Christmas

Anti-Christmas 2008. Perfect combination of booze, friends, food, relaxation, gambling, and all things decadent. No needless stress from family. No presents, no pressure. Jay and I began the day with egg casserole and screwdrivers at 7 am while listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas Carol. After this we went to the spa at the Ritz-Carlton because it was local's discount day. After spending four incredible hours, we went home and picked up the lamb that was roasting in my oven for 6 hours, and went to the Erin Rose. There was deep fried turkey, gumbo with crabs and alligator, sweet potato pie, king cakes and all the ham you could imagine. We spent the whole afternoon drinking round after round. After about six hours of this, we heard the casino calling our name. Off we go. Blackjack, roulette, what have you. And we won. Wonderful burger at the Windsor Court Hotel followed (one of the best burgers in the city, second to Snug Harbor). We rounded off the night with shots at the Rose and went home to watch Goodfellas. What a wonderful Anti-Christmas it was.


-Amanda



This is the 2nd great non Christmas. No Stress, no Travel, no distant family I couldn't give a shit about. I suggest you try it sometime. We all feel the pull of obligation to satisfy everyone else's wants and spend very little time pleasing ourselves... and what is daydrinking about if not pleasing ourselves. End this needless compulsion to please others at your expense. No one wins. Enjoy your time, we did today.

J

end of the year

Hello Daydrinkers,

Sorry it's been so long since I last wrote. It's been an incredibly busy time. I was looking through pictures for this post and I realized that life has been on hold for me for some time while I earned enough money to continue having fun. Now the year is coming to an end and it's time to relax, reflect, and plan for a bigger and better DayDrinker future.

What have we accomplished this year? As a society, we have grown in number and in quality. We have traveled the country spreading the word and we have met great new people. Just last night I got to meet some new members from San Fransisco. They are excited to spread the word and write about their escapades.

If you have not yet had a chance please check out the video Ariana and Nick posted about their time off traveling the Pacific north west. It has inspired me to start putting together a video of my own.

Earlier this year Daydrinkers from all over got together for a few Tom Waits show. It was great fun and I hope to do something like it soon again.

In New Orleans we celebrated Frank Sinatra's birthday. We took over a small bar and paid or respects to the chairman. We will post pictures of that in the next few days.

Earlier this year I had the chance to visit Southern California and meet some of the best DayDrinkers ever in Orange County. They welcomed us with free drinks and indoor wiffle ball. I can't wait to get back and see them again.

New York is doing great things. From Drunken' slip and slide to inventing the "Milhouse" (Makers Mark, unsweetened tea, and lemon), and all the late nights and early mornings in the city.

Soon we will meet with DDS Hawaii. We will spread the word to the Polynesians! We are in talks to have a small DDS festival in the French Quarter. We are planning a Mardi Gras Parade, and a DDS trip to Portland where there are great members who we need to get to know.

We will continue to meet new friends, do stupid things, and report them here. Good luck in the new year and please continue to email and post your fun here.

Cheers,

J

Southern California

Hello DayDrinkers,


We have just come home from an amazing DayDrinker trip to LA and Orange County. It had been years since I had been to LA and I had an agenda- seeing the places I love, finding new great spots, and meeting members of the OC chapter of DDS.

Having just finished a job I was brain-dead. So was Amanda. So much so that when we landed in LA I realized I had no idea what company I rented the car from and there are 25 rental companies at LAX. Also I forgot to charge my phone so I was tethered to the wall, sitting on the floor calling rental company after rental company. Enough of this, it's time to drink.

We drove to Venice beach. It was dark. We were thirsty. we park and start walking to the Venice pier when I hear Ryan and Lilian calling our names. Strait to the Venice Wailer where I used to spend alot of time. This beach bar overlooks the ocean and has a second floor patio. Next up, Hanano. Pool tables, sawdust on the floor and great burgers. (Where do they get the sawdust). A crappy cover band was butchering surf music, it was wonderful. A quick walk down the street and we were at The Baja Cantina for a margarita. We had only been in town for 2 hours but we were feeling good. There is nothing like like-minded daydrinkers getting together to make a good night great. No complaining about moving around. No complaining about anything. The night is just a mission to see more places and do more things. With that in mind we decided to save the rest of the beach for the daytime and move on to Hollywood. This is the point when it gets a little hazy.

We walked down Hollywood Blvd. to The Burgundy Room. We peeked into The Room across the street but it was shitty. We then found a great spot that the Kraysers knew called Shorties or Tiny's or something and it was awesome. Vern and Stephanie met us there. Stephanie wins the DDS MVP. She was hanging out with us in a Hollywood dive 36 hours before giving birth. DDS baby Isabella. I don't remember going to The Frolic Room but I remember being there.....Then it was morning.

