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Alright, alright, alright, Micah Monday is back in effect. Thanks to all the readers who helped push this column to the top of the weekly readership charts on postgradproblems.com. Obviously, I couldn’t do it without you.
Man, it feels great to be back this week. Had a great weekend, and can’t wait to get back on that grind. Along the way, I learned a few things. This is my column sharing those thoughts with you, the loyal MM readers. Thank you in advance for sharing.
I never tire of Mexican food.
Damn, this is the truth. After Ross Bolen and I finished recording The Ross Bolen Podcast Friday afternoon, we exchanged a little friendly small talk about the upcoming weekend. He asked what I was doing that evening and I replied that the GF and I were gonna meet some friends for Mexican food. I’d venture to say that this is the most common response to this question any Friday night in Austin. Mexican (locally this means Tex-Mex) restaurants are all full every Friday night. Even the lousy ones run waits. The GF tells me that this is similar to the Friday night pizza culture of the Northeast. Every Friday night, there’s pizza, and always from the same place. I’m sure some people go to the same spots every week in Austin, but I like to roam. Back to the convo with Ross– he replied that he too would be eating Mexican food that night. I told him we we’re headed to El Alma. He quickly replied that he and his wife were also headed to El Alma. Fun!
We had a reservation at 7, and they were already there when we arrived. We chatted. It was fun to see Bill in public! He’s a funny guy. I like him.
Anyway, I really like Mexican food. I ordered the pescado al Ajillo. Described on the menu:
black drum fillet sautéed in garlic ancho butter. rajas, onions, mushrooms, corn pudding, crema, queso fresco. 23.
It was good! Really good. While at dinner, I realized that I had eaten Mexican food in one form or another at least one meal for eight of the previous nine days. I also ate a homemade Mexican chicken stew for Dinner Saturday, breakfast tacos from Maria’s Taco Xpress Sunday morning for mother’s day, and leftover steak tacos for lunch today, Micah Monday. The streak lives!
Old friends. They shine like diamonds.
Booboo and I had dinner with my friends Jessica and Britt. They are really good people. I like them both a lot. Jessica is of special importance in this piece. She lived in Austin for several years, and moved to Australia last April. She’s on a four-year visa, so I wasn’t sure when we’d see her again. Thankfully, her company has an office in Austin, and she is in town through Tuesday. She came to El Alma straight from the airport. It was lovely to see her.
Old friends really are the best. Jessica is free-spirit, and one of the most adventurous people I know. Obviously, choosing to move to Australia alone is evidence of this. I miss her a lot. Jessica was always up to catch a show or see a band she’d never heard of before. It wasn’t hard to twist her arm into a mid-week happy hour or try a new restaurant. During the years, Jessica and I always remained friends and rarely got in an argument. She’d been there for me through some tough days, and I’ve tried to listen and help her when she was in need.
Dinner was great. Even though she’d been gone more than a year, we picked up right where we left off. Since she lives on another continent we don’t chat often, but that didn’t matter. A couple of margs and some ceviche, just like old times. Old friends. Lord, you can’t buy ’em.
Never underestimate the power of the first impression.
We hung out with some other old friends later Friday night. My fraternity brother Max and his wife Molly were in town for a wedding Saturday. We met at a new place downtown called Caroline’s. It was pretty cool. Since we had a big day planned Saturday I had a couple Campari-sodas instead of a more powerful cocktail selection. Very nice!
After a while, we left and walked down to The Elephant Room. It’s kinda an underground jazz bar. Think candle-light and live music. Classy, laid-back, and fun! Anyway, we ordered another round of drinks there and as we often do, started reminiscing about our college days. This was a reminder of my botched first impression as a pledge. I’m notoriously bad with names, and I spectacularly failed some early pledge tests. I quickly was branded with the scarlet letters MFG– Most Fucked Goat (that’s what we called our pledges). Throughout our pledgeship I was belittled within my own pledge-class for “fucking” us. This despite the fact that every pledgeclass get treated almost exactly the same. I was almost voted out of the pledgeclass (and extension out of the house) by my own pledge-brothers. As the process progressed, I became a good pledge for the majority of our pledgeship. I eventually performed several “important” duties and eventually became President of the frat. Despite all that, the same stories about me fucking up pledge tests and being “fucked” always pop around my old friends.
