Once again I had a Friday night off. Melissa and I decided to go out for a little bit. We didn't know what we were going to do or where. So we first decided to take advantage of being without child and went over to the church to do some taping. I've been having quite a few people asking me to post something of me singing on the internet, so we decided to get a jump on that.
Melissa video taped me singing a song that I wrote called "Drive (By My Side)." We had to do it a couple of times to make sure that the sound was balanced from where she was recording. Now the only thing that I need to worry about is how to transfer it to the computer and getting it uploaded to my Facebook. That could take a while, because I have no idea how to get it transferred to the computer.
Either way, after the third take, I think it was, we decided to head out and hang out at a bar somewhere to relax from the stresses of the week. We drove down the road hoping to go to the Jade Monkey, but when we got there, we couldn't find a parking spot. Seeing as how they were very busy we decided to move on and try some other place.
After a little discussion we thought it might be fun to go check out the Nau-Ti-Gal, a nice little seafood restaurant/bar out in Westport positioned right on the Yahara River. I used to run a karaoke show out there on Friday nights and it was a good time, so we thought we'd stop in and see how they've been.
When we got there, we saw that the karaoke show was still going. The drunken-yuppie dinner crowd was still there with a guy and his girl singing very poor sounding renditions of George Michael tunes as their hoity-toity friend looked on with faked enthusiasm. That's not what bothered me. I can deal with bad singers and drunks, that's the whole point of karaoke is to have fun. But what bothered me was the fact that these two were the ONLY people singing in the bar!
Melissa and I ordered a pitcher of Spotted Cow. When the bartender placed the pitcher on the bar, we also asked for an ashtray and were told that the bar didn't allow smoking since last August. Great, this visit isn't turning out so well and was about to get even worse. When we turned around to find a seat and a song book, we saw my old boss, Hoffy walk in. He was one that I did not want to see. He had come in to fix a problem with the equipment that his DJ wasn't smart enough to fix (by the way, all he had to do was plug in the video).
Hoffy then decided to sit and chat with Melissa and I. It was pretty tough to fake pleasantries, but we got through it and even managed to each pick a song out of the song book. We handed in our song slips and waited for the Wham? duet to sing their next two songs and then we got to sing. However when I got up to sing my song, the DJ hit play and then left to go to the bathroom without even making sure the microphone was set to the right level. Quite professional. Luckily I still knew how to operate the equipment and reached over the sound board and turned the mic down.
Since our pitcher wasn't done, we decided to stick around and do a couple more songs, when a regular from one of my old shows came out. For the life of me I can't remember his name and he never mentioned it during our conversation, which was very much one way. Not that I didn't want to talk to him, he just wouldn't shut up to let me talk. But that's alright.
It seems that he has moved to Chicago to be with his girlfriend and is back up in town for the weekend. It also sounds like in September he and his girlfriend will be moving to Florida, and he was so happy to see me at the Nau-Ti-Gal last night because it brought back memories and somehow gave him closure on moving away from the midwest, making him so much more at ease about moving from his comfort zone and leaving everything behind. I'm glad that I could be of help.
I do have to say that I kinda feel the same way as my faschnickered pal from the Nau-Ti-Gal. Last night I got to get a glimpse of where I would be if I hadn't left the karaoke company. To be honest, I do miss the bar and the staff at the Nau-Ti-Gal, they've always been good to me. But I don't miss the drama of my former boss and a lot of the clientelle, I'm much happier with the path I have chosen to take.
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