Time to meet the DDS OC chapter. Orange county is a good drive from LA. Too far, some would say, for four hungover drunks. It was worth it. Paul's Downtown Cocktail's. Dark bar with a good juke box. Pool tables. Great people. We met a guy who is know to be a cat burglar. If he sees you hanging at the bar he may take a walk and lift your pad of a few things. We saw a long haired bearded guy who could have played in ZZ Top. He only shaves and gets a hair cut once a year, on his birthday. There is the guy who is such a regular that when he didn't show up for a few weeks he was reported dead and even appeared in the obituary section. On a side note my brother Milhouse has created a new drink, "The Milhouse". It consists of Makers Mark, unsweetened tea, and lemon. Made correctly it's dry and wonderfully mellow, just like Milhouse himself. I thought it was the perfect time to unveil the Milhouse at Paul's. It went over very well and was the inspiration for the newest DDS game. Indoor Wiffle ball. When looking for tea at the corner store we saw a wiffle ball and bat. brought it back to the bar and started playing. If you go to the Video section of this site you will see clips of the game as well as other clips from the weekend. Though the game started inside the bar it eventually made it's way out to the patio where others joined the game. a DDS member Paul was a power hitter. By the way, thanks Paul for the SB bar tips. Rodney, AKA "Danger" did well even though he was on crutches (we let him use a pinch runner). As the drinking continued the game deteriorated into "Wang Ball" where the batter put the bat in between his or her legs and swung without the help of their hands. Ass ball followed and it was time to leave. Thank you to all at Paul's. You guys have a great chapter. I hope in the future you register on this site and write some good stories.

Since we missed the sunset the night before we decided to go to Hermosa beach. There is a pier there with bars and restaurants. O'mallys, then some Brazilian BBQ place. Once again this is where it gets hazy. Back in Hollywood we found Jumbo's Clown Room. Little Krayser, or Dumb-Dumb as he was called (who now knows things about me he would be smart to take to the grave) joined us. Jumbo's is a beloved strip club which is famous for having D list strippers and hip kids. Courtney Love got her start there. This being LA they were mosly B list. At this point we had been in LA for 24 hours and been to about 12 bars. That's a good average. Unfortunately I had only seen 4 of the many old friends on my list. Bad average. Ryan Tighe was a casualty of us being drunks having been waiting around for us in the wrong bar for a majority of the day. He caught up with us at Jumbo's and I think we ended up buying most of his drinks to avoid being hit. Sorry Ryan. I feel like as soon as the waitress came with my drink I was ordering another. This went on for many hours. Some schmuck kept making us get up so he could get lap dances in our booth. A disgusted stripper pointed out that we kept sitting back down in the used booth all night. I hope I'm not pregnant. Upon arriving back at the house I drank some Nyquil to go to sleep. Not the smartest move.

Sunday morning arrived much more painful then I would have hoped. After breakfast at the 101 diner we went to Venice beach for the day. One of the best sunsets from the Santa Monica Pier. Santa Monica for the night. I knew Ryan had to work in the morning. I told him we could drop him off. It's mot my fault. Somewhere between the third and forth drink at Ye Old Kingshead, he perked up. "I think i'll stay out". Nothing better to drink at night when you have an early morning then...... Tequila. We decided to find El Carmen, a great Mexican bar. Huge, sweet Margarita's, Carnita's, and Tamales. I don't know when we finished but I did find my phone in the middle of the street, unharmed.

Monday morning.... I don't know if I can make it and Amanda looks like she needs an IV. Time to drive to Santa Barbara. A quick stop in Paradise Cove for a drink. Beautiful. In Santa Barbara we stumble into an English Pub called Old King's Road that Paul's friend Jessie told us about. The Bartender is just our style. An English lass named Poppen. She tells us about a great Italian restaurant. We find a winery for a tasting. Perfect night. Long drive to LA. Pay Ryan and Lilian for any incidentals we may have accrued while on a Nyquil bender. Fly home.

Once again I have to encourage everyone to get out of town and see your fellow daydrinkers. Also check out the video and blogs on this site. Send your own and remember to start planing your own Frank Sinatra birthday party. This year it falls on a Friday, December 12th.

Tom Waits

DayDrinkers,


I have just experienced the best five days that the DayDrinkers have ever had. This is exactly why we exist. Jason, Amanda, Renee, John, Beau, Chris, Evan… with guest appearances from most of New Orleans along the way. We went to great bars, restaurants, pools, hotels, music halls, casino’s, and strip clubs. We drove over 1400 miles to see Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, (Florida accidentally for some of us), and Georgia. We met new DayDrinkers and even forced one hotel to make drinks for us before it was their policy to do so.

