2004.06.02

In between finishing grad school, and starting a summer Russian language program at Indiana, Theresa made her semi-annual visit up to the bay area for the summer, and as is tradition, some of us (the usual suspects) went out to dinner with her. Some pretty darn good food (for a decent price too) was provided at the Sonoma Chicken Coop on San Pedro Square.

This is a shot of all who showed up. From left to right: Theresa, me, Sherylen, Geoff, Alice, and Tian. I think this is the only shot where no one is trying to make fun of an Asian tourist's pose....

Afterward, it was "the night of a thousand bad jokes" ranging anywhere from Tian and his Frappuccino needing to get their own room, Tian buying a lotto ticket because of some other "one in a million" event that happened to him, Theresa and Sherylen reminiscing over some 98-degrees song lyrics, and anything in between. Somehow, we got onto giving the non-San-José-natives a grand (walking) tour of downtown, and true to form, Theresa insisted on acting like the stereotypical Asian tourist in every shot (and even got others into the act).

In the background, you'll see a statue from César Chávez Park of a snake...which is affectionately known in many circles as a big pile of shit, because that's what it looks like from behind. In front: Alice, Theresa, Tian, and Sherylen. Tian's supposed to be a pimp here, but I'm not convinced....

Of course, by that time, Theresa was her usual hyper-energetic-drunk-on-air self, ready to pose as an Asian tourist with anything....

...outside a Starbucks (what you can't see is a guy sitting in the window behind Theresa giving us a huge thumbs-up)...

...in a fake phone booth outside Brittania Arms...

...while sticking her head through the menu slot on the display sign outside Peggy Sue's...

...and even while the guys were lifting her off the ground.

"Random" doesn't even begin to describe the tales and events of this Wednesday night on the town, but then again, maybe there's a lesson to be learned in all of this: sometimes it's not what you plan, but rather, what you make of what you've got that is the most fulfilling of all.