Kids and Pubs

Well, I delved farther into Jen Mann’s blog collection only to find that People I Want to Punch in the Throat is a Mommy Blog. NOT what I expected from the title or cover art.

Writing about the joys and tribulations of parenting is grand and all BUT I just can’t relate. The travails of arranging playdates? Preschool dramas? Getting precious four year olds into the BEST summer dance camp? No matter how many “f bombs” she drops, I’m just not gonna be drawn in.

It’s not her – it’s me. Honest! I never wanted children and then, because of the ol’ Nf2, I couldn’t have them (it was strongly recommended that, if I wanted to continue living, – and I do/did – I should never get up the spout). Believe me, I was relieved, not disappointed. Kids are expensive. They’d get in the way of my painting and live music habits. AND I wouldn’t be able to, 24/7, protect them from assholian bullies.

You want(ed) a family? A few kids? A happy household with talented, precocious kids running around? Awesome! Splendid! Do it up. That just ain’t me, Babe.

Also too, the author and fam moved from Brooklyn to suburban Kansas – voluntarily and on purpose! On top of that, they live in a McMansion – on purpose. //shudder//

So yeah, while I can totes dig her colorful language and DEF find some of her stories hilarious* on the whole, this is just not my scene.

* e.g., in her corporate ladder climbing days she and “Hubs” accidentally ended up at her boss’s July 4th swingers party //shudder+//

More up my alley – last night, post-work, Jen and I were talking about our local bars and how much we miss them. I may’ve mentioned that, while I’m not much of a drinker (two glasses of the grape and it’s sleepytime for yurs truly), I do thoroughly enjoy a night at the pub. It’s all about the snacks, cocktails and people watching don’cha know.

Maybe later this summer they’ll be able to safely open up. We’re doing advance research since, pre-shutdown, some of our faves had closed OR had gotten desperately lame.

Since bar snacks are molto importante we need a wide selection of ethnicities from which to choose. Diversity ROCKS and shit.

Our fave dive Chinese bar shut (yes, we’re still in mourning) but I know of a fab Japanese joint and a fusion type place (Chinese/Japanese/Thai). Neither are dives though. Yes, this makes us sad.

There are two Mexican restaurants with bars BUT one is just a wee, claustrophobia inducing, three stool set up – def not comfy though the food’s divine. The bar at the other place is big BUT feels too frat-rat-fresh-outta-college-y. The people watching is boring to the point of being insufferable and the grub’s, at best, a snoozefest.

There’s a pub inside one of the local Indian eateries (veggie pakoras MMMMMMMM!). The lighting is wonderfully, atmospherically murky but bar service is slow to the point of occasionally being totally non-existent. Possibly, despite the joint having an open floor plan, the drinks staff just couldn’t see us?  Mebbe I'll bring a flashlight next time.

Then there are the Irish pubs. Down here in Quincy, best I can tell, there are NO real Irish bars . Sure, there are places with a big shamrock on their exterior signage BUT they seem to all be nothing more than low rent townie taverns with barkeeps hailing from Weymouth (MA) or Southie. For a finely poured pint we’ll need to motor over to Dorchester, (a Boston neighborhood, just seven miles from Valhalla) and the Eire Pub OR head back into Cambridge to The Druid, The Plough or The Field.

Living in Cambridge spoiled us for pubs in general. All the lovely dimmed lighting, the dark wood and the staff whose accents IDed them as coming over from Dublin (the city of waifs), Galway (hippy town) or Limerick (Stab City), etc.
Though our neighborhood hang – Louies – has shut, there are still a couple of pleasant townie bars here in Quincy. There’s nearby Grumpy’s and the more upscale Froggies. Where else? //shrugs//

Are there Italian bars (or barras) around here where we can get delicate stems of Limoncello? Espresso served in tiny ceramic cups with a side of cannoli?

Jen and I need to hop on the R&D train so’s, by August or whenever, we’ll have a rock solid game plan.