Hello Dear Readers,
By now, I am certain that at least half of you already concluded that I have given up... but no. For the past couple of months I kept contemplating that I will sit down and actually write the October update, but it seems like my life, somewhere between working, dancing, and traveling did not permit much time to sit down and write. Maybe it's all just excuses, and my priorities have been on my immediate surroundings.
Livin' the Life. So to begin with, in order to actually script the last three months of 2010 I had to go through my photos and itineraries - to get a sense of where and when I was physically located. Most of October was spent in the normal Dallas routine - the grind during the week, Salsa Monday & Tuesdays, a weekend outing or two, maybe a movie, going out dancing, church on Sunday. The classics it seems. Nothing particularly eventful. I did come across a very pleasant venue in October - Times Ten Cellars. It was a wine lounge with a winery inside, and regular weekly live music events. I was there on a Sunday evening with a Dallas friend, Nikki. Immensely enjoyable. The kind of jazz that is very different from the NOLA sound - much cleaner and more precise, maybe a little less organic if anything, but still very much worthwhile. At one point, I got inspired by a particularly suave gentlemen wearing all black, Senor Frank Obregon - as he later introduced himself, and I ended up inviting Nikki for something of a salsa derived two-step, that seemed to match to the beat so well that we even got applause. Although, as I learned later, it was nothing like two-step.
Woodstock in Texas? Towards the end of the month, on October 22, the biggest Russian music event of the south was commencing. KSP - Клуб Самодеетельной Песни. In short, it is basically a massive annual outdoor concert with Russian guitarists/vocalists, set in a campground on an Indian reservation just north of Houston, TX. It started with myself and Nadia, a Dallas friend, making plans to go there, since neither one of us has ever been. Then it expanded to Nadia's sister and a couple of their friends. And then I picked up a friend from Houston, Mariana, and her sister. To top it off, my mother and brother just happened to be in Houston that weekend too - quite a party by now. Tents, campfire, authentic Uzbek shashlik (as prepared by Mariana) naturally I had to be the one grillin'... and wine was flowing aplenty. Note to self - always count distinct glasses, when pouring wine. Refills make you lose track... and stumble into a tree... or break someone's lamp... or fall asleep half way inside a tent... fortunately all ended without serious injuries, only a MASSIVE hangover and slight embarrassment. Cherry on top - soon after I was escorted to my tent, I was awaken by some sort of moisture on my feet (which were not completely inside of the tent) and later water dripping on my face. Apparently there was a grand rainstorm in the night, and my tent was leaking. Overall great times though.
Back toJet Settin'. And then at the very end of October I flew to New Orleans for the weekend. As always it's quite a blast - family, friends, Frenchmen St. - good times. Just enough manual labor and outings to recharge. I got to see my crew (the boys) and Laura and Alesin, an old friend from NOLA. The manual labor this time around was a pretty massive project of putting down floor in the attic. As an excuse to use power tools, and co-incidentally hang out, Laura kindly offered to help - aided in transportation of and meticulously cut some sizable sheets of wood. About 70% of the job was finished by the end of the weekend. Success! I must add, it was also the Halloween weekend, and in New Orleans, it's kind of a big deal. Frenchmen street is where the madness ensues.
Patrick as Pedro, found his companion, Kip
November to Remember. Upon returning to Dallas, I resumed the weekly grind, and also making an active effort to explore the city further. I also came to a conclusion that I need to take reign over my work hours, and made it a policy to always leave by 7, forcing myself to increase efficiency during the day. For the most part, I was able to adhere to my new self-imposed policy. Overall, workload was not bad, since most projects were winding down towards the end of the year.
City of Contrast. A couple of interesting but intensely contrasting venues I got to see: House of Blues - The Foundation Room in Dallas and Art Six Coffehouse in Denton, TX. Both are technically music venues. I found out about them through a friend. The HOB is typically where medium-big stars often perform, and the Foundation Room was a highly exclusive lounge inside of the HOB, which only permits people that are fee-paying members, that are "on the list". Quite pretentious, yes - Very Dallas. However, thanks to a Dallas friend Nancy, I got on "the list". Being on the list is an awfully amusing feeling of empowerment. Now, I was able to get additional people on the list, since I was already on it. With little luck enticing my coworkers to go to a Wednesday night event last minute, I only ended up convincing a particularly outgoing coworker of mine - Ryan, who was quite excited about also being "on the list". Ryan got there earlier and was particularly happy about the fact that he really WAS on the list, and the huge bouncer guy gave him the nod of approval. I, unfortunately missed out on that enjoyment, and walked straight in... because it seemed like the bouncer took a break? Overall it was enjoyable, but after a couple of attempts to get the crowd moving and sort of failing, we decided to roll out. We later attempted getting into the Candle Room - another "Dallas-Type" exclusive venue with a list... on a Wednesday night. And we really failed on this one. Despite having a female coworker on the inside, the bouncer was still not giving in. Particularly displeasing, but not really surprising.
