Big V - Chapter 2 - Boning, Buddhism, & Existence
Verna visits the Lost Horse Saloon, Hombres Breakfast and Brunch, & the International Buddhist Progress Society
Yelp Reviews from Big V
A 5-Year Personal Diary & South Texas Business Review
Written by Verna ‘Big V’ S— from New Braunfels, TX,
“Trying to Make My Way in this World”Lost Horse Saloon
$ Bars
306 E San Antonio St, Marfa, TX 79843
3/21/2016
If someone would have told me Marfa was going to be full of so many goddamn good-looking men then I would have taken the 6-hour road trip here years ago! I walked into this dive bar and was blown away by all the HOTTIES!
I sat at the bar for a bit. The drinks were reasonably priced and just strong enough that I began making some small talk with a couple guys at the bar. One of them was a tall handsome dark-headed guy in a dirty gold "Dickies" jacket. He was pretty hot but after 15-20 minutes I realized he had not stopped talking about himself. LOL!
I was having a hard time getting an word in edgewise with this dude. He made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to turn on my charm as he would not stop yammering on and on about himself, his trailer, his car, his job, blah, blah blah. Finally, he paused to take a drink from his Lone Star and I excused myself to go bum a smoke from someone outside. LOL!
Upon walking outside I discovered a smoking lounge in the back of the bar.
The only thing I like better than HAWT men are smoking lounges!
I get tired of smokers like myself being made to feel bad about our lifestyle choices. The e-cigarettes can go straight to HELL! I saw zero e-cigs in this bar. HOORAY. LOL!
When I returned inside from smoking I made a beeline for the pool tables as I’d noticed some hot younger men playing. As luck would have it Mr. Motormouth was chatting up some leggy blonde at the bar and didn't even notice me. I played a few games of pool with these hot young thangs then called it a night as it was getting late. LOL!
Here's the thing, I'd read about the Marfa aesthetic but never realized it included HANDSOME men all about town! My first stop in town was a parking lot with food trucks (and so much hot ass) then this bar (with just as much hot ass) LOL!
I can't wait to come back to this town! And next time I'm getting to this bar earlier so I can dance with some of these stone cold foxes. LOL!
Hombres - CLOSED
$ Breakfast & Brunch, Burgers
300 W San Antonio St, Marfa, TX 79843
3/21/2016
Never did I expect there to be so much good looking tail all in one place! I went looking for tacos but instead found a lot of eye candy and crawfish to boot. LOL!
They say the best way to get over someone is to get under someone new.
Needless to say I was pretty excited when I happened upon a crawfish boil swimming with so many HAWT men in this food truck parking lot.
The cost of the boil was $20 for all you can eat crawfish. A very handsome middle-aged man from out of town was in charge of the boil. He apparently brought the crawfish in that morning and began cooking them. This guy knew what he was doing plus he had some super sexy dance moves as he barked out orders at people around him. The way he took charge was quite a turn on plus he called me "Sugar" every time I went to fill up my plate. LOL!
Right next to the area where the crawfish cook was working his magic, there were a couple of trucks with tailgate action going on. I'm talking ruggedly good-looking dudes in lawn chairs sitting in the beds of their trucks. These guys were HAWT. I got a feeling they were sort of the Bad Boys of the Boil. But hey I've always liked bad boys so I didn't mind getting my flirt on with them for a bit while eating my crawfish. LOL!
The cook made some very tasty crawfish. Just the right amount of seasoning and potatoes, but I decided I should check out the taco truck as well. When in Marfa, right? LOL!
I'm sure glad I did because the food truck was full of some HAWT young thangs! These taco truck guys put the BOYZ in BOYZ2MEN. They were adorable but in a seemingly effortless way. Yah, mon! They warned me my 2 tacos would take a while for them to make because they'd need to take a couple of smoke breaks while making them. Yah mon, not a problem— I wasn't in a hurry considering the scenery plus I was filled up on crawfish. Once my tacos were made, they were totally edible which the guys had told me they would be. Yah mon Yah mon!! LOL!
While eating my tacos, the taco truck owner showed up and let me tell you this guy was SMOKING HAWT! He walked with a decided swagger to his shoulders and perfectly fit Wranglers to his ass. Everyone seemed to know and admire him. He was certainly someone to be noticed, a real man about town. My heart skipped a hundred beats. I desperately tried to make eye contact with him but his glasses had an odd orange tint that made it next to impossible. I suddenly lost interest in my 2 brisket tacos (although delicious) as my stomach had dropped at the sight of this striking man. LOL!
How could so many gorgeous men all be in this parking lot in Marfa? The sexy middle-aged crawfish boiler, the tailgate full of bad boys, the food truck with adorable little Yah Mon dudes, and finally the drop dead handsome food truck owner. These men were sex. They were the very definition. The reason the word was invented. No woman no matter how strong would be able to resist the steamy sex appeal of these Marfa men! LOL!
