton. He's a great guy and we've had lots of fun.

Tonight was no different; we met just across the street from Penn Station, which was a madhouse due to a train accident on Long Island. We ended up at a better Korean restaurant than the Korean restaurant I had envisioned, which was no longer where I remembered it being.

We chit-chatted about his podcasting (Indiefeed) and the discussion panels to which he's been invited, including the prestigious South By Southwest. We had great sushi / sashimi and Korean kimchee for about an hour with hot Sake. Fantastic! Kumgan Sang was the restaurant's name, I think. Very good food and great conversation.

It was great to see him. I saw him off as I trottled down to the PATH in midtown. Now I'm heading home on the wrong bus, but one that'll make me walk a bit, which'll be good for me.

Dad & Heineken

Just had a cute conversation with my dad about beer. His standard M.O. is when he calls to start off with, "Quick question; you got a minute?" I guess he figures that up here with all these New York minutes, I'm running around from place to place. He also thinks I'm a big partier and heavy drinker for some reason. I have two or three glasses of wine every three or four days, and that constitutes heavy drinking - for a man born in the heart of the depression in the South, who's never had "hard liquor," as he calls it.

I guess my two dirty martinis at dinner last year at the beach on vacation (when my bro-in-law was driving) really made an impression on my dad. Or was it the little travel-sized bottles of whiskey I brought 5 years ago to have with a cigarette at the beach for a nightcap.

He wanted to know which 12 oz bottle of beer was more expensive - Bud Light or Heineken. He's obsessed with the cost of things, which ultimately helps him decide what he's going to use and/or what he's going to bring to a family gathering to share. It's cute for outsiders, but inside the family, we wish hed just enjoy what he's got rather than worry about whether we've tasted something or not.

Truth be told: I love beer. I miss beer and it's now something I drink on special occassions. Like when I have the caloric bandwidth. In fact, I'm making a tag for beer just to discuss the beers I've had and will have - with friends, of course. Thatll be fun.

Dad couldn't figure out where the bottles had come from, but it must've been when I was at his house once a couple of years ago. Dad and I discussed different culinary options for his forlorn bottles of beer. After all, "Good glory!". He doesn't drink beer! He goes, "you're not much of a beer guzzler anymore are ya? How much are you drinking now?"