Duende

Fran broke my heart just by showing up. You see, I was hopelessly, tragically in love with Robbie. I spent my days dreaming of impressing him. I had hero fantasies involving me pulling people from burning car wrecks and saving lives by deftly administering first aid on the scene while Robbie watched from the sidelines, impressed by my 14 year old medical prowess. In my mind I was the girl in the field in that Andrew Wyeth painting, crawling towards Robbie instead of a farmhouse, felled not by polio but by the devastating effects of true love. My situation was perilous. So ...

Flora

On my 21st birthday, my passenger a 300 pound studded dog collar wearing fellow named "Clutch," I rode my motorcycle into the Kingfish Pub. By "into" I mean we rode through the bar and came to a stop next to the shuffleboard. The bartenders were angry...not about the stunt, but about the fact they had been serving me for two years already. Their irritation surprised me. I thought I was grown. I'd graduated from drinking Coors light to Guinness and had started having something called a "latte" with my morning croissant. It was 1982. I was working on shedding my juvenile ...

Mua

I can't swing a dead cat in this town without hitting someone I've dated. Ok, that may be an exaggeration, but living in the same place for more than fifty years is a heck of a thing. You live with your past. For instance, you may think that Mua is at Webster and Broadway, but to me it's that place across from God's Gym, which is the place run by that bodybuilder I used to know about in the space that used to be World Exercise Equipment store where my friend worked and I hung out a lot back in the ...

Albany Taproom/Grazzy Burger

Friday, March 29, 2013 0 , , , , , Permalink 0

The Albany Taproom is a nice casual addition to the great watering holes on the San Pablo Albany/El Cerrito corridor (others are Club Mallard, Hotsy Totsy, Elevation 66 and, if you care more about getting your swerve on than having high quality beer or mixologist cocktails, the Melodee.) They have a great selection of beer on tap for the beertologist. I know, look it up, there is no good word for the beer knowledgeable. Of which I am no longer one, but it is fun to belly up to a bar where they are excited about what they are selling ...