Fumando Espero

There's a wonderful tango from the Orquestra Tipica Victor of the late '20's titled Fumando Espero or, roughly translated, I Smoke, I Hope. It's a brilliant tango by a swellegant tango orchestra and you should avail yourselves of a listen some time. With this in mind, I think it's a good thing for an ex-smoker such as myself to occasionally smoke a cigarette so as to remind oneself why one quit smoking.

Thursday night I was downstairs at Michael's having my usual Paisley Martini and waiting for Teresa, Darcy and Mike from the Bag Manufacturers to join me. Jace, my afterhours acting instructor, arrived with the intention of having a cocktail or two prior to picking up her husband from the local aeroport. Jace and I briefly went over my notations on my monologue from The Lady's Not For Burning and she asked what I was drinking. A Paisley Martini, 2 ounces of gin, a half-ounce of scotch and slightly less of dry vermouth. "Oh, Paul! Gin and scotch? How can you drink that?" Very easily. Jace ordered a Manhattan and then Teresa arrived sans Mike, who had the day off and apparently forgot all about it, and Darcy, who had other arrangements. Jace sat with Teresa and I for a bit before tracking down Josh, the chef, and going over a menu with him. Jace knows everyone down there, and I'm not kidding.

After some conversation, Teresa suggested we matriculate outside so she could smoke a cigarette. I'd been indoors all day so going out into what remained of the sunshine was a swellegant idea with me. So we sat in the small patio and she lit up a Marlboro of some kind (not the reds, the golds). I asked for one and lit up, too. By the time I'd finished I remembered why I quit after eighteen months ... my sinuses immediately began to drain and I had that wretched taste of burnt tobacco in my mouth. Bleh. But, as I said, it's good to re-indulge and remind one's self why one quit.

It began to get chilly outside, so Teresa and I matriculated back to the bar. Jace rejoined us before heading off the the aeroport. "Do you do this every Thursday? This seems to be an event." Jace asked. Indeed, and you should join us. Her curiosity piqued, she departed to pick up her husband and Teresa and I left shortly thereafter.

I told by a Devoted Reader that my previous post sounds more like a scene from Edward Gorey's The Curious Sofa. It is not apparent that I am talking about amatuer acting until the very endof the post, meanwhile your imagination is conjuring up ... a very different scene. It's acting, really.