TURNING IT AROUND

[NOTE: I had intended to make this post about my take on the raging health care debate currently taking place in this country, but since the issue has been hijacked by fucking lunatics who have the balls to equate the President of the United States with HITLER...I'll pass.]

If hasn't been entirely obvious by the tone of my last few posts, I haven't been in the best of moods lately. There are many reason for this: feeling totally disconnected with the Boystown scene, asshole guys, the Cubs trying to make me cry, the insane heat which reduced my brain to lump of clam chowder, etc.

SO. I'm happy to report that I seem to have put that recent slump behind me! It's always takes me a few days to "get back on track"; it's a gradual process and one that I think is mostly normal, at least for me. What I really needed was to have a great night out, preferably at new place I had never been to before, just to switch it up.

Last night I contacted my rarely seen, but totally RAD female friend V. Although I have a few gay friends, I feel the closest to her for a variety of reasons. Maybe it's because we've known each other for a long time, or maybe it's just her "out there/forward" demeanor, which I'll attribute to her Argentinean ethnicity. She's also hot. Like whoa!

Anyways, I suggested we check out this bar in the trendy neighborhood West of the Loop. I know...it's a hipsters paradise, but this place seemed laid back. Plus, once a month they have a LGBT night. She picked me up in her ride (gawd - I forgot how cool it feels to ride in a convertible on a pleasant summer night in Chicago) and after a bit of a search we found the place.

Located on a residential side street, the bar itself used to be an A-Frame house many moons ago, but has since been converted into an intimate, though totally unpretentious bar, complete with a postage stamp size dance floor. It felt like being at friend's house, albeit one with a bar and a DJ. This was looking promising...

For most of the night we talked and I drank Maker's Mark while she sipped on Club Soda (she's on a strict no booze diet at the moment). At first I was worried the people would prove every hipster stereotype true. I mean, there might have been more bikes out front than people in the bar itself.

But you know what? EVERYONE was totally cool! Not one single pretentious asshole/d-bag crossed my path. Furthermore, the boys were actually quite attractive (if you like the skinny jeans/v-neck t-shirt look, thin and a but nerdy), plus they were friendly! Bonus!

That's all well and good, but what really tied the place together was the music. It's like the DJ had stolen my iPod and played all the fun shit on there (i.e. Diplo, Justice, etc). Now don't hate on me for saying this, but one of my biggest complaints with gay bars in general is the music that tends to make blood pour out of my ears. If Lady Gaga is your jam, that's totally cool. And there is a LOT of shit I listen to would make many a gay man annoyed. But I digress.

Speaking of the music, it actually made me dance a bit! HOLY SHIT! I know. And the boys and girls were just wildly trashing about, oblivious to feeling any sense of embarrassment. It was a nice feeling. And one I rarely, if ever feel at a gay club.

That feeling of tension I seem to feel at bars with an almost exclusive male clientele was absent. Perhaps it was because 1/2 the crowd was female. I like women. Really. I don't wanna sleep with them, but I sure do enjoy their company and I think their presence reduced the amount of testosterone in the air. I didn't feel like I was going to get molested or have anyone put something in my drink.

Oh! And I did meet a cute boy named Max. When V and I were on our way out, he looked sad when he asked me "you guys are leaving?" Awww. I was tempted to offer him my number, but decided against it. Why? I need more distance between the recent assholes in my past before I can consider putting up the stress before I try again.