Week 44 had it all: a little nostalgia, some good food and a couple mood swings. Recently engaged, Carl and Katie have been couple friends with us for quite sometime, and they are good friends with the Danny and Julie (Week 11) crowd. They were valued guests at our Wedding and always make for good company. Oddly enough, my most fond memory of Carl involves a moment he wasn't even in my presence for...
Carl is a professional poker player. In high school, while most of our friends were smoking and drinking our chances at developing tangible skills away, Carl was honing in on several unique passions. He was excellent at soccer, a talented guitarist, and becoming more and more of an outstanding card player. Founder of one the original shithole homie hangouts, the Bucket in Maple Leaf, I distinctly remember Carl being dedicated to the poker table at parties rather than about the house socializing. We all said he was wasting his time, until he used his winnings to buy a condo in Wallingford.
Some of those winnings, and my favorite Carl memory, occurred in a televised tournament on Fox Sports NW. Lounging on the couch of our shithole homie hangout at the time in Northgate, Sky (Week 25) and I came across a poker tournament on TV while drinking a few beers. We stayed on the channel long enough to notice our friend from high school Carl was IN the tournament! We were overjoyed and began rooting for Carl. Not having knowledge of how it ended, it was very exciting to watch. And unlike pulling for the traditional Seattle sports teams like the Sonics, Mariners or Seahawks... Sky and I were rooting for the eventual champion! Much to our shock, Carl pulled it out and was grinning with his arms around a giant check by the end. This a fantastic memory for me.
A champion and a true professional, Carl settles for nothing but the best. And his fiance Katie is THE BEST. A true lady, smart, forward-thinking and social, Katie is one of the prettiest, most caring people we know. She showed up to our porch with two bottles of wine and some homemade cookies. They were ready to eat food.
I decided to play it safe food-wise and just roast a chicken. It is hard to mess up and always pretty delicious. I simply rubbed the chicken in a little olive oil, sprinkled on some dried basil, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. On the side, I did some garlic potatoes and a vegetable medley. It was far from the best thing I have cooked, but simple and effective. The timing, however, was perfect for once!
They arrived and I had a green salad (of just mixed greens, sliced cucumbers and carrots with a vinaigrette) on the table, with waters filled and wine glasses ready. We poured a few glasses of wine and did a house tour, while the chicken continued to roast in the oven. We sat down to some hot rolls and salad to start, after one more glass of wine, the entrees were ready to be served. Smooth sailing.
Dinner conversation consisted of the big three: talking about Wedding memories (and the future plans for an important Wedding), discussing cooking methods and favorite meals, and sharing the high and lows of recent times. Whether high or low, Erica and I are always looking a good television series. So one of the most common, undocumented conversations that takes place continuously on 52 DD is going over the must-see shows. I won't leak the ones Erica and I lean on, but I will say we are desperately awaiting the new season of Arrested Development to be followed by a movie. We openly love that show.
As par to the new dating format, the party moved from the dinner table to the coffee table. And at the coffee table, we played college-style drinking Jenga. The game offered up a series of awkward truths, limited duration "hand jive" games, the King's Falls game of questions, and ultimately ended in Carl chugging a bowl of beer. And continuing the new par, Griff (Week 28) walked in on us all during the ending phase of the date. He told us about Hoarders and shared some videos with us from his computer.
As far as my mood goes, it is off with the depression beard! Work is eating me alive, but I've been saying that all year, so I know I will survive. The dates are cancelling at a dangerous rate, but we are so close to finishing the challenge, I will search for a couple on Craigslist if I have to! A good double date provides the inspiration to persevere. And this date was good, one of the top.
Which also inspired me, via a question from Carl... "what's next?" When I mentioned the Summer of 52 Floats, he did say he believed that was going to happen. But he knew there was more. He was right! At the conclusion of 52 DD, we will announce the Top 12 Dates of the Year, offering (once per month in 2013) an unblogged-about dinner party at Tune Castle to each couple once again. I will also say, it will take a few strong dates in the coming weeks to shake Carl and Katie out of the ranks!
As November begins, so does the countdown to my annual day-after-Thanksgiving show at Nectar Lounge in Fremont. You can and should order your tickets here now for just $5 because it always sells out! The other countdown on the clock is dates. And now it's down to 8...
No comments:
Post a Comment