Yesterday was another long day. Got up at 6:30 because Nik and I had an 8 am meeting in Columbia City. We had a good breakfast at Geraldine’s Corner, which means there is finally a decent breakfast place relatively nearby. Huzzah. After a quick stop at home to pick up my laptop, I headed over to the U-District. Anthony Bourdain was at the University Bookstore so I thought I’d check that out. I figured an author appearance might bring out 30-50 people on a Tuesday afternoon. I drastically underestimated Bourdain’s appeal I guess because the place was a madhouse. The entire upper level of the bookstore was crammed with people and the only place I could find to stand put me out of sight of the event area. By chance though I was standing right where they were bringing him out, so I did get to note that he was taller than I expected. Luckily, he had a mic so I could at least hear everything. He read a short funny essay about modern English pubs trying to serve gourmet found (“What’s wrong with meat pies?”). Then he did a 45 minute Q+A. He was quick witted and quite entertaining, even when asked inane questions. Since he couldn’t see me, I did not get a chance to ask my question (If you could shoot heroin with any member of the Ramones, living or dead, which one would you pick and why?). Of course, it’s entirely possible he did shoot heroin with the Ramones in the 70s; plenty of New Yorkers did.

When the Q+A was done, I left the autograph hounds to stand in the huge line and took the bus over to Capitol Hill. Ended up at the Bauhaus Cafe, where I fired up the old laptop. I worked until 6:30 and then met up with Ray for a SIFF movie. It was another documentary at the Broadway Performance Center, this time Boffo: Hollywood’s Bombs and Blockbusters. I had thought it was going to analyze some of the biggest successes and failures in the movie business, but instead it was a real pro-Hollywood piece that used interviews with well known actors and producers to let you know that it’s hard out there for a movie pimp. While some of the anecdotes were good and people like Morgan Freeman and George Clooney came off well, the whole thing was little too self-congratulatory. It was funded by HBO, so I’m guessing it’ll be shown there some time soon.

After the flick, we stopped in at the Elysian Brewing Company for a bite. I had a mediocre chicken sandwich and a good mojito. Got home about 11, did some light reading on the Eastern Front in WWII, and hit the hay.