- ABOUT THIS BLOG
- Everyone has done it – you’re in a bar, looking for a scrap of paper to write a woman's name and phone number on, or just want to make a note to yourself so you don’t forget something. You grab a cocktail napkin.
- (In the TV series The West Wing, a political consultant decides that Jed Bartlet – played by Martin Sheen – should run for President. He takes a cocktail napkin and writes down the slogan, “Bartlet for America.”)
- I work in bars. Over the years, I’ve accumulated enough of my own cocktail-napkin notes to fill six liquor bottle boxes.
- Here are the people and stories that wound up in those notes -- real-life characters like Jackie Rabbit and Maude the Broad, the narcotics cops Paul and Sonny, mafia guys, some shameless tramps and one suicidal young man. You'll meet an old-time boxer who wants to take me into the gym to teach me his trade, and a woman who thinks God is on the stool next to her, urging her to have one more whiskey and ginger. It's life behind the taps.
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- Life on a Cocktail Napkin has over 30,000 page views per month. Check out the stories you've been missing in our Archives (below). And my sincere thanks to all of you who have visited here!
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Category Archives: Life on a Cocktail Napkin
ANOTHER CHARLIE on the M(B)TA
“Is this way good for you?” she asked innocently as she shifted her body a little to the left. With a playful tone, she broached the subject so easily it surprised me. This was a rather awkward position for us. … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
10 Comments
MEN with BRASS BALLS chasing GHOSTS
The day after Osama bin Laden was killed, John Bonaccorso (The Drowning Frog, The Chocolate Starfish) was at a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Just before game time the announcer asked everyone to rise for a moment of silence. 34,000 … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
31 Comments
GRANT’S TRIBUTE
Sorry for the delay on the new post . . . it’s in progress, I’m still gathering info. It’s related to the events of this past week and it will be an interesting one, I assure you. (Probably coming this Monday or … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
5 Comments
TINA DELELLIS (Mrs. Johnny D)
Most restaurant workers don’t like their bosses. Talk five minutes with anyone in food service and you’ll probably hear plenty about the egotistic son-of-a-bitch who makes their life hell. I’ve been lucky. I’ve worked for some great owners and today I’d … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
17 Comments
MIKE DALEY and JACK
On Sundays, I’m behind the bar for the Blues Jam at Johnny D’s — it’s not much money, but there’s always good music and good people. This past Sunday, regulars John (drummer) and Grant (guitar) played some rocking sets. Dan … Continue reading
Posted in Life on a Cocktail Napkin
14 Comments
