a very knoxy weekend

the little knoxvillians had a very knoxy weekend indeed. we're like a little band or something. or a bunch of nerds. i'm not quite sure.

we started the weekend by gathering at stan's place on the 100 block and drinking some jinro (will corrected my ignorance. what we were drinking was soju. jinro is the brand) that our favorite little korean sent us. soju is a korean beverage, apparently a cross between vodka and gin, perhaps like my favorite beverage of all time, vodkagin. i find it to be thoroughly disgusting (sorry will), but stan, the pol, ck and lucas seemed to enjoy it mixed with gingerale.

next it was off to first friday. oh, how i love first friday! for all those non-knoxvillians, first friday is a downtown event that occurs on the first friday of every month (smartly named, huh?). it's like a little mobile art and culture event, and it's a true testament to the strength of the community here. lots of people walking about, lots and lots of smiles. usually the emporium (112 s. gay) has meatballs.

so we checked out some galleries, and then it was time for the santa parade to begin. the parade had a great turn out. i must say that it brings its own element of knoxville weirdness. it's not really like any (good) parade i've ever seen. kind of a half-assed silly little thing, which, really, is probably a very accurate description of our town in general. dont get me wrong; i love everything about this half-assed silly little thing. but i'm just saying. i think stan has some parade pics that he can post later.

next stan and lucas and their lovely wife and girlfriend were off to a dinner at the bistro by the tracks (not jealous at all...); and the pol, ck and i headed to the cigar shop (118 s. central) for some cigars and conversation. first we stopped in at lox (my salon) where ck talked to a new pal about on the road and the pol and i checked out the art. later, the pol was hungry so he stopped in a davinci's (113 s. central) for a delicious slice. we went to manhattan's for a bit, and i had some french fries. i think manhattan's fries must be laced with crack. they are soooo delicious.

now for the good part...stan and megan returned from dinner; and, at ck's prompting, we ventured to a new-to-us locale: marie's olde towne tavern on magnolia (having a hard time finding the address; it's basically at the corner of magnolia and central). sweet, sweet marie's. this place is a gem. we love the framed pictures of elvis in the various stages of his career. the jukebox has a lot of country music but also has my favorite lady patsy cline and some other greats. and for the ladies...1.50 high lifes. hooray! we talked with marie and her son, had a couple beers and then headed back down central to urban bar (109 n. central). urban bar is my favorite knoxville bar. i love this place. the atmosphere is, um, perhaps non-existent but the patrons are eclectic and friendly and the staff is also very friendly. urban remained a smoking bar when the october switch went down, so it's true that you smell particularly like ass when you leave, but i think it's worth it. man i love pbr-s and tequila shots at urban.

whew, that was friday! well, i think ck and the pol weren't quite finished with their evening, and i hear some krystals and chicks were enjoyed...

saturday evening, the gang minus me went to davinci's for calzones (3 for 15 bucks!). then i joined up and we took a nice little stroll through downtown and stopped in at the new store on union, a cute little cafe called coffee and chocolate (327 union). i hope this place does well; it's a welcome addition to downtown. then we walked through the square, laughed at the ice skaters and stopped in at downtown wine and spirits (407 s. gay) before heading back to my place on the 100 block. we all agreed that it was nice to stay in, have some great (funny) conversations and save money. plus my christmas tree is awesome.

today i am running late, as usual. by running late, i guess i mean "being lazy." i watched my sunday morning usual, degrassi high and am now debating a shower (aka, washing off last night's eyeliner and making myself appropriate to be in public) and heading to pat sullivan's for brunch (i probably wont make it in time, though) or to old city java for some coffee and reading.

thanks for the good weekend, knoxville!