Okay...so...the story begins at Max's, the place to be in New York City. [Despite his previous reluctance, Curt is in story time mode. He enjoys story time mode even if truly coherent stories are not his strong point.] I was there with the twins and Polly Small was playing and I don't know how I even remember that, 'cause I was in pretty bad shape, like on the floor. And I was in pretty bad shape as a generally rule--the Rats had broken up and I was just kinda washed up and desperate to put my life back together without really knowing how. And then there's some British guy out of nowhere being all "Brian Slade is here to meet you" and I didn't know who the fuck Brian Slade was, but I remember shaking his hand and then I passed out.

[Curt pauses to take a large gulp of beer.]

So, you know, things got off to a great start.