So last night Charm and co. came back from Denali and Charm's GF made seared salmon, and we had chocolate cake from Fred Meyer's and it was yummy. It was also eaten rather late, which meant that "experiencing Anchorage night life" also started late. Like, 1 am. When the crazies come out. And -- oh my, were they out.

We went to Chilkoot Charlie's, where the sign features a, um, coot (koot?), I guess, with a woolen hat and red nose, and the motto reads: "We cheat the OTHER guy and pass the savings on to you!" Uh, yeah. So we're hanging out, trying to decide what to do, cuz we're tired and not hoochified like the ladies in tight tops and short skirts sashaying in, and Charm and co. haven't showered for a couple days, and we see a woman sitting outside the door on a planter, holding a white cloth up to her head, and when she lowers it, we see that her face is bruised and bleeding. Ooooh, Nellie! Then we see a guy getting thrown out ("Get him into a cab and outta here!"). Then we see a woman in a red silk bustier and black jacket flanked by two bouncers, one of whom is holding a video recorder and is taping her as she curses him with a string of obscenities that is disappointingly prosaic and oh, by the way, she is HANDCUFFED.

Then I remember that Co-Intern told me that last year, the bouncers accidentally killed a patron who was struggling on the ground with them.

She also said that she's seen people grinding to "Brown Eyed Girl" at 'Koots. Hee to that! But handcuffs. And death. Eesh.

So we left 'Koots alone and went home.

Today, we went hiking up to Byron glacier, saw "The Interpreter" at Beartooth (man, it's hard to eat your burrito when buses are getting blown up), and went on a long walk on the coastal trail, where we saw a mother moose (limping, poor thing) and her two little mooselets nibbling on grass and slurping down water. Oh, and a red fox. All while on a paved trail 10 minutes from the house. Man, Alaska! Why you gotta go and be all cool like that? Everything else will seem so pale after this summer.

Apropos of nothing, except that Co-Intern came up in this entry and her solemn pronouncements absolutely must be recorded for posterity: we were having drinks in Humpy's, a downtown bar, when I told her about the Ringleted One's commandments. (In sum: Thou shall exercise every day. Thou shall drink every day (a glass of wine being enough for thee, hk). And thou shall go to a bar by thineself.) Co-Intern considered this and offered the sage advice: "If your friend thinks you should meet men this summer, you could just come here by yourself. It's a total dude-fest in here."

Dude-fest! God, I love that girl.