Met a Gal Named Carrie Oakie

Yes, every now and then, my crowd stumbles upon an opportunity to go out "on a schoolnight". The weather in San Antonio is fabulous right now-- very low 80s to 70s cool at night. So the gang went to an old hangout we haven't been going to in a while. I'm terribly sad now that I did not grab my camera as we were walking out the door. I remember thinking-- "Ah, nothing new will happen there."

Boy was I wrong!

Yes, there was karaoke, and it was a hoot. I drank too much, and ended up horning in on several groups' renditions of their songs. At one point, this other chick (who was also horning in) just took the mike right out of my hand. Was alright with me though, I just scooted up to the cute little Justin Timberlake wannabe with the other mike-- the one who was supposed to be singing. I also shared with a cute young chippie, and she didn't mind-- she kept trying to give me the mike. I sang "Material Girl" all alone...I needed backup dancers but by then the guys were not playing anymore. I'm also sad that I had not taken my little fan up there with me-- it would have been a good prop for that.

But the karaoke wasn't the funnest* part, the part that will promise to bring me back. My darlings, there were the cutest little drag queens putting on a show for us! The bar we were at has not in the past been the sort of place you'd expect to see drag queens strutting their stuff. It's kind of an outdoor Jamaican/Beer/Wine/ Margaritas & hamburgers place. With picnic tables and a kiddie slide in one corner. So the lovely drag queens were a surprise. I've said before that I myself am a drag queen trapped in a woman's body... and so I had great admiration for the group.

We had a game of musical chairs to try to win a pitcher of margaritas. I very cleverly told them my name was "Mrs. Mae Wallace" when the microphone got pushed in my face. :) But, by then, I really did not think anyone in our group ought to have more margaritas to drink, since, it being a school night and all, we needed to drive home eventually. So I actually let the other girl win. Everyone said "yeah yeah, that's your story and you're sticking to it" but really. I had made the upfront decision that I was going to let the scrappy little one win. So she got the margaritas, and then, of course, she owed me a favor. Some day, I might have to collect on that favor, ask her to do something that might be, unpleasant.

The bar's owner, for some reason, decided that he ought to buy our group a bottle of champagne. I guess we were being charming & interesting and he loved us. Either that or he had some champagne that was going bad & he wanted a quick way to get rid of it. It was the classy kind that you twisted the lid off of... there wasn't even one of those "fake" corks. It kind of threw me for a few minutes, but I am a clever champagne bottle detective & I figured it out eventually.

Anyways. This morning, as you might guess, I'm feeling a little bit sorry for my indulgences. Contrite, you might say. But a great time was had by all. And it's good to know that we're back going to Flats (the name of the place). Maybe it'll stick and we'll go there more often. I've missed the place.


*Yes. Funnest is a word. I declare it to be.