Amy and I don’t often get invited for dinner. I thought it was cause of my food safety geekness, but I now realize it could just be me.  On Tuesday I ended the meal at some friends’ house by breaking out my best Geddy Lee falsetto and recounting the Rush classic, Closer to the Heart.

It was part of our terrible bands nostalgia. Journey was at the top of my list (and they’re even back with a new Steve Perry sounding singer they found on youtube). I saw Journey once, opening for the Rolling Stones in Buffalo in 1981. They were terrible. But they made the Stones look even better when they finally took the stage. Ever since, I refer to the practice of surrounding oneself with dumbasses as the Journey effect – it makes you look better without trying.

I’ve also since learned there are a lot of hardcore Journey fans out there.

As I told Misti Crane of the Columbus Dispatch back in July, I try not to be a food safety jerk around other people. But, sure enough, the first e-mail Wednesday morning was from our dinner hosts, asking if our stomachs were stable.

Dinner was great. And I’ll stick to my 68-72 Stones.