Beware of the Boys

Hey y'all! I've actually done some interesting blog-worthy things lately, so I thought I should get back into the groove. It does seem somewhat self-indulgent to just spew volumes of random stuff that no one really cares about, but I guess I'll console myself with the thought that if you find this boring or stupid, don't read it! :)

As many of you know, I looove to go out dancing. I love the cheesy hip-hop/dance-ish stuff they play on Kube 93. Usher's "Yeah" will get me movin' anytime. As some of you also know, I am married to man who does not dance. This same man also hates crowded places. This, combined with the fact that many of our friends now have kids and/or hate the kind of music I like to dance to, means that I have only been out dancing once in the past 6 years, and that was for my birthday in Las Vegas this year. (Thanks Kristin!).

A few weeks ago, we went to Gameworks to hang out with our friend Jenna on her birthday. Jenna's husband John used to work with TJ at Active Voice. Now neither of them work at AV, but that's a different story for a different day. Some of you might remember Pogi from some of my first blog posts - he belongs to John and Jenna.

Aaaanyway, since most of TJ's friends from Active Voice are younger than us, and more hip, I suggested we go out dancing. Shockingly, they were into it. I have been harboring a curiosity since I moved to Seattle 3 years ago to check out "Bollywood night" at one of the local clubs. It blows my mind that there would be enough of a market for that. Then again, there are probably 10 Indian restaurants within 5 miles of my house, so maybe it shouldn't surprise me. John was really into the idea. Turns out, where he grew up in Toronto, there were a ton of Indian kids so they actually had school dances where they played the bhangra beats. Yowza - talk about a totally different environment than where I went to school!

So we went to the Baltic Room a few weekends ago. Turns out it was a Special Event, with RDB DJs visiting from the UK. And damn, was it hot! They mixed up the bhangra with hip-hop and techno. They even had a live dhol player. The club was full and about 98% brown, but I was surprised that there were a fair number of other Asians besides Indians. The music was unbelievable, and the crowd was pretty low-stress, not the usual meat market scene at clubs I've been to in the past. (I.e. no one tried to grab me, or hit on me in slimy ways, etc.)
Of course, this could be because I was sporting my wedding ring, and Jenna was sporting her actual husband...

Plus, there was definitely a high geek factor there, which always makes me comfortable. There were a lot less women there than men, so I did end up making some new "friends", most of whom started their conversation with "(insert random Hindi or Punjabi sentence here)" and then seeming sort of confused when I looked at them blankly. But we had a great time, and the club has "Bollywood night" twice a month, so I think we'll definitely go back. We might even convince TJ to go sometime since they have an upstairs balcony where you can sit with your drink and have your own personal space!

So yay! I'm happy to find friends to go dancing with and kickass music! If we get adventurous, we'll try out some of the other clubs in the area. The last time I went out dancing in Seattle was in 1998, so I'm not even sure where the good places are anymore... Any suggestions?