Sunday, January 6, 2008

Year End Wrap-Up

I think that sometime this morning, after having a chocolate chip pancake, two sausage patties, and a cup of coffee, I finally got over my holiday hang-over. Thursday morning I was still bleary from one last evening of indulgence after helping the Drunk and Horny crew clear out of their ill-fated occupation of The Gingerbread House, and the weekend's rain and power loss mostly inspired me to stay home and huddle in front of the TV.

Actually, I'm a little disappointed in myself when I look back over the holiday festivities; I had a whole calendar of events that I wanted to check out, and yet most of my party time was spent inside private residences. I did make it out to French Kiss on the Sunday before Christmas, though it was obviously an off-night, and also found myself at The Transfer for part of DJ Kidd Sysko's set at Big Top, though it was also not quite what I had mind for the night. Aside from a social call at Lucky Pierre this past Friday those were the only club events I made it to over the full thirteen days I had off. There was also helping out with the Comfort and Joy Solstice and Afterglow parties, and of course Drunk and Horny New Year's Eve, but I can't really say that I partied at any of those events. Instead, the boyfriend and I hosted an orphan's Christmas at our place, enjoyed hanging out with Jeff and Gary and other members of the DnH crew after clearing out the Gingerbread House, and had quite a nice early morning of tuning our third-eyes when we got back from the impromptu NYE party that the guys generously held when their original plans fell through. This isn't to say that I didn't engage in some serious indulgence over the holidays, and, in fact, I let loose so much that some New Year's resolutions were made as a result.

Looking back over the year it seems that this was the year in which the party scene picked up a little energy, even though the continuing economic conditions of the city are making it increasingly difficult to re-capture the freewheeling party lifestyle that ruled back in the glorious pre-dot-com days. Several new parties, like Lucky Pierre and Frisco Disco, demonstrated that there is still an underground energy that people respond to, and Honey Sound System almost single-handedly revived the otherwise moribund gay dance scene. At the same time, there were some notable losses, like the demise of the How Weird Street Faire and the cancellation of Halloween in the Castro, and there are continuing issues around mixed use spaces in SoMa and the ability of the Entertainment Commission to keep our nightlife alive in the face of encroaching condominium development.

Even with the party scene picking up a bit, though, there remains the question of whether there are really enough people going out to support it. On many occasions I have gone out to an event to find it almost completely empty, leading one to wonder if we have enough of a party population to support more than a few club nights. Under these circumstances it's hard to muster much excitement for going out, since it's often a case of the same people, the same music, the same scene week after week, and there's nothing so discouraging as spending our hard-earned dollars for taxi rides, cover charges, and overpriced drinks (and all the bars seem to have raised their prices as of January 1) only to realize that the night we gambled on has turned out to be a fizzle.

Looking into the New Year I realize that these are the weeks of slack, the times when everybody hunkers down a bit and gathers their world around them rather than going out into it. My hope for this new year is that we will see a little more excitement return to our scene, and that I will feel a bit more anticipation for the approach of the weekend. I hope that reading this blog will help each of you find an adventure of your own, and I hope that the boyfriend and I will be able to show you a good time at Fuck Shit, Let's Dance. And finally, sometime this week let's all find a moment to raise a glass and say "So long, George Bush, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

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