Back to school! Back to school! I am a back to school girl! How exciting it is to be a student again, with books and pencils and statistics homework and reaction papers and exams and...um. Oh. Uhhh. School's hard. I forgot. I suck at math. Hmm. What can assist me during my Back To School Boo-Hoos? Oh, yeah! Booze! Yeah! That's the ticket! I forgot! Let's go somewhere new! I'm feeling adventurous.

So. Have y'all ever been drinking out, you know, past Olbrich Gardens? You know, close to Monona? Look, don't spread it around, but I've been out there. Among the Forgotten. I went to this bar once called the Packer Inn. Was that the name? Um. I think so. And really, I sort of thought I might get beat up. Like, I mean, actually pounded. Some woman kept givin' me the evil eye real hard for playing Hall and Oates on the Jukebox or something. It was scary. But, couple weeks ago, me and my birthday celebrators (happy b-day Lia!) decided to roll up our sleeves and drive down Atwood Street and hope for the best. And the timing couldn't have been better, because a new bar has opened right there on 106 Cottage Grove Road (RIP Hammertime), called the Jade Monkey Cocktail Lounge. And while my first impression wasn't, you know, like, overwhelming, I'm willing to give it a go. Let's talk it out.

Now, for those of you who had been to Jade Monkey when it was Hammertime, I'll be the first to tell you; things have changed. The Jade Monkey is, well, clean. Like, super new-bar clean. And they have super-cute signature booths. And a brand new pool table. And that other kind of table where you slide that puck thing on the salt table. And the bathrooms smell good. And they have a great outdoor deck. And a very cool thing: they have pretty fish tanks and tvs that show all old Kung-Fu movies. This, I like.

Another thing I like: they have a great cocktail menu that includes frozen tropical drinks, an entire page of different types of Mojitos, and other cocktails--- but a problem I and those with me encountered, however, is that their bar staff isn't quite up on the take yet with mixing the drinks. My Mojito was actually sort of terrible, and my friend's drinks weren't too great either. BUT! I think this will change with time. AND! we were there on a very busy Friday night, busier, I think, than even the staff anticipated since the bar just opened less than a month ago and it seems they already have quite a clientèle.

Which was another funny thing about the JM. I sort of felt like I was in a bar that was full of people that were sort of "island of the misfit toys" ish. Does that make sense? Like, while there I overheard some women talking about their Wiccan ceremony to a guy that then I thought was maybe a warlock. And also, an older lady was wearing very high heels and very tight jeans and was talking very loudly and then spilled her drink all over her white shirt. Hmm. Maybe you'll have to go there and see what I mean. I think I'll give it another go during the week, and see what the ambiance is like.

So if you show up, and see an adorable girl drinking a Pink Squirrel and doing Basic Statistics, that's me. Come say hello. And tell me to Stay In School.

Happy Cruising and Boozing!