Anyways I love Boyz2Men and can't wait to be back and maybe even get lucky if you know what I mean. LOL! ;)
International Buddhist Progress Society
Buddhist Temples
6720 N Capital Of Texas Hwy, Austin, TX 78731
2/25/2016
I have recently been trying to get back into Buddhist Philosophy. Years ago when I was a big Oprah watcher, I discovered the Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. There is a quote of his that at times has become my mantra, "Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."
It has allowed me to keep a forced smile on my face the past week after being suddenly and unexpectedly dumped via text late Saturday night.
After the breakup, I took to Facebook as one does and began posting inspirational quotes/memes about heartbreak and loss. I knew the likes from my friends on my posts would help me feel a little better. LOL.
As I sat waiting for likes, I remembered that being a Buddhist comes in handy when you get dumped.
I also was reminded of my favorite Buddhist monk Thich. I googled some of his top quotes, deciding on this one to post, "People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar".
Truer words about my current situation could not have been posted on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest or Instagram.
I read and reread these words and was blown a way. The suffering I was feeling in that moment was all too familiar. It has happened time and time again since my divorce and rentry to the dating world.
I meet a man via a dating site, or a dating app. Sometimes even through a random friend request on social media.
He falls head over heels in love with me before meeting in person. He is anxious to meet me. I'm ready to meet him too. We have so much in common, it's time to get busy spending all our time together.
We meet in person and he falls a little less in love with me but is still open to the possibility of boning me. Which hey, look, I don't want to sound like I'm on some moral high ground here— there ain't no crime in a little in-the-moment boning and/or finger-banging. LOL.
The breakup and familiar suffering which follows usually occur around Dy 10 when the man realizes Verna is more than a hot body with a slightly sun-damaged face. I have my highs and lows and for sure after 10 days he's going to see a bunch of those. LOL.
The thing is no matter what, I always pull myself back up to level ground. But once a man realizes how much woman Big V is, he usually ends up running for the hills. LOL.
Sunday morning as I lay in bed waiting on likes and comments on my posts, I realized they were only temporary bandaids to my heartache.
I decided it was my turn to run for the hills. Well, more like drive my F150 out to the Buddhist temple along the hills of Capital of Texas Highway. It was time for me to put my phone away (in the console of my truck), drive to the temple, clear my mind, and heal my heart. I have to take care of myself. LOL.
The last text I got from my ex of almost 8.5 days, read: "Please stop texting me.”
Thich Nhat Hanh says: "To be loved means to be recognized as existing."
Let me tell you, seeing that text, then replaying it in my head again and again did not make me feel very recognized or loved. Honestly, it made me feel hurt and a little angry.
Walking around the temple and it's grounds, I made myself step back and look deeper at the hurt and anger caused by this man's words and actions. It became so clear that he was also suffering himself. This realization allowed me to let go of my pain and feel compassion for him. This poor guy hasn't had one good thing happen in almost 8 months. First, his wife of 23 years leaves him for some guy she met at work. But due to a financial situation they are all still living together. He's now in the dining room on a futon while his wife and her new boyfriend are in the master suite. They have a $150K federal tax lien because they forgot to file or pay taxes for a few years. The lien is complicating the sale of their marital home and divorce proceedings in general. His career also appears to have taken a nose dive. His boss cut his hours back to part time and Lyft won't even hire him. Also he implied on several occasions that he suffers from ED, which is not uncommon in men his age and truthfully not even a problem for me as I prefer fingering. Bottom line though, I understood that he deserved my compassion which freed me from my anger.
The setting at the temple is quite peaceful. It was just what I needed. I meditated for quite a while. Then sat and read over and over again another one of Thich's quotes I'd written on sticky note before I left my place: "Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today."
So with a forced smile on my face I left this lovely temple, hopped into my Ford F150 and headed to Rudy's to get some BBQ. I can honestly say I felt full of hope about tomorrow being better than today. And I'm feeling that same hope right now as I write this review. LOL.
This is the second chapter of Big V’s Yelp Diary. You can still find all of Verna’s original entries on Yelp today. Her profile says she had 143 friends, and I wish we could all band together and find her.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Trying to Make My Way in this World
Chapter 2: Boning, Buddhism, and Existence
Chapter 3: Brutal Therapy, Fingerbanging, and Meditative Practice
Chapter 4: Full Moon and a Fresh Pack
Chapter 5: Debt, Divorce, Prozac, & Pumpkin Spice
Chapter 6: The Past is Not Dead; It’s Not Even the Past
Chapter 7: Post-Divorce Spoils, Baby Brother, & Smokes
Chapter 8: I Don’t Honky Tonk Near Often Enough!
From September 2012 to July 2017. Verna (Big V) wrote a personal diary in the form of Yelp reviews. She had many fans who read her reviews and recognized it was something special. Please get in touch with me if you know where Verna is today.
© Big V’s Yelp Reviews, September 2012 to July 2017
I just this and one other- but it's the ned bit "if you know where Verna is today" that just kills me. She was on Facebook? Anyway, now I want to find Verna. I love this diary on yelp- it's such a reaching out! Funny and real. heartbreaking.
Just brilliant writing.