A New Decade

So last night, on New Year's Eve, Marcus and I ate an early dinner with family and friends in the city. Then Marcus and I headed back home and got ready for our little outing to the dance club (I must admit I looked pretty good, too). We went to Pacha, a superclub of sorts on the West Side. In classic cheesy style, we had VIP seating reserved, but in all seriousness, it was for practical reasons. I figured we then would have guaranteed seats to call our own. I remembered how it was going out to clubs on New Year's, and at this point in my life (and with my bum knees), there was no way we could be crammed in a corner standing up all night! We were treated ever so well by all staff who promptly escorted us to our couch and table, and got us started with some Kettle One with the appropriate accouterments! The usual suspects were present: college age couples, singles, occasional peeps our age, drunks, and scantily dressed gogo dancer types on podiums---and all that good stuff. Marcus was horrified by how many men were there in comparison to women. Early in the night a youngster approached me and asked if I either had some Ecstasy, or wanted to buy some. I apologized I couldn't help him, I wish I could...ha ha. Anyway, we got some good dancing in, and headed off to the main dance floor where some tribal techno was pumping. My ass was grabbed and caressed on several occasions, but not just by my husband...By the end of our night we were amongst young, drunk, sloppy girls, many of which were disturbingly barefoot and slipping all over the dance floor. A completely drunk girl practically fell all over our table and knocked over some glasses, and we just laughed...I also graciously took photos of twenty-something girls who asked me to...I remember how it felt to get all decked out in crazy outfits and want to capture them on film. At around 3:45AM, we headed out, and got a burger before we left. We had a lot of fun! I was game for more, but Marcus shot me down...ha ha. Although I must say if this is a representation of mega clubs of today, then they are really vanilla compared to what I am used to. My friends Lauren and Terry-a can attest to the good ol' days of our beloved Limelight. We were frequent flyers at that institution back when Peter Gatien ruled the New York club scene, and it was quite normal, if not expected to socialize and dance among heavy drug users, club kids, and people engaging in inappropriate actions... with excellent music and ambiance. Although I didn't know that there was anything wrong with this (and there isn't!), it was all I knew since I had been clubbing there since I was a mere 16 years old. Then in college and beyond I moved on to (partially because the Limelight was shut down) small, seedy hip hop joints, which were heavenly! And even these places barely exist right now in Manhattan. So don't get me wrong, I may be 34 years old, but I still love to go out till the wee hours in the night and I still love to dance, preferably to hip hop. So if that means that it's a little more cleaned up than it should be, then be it. I find that I'm one of the few of my friends that still finds joy in going out to clubs, but it's fun, and there's no shame in that---wanting to have a good time, but knowing that I'm not a 20 year old girl...thank God, I know better now, in so many ways. And it was fun to see all these youngsters doing their thing, and just having a good time remembering how it was to be those youngsters out and about and to be me now---34 years old, with my husband, having an excellent time with blaring music and people everywhere!