Flyer for the event:
Stereotypical Dallas Skyline, House of Blues in foreground
Other Side of Town. Roughly 45 minutes to the North West is the town of Denton, effectively a suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. My Dallas friend Bob lives in that area, and he invited me to check out some Karyna Cruz, a local musician, at some coffee shop called Art Six. Now, some might ask, why the heck would I drive way out to the outskirts of the DFW, on a Friday night! Well, because I like to try new things. This seemed like an interesting alternative to the usual bar/club Dallas scene. The music was quite eclectic & extremely positive (if not cheesily positive), but I enjoyed it. It wasn't the manliest music for two guys to listen to, but thankfully, Bob brought his female neighbor along. That however, was only half of the night. The other half, Bob suggested we go to La Milpa, some hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant, which apparently has salsa dancing on Friday nights. Upon arrival at the venue, which was conveniently located right by the interstate, adjacent to some motel, we see a huge "MARIACHI TONIGHT" sign. Well needless to say, I am a bit concerned that salsa got mariachi'd out. Fortunately, that was only the dinner music, and they were in transition - literally, half of the place was still in restaurant mode, the other half already had people in a dusky area in front of the bar, with the DJ playing music at half the volume. Quite an amusing sight - people dining in the background, and dancing in the front. Shortly, they converted it all the way into "club" mode, and the party was on. Excellent experience. I swore that I have to come back to La Milpa again. Yes - to Denton on a Friday night.
Back to Jettin'. Come end of November, I was sitting on my regular 8pm Southwest flight en route to NOLA for the Thanksgiving break. As always, family and friends, and this time a couple of extra relatives - Aunt Olga and her mother, Tatiana Viktorovna. As the official expert on NOLA venues, naturally I was tasked with showing them around town. It was slightly odd, but still fun to be on Frenchmen St. with relatives. They seemed to enjoy it a good bit, especially Debauche, the "Russian Mafia" band based out of NOLA - quite an unusual sight.
My aunt was also very impressed with Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" as performed by New Orleans' own -Brass-a-holics at Vasso - a must see. Note the transition and the use of the trombone as the vocal, and then the madness of the saxophone that follows it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEphCu4oWDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEphCu4oWDI
Back to Training. At the end of the weekend, I was on a plane again, this time to Richmond, VA. In short, this was certainly the most outgoing of the ADP weeks. Starting Monday night, I was already out, hitting the bar scene with my friend Ryan. It was something of an "anthropological experiment" as I referred to it. Without going into detail, I will just say that we caused a bit of commotion. Starting Tuesday, I was already organizing something - getting people together for dinner. Mainly the McLean folks provided us company. We also discovered that quite a few of us are fans of jazz music. Later that evening, quick research procured a few live shows that evening, one of which was at the Tobacco Company - the same place we went to during ADP Week 1. Excellent as last time. Music was solo guitarist of pretty high technical skill. We then proceeded to Cafe Diem, a venue very reminiscent of New Orleans. A 5-piece band Rattlemouth was performing. One distinct difference I recall about this jazz band was that they had 2 saxophones - one regular and one that was about twice as large as a normal one. Me and Xinyi even ended up dancing to one song.
Madness Ensued. After jazz, the plan was to catch up with the rowdier half of our peers, a portion of whom were either at a trashy place called Bandito's (Karaoke night) and the other
portion was at some equally trashy place downtown (Cha Chas?). On the way downtown, we stopped at Balliceaux, another lounge, a particularly nice one, with a 12 piece jazz band, Fight the Big Bull. We listened to a couple of songs, and it was awesome. Then the five of us, Nan, Ryan, Xinyi, and Michelle proceeded on downtown, having very low expectations. We arrived at the venue rather late, as almost everyone in there looked pretty buzzed. It was like college all over again - I.E. The Boot on a Saturday night. We shortly departed.