So, you will see pictures and read blogs from the others. All I can give you is my personal experience. Here it is.

Me and Amanda left New Orleans last Tuesday in a loner car from VW because mine was in the shop. This was a great stroke of luck, but we will get to that later. We drove to Orange beach to see some family and got to go to The Flora-Bama.

Flora-Bama a college beach bar that splits the Florida-Alabama boarder. The roof was ripped off by Hurricane Ivan but they are syill open. There is a makeshift tarp over it made up of PVC piping and plastic. Live music on the beach and college pricks. Lovely. After that we went to the Keg.

The Keg a bar shaped like a Keg. It’s a double wide trailer with great burgers and Bon Jovi on the juke box. We played pool and ate.

The next day we got up and went to Orange beach. This is a gulf beach with sugar white sand. We swam and had a great time until every one started telling us their jellyfish stories. We retreated to a hotel pool until it was time to go to Mobile.

In Mobile we stayed at the renaissance hotel. This was an incredible place with all the trimmings. We met up with John White, Renee, and Evan. After a search for a cool bar that took a few minutes we found Haily’s.

Haily’s is a great dive in the NOLA style. We ran into Burt from the Erin Rose. Since the show was about to start we ordered rounds of High Life and Makers on the rocks until we had to leave.

The Saenger Theater in Mobile is perfect. An old school theater with an ornate style. Tom Waits came on stage. We were in the tenth row. It was all complete. DayDrinkers together, drunk, watching Waits. He….was…..awesome. During Inncocent When You Dream, I cried my fucking eyes out. I had dreamed of that moment for a long time. It all came together just they way I wanted. We are a force of nature, living life the way we want…at all times. The encore was Going Out West and Anywhere I Lay My Head. Perfect.

After the show we realized that all of New Orleans was there. Every cool Bartender, every good band, all the lounge lizards and bar flies. I’m sure no one in NOLA got a good drink that night. We went back to Haily’s and drank with the same 30 people we drank with every night, 200 miles away. Funny. At this point Renee told us she had heard of a place called the Garage. It was about ten blocks away but we decided to walk it. After ten blocks we got there.

The Garage is another good dive that looks like, you guessed it, a garage. The juke box was live with every Waits song that we neglected to play that night. It seemed that most of the folks that were following him for multiple cities found this bar. We drank way too much and met some European fans who were not quite sure how they ended up in the states, but so be it. After a few hours we stumbled back to our hotels.

The next morning we woke and ordered breakfast. Eggs and Screwdrivers. The phone monkey stuttered, “ The bar isn’t open sir……(after an uncomfortable silence)….Yes sir, that will be fine.

At the show the night before we ran into Rico and his brother. Rico is a friend from the bars of New Orleans. We share a love of Waits and two years ago he gave me some great live shows. Rico and bro needed a ride to Birmingham. We picked them up and got on the road. At some point we stopped and a gas station. We were in the middle of nowhere. Rico tried to buy a pack of American Spirits. Rico with his dreadlock Mohawk and tattoos was greeted like a Duckbilled Platypus. “Where you from?” asked the clerk. “New Orleans.” “Those must be New Orleans cigarettes, I aint never heard of ‘em.” A sign on the side of the road read “Go to church, or the devil will get ya!” There was a little red man with horns and a pichfork.

We got to Birmingham and met up with Beau. A shower and a drink and we were on our way out. Me and Amanda felt a little sick but damn it to hell. We called a cab and were picked up by a woman with a full beard and a TV in the front seat. She barely got us to Surin West, an Asian place with great Coconut Shrimp soup. In order to take advantage of the great food we then went to Jim and Nick’s for ribs. Now I we felt a little more then a little sick. It was time for show number two.

The Alabama Theatre is just as beautiful as the Seanger. We had great seats but the only seat I wanted was in the bathroom. My last day of work was three weeks ago. Since then I have been going out every night, eating whatever I want, and made a trip o NY where I went out every night and ate whatever I wanted. Time to pay up. I was sick for a while. I managed to get to my seat as the show started and even though I though I was going to die, I loved it. Tom was a little more subdued, the mix was not as great as the night before, and the crous had no chance of living up to the NOLA crowd from Mobile but I was again in heaven. A few different songs, a great show. The show ends and Me and Manda run for the bathroom again. Since this was Amanda’s town and I’ll be damned if I’ll let death stop me, we went out. First stop, Steel. This was a bar that Amanda helped design as well as worked in for some time. Apparently things have changed because it was now a hip hop club. Not my style. What was my style was the bathroom which I spent much time in. Next stop, Lake View. We went to Innisfree.

