The Metro, Like Elvis, Never Disappoints

So I'm on the metro today, heading to school. The car isn't crowded at all. It is the first stop for this line, so I have a whole bench to myself. Across from me is a young, professional-looking guy with a newspaper.

"Pssst."

I hear a sound. I look up.

Dude has just opened a bottle of beer. He's discreetly cranking a brew while he reads his paper. The time: 2:15 p.m.

Only in Moscow.

Shameless Self-Promotion: Wednesday and Thursday nights are regular expat happy hour events at a local joint called Papa's. I have an expat friend here, let's call him J, who, like me, has a rotten birthday date. Mine is New Year's Eve. His is New Year's Day.

Once, a while back, I whined to him about how my birthday never lives up to my (very unrealistic) expectations.

I don't want much. What I want is a gathering where my friends are all there. This is virtually impossible when your birthday is New Year's Eve because everyone is scattered to the far corners of the earth. I want a place, like the bar on Ally McBeal, where everyone knows my name. With a great house band. And where my friends and I, from time to time, get to join the band on stage for a song or two.

In my fantasy, I'm doing just that: singing, with no stage fright (in spite of my exhibitionist qualities, I have terrible stage fright). The Rolling Stones walk in. They play a few songs with the band. And I get to sing with them.

That's all. Not so much to ask.

J, of course, agrees with me. So much so that he takes the idea and runs with it. So now, on Wednesday, J and I will sing Dead Flowers with the band du jour at Papa's. I am also supposed to sing Back in the USSR. We'll see. Not sure if there is enough vodka in all of Russia . . . But this is one of those Life Check List items for me: get up and sing in front of a friendly crowd.

You're welcome to stop in if you're in the neighborhood. The band plays from 9:00 until 11:00.

More Shameless Self-Promotion: I completed a sort of interview about this blog here. You can vote for the blog through that link. Look for the image below once you get there.

I don't know what this is going to get me. It is a little late in the month for me to win Most Votes for January. But it could be fun. Vote often! Tell your friends!