Starr in the City: Weekend in Review
After God, my mamma and life itself the thing I think I love most is a beautiful man. Over Thanksgiving weekend I was thankful to see many. Again I must say I love New York. Weekend highlights:
Wednesday: My late dinner at the Pink Tea Cup and sharing it with two friends was great. I am thankful for their friendship, love and understanding.
Thursday: I had Thanksgiving dinner with one of my friend’s family. His mother laid out a spread that reminded me of home and his entire family was very welcoming. I didn’t feel embarrassed about the two plates I had and the food I left with. Thursday night I went to the new Krash in Manhattan. The venue has cool décor, lots of space and good club lighting. I was happy to run into several New Yorkers I know as well as a fraternity brother from DC. The music was pretty hot and so were the men. By the end of the night I mustered up enough courage to say hello to this short brown skin guy who had my attention from the moment he walked in. I typically never meet anyone in a club, just not the best venue for me to meet and greet, and I rarely approach anyone. When it comes to matters such as this I am actually quite shy. Who wants to deal with rejection, awkward moments and the like? Not me. Anyway, I said hello to him and he gave me a What’s up and head nod. That was the extent of that conversation. Nevertheless, I tried. I am thankful for good food and warm reception from my friends’ family for Thanksgiving dinner. I am thankful for the dj at Krash who kept me smiling and dancing. I am thankful for the courage to step outside my box and say hello.
Friday: I got sweaty in the grown folks section of the Playground. The Playground was a black gay club in NYC that had been a hot spot for the past two years. Friday was its last night. The place was packed and while tons of young folks and hip hop heads crowded in the two main dance rooms I got my groove on in the small room where they were playing house music. I believe that grown black gay men have an affinity for house music. Take that how you want to. I am thankful for the energy and excitement of house music as well as the stories it tells through vessels called dancers. 11.27 is also my sisters’ birthday. For her I am thankful and blessed.
Saturday: I rested my body and sat in the floor exchanging quirky tales and philosophies on all sorts of things with my two weekend hosts. I am thankful for Muffin and Foxxy.
Sunday: I was scheduled to leave the City and head back to the District during the early afternoon. But like most things in life, schedules are subject to change. I changed my plans and decided to bar hop on Christopher Street. I had a few cocktails and a lot of fun chatting it up with my friend, his friends and some strangers. After a few rounds and laps around Christopher I headed to Escualitas to catch the Harmonica Sunbeam show. Harmonica is a hilarious hostess with good timing and can go toe-to-toe with just about any comic I’ve seen on television. She introduced the strippers one-by-one and they came out and did their thing with their things. I was a little upset when the guy who won the contest was not my favorite. It was another reminder that sometimes the best man is not always the man one who wins. I danced a little, dropped off a few bills in some g-strings and watched the friend I had gone there with meet a very hot guy and exchange info.
Although I have learned to go to clubs and bars with no expectations of meeting someone to spend the rest of my life with, or even the rest of the night with for that matter, the thought still comes to mind every now and then. The idea that I’ll be standing alone or dancing and some handsome man will come up to me and sweep me off my feet is still a fantasy for me. I suppose that is the hopeless romantic in me, a believer that it could happen to me. I try to fight it though when I’m out so I’m not disappointed at the end of the night when that fantasy didn’t become a reality.
Her show also featured a presentation by La Santa Luz Dance Company. They are doing a special performance benefiting Latino Youth in Action, a program of Hispanic AIDS Forum on Dec. 1st, World AIDS Day at Club Deep, 16 West 22nd Street, New York, NY at 8:30pm. If I were still in New York I would definitely check it out. The dancers and choreography are great.
Did I mention the hottest guy at Escualitas was an employee? And no he wasn’t one of the strippers. I noticed him when I first walked in and several times during the night I saw his shadow moving about the club. At the end of the night as I was leaving I got another shot of courage from somewhere and started a conversation with him. I wanted to melt but I held it together. I told him good night and walked away after our short exchange because I couldn’t really tell if he were interested or not. Sometimes I am a little clueless. As I walked away I said to myself, “you can’t be scared all your life.”
That’s when I made my move. I went to the car, got an ink pen and wrote my name and number on a dollar bill. I walked back up to the guy who was now standing outside the club and before I could say anything he started talking to me again. Needing to hurry back to the car where my friend was now waiting I extended the dollar bill to him. He took it and noticed the writing. I told him that time is like money, something not to be wasted and it wouldn’t be a waste of his time if he called me. He smiled. I smiled. The line was corny but it was a good one. He asked me if I would be back on Thursday. I wanted to tell him yes but I knew the answer was no and told him as such. I told him I had to get back to DC but it was a pleasure to meet him and I hoped he’d be in touch. Giving him that dollar is just like playing the lotto with it. I may hit the jackpot if he calls OR it was just fun to play.
