The BoormanBlog

So I’m beginning to thing I’m hitting the clubs a bit too much. How do I know? It started before I even got there lat night (02/23). The parking lot attendant knew where I like to park (in the lower level of the lot, not the upper lot where you pay), and he pointed to a space I could fit in. Wow! Pretty thoughtful of him, I’d say.

So I make my way into the club I like to frequent. I get there early to avoid the cover (that’s one more Bud Light for Chris!) I get my beer and wait for the crowd to arrive, it’s a slow Friday night, but eventually people start turning out, and the place is jumping. Hey! You can’t keep us New Englanders inside all winter! The bartender who’s usually there on Friday & Saturday nights even introduced me to the owner, who put me on the list to get in free at their event next Friday! How cool is that? Damn cool. I know where I’ll be next Friday night.

So after one or two beers, I’m ready to hit the floor. I made way over to a group of guys and together we owned the floor for a few minutes. Of course, I much prefer dancing with women, but hey, it was nice for the fellas to take over the dance floor for awhile. Women do it all the time while the guys just stand on the sidelines and gawk! Tonight it’s our turn Let the woman stand on the sidelines and, well, giggle and point is pretty much what they did :/
And speaking of women, one lady came up and started dancing with me for about 10 seconds, apparently at the goading of her ladyfriends/boyfriend/whatever. Ah, but lady, don’t you know that death be not proud and neither is lonlieness A dance is a dance. It still counts. The night (and therefore the weekend) is already a success. After my 10 seconds were up, she went giggling back to her cohorts.

But a funny thing happened on the way to last call She came back and we danced some more. She even gave me some dancing lessons! “Don’t bounce so much”, she said. “Always let the girl lead”. Soon, she had me moving across the floor, as elegant as Jerry Rice We held each other’s hands, moved apart and back together, backward, forward, sideways. Even twirled her around a few times. It was wonderful. I even danced with a few of her friends for a bit.

When the evening was over, she gave me a peck on the cheek and told me she loved me. I told her the same.

So, Peggy*, if you’re out there. Thank you for the dance lessons. Hope we meet again on the floor soon!

* Not her real name, obviously. I’m continuing to use women’s names that are found in Bob Dylan songs. In this case “Pretty Peggy-O”, from his first, self titled album, released in 1962. Available at Amazon.com now!

Those who know me know that I used to hate the music of the Britney’s and Justin’s of the world. Today, I don’t even pay attention to it. Some coping mechanism within me has learned to tune it out. But while I despise this type of crap music, Britney is still a human being who should be treated with respect and dignity. There is something particularly sickening about the way the media is relishing every moment of the very public meltdown this young woman is having.

Unfortunately, the law of supply and demand is at work here. The media choose to report and sensationalize this story only because they know the American public will buy it. I could go into a long tirade about how America has become the equivalent of the latter Roman empire when it comes to moral degradation, but what good would it do?

Some people just love celebrities. They build singers and actors and politicians up only to take joy in tearing them down. Instead of improving themselves, the simply take others down to their level. I guess it is simpler, isn’t it?

Being the contrarian that I am, this is liable to stir me into a backlash against the backlash (frontlash?) It’s not unthinkable that those rejoicing in Britney’s meltdown are going reach critical mass, causing me to snap into rooting for the girl. Keep it up America, I’ll be hoping for a good old fashioned comeback for Ms. Spears.
I can only imagine what Britney’s family thinks of all this. My prayers are with them.

So after last Friday night, I figured Saturday night (02/17) had to have a bigger crowd down at the club. Thankfully, more people came out that night, so I wasn’t out on the dance floor by myself! Unfortunately, all of the women were interested in their boyfriends, or some of the better dancing men in the club.

I stayed in the game until the lights went on. But alas, as Billy Idol sang, I was only dancing with myself that night.

So I think I’m all caught up now on my clubbing experiences. Just in time! Tomorrow is Friday night. Maybe I’ll see Johanna. Here’s hoping.

