Week Thirty-Six: Mike and Priya

It was a week full of house guests, as my friends from Brookln Jonny October and PackFM came to town on tour and crashed at Tune Castle for three nights. We love our buddies, but at the end of their visit, everyone in the household was happy to have things back to normal. But Erica and I had our date scheduled, and thus, more guests were on their way. Could our shattered host attitudes be flipped around in time to put on a good dinner for Mike and Priya? The answer to that question, as proved on our 36th date, was up to them...



The dinner request was steaks, which makes it the second most requested food under tacos. With two minutes left before Mike and Priya arrived, I had all the food plated. I cut open my steak to check and to my horror, it was too pink in the middle. I started flipping out and cursing at Erica. My soul was broken. Not exclusively over my cooking, mainly over work and the busy week, but the was the last straw.

Then the doorbell rang. I snapped at her to answer it. At some point in my scramble to get all four steaks back onto the skillet and finish them up, I believe the phrase "this is the worst day of my life" was used. I used that at least once a week, no need for alarm. But with guests at the door, my crappy attitude had already chosen for me that I was not going to have fun. It was wrong.

Mike and Priya greeted us with a rap. A back and forth, trade off, thanks for having us over for dinner rap. This is real. This happened. It really switched my tone. It was so goofy and cute. I just couldn't drag my feet and mope around. Erica and I burst into applause and we sat down to eat our food.



The meal was, as mentioned, rare-cooked New York steak strips, with potato salad and stir fry veggies on the side, as well as a fresh melon medley. To accompany the food, we had a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. There was also a twelve-pack of Newcastle in the fridge. Dinner went by quick as we caught up on lost time.

I knew Mike from the local Seattle rap scene (shocker, right?). He has participated in various ways, releasing albums as a rapper, taking pictures of rappers, designing flyers for rappers and making music videos for rappers. A little over a year ago, he realized the authenticity of his talent with cameras, design and editing, and opened his own business called Mike Folden Productions. All of us who have know Mike since around 2006 and watched his progression in every field he works in are now super proud and impressed. He has truly became a professional.

We talked a lot about his transition into his business, our feelings about the local music scene and about Erica and I living with Mike's sometime collaborator Griff (Week 28). Mike hires Griff on occasionally for freelance work when he is overbooked or needs help. He expressed his deep respect for Griff and a desire to have him join his company as an employee.

For the first time on a date, we did the tour of the house post-dinner. It ended in the backyard and somehow I was commenting on Lola's bowel movement habits. Lola is a very particular lady. She will only poop in our backyard, specifically, behind a bush where she is hidden from our view. It has gotten to the point that Erica and I no longer carry plastic bags on walks, because Lola simply refuses to poop anywhere else. The best part of her peculiar mannerisms is the celebration dance. After emerging from the bush, Lola stomps her front paws on the ground several times, pauses and repeats the action, then jogs in a semi-circle sprint back to the porch. I once caught her in the act and posted it to YouTube.



An example of how fun a couple Mike and Priya are is the destination they chose to take the group picture at: in front of Lola's poop bush, squatting. They continued to be fun inside as well, attacking Table Topics with vibrant enthusiasm and adding more off the wall questions. The are really excellent guests. They both had positive attitudes and they both seemed excited to be there.

I was having so much fun that our allotted time passed way too quickly for me. I knew there was an expiration date on how long we would get to be in the Castle, because we planned the date based around the fact both Mike and I were going to attend Kublakai's Noisemaker Fest at Nectar Lounge that night. We chatted our way right up until the last possible moment before we would nearly miss Ian's (Week 33) set and it made me feel like Cinderella on the stairs at midnight. I wanted more Mike and Priya!



Instead of losing our glass slippers, we put on our dancing shoes and headed down to Fremont. Nectar had a sizable crowd when we arrived, and there were a lot of familiar faces from the rap scene, including two of my favorites, Oldominion vets Barfly and JFK. Mike graciously picked up our drink tab, and we hit the dance floor to enjoy the show and mingle with friends.



Kublakai went up and put on an inspiring performance. He has been sober over a year and it was the best I've seen him play in a long time. It was sharp and he didn't miss a step during his complex rhyme schemes. He seemed comfortable and it felt natural. It was great to see my former groupmate doing well.

Mike and Priya took off shortly after Ian's set ended. Erica and I stayed behind to hang out with Brianne and Aaron (Week 3) who came to see The Chicharones. And that was the end to a really fantastic date. They are definitely a couple Erica and I will go out of our way to see again. We might even have to couple battle rap them!

Next week, my buddy from high school Theo brings over his wife Wakako for dinner and drinks. All I know for sure is I'm cooking then I'm writing! Let's see what happens...