paranoid androids invade my secret hiding place

i went out last night to my Secret Hiding Place, which happens to be a seedy little dive of a karaoke bar that i go to from time to time to get away from the usual pace and colour of my life. i even get up and sing. i believe that stretching one's limits and willfully engaging in potentially embarrassing situations is healthy for soul.

anyways, it didn't quite work out as expected this night.

first, when i sat down at a table some people came over that i'd met some weeks prior briefly on one of my out-on-the-town prowls. they remembered my name and everything, which sucked because i'm horrible with names and didn't remember theirs. (it's so much easier when its a mutual affliction.) i did remember their faces and where we met, though, so that counted for something. they asked how i was doing and i did my usual "answer with honesty" thing and said it had been a long, hard day. they asked why and i told them that i'd spent the day fixing an application at work that broke and dealing with a blog entry of mine being linked on a popular geek website. i left it vague because i didn't feel like getting into the details of my day. i mean, that's why i was at my Secrete Hiding Place, right?

well, one of them says, "which geek site, slashdot?" i couldn't believe my luck. here i am trying to escape my digital life for a few hours and the first people i talk to read slashdot. i nod, they ask me what my last name is, and then get all excited about having read the article. life is BIZARRE.

and then came the paranoiacs. i was up singing my first song when in walks some people i'd done business with previously. they see me up there and hoot and holler encouragement. so much for anonymity, for the second time. after my song i went over and had a beer with them.

one of the guys is convinced that this other person who had invested in a business deal that didn't work out was out to get him, and that he'd come in on their wireless LAN connection and stolen all their corporate data. "ALL of it!" he kept going on and on with this rather implausible sounding story full of scheming and High Conspiracy. the IT guy that was out with them has a pretty odd story about it as well. what's the bet a disk failed or a backup went awry and Evil Man got tagged with the blame by IT Guy?

reality seemed to be optional at this point and Paranoid Android asks me if i want to have some "sport" and "hack [Evil Man]'s network" for him. needless to say i finished my beer and went back over to the relative shelter of the slashdot reader's table.

i got invited to have early-early morning breakfast with a rather nice girl i met there, but her friends had other plans (namely going home and sleeping, apparently) and they were her only ride home. she asked if i had a car there and i explained that i don't bring my car with me if i'm going to drink because if i do i'm apt to drive and that's a Bad Thing(tm). i do question the sanity of requesting a ride home from someone you've only talked to briefly twice, though. she took my phone number instead, and that was that. what a boring end to the night.

i think it's time for a new Secret Hiding Place.