Parcheesi and falafel

So we went to hang out at this bar last night to catch up with my friend Katherine whom I hadn't seen in a while. Katherine and I used to work together and she's one of those people that every time I see her I resolve to hang out with her more often because I always have a good time, and then we let another three months go by before hanging out again.

So anyway we go to this bar, and Katherine is there with a couple of friends of hers, and the three of them are playing a card game with this weird couple that had apparently sat down a few minutes before we arrived. And it turns out that the weird couple isn't actually a couple in the dating sense of being a couple, but instead are just two weird individuals who salsa dance together sometimes. The woman, who was slightly less weird, played solitaire and frequently looked pained. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that she is entering her fourth year of dental school. She also left for a random hour in the middle of the night to walk to a hamburger place nearby to get a snack. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that she had otherwise had to hang out with her salsa dancing partner the rest of the night. The guy gave each of us his business card and invited Meredith to go kite-flying.

So I started thinking: I'm all for talking to random people in bars or other places. I'm happy to talk and be talked to. And yet something about the guy made us all feel vaguely creeped out. Was it his strange eager nod and the way he rubbed his hands together while talking about Vancouver tourist attractions? Was it the fact that he apparently doesn't visit bars without a travel game kit that includes Parcheesi? I can't tell you. All I know is that he was kind of creepy.

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Chris attempted to make falafel last night. This was a follow-up to my own failed attempt a few weeks ago where the falafel came out like deep fried hummus. After cooking for three hours, his came out somewhat better than mine, but all in all our experiences have told us: if you want falafel, pay the $4 and go buy it from a Middle Eastern place.