Club Richmond? And the last night we were in town - Thursday night, some Richmond coworkers apparently had arranged for a party at Blackfinn's, a chain restaurant/bar. (As it turns out there is one right by my house). I wasn't quite sure what to expect, because apparently we were on some list once again. To be precise, we had to drop someone's name, and that would get us specials. I was pleased with the turnout, as there was some McLean as well as Richmond. It began with just sitting and standing around, talking, drinks in hand, and slowly progressed to the dance floor. Overall, it was good. With assistance of a few of my VA coworkers, we were instrumental in getting several circles going through the course of the night. However, I was yet again disappointed in Plano folks, as majority bailed very early, and most of Richmond people who were less enthused than their McLean counterparts.
Capital City. In almost a predictable fashion, I was en route to DC immediately after training. I arrived to with Nan towards 8pm or so, and the plan was to get some McLean party people out, and check out Eighteenth Street Lounge. Sadly everyone bailed, but nothing could hold down me and my man Nan, not even wet & freezing weather. (Miracle I didn't get sick). That evening, I introduced Nan to whiskey and cognac (Laphroaig and Pierre Ferrand, I believe). He wasn't impressed, but I certainly was, seeing how quick my compadre was on his feet. Shortly, there was a solid circle going, even a couple of B-Boys! Much like last time I was at ESL, I walked out of the venue with a couple of business cards. Only in DC.
Chief Ike's Epicenter of Social Life. Most of Saturday I spent catching up with Ireal and Stephanie. In the evening, the plan was to go to Adams Morgan for Ana's (Stephanie's friend) birthday. The venue of choice was some particularly amusing place called Chief Ike's Mambo Room. The closes comparison I can think of would be Mimi's In the Marigny on a Saturday night, only the DJ wasn't quite as amazing as DJ Soul Sista. The gathering was the usual suspects (Stephanie's friends) and some friends of friends. A few McLean fellas also were there, which was a bit odd - first time I had a meshing of personal friends and coworkers. However, all went well. Much fun was had by all... so much fun that apparently I left a running tab at the club... and I had a flight in roughly 15 hours from when we left the club. I woke up and somehow remembered that I did not have my credit card on me - slight panic moment since it was already 6 hours until departure. I was in luck, because by day, Chief Ike'sis cafe/pub, which was conveniently open on Sunday afternoon. I was able to recover the card, and to my surprise, there wasn't an absurd "convenience fee" - just a 20% tip, which was fair.
Grand Finale. On the plane, I was still in a mild daze from last night. When I landed in Dallas, I had this odd feeling, that this isn't where I departed from 12 days ago. As luck would have it, I landed in DFW, but flew out of Love Field, an airport about 20 minutes away. It would have not been a problem, except for the fact that I drove to the airport in my own car. So I ended up catching a cab to the other airport to retrieve my car - so much for saving on cab fare. That concluded my ever-eventful trip.
December to Remember. The energy and the vibe of the trip carried right into December. First, I had a visit from Patrick and an old friend, Alesin. Then had a first full-out "clubbing" experience in Dallas. Next was the holiday break in NOLA - first official vacation. While in NOLA, I also took a trip to Baton Rouge to check out the club scene there as well. The year closed out with a traditional family gathering, and the night inevitably spilled over into January 1 with a bang.
Unexpected Visit. The weekend following my jet-set 12 days Patrick and Alesin, decided to drive from NOLA for a visit, on quite a short notice. Naturally, I did not object. The weekend, however, also consisted of a corporate holiday party, which added to the excitement. To me personally, this was something new, even though to most people a corporate party is nothing to get wound up over. Much in Patrick's fashion of arriving deep into the night, they arrived towards 2am. Conveniently, I was coming back from La Joya, a very fine dancing venue in Arlington.
Cruisin' Dallas. In the earlier half of the day, me and Alesin went touring the Galleria, in hopes of getting on the massive ice rink... but the holiday spirit obviously took over North Dallas, such that the line stretched all around the rink. We ended up shopping for a dress that Alesin could wear, since she kindly volunteered to be my last minute date for the party later that evening. We then met up with Patrick for lunch, when he declared that he MUST go to the Souther Methodist University library. My hunch was that it was more than just books - SMU is famed for having an abundance of affluent and attractive females. In the mean time, I played tour-guide for Alesin around Dallas.