Innisfree is an Irish bar that Amanda worked at. As we walked up to it we ran into two cops. Amanda knew both and one of them was the bartender when Amanda worked there. As good of a time that we may have had, I was dying. Dying. Amanda took pity on me and we went back to the hotel. The other kids will be able to fill you in on the rest of the night which I hear was great. I spent the night rolled up in a ball.

The next day we had family obligations which was good because I needed some time to live before I brought down the hammer again. When we got back we found Beau and John in our bed. The only reason that we were given is that Beau’s clothes were wet. It was good to have the boys for another day. We went to Metro Bistro.

Metro Bistro this was a cool place with live music and a deli style sandwich bar. Thank god. I needed turkey and bread and church and love and all things good. Instead I ordered a high life. Gotta Get Behind Your Mule, gotta get back on that horse. Booze was going down fine so I was excited to make up for lost time. Since it was the 4th of July Amanda got on the phone and found us a rooftop to watch the fireworks from.

Kavon’s rooftop. Kavon is a friend of Amanda that bought a few buildings downtown. We was having a rooftop party where we got to drink and eat and see the show. At this point Beau and John looked like they were going to die. I was not going to have this. I missed the night before and I wanted my guys around me for at least one night in Birmingham. I made Beau drink some Jager and we continued on. Fireworks over we went to what was the best bar of the whole trip. A bar that will go on as a place you need to go to if ever within 400 miles of it. The Garage. (Birmingham)

The Garage. Please do not confuse this with the Garage in Mobile. Thought the Mobile Garage was a good bar, the one in Birmingham is one of the best I have ever seen, and I have seen more then any of you. The Garage is in a bad neighborhood. From the outside it looks liked a closed down greenhouse. The kind of place your mom used to make you go while she bought useless shit for the garden. As you walk in it’s a comfy red dive bar. Continue to the back. There is a sliding glass door like you would have in the back of your home. Once outside you are in a maze of a garden. All around there are rooms behind other sliding glass doors that house headless stone statues, books, laboratory beekers and boxes of who knows what. I hear that in the past you were able to purchase things from these rooms but no more. Now they just stand behind glass like a museum of storage boxes that have not been thrown out. As you walk through a maze of trees, there are marble tables, like what you would find in a cemetery. We found one so far back that we could have been selling guns and no one would have known. We met up with Amanda’s friend Matt and talked the night away. There must have been something in the air. We drank and drank until the wee hours with no sluggish behavior. I chatted up the bartender and told him of our quest. He approved. He said that GQ magazine voted them one of the best bars to fly to. I agree.

After leaving The Garage we needed either food or strippers. So we went to The Furnace. Now I like a good shitty strip club with substandard money hungry girls, but I have a sense for these things and I wasn’t feeling it. Time to eat.

Al’s is a all night foodery with ok greasy food. We ate and went back to hotel. John and Beau in tow.

Saturday we got up and said good-bye to Beau and John. Sad too see them go. It was time to go to Atlanta. The hotel in Atlanta was great. The Georgian Terrace. They gave us a huge condo style room that was three rooms. We showered, drank and had everyone come up to our room. Chris from NY and Jaclyn had arrived. We wanted to go to a nice dinner. It was now Jason, Amanda, Renee, Evan, Chris, and Jacklyn. We chose a steakhouse called “Bones” that the bartender from Garage recommended.

Bones was one of the best steakhouses I have ever been to, and THAT is a bold statement. Our waiter Jonathan was great. He was funny and knowledgeable. After I told him my bad experiences in the past at so called five star steakhouses, he simply said, “Sir, I don’t know where you have dined in the past, but this is Bones.” Every time I asked what my choices were, we told me what whatever I wanted, I could have. Wow. We have pictures with Jonathan. I will post them and I hope to send him a DDS link. At the end of the night we all signed a napkin with our love.

It was time for the show. The Fox Theatre in Atlanta is twice the size of the others and I guess that is fitting this being the last show of the Tom Waits tour. Though we had front row seats, the tickets would not scan… just like 200 other angry people outside. After an hour we got in. Another great show. More songs. One last chance to sing Innocent When You Dream with Tom. One last chance to hear Anywhere I lay My Head, Rain on Me, Hoist That Rag, Singapore, Lucinda. I am truly grateful to all my DDS friends. Who gets to live better then we do. Nobody, that’s who. Show over it’s time to go out in Atlanta.

Atlanta nightlife sucks for a daydrinker.


We tried to find a nice bar. No chance. Shady people watching us and calling out slurs to us on the street. Early last call. Shitty bars. Atlanta bars, get it together. Lame. More then Boston even.

