Friday night frights

Sit down and buckle up, here goes my Friday night (well last Friday night). I met up with my friends Big Mike, Guido, Nina, and Sammie for a night at Aberdeen down in Wicker Park. This bar is right across the street from their apartment, so we usually go there once a week. The bartenders (Erin and Eric) know our names and always save us a seat at the bar.

The night started out with some Harpoon beers from the local distributer guy. He was promoting the IPA and got us all a few complementary drinks. I talked to the guy and asked him questions about the beer to be nice. Well, I should trust my instincts and just be the bitch that I am because the guy asked me out. Errror! I then turned to the bartender and asked for a Magic Hat instead.

That night they had absinthe bombs on special. Basically it was absinthe mixed with red bull. Only a few states allow the sale of absinthe, but it still isn’t the real stuff with wormwood (which is supposed to be a big hallucinogenic). Big Mike convinced us all to have one, and immediately afterwards we all were left gasping with our tongues wagging. Mike then declared that it was a very terrible idea! Erin, the bartender, then changed the specials board to read “Mikes lucid absinthe bombs…terrible idea!!”


Fast forward two hours and one more absinthe bomb later. The specials board was yet again changed to represent the present state of Mike.

On my way back from the restroom I got pulled aside by a group of big burly men. They had muscles on top of muscles. In my intoxicated (yet surprisingly recollective) state I blurted out “so are you guys body builders or something”. They then tell me they are circus performers. Seriously, they were members of cirque du soleil! One was from New Guinea, one from Columbia, and one from Greece. They were in town for shows on Friday and Saturday out in Rosemont. I had actually wanted to go the show but the tickets were like $80. Tonight was their cast party and sure enough the place wasn’t short of beefy men. I was all “oh my god, I’m taking trapeze lessons…here feel my hands, they are covered in blisters and calluses”. We shared stories about different silks and trapeze moves, and then they offered me tickets to Saturday’s show. Sweet! As I went back to my crew to share the good news, a group of hot chicks came in and totally out foxed me for the circus folk’s attention.

The night did turn out well. The bartenders asked the DJ to play 80’s music for us. I probably danced more that night than I have all year combined. Around midnight, I was exhausted and decided to call it a night. It was like New Years Eve because every cab along North Ave. was taken. I walked up and down the street for ten minutes trying to find an open cab. I even waited at the bus stop just in case that showed up. Frustrated, I saw a motorcyclist waiting at the intersection and I figured why not. I called out “hey you going North?” and he replied “I could be”. I hopped on the back and we drove off north. Okay I know, save the speech about riding on motorcycles…with a stranger, but hey I made him drive slow and even gave him a fake address (you know, one that was a few blocks away from my actual place so he couldn’t stalk me or anything).

In all, just a typical Friday night for me.