Real.

The best thing about friends is they send you highly unanticipated things. Like this:

When Trever and I first moved to Seattle in 2001, we lived together in the shady ID. It's still shady. In fact, it is still SO shady, that less than an hour ago, at 1:15 AM, I left the best karaoke bar (for the people watching, not the song selection), and was asked by a bum unpacking something onto the side walk this question:

"Do you know what this is?!?" He was excited.

I replied, "I have NO idea what that is." I was leaving with my friend. We walked on, and he asked me if I knew what it was. I said, "I think that was a cheap microscope that he found/stole, and was hoping that I bought it." As we walked away, he shouted, " I got weed!"

It was half-hearted.

So anyways. This hood is REAL. The picture above was from the last night the best ever ramen shop EVER was open: Koraku. T-Man and I went down, waited in a long-ass line, and ate a meal with strangers. One of them was a cute chick one of us should have gone on a date with.

But we were young and innocent.....

Anyways. Real ramen. With the fish cakes, and the host of sides and the tea and the touch of home. It's like eating at the Ulmer's house, when all 3 boys are home, and then there's me, pretending I didn't eat dinner, and sure I'd love to eat some curry, because, why not?