I am thankful for Sunday.
Today is Monday and I’ve made it home safely to DC. I had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend.
Wednesday: My late dinner at the Pink Tea Cup and sharing it with two friends was great. I am thankful for their friendship, love and understanding.
Thursday: I had Thanksgiving dinner with one of my friend’s family. His mother laid out a spread that reminded me of home and his entire family was very welcoming. I didn’t feel embarrassed about the two plates I had and the food I left with. Thursday night I went to the new Krash in Manhattan. The venue has cool décor, lots of space and good club lighting. I was happy to run into several New Yorkers I know as well as a fraternity brother from DC. The music was pretty hot and so were the men. By the end of the night I mustered up enough courage to say hello to this short brown skin guy who had my attention from the moment he walked in. I typically never meet anyone in a club, just not the best venue for me to meet and greet, and I rarely approach anyone. When it comes to matters such as this I am actually quite shy. Who wants to deal with rejection, awkward moments and the like? Not me. Anyway, I said hello to him and he gave me a What’s up and head nod. That was the extent of that conversation. Nevertheless, I tried. I am thankful for good food and warm reception from my friends’ family for Thanksgiving dinner. I am thankful for the dj at Krash who kept me smiling and dancing. I am thankful for the courage to step outside my box and say hello.
Friday: I got sweaty in the grown folks section of the Playground. The Playground was a black gay club in NYC that had been a hot spot for the past two years. Friday was its last night. The place was packed and while tons of young folks and hip hop heads crowded in the two main dance rooms I got my groove on in the small room where they were playing house music. I believe that grown black gay men have an affinity for house music. Take that how you want to. I am thankful for the energy and excitement of house music as well as the stories it tells through vessels called dancers. 11.27 is also my sisters’ birthday. For her I am thankful and blessed.
Saturday: I rested my body and sat in the floor exchanging quirky tales and philosophies on all sorts of things with my two weekend hosts. I am thankful for Muffin and Foxxy.
Sunday: I was scheduled to leave the City and head back to the District during the early afternoon. But like most things in life, schedules are subject to change. I changed my plans and decided to bar hop on Christopher Street. I had a few cocktails and a lot of fun chatting it up with my friend, his friends and some strangers. After a few rounds and laps around Christopher I headed to Escualitas to catch the Harmonica Sunbeam show. Harmonica is a hilarious hostess with good timing and can go toe-to-toe with just about any comic I’ve seen on television. She introduced the strippers one-by-one and they came out and did their thing with their things. I was a little upset when the guy who won the contest was not my favorite. It was another reminder that sometimes the best man is not always the man one who wins. I danced a little, dropped off a few bills in some g-strings and watched the friend I had gone there with meet a very hot guy and exchange info.
Although I have learned to go to clubs and bars with no expectations of meeting someone to spend the rest of my life with, or even the rest of the night with for that matter, the thought still comes to mind every now and then. The idea that I’ll be standing alone or dancing and some handsome man will come up to me and sweep me off my feet is still a fantasy for me. I suppose that is the hopeless romantic in me, a believer that it could happen to me. I try to fight it though when I’m out so I’m not disappointed at the end of the night when that fantasy didn’t become a reality.
Her show also featured a presentation by La Santa Luz Dance Company. They are doing a special performance benefiting Latino Youth in Action, a program of Hispanic AIDS Forum on Dec. 1st, World AIDS Day at Club Deep, 16 West 22nd Street, New York, NY at 8:30pm. If I were still in New York I would definitely check it out. The dancers and choreography are great.
Did I mention the hottest guy at Escualitas was an employee? And no he wasn’t one of the strippers. I noticed him when I first walked in and several times during the night I saw his shadow moving about the club. At the end of the night as I was leaving I got another shot of courage from somewhere and started a conversation with him. I wanted to melt but I held it together. I told him good night and walked away after our short exchange because I couldn’t really tell if he were interested or not. Sometimes I am a little clueless. As I walked away I said to myself, “you can’t be scared all your life.”
That’s when I made my move. I went to the car, got an ink pen and wrote my name and number on a dollar bill. I walked back up to the guy who was now standing outside the club and before I could say anything he started talking to me again. Needing to hurry back to the car where my friend was now waiting I extended the dollar bill to him. He took it and noticed the writing. I told him that time is like money, something not to be wasted and it wouldn’t be a waste of his time if he called me. He smiled. I smiled. The line was corny but it was a good one. He asked me if I would be back on Thursday. I wanted to tell him yes but I knew the answer was no and told him as such. I told him I had to get back to DC but it was a pleasure to meet him and I hoped he’d be in touch. Giving him that dollar is just like playing the lotto with it. I may hit the jackpot if he calls OR it was just fun to play.
I am thankful for Sunday.
Today is Monday and I’ve made it home safely to DC. I had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend.
posted by ClayStarr at 3:07 PM
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