Island-y goodness

So my friend Vicky's birthday is next Wednesday. She wants to hit "Forbidden Island" in Alameda and drink some disturbingly expensive rum and hang with her buds (and, as I'm invited, I guess I'm among that august number).

"Forbidden Island" may well be my favorite bar on this Earth. Their mai tais are nearly on a par with my dad's.

Their zombies can kick my arse disturbingly fast.

Thinking on bars makes me realize I'm still thinking about how I want to handle my upcoming 40th. The idea of actually renting out a bar has a great deal of appeal until I start thinking about how much it would actually cost up front.

One of my friends suggested I solicit about five bucks from everyone I'd invite (which would be pretty much everyone I know), but I dislike that idea.

I think that's tacky to hit people up for money in cirucmstances like that. I just wanna hit some place with lots of room, have a few drinks, and mingle with all the people I know who make life worth living.

For me, that's a surprisingly large list of folks. I'd be inviting my sister and people I know through her, college and high school buddies of mine, gamers, and most of my office, among others.

Right there, that's over a hundred people.

A hundred people I'm not sure I want mingling with one another... hmmm...

I have to admit celebrating the end of my third decade of life at "Forbidden Island" has a great deal of appeal. Alas, there's no reliable public transportation to Alameda and that bar fills up fast. Within an hour of opening, there's no seats. None.

I'd prefer something within reasonable walking distance of BART, so I'm eyeballing a bar within crawling/staggering distance of my apartment. I've already asked about reserving their upstairs. I'd need to call one of the managers during the week and get a rough price quote. The bartender I talked to said my planned weekend celebration would be quite expensive, since that's when they do the bulk of their business.

*sigh*

Maybe I'm being overly-ambitious. I could just say "screw it" and fly to Vegas again.

Probably a bad idea.

I have to admit I do like the idea of actually having a birthday party for a change. Not some "surprise party". I hate those. I wanna have some control over (and idea of) the guest list, especially after the "surprise" party for my 30th. The only surprise there was the appearance of someone I really didn't want present. Yeeesh...

I'll get you for that Jenny! Oh yes...

But back to "Forbidden Island". Is it wrong that it's not even 8 am and I'm craving a mai tai?

Don't answer that.