the mark of the beast

i feel weak still, i know it wont last long. after a drink or two some music and conversation ill be back to normal. Its killing me, i truly believe that, but what else is there what else is out there other than each other, we want to hang out we want to drink we want to dance. hopefully in this mess of a life we will slowly piece together some something that rings true. something that is truly fufilling and not just winds of change that grab we humans and twist us about this way and that.

my wrists display what i like to call the mark of the beast. stamps you can never read, always in shapes you can never really discern. by the next day they seem to have soaked in to your skin alerting any one who happens to look to what you were up to last night. nothing good. drinking and dancing and debauchary, well hopefully.

last night was my first warehouse party in SLC, just like the ones i remember from houston. small little venue, kind of shitty. bunch of people drinking and dancing to the repetive beats of electronica, the music that is the sound track to anything after 2:00 am. The dj is nestled in a small alcove above the dance floor banging out those sounds that has the small crowd mesmorized. unfortuneatly its not my favorite type of electronica, to techno for my tastes. all i can really muster is a little shuffle while standing near the fringes with my drink taking it all in. i see young girls that look like they should belong at a soriety party insetad of this sleezy joint (they appear to be barley of drinking age but who can really tell any more) dancing with dreaded hair hippie chicks that seemed to have more under arm hair than me.

House on ice

I finally find a parking spot across from the Carls Jr.I mean a spot i can park in, im not exactly versed in the intraicaes of parallel parking yet, just another flaw to work at. I get out of my truck and make sure I have all my supplies for a night out, keys, phone, wallet, and cigs. I take my vodka monster I made earlier in the night, my second, and start the short treck over to the Gallivan center. Its an outdoor ice skating rink in downtown SLC and tonight is special, its there opening night and Danny Dance is doing a live 3 hour set from 7 to 10. i show up around 8:30 with drink in hand. Small fire pits line the out sides of the rink as groups of people stand around and trying to stay warm.

The Great Salt Lake

The water laps gently at the shore disturbing what would otherwise be an unbroken mirror small shapes darken on the horizon and become silhouettes as the sun starts to set.

I can literally count the sun down behind the horizon in this place, second by second the suns movements are perceivable, the brightness dims little by little till only the afterglow remains

we all stand at the edge, we all look to the future and then behind us to the past. Sometimes wishing we could just walk back farther up the shore, sometimes wishing we could walk on water and run out to the horizon. Always standing right on the edge.

W Lounge

"i was not expecting this!" yells Stacey, my oldest and dearest friend, as we put our drinks down on the slightly lopsided table. We are at the W Lounge, a small bar in downtown S.L.C., easily my favorite bar i have encountered here yet. So why the attraction? its got to be the music, a bar completely dedicated to indie/electronica.

Its about 11 and the bar is slowly starting to fill up to capacity as the familiar sounds of House music beat out from the speakers. As soon as i walk in to the bar i begin to move, slowly at first, but with increasing confidence.

Its Saturday night, Stacey just got in this morning from L.A. shes taking care of me this weekend, kind of... See i just lost my job, I've been with this company for the past 7 years and on Wednesday i was fired. Seriously it felt like i was just dumped. A strange heart broken kind of longing mixed with uncertainty and strange and scary excited feeling that seems to invade my whole body at a cellular level. Tonight is about fun, about forgetting this past week and enjoying the moment.

The first drink goes down quickly, probably to quickly cause next thing i know i find my self standing at the bar ordering another. Last call is at about 12:45, I'm confident no matter how fast i drink i can really only work up a healthy buzz before times up, I've been in Vegas the past two years after all. This is probably my fourth time at the W Lounge in the past two weeks. It took me a couple of trips to figure why i liked the place so much. It was the Flat SLC style, my favorite bar in Houston come to life in the mountains. A small bar with a few couches (the one requirement for a lounge in my opinion) an outside smoking area where we can bring our drinks, one bar pushed up against the back wall and a small stage and DJ booth. My kind of place.

I found out about the bar on the Internet just a random SLC nightlife search, it came up a few times and the music and cheap drinks were probably the deciding factor. I quickly began to follow the bar on twitter and through the bars page expand my base of SLC contacts. Its funny how the universe brings us together throws little curve balls our way that makes us feel no matter what, everything is going to be all right. as we were dancing i see the DJ Danny Dance start to walk up to the booth. I recognize him through his twitter page which i recently have started to follow. So i tap him on the shoulder and introduce myself, "hey man you Danny Dance right? I'm following you on twitter were here to see you spin." As we exchange small talk Stacey who has been dancing near us stops and walks up. Next thing i know they are hugging each other like old friends. Apparently Danny Dance (Alex) works for the same company, they meet each other at a west coast conference a few months back.

Its these little moments that i live for, I'm here in a brand new city and a completly selfless visit from my best friend to help me through a rough time has now connected me in to this city, now i know some one who could hopefully become a friend in the future.

as Danny takes the stage we continue to dance, momentarily interrupted by trips to the bar and cigarette breaks on the patio.