Mon update: Pumpkin spice martini, movie and costume contest, Omaha poker possibly coming soon, earthquake, good Conference USA men’s b-ball analysis and more

Yesterday I started the day at the Majestic Grille for brunch. Rather than my usual mimosa, I decided to try a drink the restaurant had talked about on Facebook – a seasonal cocktail, their pumpkin spice martini. It was delicious. If you want a taste of fall, give it a try. Better make it quick, though, because only a limited supply of the pumpkin liqueur used to make the martini is available.

One of the Majestic’s bartenders, Mark, seemed befuddled when he came in and saw the martini in front of me. “You drinking anything that involves stemware just doesn’t seem right,” he said. Obviously he has never seen me drink a PBRtini at the Silly Goose.

While I was sipping my martini, I got asked to once again be the judge for the Majestic’s costume contest. Every December they show National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation on the big screen. They have two costume contests that night: A costume contest based on the movie, and a tacky sweater contest. It’s a lot of fun and I’m honored that they keep asking me back to be their judge. This year the big night will be Thursday, December 20. They always have a special Christmas menu (in addition to their regular menu) on that night. The Majestic gets completely booked for this event every year. If you want to go, make reservations early.

Much later in the day, I showed up at the Blind Bear for round two of Sunday Fun Day. The 6:30 poker game was wrapping up, but several people including two of the owners were sitting at another table dealing cards. I wondered what was going on. A few minutes later Jeannette came over and filled me in. “We’re learning to play Omaha,” she told me. “We’re thinking about maybe doing an Omaha night rather than Texas Hold’em one night for poker.” She and Jamie are asking for feedback from the poker players on whether that would fly. I’d be all for it. In Omaha, there’s a flop, turn, and river just like Texas Hold’em, but you get dealt four cards rather than two. You use two of your cards and three of the board cards to make your best hand.

A 4.0 earthquake happened near Memphis this morning. I was in the shower at the time and didn’t feel it, but a lot of people did. The quake was centered near Parkin, Arkansas, about 35 miles to the west.

Sports writer/radio host Gary Parrish has a good Conference USA men’s basketball preview. He picked Adonis Thomas as the conference’s top player, and 4 of his top 6 players in the conference play for the Tigers. Should be a fun year and we will finally get our first win against Top 25 competition. I hope.

Fun night last night. I added to my growing collection of photos of someone laying her head on the bar at the Blind Bear, half asleep. Maybe I’ll have Real 2 Reel Photography put the images on canvas and I can have my own art show. I’ve been saying “that girl can drink me under the table” but it looks like I was wrong.

Plans for tonight: Pint Nite at the Saucer. Pint Nite at Aldo’s Pizza Pies. Poker at Silly Goose. It may be Monday but there’s no lack of things to do.