For those of us here on the East Coast, Valentines Day brought us about 4 inches of snow; the most snow we’ve had all winter. For some reason, just about all of Hartford was in a “hunker down” mentality two days later. It may have been the bitter cold, or maybe people were tired from working all week. At any rate, it was Friday night (02/16) and I made my way down to my usual place. The club was having a special post Valentines Day event that night, so I got my Bud Light and waited for the crowd to arrive.

And waited

And waited

And waited

I guess this was one of those days where all the planets line up to cast a big harsh on your mellow. The crowd was even thinner than usual. The dance floor was empty for all but 20 minutes of the evening. Took my own advice though, and stayed in the game. I’m a loyal customer to that place, so I stayed and kept on ordering Bud Lights (and a Red Bull for desert at last call). I felt bad for the promoters. I felt bad for the club.

So I didn’t get to dance with anyone that night. Johanna wasn’t there :(. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s life. We’ll try again on Saturday night.

So I’m looking over my posts, and I see that I never talked about clubbing two weeks ago Friday (02/09). Well, it was a Friday night like any other. I was down at my usual haunt, with my usual Bud Light in my hand.

And in she walked. My dancing partner I had met twice before. Johanna*
I played it cool at first, not wanting to approach to soon so she wouldn’t think I was the obsessive type. So I just kept an eye on her and her friend for awhile, hoping they wouldn’t change their minds and leave right after coming in (wonder why people do that?). They stuck around for awhile and ordered some drinks, so I figured they were there to stay. I walked over and said hello. She was happy to see me. We talked for awhile. I asked about her week. She asked about mine. I had seen her friend around the club before, so I asked them how they knew each other (they work together).

After a few minutes of talk, we made our way out to the dance floor. The three of us danced together for awhile. You know how it is. Dancing in a circle, everyone facing inward. After awhile, Johanna said that she and her friend were heading out to a different club. I asked if she’d be back next weekend. She said she doesn’t get out much, which was too bad. I told her that when she does get back to the club, I’ll be there. We said our goodbyes and I made my way back out to the dance floor. Johanna and her friend must have seen the disappointment on my face when they told me they were leaving, because within seconds, there they were again, dancing next to me. I asked what happened. They said they changed their minds So we continued to dance the night away. Eventually, Johana got tired, so I danced with her friend for awhile.

As the lights came up, I pulled Johanna back out on the floor for the last dance. As we were saying our goodbyes for the second time that night, Johanna mentioned that she always looks forward to seeing me when she comes out to the club. I told her the same.

The lights were up full blast now, 1:45AM and the three of us walked out into the frigid night. As we went our separate ways, Johanna wished me a safe drive home.

It’s unfortunate that, because we’re on two different paths, this can’t work out. But this doesn’t have to be about forever. Maybe this is about enjoying each other’s company, nothing more. Like the great musician Ray Mason said: “I want to be a holiday. Something you look forward to.”

So every time I go to the club now, I think to myself “Maybe Johanna will be there tonight”, and the nights that I do, I’ll know that Johanna was thinking “I’m going to see Chris tonight”!

*Not her real name. For future reference, I will using fake names for the women I meet to protect the guilty. Women’s names that are found in Dylan songs will be used. If, in the unlikely event that I run out of female names that appear in Dylan songs, female names that appear in Beatles songs will be used. This may occur with or without prior notice.

It seems that there are a lot of pretenders to the throne out there. The charlatans are exploiting a sad situation for their own benefit. I didn’t want to come forward publicly about this, but it appears the unscrupulous, greedy cons have forced me into it.

Yes. The rumors are true. I am the father of Anna Nicole’s baby.

I’m watching the debut of Fox News political parody show “The Half Hour News Hour”. It’s supposed to be a conservative version of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”. While I’m happy such a show exists to provide more fair and balanced saitre, “Half Hour” comes off as sophmoric. The two newscasters are wooden, and the jokes are too obvious. The unnecessary laugh track just seemed forced.
Here’s hoping the show gets better…and funnier.

…but you can’t stay here. I hadn’t posted in awhile, so I wanted to bring everyone up to speed. I’ll talk about last Saturday night (02/10) first. I decided to try another club in Hartford that I go to occasionally.

