Closing Time

I don't, as a rule, spend much time in bars. In fact, you might even say that I almost never spend any time in a bar. Last night, though, I was in a bar when it closed for the first time in my life. And I got to witness a virtuoso performance by a barfly as she regaled the limited audience (3 of us) about anything and everything from her sordid and storied life. Stories included the time she hit 4 cars in a parking garage, closed out an open mike at a rap record release party, when she got divorced from her german ex-husband, made $200 from an infidelitious spouse. My, it was almost as good as the best fiction. Better, perhaps, as most books don't talk with a southern lilt, unless they're written by Tennessee Williams.

Plus, the bar itself was a very lovely space and the bartender was a nice fellow. Maybe I'll got to more bars this year, if only to plumb the depths for the next good story. It's really all about good stories.