Living in the Moment. The evening plan was to go to the party, which was held at Addison Conference Center, quite literally, just around the corner from my apartment. The theme for the event was "Black & White". The assumption was black tie on white button down for the gentlemen. I decided to get creative.
Big head, might you ask? Why of course! My ego that evening seems to have expanded beyond all bounds. It was quite flattering to be escorted by a pretty lady in a black dress, chatting with peers, as well as VPs and their wives. The event was sort of casino-themed, with at least 300-400 people there, a several food stations, and half dozen bars. There was even a DJ with a sizable dance floor in the middle of the room. Me and Alesin ended up dancing to a couple of songs, and believe it or not, they were the Cupid Shuffle and Stanky Leg. I was quite shocked to hear the latter, in a clearly formal environment.
They even had professional photographers!
After-after party. Immediately after the party, the intent was to gather some co-workers for a going away party for Neel, who recent left the company. The venue selected was just a couple of blocks away, so closer to 11pm, everyone gathered at Zen, a club-esque neighborhood bar. Neel was a fan of the place, so I figured it would be fitting - so I organized the after-party in his honor. Alesin and I picked up Patrick, who was still wrapping up his paper, and headed down to Zen. The goal was to just grab a drink and proceed on downtown, to a nightclub called Zouk, an 80's venue that was having a grand re-opening event, hosted by P-Diddy. However, we ended up sticking around for a bit, because apparently there was much demand for dancing, and the circle began with me and Neel having a dance off. We then proceeded to take turns dancing with a few coworkers, a couple of whom were managers, if I'm not mistaken. In either case, we left shortly after, and Patrick drove the three of us to Zouk. This was yet another "list" venue, and since we got there after midnight, there was not a list anymore, meaning we had to pay full cover, which was a hefty $40 for guys and $30 for girls. This was by far the most I ever paid for club cover. At the venue, Andrei and his lady friend Carolina met up with us, later joined by Nadia, Liza, and Nancy. In short, much dancing was had, and it was fun. P-Diddy made a 10 minute "appearance", effectively concealed behind a wall of bodyguards. I was not impressed, but overall it was much fun.
Weekend Spills Over. The next morning, I somehow still made it to church. Afterwards, we spent the day assisting Andrey with the terrible issue of indecision - specifically regarding furniture - the couch. A trip to Ikea was in order. In an efficient manner, we quickly narrowed down my couch... only it wasn't in stock. Ah well. In the evening we visited Downtown, except a completely different area - the south side. There was a particularly unique venue there, Absinthe Lounge. I'll let the name speak for itself - and this night I was driving, letting Patrick have at it. In short, the night involved swapping places with the best bartender in the world - Jennifer, complaint cards, dancing, flying ice cubes, cigars, The Other Side & Hotel California (with the whole bar singing), and balloons.
Absinthe Lounge
I traded places with the bartender.
The Party Don't Stop... The following morning, I do believe I had to go to work. I somehow made it through the day, and as it turned out Patrick and Alesin decided to stay one more night. Monday night we got sushi at a Japanese restaurant/lounge in Addison, Otaru (first time I've ever seen unlimited sushi AND sake!). Then we proceeded to Lower Greenville, checking out Zubar, an interesting lounge with two DJ stands, salsa in the back and old school hip hop in the front. Very peculiar blend. The crowd was definitely NOT what we observed Saturday night - more down to earth, maybe a tad sketchy. I proceeded to give a salsa lesson to Alesin in the middle of the hall between the front and the back room. Good times.
All Good Things Come to an End. So Tuesday, shortly after a lunch in Plano's Taco Diner - an upscale "taqueria", Patrick and Alesin embarked on a trip back to New Orleans. By that point, I started realizing that I have been effectively partying for darn near a month straight. Miraculously, without getting sick once... not even a hangover! Nonetheless, the bulletproof attitude aside, I came to a conclusion that a break was in order. The remainder of the year in Dallas was spent considerably more quietly.
The City One Could Never Leave. I planned to work straight through the Gregorian Christmas (December 25), so that I could make the Julian Christmas (January 7) and spend time with my family in New Orleans (especially since Jan. 7 is also my mother's birthday). Although come Dec. 23, it was getting ever so lonely, since barely anyone was at work, and not many people were going out. I was just working away, and trying to catch up on long-delayed emails and the abandoned blog. However, what really lightened up the mood was La Quenta's family - they invited me over for their Christmas dinner, which was awfully nice of them. I took a whole week off from work, and left December 28 to NOLA.
