This is not a drill … this actually happened.
I got to show Moe (technically Mo) the animation for our Talk Nerdy To Me™ series.
I DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS A REAL PERSON AND IT WAS BASED ON A REAL PLACE.
JEFF WAITED (ALMOST) FOUR YEARS, ONE PANDEMIC, AND A MURDER LATER TO TELL ME THIS!!! YOU DO NOT HOLD OUT ON ANYTHING SIMPSONS RELATED.
That should have been in our wedding vows.
Noted for the next ceremony.
Ceremony, not husband. ::wink wink::
Maestro ….
I, like the majority of “adjacent to older, older millennials” grew up in the hay day of the Simpsons.
(I even watched it when it was on the Tracey Ullman show.)
The Simpsons was/is life.
I still quote it – and frequently use their gifs.
<tangent> Another awesome autistic perk is, I was born with a form of echolalia. I literally hear the tones and voices from characters, songs … I don’t just quote Homer Simpson, I can hear him as I quote it.
It doesn’t mean my voice sounds like him, I’m not sure what the output is for people with this condition but I absolutely BUTCHER accents, but still try every time!!! </tangent>
My idea of heaven is walking into a room in the key of Troy McClure …
You may remember me from this most recent past life, or the very many before that.
This past (not passed) Saturday, Jeff and I went adventuring in Manhattan Beach.
Our adventuring consists of coming up with a goal for going to a place and if we make it there – great. If we don’t, it’s only because we found something more interesting along the way.
What I did not know is that Saturday was the 6 Man Volleyball Tournament.
The very very famous 6 Man Volleyball Tournament.
Spoiler alert: There were more than six men … a few thousands more.
I expected a quiet beach vibe kinda day, and instead got thousands of half naked, very tall, and various stages of drunk people … which would normally be an okay thing from a people watching perspective, but all of the restaurants were at capacity forcing said half naked drunk people out broiling on high in the hot sun.
The whole thing reeked of bad news bears, and with Jeff’s help, I got to a very calming and sensory soothing place a few blocks up from the beach.
“That felt like war for my senses,” I admitted in the darkly lit, sparsely populated room.
I thanked him for his help and also confirmed his boundaries. He’s a beach guy and enjoys walking on it. I typically do too, but not with that many people, AND MARKETING KIOSKS!! There were SO MANY MARKETING DISPLAYS!!!
Everything was a shiny thing, and while I was nearing a meltdown, I didn’t want him to miss out on what his needs were too.
“This can’t be one sided,” I said. “I appreciate the help, but I can also just seek solace solo, I don’t want you to grow resentful of me not masking as much anymore. The problem with ‘unmasking’ is you don’t realize HOW MUCH of your life you’ve been doing it, so it’s not like I have a manual for this either – I’m only following what feels good. You just need to make sure you’re feeling good too.”
<tangent> Masking (or camouflaging) is often used to describe the artificial performance of social behaviors that are seen as more socially acceptable in a neurotypical society. I’m not normal, I’m neurodivergent. I’m not wired to understand societal normals (the good news is I’m also not shy at creating my own).
One of the ways I mask, is by smiling in pictures. Unless I am REALLY happy, I’ll smile, but anything else feels forced. Why show my teeth?! What am I about to eat you?! It’s never felt normal, and now I have made a promise to myself to not do it. Another way I mask, is by not immediately leaving crowds when I find myself in them. I very very very strongly dislike crowds. I see shapes and hear tones around people, from a sensory perspective ALONE it is EXTREMELY overwhelming for me, let alone trying to navigate through said tones and shapes. </tangent>
We then set a boundary as a couple to honor and listen to each other as we both navigate through this manual-less life changing diagnosis.
Not in the mood to head back home, but in the mood to head anywhere else but Manhattan Beach, we drove up the road and Jeff recalled a story his friends told him a few years back.
“The real Moe’s tavern is right around here somewhere.”
WHAT?! I SHOUTED. It’s a REAL PLACE?! AND YOU DIDN’T SHARE THIS WITH ME UNTIL NOW?!
Being aware of his senses, I lowered my tone and google mapped said location.
Moe’s Tavern is based on Mo’s Place in Play Del Rey.
A destination that I was now 225 feet away from.
“I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” I admitted.
“Let the adventures continue!!” he said before closing the car door.
We walked inside the very unassuming dive bar (with excellent beach adjacent placement). A server came by, named Alex, as I gushed (confirming for my auditory sense that yes, this was in fact the real Moe’s tavern).
“This is the real Moe’s tavern,” she said confirming in an auditory capacity.
