I started 2005 with kir royales, continued with becharovka in Prague, palinka, unicum, and tokaj in Hungary, and when it was BYOB at a Thai restaurant, I did shots of absinthe with a then 20-yr-old co-worker. Oooh, doubly illegal!
I've been hit by three cars and a bullet. Rounded off a weekend by being twirled in a chair and doing a beer bong onstage at a Mexican nightclub in Lincoln Park. Ran into my acquaintance the Austrian Vice Consul in Old Town. Ended up at Lake Point Towers—and the International Drag King Extravaganza—and a neo-cyber-gothic fashion show. Had Ethiopian food near Devon with a Russian engineer. Danced with coked-up hipsters at Soul Night at Danny's.
Went to six countries, if you include standing on the train platform in Zagreb. In addition to hosting 30 or so friends and family, played tour guide for an Australian guy I met in a lesbian bar in Budapest. (At least, the guidebook said it was.) Salsa danced with a random man on the street in a Mexican beach town, all the while decked out in a bright-pink cowboy hat. Spoke (a bit of) French in a South American bar in Prague with a Switzerland-dwelling Texan au pair and a Belgian pilot.
Skinny-dipped under the stars in the Upper Peninsula. Flew to Washington, DC for
Ran into a taping of “What Not To Wear†at Fulton Lounge. Was filmed for TV doing shots with girlfriends later the same night.
Was the winning contestant at a "Retro Dating Game," helped no doubt by my kick-ass favorite pickup line. Attended a lot of weddings. No. 6 of 6 had the bride and groom’s names emblazoned on mini tombstones on the cake. (It was Halloween weekend.)
Got a pair of $375 boots for $40. Won a 3-month gym membership, tickets to half a dozen advanced movie screenings, a mini iPod, and a vibrator/flashlight keychain. (Always handy to have.) Oh, and a random girl on the El once gave me and a friend freshly-baked baguettes from a posh bakery.
That was 2005. Here's to 2006!
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