The next day we awake. Breakfast at the hotel? $80. A drink? Not before 12:30P. Some sort of left over God law. Off we go to the Atlanta Aquarium. If you have a chance, go. It was great. A good wholesome end to our trip. We got to hang out with Chris one last time. It’s tough to stop vacationing as we found. We ate at the Smokehouse, a small BBQ place on the way home. We drove until midnight and then decided to stop at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Biloxi. Like I said, sometimes it’s hard to stop. We played craps, then Blackjack until 2A. Thanks “Quick”. He was our dealer who would not let me leave until I won. On the way home a rock smashed the windshield of the loner car. Ha Ha fuck you VW. Home at 3:30A this morning. Slept all night and day.

DayDrinkers, I encourage you to follow suit. Join us in our quest for adventure. This was a perfect time. See you soon.

J

PS For more pictures, stories, and video about his topic, go to the FORUM and check out the Tom Waits blog under general rants/raves.

New Orleans to New York

Day drinking leads to night drinking, night drinking sometimes leads to morning drinking, and you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning. Such is the circle of booze as recently discussed by Lillian and I. A delicate balance when done correctly that leads to unparalleled fun and excitement for all parties involved.

A couple of weeks ago El Presidente and I journeyed to New York City to gather with the New York DayDrinkers in the name of friends and booze. It wasn’t long before we were downtown going from bar to bar toasting to drunkenness and meeting up with fellow DayDrinkers along the way.

After Lou picked us up from the airport we had a nice lunch with Dad Altieri. Then we took a subway ride downtown to meet Chris Stone. Having been reared in a small Alabama town I was not prepared for the fast New York pace nor the volume of inhabitants this city possesses. What began in the Bronx with a nice, leisurely subway ride quickly turned into a massive amount of people entering and exiting the subway as if they were furious ants scurrying because their bed had been stepped on. I just knew I was going to get lost and end up in the lost and found with a bunch of old sweaters and broken umbrellas. I had no choice but to cling on to the nearest DayDrinker for dear life. Chris took us to an amazing rooftop bar where we laid our drinking foundation. From here we went to an Irish pub where we drank and ate. Then we went to another bar where we drank and ate. Then we ate pizza. Then we went to another bar where we drank and ate. The next bar was a place called the Double Down Saloon. This bar has bacon infused vodka and anime porn on the tv’s. I got Jay a t-shirt from the bar that says Ass Juice (which is one of their signature cocktails) and it has a skeleton taking a dump in a shot glass. After a few drinks here we realized that the bars initials were DDS. This warranted a couple of shots and toasts. We went across the street to a bar called the Library were we stayed and got wasted. Chris D (Boy Band) met up with us here and we proceeded to a tiki lounge which housed a transvestite. Here we met up with Adrian, Debbie, and Debbie’s boyfriend Javier. We drank and drank, took pictures with the HeShe, went to a rooftop party and ended up at Katz’s Deli eating corned beef and pastrami sandwiches which were so good you wanted to mess your pants, just for the fun of it. After this we called it a night. What a great first day.

The following morning I woke up in the floor only to look up and see the Brothers Altieri spooning in the bed. We got ready and went to see Chris Stone’s place and had lunch the Old Mill. We spent the afternoon at a bar near there called the Tap House. That night we had a barbeque at the house where Jay and Lou grew up. We were joined by all the New York DayDrinkers and their guests. At this gathering Lou’s Amanda and I were aptly dubbed by Joses’s mom as Jamanda and Lamanda, standing for Jay’s Amanda and Lou’s Amanda. At this wonderful gathering we came up with a new DayDrinker game. Line the girls up on one side of the room (preferably topless). The boys stand on the other side of the room and throw cheese at them. The couple with the cheesiest girl wins. We found Velveeta slices to work wonderfully.

Jay and I began the next day with a trip to the Museum of Natural History, followed by the Museum of Modern Art. Chris D and Jacyln met us for a few drinks at 14th and B. We later met up with Evan and journeyed out into the town in celebration of Jay’s birthday. We proved to be too much for NYC to handle. The bartender at Down the Hatch in the lower east side had never seen anything like us. I brought Jay a birthday Glenmorangie scotch with a candle sticking out of the straw and sang Happy Birthday. Almost got kicked out for talking about inappropriate things, ate fried brownies, bought smoking devices, and tore up the entire town. Happy Birthday Jay.

The last day we were there we went to a bar in the Bronx with Lou and Lamanda. We drank for hours, ate pizza, and then Lamanda drove us to the airport. We got straight off the plane and headed to the Erin Rose and the casino to keep celebrating. What a wonderful trip it was. Thank you Lou for housing us and thank you New York DayDrinkers for the great times.

