So we had the joint birthday party shindig last night at a VERY crowded and smokey karaoke joint a few blocks from my house. It was a good time, and good to see all of the gathered faces, but it was really fricking loud. Plus, it was supposed to be karaoke, but then the DJ busted out with some tunes that were hot in '99 and the crowd when *nuts*. Hence therefore, karoake was put off for awhile. Jonathan, a true karoake friend, was the only person in our 15+ person group who signed up for a song, and he kicked the ass of "Careless Whisper." A few of us slow danced in support. It was a beautiful moment.

This particular bar where the party was is always confounding: it hosts a completely wide array of people, all eager to holler, smoke, and do as many shots as humanly possible. Wending my way out of the bathroom proved to be a Herculean task in terms of avoiding eye contact with sketchy men. It was a true gauntlet of them. I was totally shlubbed out last night, and maybe (alarmingly!) they felt that I was not decked out enough to be unapproachable. blech.

Anyhoo, in other news today I start the South Beach diet! woowoo. The name is totally lame, but I assure you that the menus look fabulous. I just had my mid-morning snack of exactly six almonds.