4/1/03: 11:45 AM: The following, while ludicrous, is not an April Fool's joke, but a sad recounting of actual facts.

This story is a little goofy, so feel free to skip it if you don't want anything stupid in your head. I swear, it's like I'm in high school again with these people ...

You may or may not recall my recent notes about "feeling good about feeling bad about doing the wrong thing." Of course, last night was Monday, which means karaoke at Boardwalk and lots more drama than I was in the mood for.

The guy I dissed is named, it seems, Corey. He came in and wanted to talk, which was fine. He told me that what I said upset him, because he's been so severely prohibited by Ylana from doing anything against the people who serially abuse her in her work. That's your story, okay.

I said, as I said here, that it was all talk -- if I wanted to do something to really attack him, I'd have taken a swing. It was talk, dozens, bagging, and I was very surprised he didn't respond in kind. He seemed to come to an accord with that, and I went back to my night.

McGowan then starts bugging me about Ylana crying, she doesn't wanna sit at our table, blah blah blah. Now, remember, I didn't say anything at all about her. She's hurt about comments I made about somebody else, perceiving that as disrespect for her. Of course, now in her "stand by your man" mode, she seems to have blocked out the conversation at Norm's, again mentioned before. I tell her I'm sorry she's feeling bad and that she took it that way, which was not what i intended, then repeated everything I'd been through with Corey. I offered both of them a chance to take some free potshots at me, both declined, both seemed all right. I went back to singing.

The place closes around 1:30 (yeah, wussy, it's an LA thing) and I start to walk out, only to be greeted by Corey again. Says I didn't apologize, said I was talking behind his back, blah blah blah. Now, he was standing there as I said "I'm sorry" three times, and I said nothing behind his back that I didn't say to his face (I wonder if he'd remember it if I told him of the other people who clown him behind his back) but I'm well aware that people only remember what they wanna remember. Says, "Don't come around here any more."

I laughed. First of all, he doesn't own anything -- I said, "If the management doesn't want me here" (pointing at the owner, who was standing and watching all this) "I won't be here. Otherwise, I'm here to sing, and that's about it. I'm not trying to get up in anybody's face." He keeps repeating his new mantra, and I start making tactical plans.

Will I be there next Monday? Hell yeah -- I'd be pretty limp if some white kid talked me out of one of my favorite things to do. Plus, as a grown ass man, I'm not as prone to resort to crazy behavior -- I have a cell phone, I'm a taxpayer, and I'll press charges. I don't think those fine people in County lockup will be as forgiving as I am.

Just for the math-deficient: people groping his woman = allowable. Person noting an opinion on that = not allowable. Must be that new math ...

All around it was a lot more listening to other people's problems than I like, but people will do what they feel they gotta do, and that's just the way it goes.