Yesterday was a unusual day for me. I still haven't slept, and I have more (light) physical labor to do today, so I'll be dead on my feet by this afternoon.

I fell asleep at about 7 AM and was rudely awakened at about 11 by a big noise of something being knocked off of the closet shelf. Feeling irritated, I just wanted to get out for a while, so I looked online for places in Tucson where I could be Vork (i.e. places with free wifi). 2 different sites suggested...


I figured with 2 recs and a cool name it was worth a shot. It really was, the place is well named. Cool decorations, good food (at least what I had, lox & bagel and iced green tea) the staff were fast and friendly, and like most of the other customers (including myself) they were all slightly on the freakish side. I felt perfectly at home, like I was among my people. It's my new favorite place ever. Plus the wifi was fast and easy, no automatic redirects where you have to sign up and agree not to do evil things, just connect and you're going. Also, they have outlets to plug your laptop into. It'd be more perfect only if it were open 24 hrs. It was an epic restart of an epic day. While I was there I finally made the decision to do my next little adventure.

So, I went home to shower, change and catch up online. Then I headed out to...

I got there about 4:30 and talked to them a bit (more cool freaks). I originally intended to get just one, but I'd had ideas for others and decided on 3 (in for a penny etc...), wrote out what I wanted, chose the fonts and made an appointment to come back at 6:30. So I went to have an early dinner and wander around Target for a while. While I was there I had a moment of panic that I had remembered a quote incorrectly and 2 nice people on twitter (@okelay and @GrrAargh)confirmed that I had been correct. That was a huge relief. Very nice people, if you use Twitter you should check them out and follow them. So, I went back to State of art a few minutes early and the artist was almost done with the stencils, so while waiting I chatted with the other people who worked there and their friends about music and what my quotes were from (none of them had ever seen Firefly and were intrigued when they looked up one of the quotes). I don't think I converted any new fans, but still, it was fun.

The tattooing itself was a lot easier than I had thought it would be. It hurt, but in an exhilarating way, the good kind of hurt that makes you feel alive. It also helped that I knew at the end I'd have something cool to take out of it that would last my whole life. The first hurt more than the other two because it was on the inside of my upper left arm, from my elbow almost to my armpit. When the pain got a little high, I just imagined a picture I had burned into my brain that reminded me of a worse pain and that made it easier to take. When he started the second one (left shoulder right above where a t-shirt ends) the artist told me he was a little surprised that I had taken it so easily and that he wanted to start with that one to make the others seem minor in comparison. That was quite courteous of him and he was right. Throughout the last 2 I was texting and facebooking from my phone (which is tricky to do one handed). About halfway through the second he asked "Has anyone ever told you that tattoos are addicting?" to which I responded "No, but I can totally see why." He seemed pleased with that answer. At the end, about 9 PM, I was decorated with...

.

.


I like the little story or statement it makes when read in that order, and that's actually the order they were done in. (the third is on my right shoulder, same placement as the second). The second was the only one I had originally intended to get, but I love them all. I'm actually trying to adopt a bit of that attitude. I might go back in the near future to get "Burn the land and boil the sea" put above the first, to complete the line. He was right when he said it's addicting.

After that I went home again for a few minutes to grab a warmer jacket because it's been freezing here the past few days. Right now it's about 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I went out again and now here's the part where I explain the title of this blog entry. It's a line from my last one (A f'ing interesting evening) in which I described how I ended up watching a drag show at a gay bar (Ain't Nobody's Biz) with my best friend from high school. Several people from DOTT said they wanted pictures and it was also convenient timing because last night was karaoke night, and I was planning on videoing me singing "Under Your Spell" for Holly's birthday gift.

So, when I got there, from outside I heard bad, off-key singing and laughing so I thought it might be pretty active. Well, I was wrong. When I walked in I could count all the people there on my fingers. 9 women, 2 of whom were the bartender and the DJ, and the lone guy, me. I asked the DJ if she had "Under Your Spell" and she didn't, the closest was "Under Your Spell Again". I asked if I could sing it a capella and she said "No, that wouldn't be very karaoke-y now, would it?", so instead I asked for "Beauty School Dropout" which she did have. I found a nice woman to video me with my phone when my turn came up. When it did, not to brag, (well, maybe a little) I kicked bleeping ass. Everyone cheered and whistled and clapped, which they weren't doing for everyone else. That song is perfect for me. After the song I sat down and listened to a few other singers, some of whom were quite good. The bartender (a nice lady with pink close shaved hair) should do it professionally.

I started to get bored because I didn't know anyone there and couldn't find anything else good in the catalog, so I texted my ex girlfriend, Peggy, and asked if she wanted to join me, as friends. She agreed and I went to pick her up and got back about 45 minutes later and by that time there were actually 2 guys there, but a few of the women had left, so about the same number of people. Peggy, who refused to sing, helped me find a couple more songs I could do, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Here I Go Again On My Own". I did pretty well on those too, the people seemed to appreciate them, but they weren't as good as the first. Peggy videoed those as well. Towards the end of the evening the bartender climbed on the bar and danced and sang, at one point she got on her hands an knees and crawled seductively toward one of the guys and teased him a bit. That was a hoot. I closed the singing with "Wonderful Tonight". I chose that song because I had sung it to my ex-wife at our wedding reception and since our divorce I've never been able to listen to it without bawling, and I wanted to see it I could do it now. Everyone loved it and maybe I have a heart of stone now, but it stirred not even one single wistful feeling. Overall, it was a fun time. As we were leaving a pretty young woman tapped my shoulder and said "Thank you" when I turned to face her. I was a bit taken aback and not quite sure what she was thanking me for, so the only thing I could think to respond with was "You're welcome, and thank you too."

Sadly, none of the pics came out very well because it was dark and my phone doesn't have a flash, but I'll post the best ones below. And my stupid phone recorded the video okay, but no ruttin' sound! Grr Aargh! If I ever go again, I will take my real camera which does both very well, but has a small memory card.

I think it's funny that at a gay bar they have a women's restroom and a...

but no men's.

See how empty the place was?


It's hard to read, but that's a red neon sigh near the DJ's stand which says "the G Spot" in fancy script.


And here's a beefcake poster...

The other night there were guys dressed like that carrying around trays of Jello shots.

So as we were driving away we both decided we were hungry and wanted to hang out and chat some, so we went to Denny's. It was pretty empty there, too...


The food was eh...(obviously) but we had fun talking. For a while she was complaining about bruises and sore muscles resulting from a fairly wild four hour marathon session with a guy she's seeing in which he went through a box and a half of condoms. I think she just wanted to brag a bit but, gotta hand it to him... he wins the prize for stamina and recovery.

Here's Peggy with her 80's rocker chick hair...


And here's me checking Twitter as I was waiting to pay...


As we walked out I took this last pic across the street from Denny's...

A bit hard to read but on the left is Fascinations, a sex shop and on the right is the Bunny Ranch, a non-alcohol serving all nude strip club which was one of our stops at my ex-brother-in-law's bachelor party.

Holy cannoli, this is a lot longer than I thought it'd be and it's taken me close to 4 hours to write. I never worked this hard on homework when I was in school. I hope everyone has as entertaining and epically interesting day as I did yesterday.

Cheers, exhausted Jay