My family has suffered these last couple of weeks. My hidden bitch crawled to the surface and wrecked havoc. At one point, it was so bad I called my mom and begged her to take one of my kids. They've endured snappiness, pissiness, and just general bad attitude type shit. I needed a night out. They need me to take a night out. I got dressed up. Well, okay I wore make up and a low cut tank top but it was dressed up for me. Two mommie friends and I headed over to NoDa. Every month they have a gallery crawl. We wandered around the funky neighborhood looking at art and drinking free wine. I am stunned at the cost of original art. I saw a couple of pieces I liked but both were well beyond my meager salary. The free wine wasn't. And as an extra bonus I got to see RenElvis. He was great. I should clarify that I am not an Elvis fan in general. I tend to agree with the accusations that he ripped off a lot of great black singers and song writers. And I just don't care for 50's and early 60s rock as a whole. I like Motown and I like Soul but that's really it. However, I am nuts for the whole Elvis phenomena. And I'm really nuts for the Filipino and Mexican Elvis so it was a real treat for me to see RenElvis.
We discovered soon, however, that our meager money wasn't going to last long in NoDa. Overpriced is an understatement. I paid seven dollars for a glass of Chilean Blanc. I expect bars to be over priced but this was a bit much. We were going to go to one of my favorite bars in another neighborhood. It's crowded on the weekends but it's relaxed, and you can talk and check people out. But one of the mom's decided she needed to go dancing. She had a cute little skirt so we agreed.
Mom2 pointed the minivan downtown (yes minivan), and we drove around trying to figure out where to go. We knew at that point we'd have to pay a cover and we didn't want to pay a cover. Mom1 knew someone who DJed this club, The Alley Cat. He was djing and got us in for free, and got us a free beer. The band sucked. His djing was standard. The crowd was young, half naked, and looking for sex. So not my scene now or ever. The only people close to our age, looked desperate (female) or with young blond things half their age (men). No one was doing much good at picking each other up. There was lots of Jr. High staring across the room. The band sucked. They played a Clash song and I was the only one bouncing. Sigh. Some gross moron tried to bounce like right on top of me, and I had to do some punk moves to get his skinny barely of the teen years ass off me. No I didn't get picked up. Okay one kid, and I do mean kid, said "You don't dance and you have a tattoo on your boob?" I said "Are you staring at my boobs?" and he shrugged and tried to sidled up. Sigh. I used my ice persona sarcasm to make him go away. And I got hit on by the 40 year old bouncer (big bald, likely drives a Harely) who told me in response to my "I'm too old for this club." "No you're not all the young girls here are douche bags."
Basically the experience was totally the same as when I was young. May be why I never went to clubs like this. What's funny is that I am much more confident now then when I was in my 20s. Those girls were so insecure and you could smell it on them. I remember feeling like. For all my insecurities now, it is nothing like it used to be. I realized that for the most part I feel sexy, act sexy, and am pretty confident that I am sexy. I'm healthier, have a better body, and eat better than I ever did in my 20s. And it scares people. I'd watch guys try to catch my eye, and when I looked directly at them they scurried. I don't think that had to do with me looking like some kind of monster. It just scared them that I didn't giggle, or act coy or hug my arms around my body. I like who I am so much more...
And I liked that I got to come home slightly drunk to my husband and my babies. Piper woke up as soon as I walked in and toddled out to me. H woke up soon after and we cuddled while I got Piper back to sleep. Made me glad I'm out of that meat market. But it was fun, and we're already planning our next night out...
3 comments:
Hi Ginger. I love reading your blog. Even when you think you're speaking of the mundane you're not. Two comments: My brother and I went up to Vegas and saw Elvis for his 21st b'day. That must have been '73. The white jumpsuit era. His band was great and it was really fun to hear his voice. But what I remember most was leaving his show, walking into the casino bar, to find ... Wilson Pickett, singing his heart out. A very memorable night. And; be glad you're not in Los Angeles. 7 bucks for a glass of wine? That's virtually free. Three comments, actually: the third is that it is amazing how much more confident one can get as one has a little experience in the world, isn't it? I often look at the (pardon the expression) kids who attend UCR and think to myself: I'm glad those days are over. They're trying so HARD. And I don't mean studying ...
What a great trip John! And a fab. memory.
I know it's cheap compared to someplaces! But when you're broke like me it's a lot! And it's a lot when you think that bottle of that wine likely cost 10 if that. I don't think I'd be hitting any bars in the LA area.
And yes I do know what you mean by trying so hard. I see it on campus everyday and I saw it at the club.
Sounds like Ginger's wild night out was fun, and wild. The image of you and your friends driving around in the minivan deciding where to go party next is so amusing AND sexy!
I can't believe you got to see Renelvis (Charlotte's Renelvis has won world competitions so he's a pretty famous guy).
I can't believe John got to see the real Vegas Elvis! that's great.
and yes, i feel so much better and way cooler now that I'm 31 than back when i was in my twenties.
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