Now we’re headed to Tom Waits! Blog to follow.

Amanda

Memorial Day in NY

Hello DayDrinkers,


Lately when people have asked me what I have been up to I have had a strong desire to tell them that I have been working on my day drinking (i.e. drinking during the day as often as possible), but since many people frown upon this behavior I have been reluctant to do so. However, this thing of ours is growing. There are like minded sun dependant drunkards out there. Be reluctant no longer! Spring/Summer has arrived in New York and is going strong and the NYDDS has come out of hibernation. Though we drank through the cold months, it was confined to the indoors. We have even ventured into the night and I think we clean up nicely…

We are moving up in the world! We were recently invited to a Stoli party in NYC that boasted an open bar that only served various flavors of Stoli Vodka (Thanks for the invite Lori). Day drinkers look at an open bar as a challenge. It is like a drunken marathon. One must pace one's self while drinking as much as possible...and we did.

Jose may not look excited, though he is excited when he is working out the logistics of KY/Baby Oil slip and slide (Thank you NOLA DDS) and water baloon grenades...

Some our favorite DDS alumni made appearances this weekend (Pierre, Johnny Bravo and Jack)

Some new members...(Amanda the Flopper and our Soon To Be Married Couple, Rhea and Will)

All is well in NY DDS. We hold our heads high when stumbling out of a bar with the sun high in the sky while the random lay person is sitting fighting the daily grind. Keep your heads up day drinkers. We are growing strong with time. Hey Lillian, You are a tough act to follow. I love you all. Peace.


-Milhouse

A four month detour in New Orleans

The following events occurred between february 18 and
may 17th of 2008. i have summoned the few living brain
cells i have left to piece together the fragmented
memories from this time. stories are always best when
the details are hazy, it's a sign that an adventure
has occurred.

shrimp boil: j has big plans for two red fish
involving cedar and some awesome berry sauce shipped
in from oregon (thanks ariana). we make a few trips to
the grocery store and buy enough girl scout cookies to
pay for four years of sorority pillow fights for the
entire troupe. back at the house, screwdrivers and
scotch, beer and tom waits playing. amanda fills a 10
gallon pot with shrimp and potatoes and corn she's
broken with her bare hands. j learns how fast cedar
catches on fire and he and i scar ourselves with grill
burns in an attempt to save the fish from the flames.

we watched the sun set from the roof top before
venturing to the old point where amanda found a new
way to hold on to her beer. j begins questioning the
girls about their vagina hair cut of choice as amanda
proudly announces her landing strip is an altieri fav.
bevin and i throw her down on the table like an altar
boy and begin to explore her limits. conclusion:
amanda has no limits.

st. pattys day parade: it started with a man in a
bishop's costume being escorted off the premises by
the paramedics. we cheered, he waved, we resumed the
practice of catching cheap beads and produce. adam
caught a box of lucky charms. a potato belts me in the
stomach as i'm doing an irish car bomb. somewhere
along the way i had plans to catch a plane. the events
that lead up to me sitting at coop's place telling an
artist i would buy all of her work as i threw down
three vodka tonics in an hour are as always, hazy at
best.

i woke up on a couch in front of a pair of strangers
doing lines off a vanity mirror. it was told to me
that there was a note left on my stomach while i was
passed out in order to ease the process of identifying
my body in case the question arose. the night ended at
5am where using my luggage as a coaster for my adult
milkshake proved problematic when the luggage tipped
and showered the airport sidewalk with what was meant
to be my breakfast.

pirate parade: there were pirates, a magician and a
shitty bar with shitty margaritas. i think that's the
night j, amanda and i did the seafood buffet. i know
that we came home to bevin and steve asleep on the
couch, steve's hand cupped onto bevin's right boob
like a power cord trying to recharge a battery. so we
did what
any good friend would do in a fortuitous situation
such as this, we stuck our genitals in their faces and
took pictures. one can not let a chance like this go
by without photographic evidence.

jazz fest week 1: two words-mushroom chocolates. we
biked down esplanade and picked up a stray named becca
along the way. we did our shots, ate our chocolate and
laughed at the 50 dollar
case of miller lite that would fuel our fancies for
the day. then
the rain. the rain flipped the magic switch connected
to the chocolates and the world became a five hour
comedy routine. amanda put her goggles on, we laughed.
the beer case started to fall apart, we laughed. a
woman cut in front me in the port-a-let line, i threw
an empty beer can at her when she came out and we
laughed.

