A Veritable Fun Event On Valentine's Day
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I'm not big on Valentine's Day shenanigans. I feel like it's a holiday designed to make people miserable. If you don't have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, then you feel like a loser. If you have a boyfriend/girlfriend, then you feel like the pressure is on to prove your love. Either way, ugh.
That's why I'm so excited The Stranger's Valentine's Day Bash is happening again this year at Neumo's. I went last year and it was the 10 year anniversary of the event and they SAID it was going to be the last year last year. But, no! It's happening again this year.
At the Bash, you have the opportunity to bring a memento from a failed relationship, give a little background on the shortcomings of said relationship on a stage in front of a venue packed full of strangers and possibly people you know (IE. coworkers), and then allow Dan Savage to destroy your memento in any number of creative ways. Last year, I brought a dozen dried roses and Dan Savage dipped them in liquid nitrogen and smashed them to bits. I gotta say, it was my best Valentine's Day ever.
My advice if you go is bring a keepsake and sign-up to have Dan Savage destroy it. Seriously, once you get there, you will want to be a part of the fun, despite the certainty of embarrassment. There is something special, something cathartic about having the famed sex columnist smash/set on fire/tar and feather a relic some jerk left in your possession after he/she broke your heart.
Make sure you get there early and sign-up on the list right away, otherwise you could spend all night holding that teddy bear/sweater/poem/engagement ring waiting for it to finally be destroyed.
Date: February 14, 2008
Time: 8pm
Location: Neumo's (map)
Price: Free (who can put a price on love publicly humiliating your jerky ex?)
Cineoke
After coming back from my weekend in Venice, CA, an area where people are horribly sensitive about how they are perceived by others, I'm so happy to be back in Seattle where we all occasionally sacrifice our cool facade for the pure enjoyment of our fellow Seattlites.
Next Monday, share in the silliness of Cineoke: a hybrid of karaoke and film that combines your voice and stage presence with your favorite musical. From the reviews I have read, this is nothing short of totally entertaining. Here is how it works: You can either bring your own DVD or select something from the Cineoke library, then wait for your turn, then get on stage and act out/sing out your favorite scene from your favorite musical while it plays on a screen behind you. You can skip performing and attend as a spectator, but these things are always so much more fun when you participate.
My musical dorkiness comes in the form of a movie called Grease. I know every word to every scene and every song of that movie. I can't help myself because I have no power over the woo of John Travolta's pants. I have generally kept my Grease musical outbursts to myself in an effort to spare those around me who do not share my enthusiasm, but now I have a place to go and sing along to my favorite musical... in public! I have to say that I'm so excited about this that I've got chills, and they're multiplyin'.
Where: Rendezvous (in Belltown)
When: Monday, November 12, 7pm - 10pm (that's one week from today, so you have time to prepare)
Cost: $5
Salon of Shame
Salon of Shame tonight, Tuesday September 25, at the Lower Level in Capitol Hill. Here is a chance to embarrass yourself in public by exposing your innermost thoughts as a teenager immortalized in your old journal entries. It is free to attend if you read, otherwise the cost is $7. This event almost always sells-out, so get there when the doors open at 6:45pm if you want to get a seat, unless you are reading, and then you are guaranteed entrance.
Although most sign up ahead of time to read, spontaneous readings are also encouraged, so if you show up with your old journal entries, you will be warmly welcomed on stage.
Reading Old Journal Entries in Front of a Crowd: Painful Fun
Who would have thought that reading my old journal entries in front of a large audience of strangers could be so fun? Painfully embarrassing, yet somehow fun.
In light of tonight's Salon of Shame and my recent trip to California for my 10 year college reunion, I shall share one of my most embarrassing treasures: my teen angst poetry.
<ahem>
In the adumbration of darkness
I feast
on the comestible of your
flesh
as you count away the
minutes
until your death
because you are not as wonderful
as you think you are
because you are not divine
because you are not immortal
so you waste your life
waiting to die.
Photo by Gabrielle Fine. More photos here.
As I read my old goth poetry (there is a painfully large amount of goth poems in my journals), I am noticing I used a lot of big words. That's because I used to read the dictionary. However, the dictionary is really big and I only got as far as the c's, so all of my impressive words begin with the letters a, b, or c.
Also, how is it possible that I had so much time to spend on my goth poetry? I remember doing lots of stuff as a teenager and being very active and constantly freaking my parents out by my constant questionable activies. Where did I find the time to fill up these journals? DId my teenage self have better time-management skills than my adult self?
I guess I didn't have yoga, snowboarding, biking, THE INTERNET, work, more work, yard work, house work, etc. I just had my notebook, a pack of Camel Lights, my Docs, and a bottomless cup of coffee in a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop.
