love is like a bottle of gin

I almost always have the urge to start off each blog post with "Dear Readers" ala Brad Neely but I have a feeling that might get really old really fast.

Anyways!

Some of you may be asking yourselves, "Why in the heck is she writing a blog about bar hopping? Whatever could she know about bars at such a young age?" Well, I'll tell you. I'll tell you that I am an individual with a propensity for spending copious amounts of money that I don't have. I'm the guy (or in this case, gal) who goes in with a gaggle of friends and says "Drinks are on me! Because I have been drinking!"

And so, even though I have only been of legal drinking age for just shy of 7 months, I have managed to compile quite a list of dive bars, pool halls, lounges, and alcohol-acceptable venues to call home.

When I met Joel Markham he would often say, "We're goin' to the rush!" "Rush inn!" "Aw yeah let's go!" "Let's go to that Rush inn!" I asked Joel to take me there when I turned 21, he obliged, and ever since it remains my favorite bar.

There are a couple of reasons for this:
1. Wendy
2. Joel
3. Wendy and Joel together
4. $4 stiff drinks
5. Good music on the jukebox (especially on Tuesday nights when there is no one else in the bar except the weird meowing guy who you just met and the alcoholic lesbian who just wants to have a good dance to some Earth, Wind and Fire)
6. It's one of those places where you can expect to see one or many people that you wouldn't otherwise see if you were visiting Santa Cruz but you also don't need to hang out with them for an extended period of time
7. For all you underage friends out there, you can easily walk in and hang out (just don't try and buy a drink)

The rush has sort of made a name for itself in Santa Cruz as "The Hipster Bar" or "Pergolesi After Hours." Now, see, I'm biased because generally I like hipsters and Pergolesi and things of that nature. But when I hear people talking about the "that hipster bar in santa cruz" with the same tone as if they had found gum on the bottom of their shoe, I get disheartened. Don't give up on the rush! There's nothin' else like it! And yeah, you might run into a douchebag or two, but come on folks, it comes with the territory.