there was music but it all seemed to be on mute so we
threw in the towel and left. back on the bikes,
yelling the entire way through the storm. up
esplanade, every so often you could hear
"daydrinkers!" called out through the pounding rain
and it
would echo and vibrate throughout the city. we stopped
at buffa's not bothering to tie up the bikes and
soaked their floors just by standing there. then off
to monaghan's, the safe house. we chucked our shirts
onto the bar, we pleaded with a cab to drive us
through the flooded streets of algiers, we napped. the
benevento russo duo in a room that barely held 50
people put me in a trance. then j 86'd me. becca later
resurfaced on frenchman, i caught a glimpse of her
between the elongated legs of the stilt walkers of the
march fourth marching band. the undeniable odor that
wafted through the streets had obviously been
accumulated en route from portland where showers are
as common place as a movie background artist with an
accute sense of dignity. damn hippies.

jazz fest weekend 2: we meet up at ryan's and start
the chocolates early. we get in and are immediately
separated. still, through some mysterious cosmic
wiring
both j and renee find two separate spots only 20 yards
away from each other. the family reunites. the lull
between the acts seemed to bring us down, i remember
laying on the blanket with my hat on my face as i
smiled at the man that lived in it. fuck those
chocolates are amazing. then the radiators. karen
soaked up the sun in her lobster claw sunglasses,
there was a man dancing with a fly swatter like he was
battling a swarm of bats, somebody found balloons. i
met the travel coordinator from ry's show in the beer
line and i bitched her out for keeping us apart.

if there is any memory that i will carry with me about
this trip it will be this scene: a tattooed sleeveless
shirted aaron neville singing over us on a big screen,
the sun setting behind a line of port-a-potties and
all the unfortunate souls waiting to visit them, steve
lounging in the broken chair we
rescued from the gentilly stage, karen bevin amanda
renee laughing about something only they could
understand, j staring off into the distance his
sunglasses doing little to hide the gleam in his eye.
i believe this is bliss.

--the true daydrinker knows that you can never leave
new orleans without leaving a part of your soul. it
flows through your veins like a hit of high octane
heroin and as you stare down the barrel of your last
monaghan's beer you've already planned how to get your
next fix. that's my story but mine is only one
amongst the masses. life is an elixir served best with
a fleur de lis drawn into its head, a broken condom
wrapped around amanda's neck like a spermicide choker,
a pile of wet t-shirts discarded by a group of
psychedelic drunkards laughing at the rain. i
challenge you to show me who lives better than we--

Lillian - LA/OC/Hawaii Chapter DDS

Jazzfest 2008

Hello DayDrinkers,


I sit here on Sunday morning writing you with a head full of poo. Its been weeks since Jazzfest and still I have just got the energy to write. My hazy memory tells me that I spent the night at the casino last night winning for a change. Milhouse sent me a text telling me that "somehow DayDrinking makes one feel more invincible." Later he sent "DayDrinking leads to nightdrinking." I agree with both statements and see no need to argue with him.

Jazzfest. We awoke on the first day and got on our bikes. We were equipped with booze, special chocolates, and a zest for life. We rode and stopped at bars and looked up at the sky which was about to open up and soak us. As we rode I turned around to enjoy the view of 7 soldiers behind me but I counted 8. We stopped at Cafe Degas for the traditional triple shot of Jameson and I got to meet Becca. Becca had flown to NOLA only an hour before and gotten on her bike by her self to see the fest. She soon ran into us and asked to join in the ride. I love it. A new member was made. She is from Minnesota and jelled nicely. We got to the fest and the sky opened up. Chocolate time. Entering the fest is a blur. The pictures are helpful. It rained hard. I peed on Amanda. Music. Mud. Biking through the 1/4. Taking our clothes off at the Erin Rose. Bed.

We awoke at night. Tickets to a great show. More Chocolate. The show was one that can not be put down in words. If you, good DayDrinker, have not been to JazzFest, Please, come.

The rest of the two week fest is a blur of fun and booze and music. If I had written sooner if would have remebered more. If anyones elses lazy ass had written, you would have a better account of events but alas, we are Drunks.

Coming up, the DayDrinkers go on tour with Tom Waits. Me, Amanda, Renee, Boy-Band, Evan, Ryan, Lillian and Bambi are following Waits through the south this July. If you can get a ticket, come.


J

Puerto Rico, Easter, and Pool Season Opening Day

Hello Daydrinkers,

We’re getting into that time of year again. The wonderful time of year when Mr. Heat and Mrs. Humidity start reproducing and everyone is covered in a layer of film before they can walk off their porches. The wonderful time of year that makes a mess of a well-dressed man. Jay mentioned one of his favorite feelings was the sweat rolling down your back when you don your backpack and ride your bike. I agree. Say goodbye to makeup, dressing nice, and fixing your hair till September and say hello to sunscreen, bathing suits, body odor, and the general smell of sweaty drunks. There is something about this weather that makes you slow down and drink more. And that’s exactly what we’re doing here in New Orleans.

