Folding to Sharnold

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I mean, work sucked and the day wouldn't seem to end, plus my plans with Leslie fell through (no biggie, it's been rescheduled), and I had a killer headache trying to become a migraine for 3 days. I didn't have time to eat all day, and by the end of the day was dying for food. So Angie and I headed to buckhead to eat (even though she had eaten lunch).

We had a bizarre meal...Angie had gotten some bad news about a friend and she told me about it. Our conversation became a very weird, heavy conversation. It really made you think.

So we left the restaurant and headed back to work (to get my car) and as we are heading down Peachtree, I ask Angie to hang a left at Buckhead Avenue to go swing by my friend Shawn's bar - just to see if he is there. We pulled up to Robert's and there was Shawn (affectionately known as Sharnold) walking around inside the bar - and looking good. Angie's response was that of course now we needed to stop. Duh.

We walked into the bar and the reaction on Shawn's face was this huge grin and a big hug. How awesome! We sat with him and had a drink or two and attempted to catch up. So I suck, I have been back since May and I hadn't told him. I intended to - but for whatever reason, I didn't. He gave me enough crap to make me feel guilty and then we moved on.

His bartender came and she joined the fun. We talked women (his) and jobs (all of ours) and friends and family. Then we started talking poker - Texas Hold 'Em - is there any other game worth playing? Next thing I know, we are sitting in a booth playing. Shawn got this killer set of cards and clay chips from his parents for his birthday. I managed to hold him off for hours until the crowds started filtering in. Can I say that I was lucky to hold him back for so long - he has this disarming, very charming smile where I know he is just trying to throw me off my game. It worked a few hands, but I kept my wits about me as much as I could.

Then he started to sing - much improved from 3 years ago. I really enjoy watching him perform - he is in his element and does it really well.

We finally headed out around 12:30 (did I mention we got there at 7pm?) because we were starting to fade. I think Angie was lucky she got us back to work without incident; she looked like she was going to fall over!

We had a blast and it just reminded me how much I love Sharnold. He is really one of my favorite people. He brings back a LOT of memories from our road-days and hanging with our band boys. So here I am listening to Beowulf, Rap Music Sucks and Peach State of Mind and remembering 10 years ago. It was such a big part of my life and I think I am better for it. And here is MSharnold doing well and seemingly enjoying life (maybe a little too much), but the whole thing just makes me smile. I need to hang out with Sharnold more - I don't want to lose touch with him again.

As for today, I woke up still smelling of cigarette smoke and oozing vodka from my pores. I could not get in the shower fast enough! Ahhhh, the drawbacks of spending almost 6 hours in a bar in Buckhead! Now, we need to organize a bunch of work folks to head out to Robert's for a night of drinking and music and fun!