Two old friends I met while in college are coming into town tonight and I’m rather excited to see them. I don’t get to see Jim and Gidget all that much since they’re married, still live in the Bloomington-Normal area, have their hands full with two (awesome) kids, have their hands even more full with two hyper pugs, own a small business and both work pretty much full-time. So the fact they’re coming up to Chicago on a mini-vacation, spurred on by the live appearance of and Gidget’s love for Billy Idol, is a rare opportunity to actually catch up with both of them at the same time.
A typical scene in Jim and Gidget's household.
Usually I only get to see them if I am going through town with a band and Photogal hasn’t seen them in years so I think they’re looking forward to it as well. Okay, I think Gidget is looking forward to Billy Idol’s rock hard abs most of all but I’ll settle for second place.
I also take full credit for introducing the couple that would inevitably get married. Maybe introducing is too strong a word. Back when I was originally supposed to be a junior in college some friends of mine who lived off-campus decided to throw a party but they wanted to enlist my help since I was a) fearless b) knew lots of people c) owned a lot of music with which to provide a pretty cool soundtrack d) had friends that would buy a keg. I agreed to help in exchange for 1/4 of the profits. The deal was struck.
The day of the party I spent the afternoon on a hill (a.k.a. The Big Tit) behind the dorm I used to live in basically approaching every incoming freshman – who looked cool (which in the early ‘90s was pretty easy since most people didn’t look “cool” and Hot Topic didn’t even exist yet) and was preferably female – and inviting them to the evening’s soiree.
One of the girls I invited was Gidget and I’m not sure but I think that most of the people that would later go on to comprise her social circle were there. Jim certainly was since we were ex-roomates and spent A LOT of time together. The party, by the way, was a grand success and I also believe that one of the events that evening (breaking up a fight by literally leaping across furniture and landing on a guy thus proving I was a) much stronger than I looked and b) capable of busting up a fracas without actually having to hurt anyone involved) laid the groundwork for my initial job working the door at The Gallery¹. Most importantly though I think this may have been the evening Jim and Gidget met although they didn’t date until a few years later. I say “think” because one of the guys who had been inviting girls to the party spent a good chunk of time trying to romance Gidget since she was a redhead and “he had a thing for redheads.”
So there you have it. What started off as a simple post about my excitement at reconnecting with some old friends turned into a mini-history lesson all about Tankboy. Go figure.
¹Also known as the freak bar and the only venue in town with good live music or DJs. As a matter of fact my first professional DJ residency outside of parties was there. I also spun the last night they were open and had to take a special trip down from Chicago in order to do so. I also peed in the DJ booth to “mark my territory” (though it could have also just been because I was incredibly drunk) the next night after bartending at the private farewell party (where I gave away every single bottle of booze in the place) the next night.
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