The next part was unexpected confirmation, “and Mo will be here within the hour.”
I turned to Jeff and said, “this is like the time I met Betsey Johnson. I have no idea what will come out of my mouth. I may laugh, I may cry, I may not be able to speak … both are HUGE parts of my childhood, and to CASUALLY meet them both on RANDOM adventures is just … incredible.”
“As are you,” Jeff said.
Catching the side of cheese, I reinforced my not knowing of what emotion will come out. “I’m really not kidding. I also discovered that it’s an autistic thing. I can’t stress this enough, I am BETSEY JOHNSON LEVEL EXCITED.”
We ordered drinks as Jeff went to the restroom.
As he came back to the table, he said “he’s here.”
“How do you know it’s Mo?” I said.
“You won’t miss him,” he said laughing.
Taking this as no laughing matter myself, I confided in him that I wasn’t ready to meet him yet.
“Help me, I need a minute from visual confirmation to making sure I can actually speak. There is a world I might be speechless.”
Super fandom side effect.
It’s Moe! Technically Mo!!!!
WHO UP UNTIL AN HOUR AGO I THOUGHT ONLY EXISTED IN TWO DIMENSIONAL FORM!!?!
10 minutes or so after his arrival, and appropriate enough time for me to Little-Mermaid-Ariel myself back to possessing a voice that could be “part of Mo’s world,” … er technically “place.”
“Mo, I’d like to introduce you to two special people,” our server Alex said.
I have no idea if I said my name, but what I did say was how INCREDIBLE it is to meet someone IRL who inspired such an iconic show like the Simpsons.
“I DIDN’T KNOW YOU EXISTED!?” I blurted out.
“Yes, I am real, and Matt Groening sold me one of those big satellite dishes back in the day.”
My mouth now officially a fly catcher, I remained captivated.
“I just wanted to start a neighborhood bar where everyone can gather. Then Matt came in, and then Matt Stone and Trey Parker came in years later. I helped them with their attorney, I gave them Matt’s information.”
This moment is everything I hoped for, I thought but didn’t say. It was like time slowed down. I was breathing every bead of sweat. Mostly on me, as it was a rather warm day, but also on him.
Top five for the coolest moment of my life.
What do you do, he asked.
“I am EXACTLY your demographic. I run the site TalkNerdyToMe.com.”
“I don’t know much about computers, but sounds good.”
I then snapped myself back TO WHO I AM, and asked if I could show him something.
“Of course,” he said, “you guys are great. I hope more of you come in more often.”
I pulled up the animated sizzle for Talk Nerdy To Me™ series.
(Well, it was originally intended to just be a YouTube video intro … but it came out SO WELL I was like uhhhh … this isn’t “just” a Youtube video intro.)
I pressed play as I took (what felt like a FOREVER moment) in processing what was happening.
I am in the house of Mo, where Matt Groening, Matt Stone, and Trey Parker all received their inspiration to go on and do epic things.
I was in a dive bar filled with the dreams of greats … sharing my great dream.
This was a very meta moment to have in front of the real Moe Szyslak.
Mo said he “doesn’t know anything about the internet” but appreciated our support and excitement.
I explained I have a condition called synesthesia, and how great it feels to now know what it is and to be able to intentionally create from said space.
Still confused at how little marketing has been put into OBVIOUSLY such a special place, I took my opportunity and asked why there wasn’t more folk lore around the property, and why he doesn’t lean into “owning” that this is the REAL MOE’S TAVERN.
In a very dry manner, he turned, and shot me a look saying “I don’t have to, because I am the real Mo.”
I then asked for a photo, to which he happily obliged. His face was more smiley than straight, and I actually smiled because in this moment I was really really happy.
Really really happy … and +1 for BEING ABLE TO SPEAK!!
Before leaving, I made sure to stop off at the bar to have a beer.
Considering we’re now new friends, prank calling (very respectfully) seemed off the table.
All in all, the food, company and pricing at Mo’s is EXCELLENT.
A beer still runs you about $6, and their French Dip was one of the best I’ve ever had.
Highly highly recommend checking this out.
While I found his IRL character friendlier then some of his episodes on screen Mo is still Moe.
And as a forever fan girl, I wouldn’t have it any other way. <3
GO MEET MO!!!
Mo’s Place: 203 Culver Blvd, Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
I’d say “tell him I sent you, but I’ll most likely be there myself.”
Oh and PS … as someone who does know the internet, I noticed you didn’t have the domain “RealMoesTavern.com” so I made sure to buy it. I’ll be happy to transfer it over for some more stories, a t-shirt, or just transfer it over to you in general because that’s a nice thing to do. <3
