this is not something i regularly do, this returning home after midnight, in fact i'm usually very boring (and financially challenged) so most nights i'm happy to stay at home and i'm usually asleep by now. but tonight i was invited to two events: the TED talks, and a friend's birthday party. the ted talks are about watching some very interesting presenters discuss all manner of things and then talking about what they've said, usually with people i've not met much before. i like that it's some kind of philosophy in action, and i usually end up thinking about things i haven't previously contemplated. the birthday party was at a pub downtown. i had to pay $5 just to get into the pub and then, when the place was closed around midnight, i paid another $5 to get upstairs to a place i found most intruiging, but which i would not be sad if i never visit again.
the downstairs pub had a band playing music that was very familiar to me, old time rock and roll. i'm just amazed that the music of my own youth is so vitally alive, still. i was able to enjoy the band, and converse somewhat with the birthday celebrators. the music upstairs was, i suppose, called "dance" music. the place was absolutely jam packed. i found a place to stand that felt safe and, having lost my birthday friend and all of his friends, stood watching for a while. it reminded me, kinda, of my own youth. i did sometimes visit bars, discos, and it was very interesting to just stand and observe the people dancing. or texting, which happens waaaayyyyy more often than it did when i was a kid. these were very younger than me but, interestingly i didn't feel terribly out of place. i wasn't really my thing, but nobody treated me like i had no right to be there, or that i was some kind of freak, or anything like that. i don't know who the people were. there was really no opportunity to have any sort of conversation, it was very loud. there was a lot of dry ice and green neon light that shone on people on the dance floor.
i wondered how these people could afford this. for me, it was something special, a friend's birthday. but i imagine that for them, it's just another saturday night. i remember when, for me, it was just another saturday night. and then aids arrived on the scene and we all started behaving a little more carefully. i wondered about how those young folk, with hormones raging, and in their seductive clothing, are dealing with that particular reality.
luckily i left in time to catch the last bus home. as i arrived at the bus stop, and attempted to check the clock in the passport office so i could figure out whether i'd missed the last bus, i joined in a conversation that two young fellows were having about the photos on display. who were those people? one young man was about to be shipped off to war, or so it appeared. what did the photographer capture? what were he and his family thinking, and feeling?
i'm glad to live in this ever changing town. i'm glad for opportunities to wander outside my regular routine. i'm going to sleep now.