Last Sunday was the beginning of rooftop pool season. We enjoyed a terrific “all you can eat” brunch buffet at the Royal Sonesta. After two hours of unlimited mimosas, bananas foster waffles, cheese, painkillers, omelets, sushi, steak, fish, and assorted breakfast pastries (my personal favorite) we went up to the pool, rubbed each other down with sunscreen, made friends with the bartender, and settled into our chairs for a wonderful daydrinking afternoon of friends, booze, sweat, and swimming. Renee talked the bartender into putting 4 shots of rum in her pina colada. The bartender was pleasantly surprised that we were still able to stand. We quickly reminded him that we are professionals.

Easter Sunday was closing day at the horse track. We put on our Sunday best and made our way to the track to bet on the horsies and enjoy the beautiful day. Everyone did well. We would have done better if we hadn’t accidentally thrown out our winning tickets. Whoops. We proceeded to a lovely dinner at Dickie’s. Its sunset, we’re loaded, we’re full. We try to go to the swingers club, but we show up and they're closed. You know you're a Daydrinker when you show up to the swingers club before they even open. We settle for the casino and that's all she wrote. Another successful Daydrinker day.

Jay and I recently made a voyage to Puerto Rico. Jay’s mom was gracious enough to let us stay with her in her beautiful home. We relaxed, drank our weights in rum, ate wonderful food, explored the rainforest and learned how to play craps. As Jay mentioned in the last newsletter we came up with Daydrinker Games. We also had the very first session of Hammock City, a tropical spin on our endeared Blanket City. As you can see in the picture there is a grove of palm trees and we can’t wait to see hammocks strung between all of them, with all of you kids in them, and with a bottle of Barrelito in each person’s hand.

We’ve been keeping Neosporin busy in the recent weeks. Jay fell off the toilet and tore a hole in his wang. I fell in the rainforest and bloodied my shin. However, we have come up with the best solution for Daydrinker injuries. Have the nearest Daydrinker take a swig of whatever they are drinking and spit it onto the affected area. Don’t forget to take footage. Check out our video soon to be posted in the forum.
We have many things in the future to look forward to. French Quarter Fest happens in two weeks, followed by two weeks of Jazzfest. Plenty of opportunity to sweat and drink. Come and see us!

Amanda

Newsletter March 24, 2008

Hello DayDrinkers,


It's been since Mardi Gras that I have taken the time to write this newsletter. It's been a hectic time these last few months. Alot has been going on.

Most important has been the updates that have been going on to the site. Nick has worked many hours creating a forum page for us as well as correcting some other problems that I am too dumb to explain properly. You will now have the ability to sign in, create a profile and bitch about whatever makes you happy. I hope you all take advantage of this. Already up is a thread where you can post your lame kid pics for us all to laugh at.

Since we last talked there has been many DayDrinking events all around the country. I hope some of you use the forum to let us all know in detail what they were. Here in New Orleans we used the backyard BBQ's to lure in new members. Pamela, I can't wait for you to send some of your pictures to us. There was Friendship day on Algiers point as well as some very memorable French Quarter excursions that I can't remember. (I just go online the next day and relive the fun by checking out my bank statements). There was a Puerto Rico trip that resulted in some great video as well as pictures. Someone let me know how to utilize youtube with DDS and I would love to start linking videos. Also we had the 1st annual DDS games in Puerto Rico. There were only two of us but we had fun anyway. Start saving your coconuts for next years tire toss. New York has been doing a great job. We have two more lifers, those with DDS tattoos. Reegal Beegal is creating new DayDrinkers every day. Los Angeles always works hard and I hear that the O.C. chapter is up and running. Boston...we came, we taught...you haven't answered the call. Shape up. Stewart, Natalia, You guys are our Anchors, teach the rest. We have had new inquires from Austin, follow up please. I hope that as the site evolves, more people wil choose to send in stories and pictures and create events. I can't wait to see what the spring holds for us. Rooftop pool season starts this weekend so cozy up the the hotel staff at the best hotels in town and send my some pictures.

J

Mardi Gras

Hey DayDrinkers,

First of all, Christmas was awesome. We had members from all over come and not celebrate Christmas with us. I curse myself for not writing down the carnage. Others feel free to send a post.


Mardi Gras. All I can say is look at the pics. DDS now has a flicker account. Go to pics, click link and look at all the pics. I'm not writing this one.It;s up to Boy Band and Renee and Evan and all the other jerks who were here. Contribute. Let the world know what we shared. By the way me and Beau just wrote the DDS song. Milhouse, aren't you jealous.

J