The elder is now expecting a child with his longtime girlfriend.



The younger is now engaged to his girlfriend of going on two years.



I would shout at the heavens, what the fuck, if it weren't for my own pending domestic bliss.



Still, admittedly, the craters from both admissions are still smoldering.



Missing my boys.

We went to Easy Street for lunch again today. Ever since the first time I took Joey there more than three years ago, it has been a staple in our diet. Harley's now too. Joey described it as our own drugstore counter, that place where we know the menues without opening them (though we always do), take note of changes in wall decor and, while we're still working our ways up to knowing the waitstaff's names, we at least get those grins of familiarity and banter that comes only with recognition.



(It's also worth mentioning that when I was really little growing up in West Seattle, the site of Easy Street Records, at least the record-store half, actually WAS an apothecary, complete with a mortar-and-pestle sign above the door.)



Today, Harley noted how one of our waitresses may have gotten work done on one of her sleeves. I noted how another has gone from her usual platinum blonde to a nice burgundy on black.



When Harley suggested our next trip to the Junction include a different venue. Try to sample around a bit. But it's hard to imagine a sneak-away lunch anywhere else, even if we are looking at the menu more in the hopes of having overlooked something, anything, that would deviate from the norm. (One can only order the Mama Cass so many times.) It's comfort food in the best possible way.



Alas, today we learned something we didn't know about our Easy Street home until now. When we first started making it a haunt, our favorite waiter was John. Flamboyant and brash, the first time he seated us he smacked Joey on the ass. It was a moment of precedent-setting brilliance. We hadn't seen John in a really long time, just figured he'd moved on.



Not so much the case, it seems. On our way out today, I noticed a white flyer next to the door, announcing a memorial for John this month at Alki. Seems he passed away last year. Like many of his faithful customers around West Seattle (and he did have quite a few), we will miss him, too.



http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=1652