As of late - home sweet home, Mom's house
I really liked this shot too - just washed mom's car :)
Party City - Baton Rouge! Most of you probably think I am out of my mind for doing this, but I decided to voluntarily drive to Baton Rouge to check out the scene. Needless to say my expectations were low. However, Alesin, as a means of returning the favor, decided to share the joys and excitement of the capital city. En route to Baton Rouge, I stopped by at a Subway in Sorrento to grab a bite before the outing and ended up having quite an amusing conversation with the kid working there. Here is a small excerpt he kindly shared with me: "See when you go clubbing in Baton Rouge, you have to remember that some places you go to chill and some places you go to fight. But sometimes it all gets mixed up. " The kid made me smile - Only in Louisiana =) In BR, I met up with Alesin and a couple of her friends. We were supposed to go to some Fred's Bar, an equivalent ofThe Boot for LSU, as I understand. I cannot say I was enthused. However, because it was closed, we re-routed downtown. The first half of the evening was spent at Puncher's bar, apparently a venue dedicated to watching wrestling - they even had bottle specials for the tournaments! Despite my Dallas/New Orleans/Moscow snobism, I ended up thoroughly enjoying my time there, since they had a decent live band, no smoke, and unlimited Abita Amber - all for $10 cover.
Performance at Puncher's
BR Part II. Once it got closer to 11 or so, we progressed outside, just to go half a block down to The Office. It was something of a club, with a spacious wood-clad interior and a balcony, overlooking the great Mississippi. Music was expected - Top 40, but the crowd was decent, with plenty dancing. Good times in BR - I certainly underestimated it.
Wop wop wop! And here are some Baton Rouge kids gettin' their groove on in the middle of the street, after the club closed. Of all songs, doing The Wop. Gotta love Louisiana!
Grand Finale - first decade of 21st century. The evening was spent with family, after much preparation, we were done with the food and the presents. As tradition would have it, me and my little brother started crackin some fireworks. What's New Year without them, right? Then the dinner, and of course the presents. It's kinda sad seeing my little brother grow up, since now he is sort of expecting all of this, when in the past he would get so surprised and excited. My mom and I still tried to stick the main present under the tree, and it kinda worked :) The present in question, certainly the most notable one under the tree, was a massive (1/12th scale ish?) RC monster truck - the hobby kind, with adjustable shocks and insanely powerful rear-wheel drive. The thing probably hits 30mph and does wheelies. While officially, the year was already over by this point, the celebration certainly was not.
Deep into the night. After the family celebration, I promptly headed out towards uptown, to meet Patrick, David, and Brian at Sona and Mary's "Stereo Love" party. I got there towards around 1-1:30am, and unsurprisingly, majority of the people there were pretty buzzed. I was certainly the most sober one. Shortly after walking through the house and doing the introductions, I grab the boys and drag them outside, towards my car. I pull out my laptop, connect it to the car stereo, and set it up on the roof of the car so they could all see it - I had a lil somethin for them.
It was an idea I had come up with in the end of December, as something of a New Year's present to mark off the 5 or so years we've all known each other, and I built it out over a couple of weekends, trying to use as much inside jokes and actual recordings as I could. While they were pretty inebriated during the showing, they still kept up with most of it and were quite amused. New Orleans for me is forever going to be associated with my Crew. Then we were back inside, and madness ensued. Somewhere between Edward Maya and the Top 40 music, David demanded dubstep - and I pulled out youtube. Lots of moves were bust. And later there was even some salsa intervention! It was quite spectacular. We later proceeded to Cafe Du Monde at around 4am. And yes, in New Orleans, that is completely acceptable. In Baton Rouge and Dallas - 2am, everything shuts down. Good times.
Bottom Line. So this very eventful, at times painful, and thoroughly exciting year finally sputtered to a halt. It would be particularly difficult to list out all of the learnings I got out of this year, but the most prominent ones are probably that 1) Spend as much time as you can, but most importantly VALUE that time with ones that are close to you 2) Never give up 3) Be happy with what is NOW. With these wisdoms, I will finally wrap this endless post up. Thank you, my dear readers, for keeping me sane!