First, there’s a cover. Most of it going to the crappy cover band playing the same Korn, Limp Bizkit and Staind covers that last week’s band played. Am I getting old, or does today’s music just suck? None of it does anything for me. The pale imitator cover bands? Even less so.

So beyond the cover charge (two less beers for Chris ) was the crowd. A club can definitely be a victim of its own success, and this one appeared to be no exception. A large crowd showed up, and the bouncers let them all in. The dance floor, the bars, even the line for the bathroom was so crowded that noone could effectively move, let alone dance. Seemed to put a damper on everyone’s spirit.

Long story short, I danced with maybe 2 women for about 10 seconds. Then they got bored of me, or else went back to their friends.

And two more fights at the club! At least one brawl consisted of two women going at it (!) Remember when men used to fight?

The real annoying part was the when the club closed and people were trying to make their way out. First, the bouncers were blocking the bathrooms. What’s up with that? I can’t take a leak before I leave? What mischief do you think I’m going to commit?

Even better were the bouncers shouting at us to keep moving, even when we were packed like sardines making our way to the exits. It was just like the footage you saw at the Rhode Island nightclub fire back in 2003. So many people trying to get through the door that noone had room to breathe. But I guess that just wasn’t good enough for the bouncers. Telling us to get out. Hey buddy. The lights are on. The bar is closed. It’s late. Of course we’re going to leave. Belive me, we WANT to leave, if only to get away from you. Trying to antagonize someone who’s probably sobering up and getting pretty cranky at 1:45AM is just silly. Just give it time. Ever read Sun Tsu? (yes, Thor, that’s a rhetorical question). The best way to win is not to fight.

Has it been nearly a week since I posted? Man this week was busy. Bunch of small things I’ll get to later.

First, thanks to all those who commented. I promise I’ll write you guys back.

Next, a post I should have included last weekend, but life and my rant from last Saturday got in the way.

You’ve read here that my motto is “stay in the game”. That’s especially true when it comes to the fairer gender. Last Friday (02/02) I went to a different club than my ususal place. Hadn’t been there in a few months. I was pleasantly surprized that I didn’t have to pay a cover like usual. That’s an exta beer for Chris!

Unfortunately, we had our first real snow of the the season that night. Although it was mostly over by the time “club time” started, there place was pretty dead when I got there. I spent most of the night dancing with a few groups. You know how it is. People don’t pair off, they sort of form a small circle, facing inward and dance together. Some nice enough people, but most of the women were content to dance with each other, or whichever guy what brung them.

That’s how it went until the last half hour or so, when a lovely lady started with me to a techno remake of Alice Cooper’s “Poison”, Her friend snapped a picture of us. Email me the link if you find me on webshots!

As usual, after about a minute or two, she got bored with me and she was on her way. But the night wasn’t over. A few minutes later, another woman started dancing to the last song of the evening.

If I had left early, feeling sorry for myself, thinking “nothing’s going to happen tonight”, I would have missed out on both of those opportunities. I’m so glad I didn’t. That almost made up for the crappy Saturday night I would have (see my last post).

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, guys. Yes, it can be tough when you’re single. Stay in the game.

…and by “special”, I mean “mentally retarded”. Thanks to some complete morons, we had not one, but TWO fights at the club tonight. The club had to close early and I ended up not dancing with anyone. Thank you. Thank you very, very much, you utter morons. Idiots. Good thing my name is on this or I’d really let loose with some choice words.

People have crossed me in clubs before, but take it from me; you have to be the better person and move on. You have to swallow a LOT of pride to do it. Believe me, I know. You want to defend your honor. You want to show the other person and everyone around you that you WON’T be pushed around by anyone. Sometimes, though, you need to see the bigger picture. Just forget about the imbecile that upset you and get on with having fun. The alternative is usually what we had tonight, everyone looses, even those that didn’t have a stake in your beef with the other person.

I work hard, and I get exactly 2 nights off per week to have fun, and I’d like to make the most of them, thank you very much. Thanks for ruining a good chunk of my weekend. Do the world a favor next weekend and just stay home.