It reminded me how important it is to make a good impression. One of my pledge-brothers, Harry, was a model pledge for the first week or two of pledgeship. He was christened “Super Goat” by the actives. He spent the last eight weeks doing almost no work around the house, and constantly broke our most serious rule– no drinking for pledges. Harry was openly getting hammered at date parties and skipping clean up sessions with no repercussions. To this day, I am sure there are older guys who would see him out and remember what a great pledge he was. Am I bitter towards him because he got to slide by after putting on a dazzling first impression? No way! I love the guy and I 1000% would have done the same thing if I had the chance.
The moral of this story is that first impressions count. Bigly. Go out there and shine my friends. Months and years of coasting depend on that first move. Make it!
Baths are so dope.
Man, it is so awesome to have a bathtub again! Goddamn! The poolhouse had only a stand-up shower, so I have been without a bathtub for the past 6 months. My apartment before that had a shitty tub, so it’s legitimately been years since I’ve been able to get a good, hot, luxurious bath.
Saturday, we did some shopping and I put together some furniture– a couple of barstools. I also attempted to mount a TV in the living room. I had the torque too high on my screwdriver, and I managed to strip the screws that came with the mounting kit. Very few things make me feel like less of a man than a failed home improvement install. Damn! I realized that I didn’t have the right equipment to finish the job and that a professional would be needed. I managed to book one for Sunday (and he did a great job! LMK if you’re in Austin and need a handy man. I’ll pass his contact info along to you.) and he quickly finished the instal. It feels great to have the TV on the wall. I got a big, pivoting mount, and it’s dope af.
Anyway, Saturday night I was in the dumps. The GF suggested I take a bath and relax. Boy howdy, did this work well! We’ve got a two-bedroom place, and the second bathroom is essentially mine. I lit a couple scented candles, turned out the light, put on some jams on my Anker Soundcore, filled the tub with hot water and epson salt and got in that bitch. You know I had to drop a couple coconut oil bath bombs in there too. Relaxation at its finest.
Take a hot bath this week, I dare you.
The weak cocktail still reigns supreme.
But you already knew that. Still the best way to wind down and prepare for the week ahead. I’m out of Campari, so I’m taking suggestions for which low-alcohol spirit to try next. .
is it possible to downvote a column
Is it possible to downvote your voice
Are we building up or tearing down? Micah is trying his best and I support his efforts. He is tremendous.
Did Micah just jack the Campari bit from Will?
Oh, this will be discussed.
Micah gets salad cucked and now will gets Campari cucked. Just the circle of life.
no.
He’s been snatching Dave’s bits from TB and casually trying them out in RBP.
Will is the only guy in the world who can have a bit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get fucked Lloyd
19th hole is still the worst
Micah’s a big fan of the “!”
Highly underutilized by guys in writing for some reason.
Because exclamation points are for sorority girls talking about their #Bigs and for triggered white liberal men trying to right the world…
And just like our President he is a big fan of one sentence exclamations. DAMN! VERY GOOD! BAD DEAL!
Damn, this is another fire Micah Monday piece. That boy’s on a roll!
Sounds like Jessica needs to learn about FaceTime drinks
I got all excited to try FaceTime drinks with my friend last Saturday night. He didn’t answer. PGP.
Calling pledges Goats will never not make me laugh
We called them donkeys, still makes me chuckle
Micah being a bath person is the least surprising thing ever. Enjoy the filth water
Damn, Micah. Took out some cheddar burgers to grill up tonight but might audible to some enchiladas now. Good lookin out, pod producer.
Micah, might I suggest a Pimm’s cup? You won’t regret mixing one of those guys into your rambler
Only if it has actual gin in it. The pimms only version is stupid sweet and unbalanced
Still can’t tell if I dislike your writing style or not. Either way, keep it up.