Alterno-selves

I watch my kids pretend to be princesses and superheros and cats and dogs and horses and monsters. Recently I discovered that even my friends, the adult ones, still want to pretend they are something other than they are.

Remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine meets the Bizarro Jerry, George, Kramer and Newman counterparts?

Well, there is Bizarro 6 pack too. I had dinner with them last Saturday night after the night of potatoes in the in the city of Roz.

Okay, so it was a Japanese restaurant in Roswell after the tornadoes.

I'd like to say that like the Seinfeld counterparts the 6 pack also has nicer, kinder, gentler counterparts but then I wouldn't be being honest. And, like Elaine, I'll be the first to admit that I may not have the tightest grasp on this Bizarro character, me not being a Superman fan and all. So I'll just say that the Bizarro 6 pack are not necessarily better, superior, or inferior-- just different.

Generally, when the 6 pack gets together it is either at my house or Meme's house or we go out to Mexican/pizza/ Taco Mac. Basically it is always a low key, low brow, loser, lame-o event. But we like it that way. We are losers-- that is why we also call ourselves "the losers." Bubbles, my mother in law, thinking we were suffering from low self-esteem, had championed for us to call ourselves the "winner's circle." If nothing else, we are at least realists.

I had lamented to Meme earlier in the day that I was tired of the usual fare and wanted something a bit nicer and a little different and maybe not so kid friendly but, you know, not so unkid friendly that I would ruin other persons' kidless-for-the-night date night. Generally I am of the mind set that anyone foolish to waste date night at Mexican/Pizza/Taco Mac gets what they pay for in regards to post date night booty call. So those are the places we usually go with the kids but we go frequently and I am tired of them.

Meme, I guess mulled it over and called me back later--even after Pat said she couldn't come out and play. She suggested a Japanese Steak House. We agreed to meet around 7:30ish which in loser speak is closer to 8, okay, really it is 8:30. In the past we have had dining success at a Japanese steak house with Max and Carmella They are smart kids though and they seem to instinctively know they run the risk of being tossed into the flames should any behavior issues arise. However now we have Beau and Livi and Baby Pat, so things are a lot riskier when we all go out. And I am not saying that Beau and Livi aren't as smart as Max and Carmella but they are the type of kids that may not believe that fire is hot until they have been burned. For the record, sadly, I am that type too. Hard lessons.

Here are the pictures from our night with the Bizarro 6 pack:

This is Mimi the fabulous singer/actress/song writer/new mother. She had to rush over from the recording studio and that is why her hair is dirty but really, I hear that is still the look out in L.A.
This is me with the martial arts guru/sometimes yogi, Bruce Pat. (I got his autograph)
In the real world, Nat gets on Pat's nerves but in the Bizarro world Bruce Pat and Nat sat next each other and didn't bicker once during dinner.

This is Natasha and Claus Vaughn Pouts. Natasha is a former Olympic ice-skating gold medalist from the former Soviet Union. Her husband Claus was cranky. This is not so different from his real world counterpart.

This is Max and Carmella pretending that they are sophisticated and know what to do with chopsticks. There was A LOT of food I saw go flying at that end of the table.

This is Beau and Livi--2 things are different here. First, they behaved themselves and second, they got along. Not sure what that is in Beau's hand but it doesn't look like he has good intentions with it.

When Steve, our server, started throwing food into our mouths I knew this was a kid-friendly place.

Ryan was so far off. Can you see the piece of chicken over Beau's head?

Natasha was closer, or is Claus about to make out with her? If nothing else he looks proud of his wife.
And Bruce Pat, I think, caught it. Must have been all his years of training and his zen like patience.
The kids ham it up and show us their silliest faces. Baby Pat, I think is beginning to be a little bit afraid of just what he was born into.

Ryan and I in the parking lot. Our evening in the Bizarro world has come to an end.