I used to know what year it was

It is that time again when every time I look around it is some absurdly short number of days till my birthday. I like birthdays. I celebrate them quite firmly as a matter of principle, even though every year Ruth and I have a conversation at some point that goes something like this:

ME: Ruth, how old am I?
RUTH: Two years younger than I am, as usual.
ME: Ruth, how old are you?
RUTH: I haven't the faintest idea.

(Which is true. I never forget when my birthday is, just which one; Ruth has actually failed to notice her birthday until informed it was going on at the time.)

Lately, I have also been having a conversation with B. that goes something like this:

ME: B., how old am I?
B.: As old as I am.
ME: Oh.

And all would be well, except for the fact that B. is not in this circumstance actually telling the truth. He is older by an amount that means we are not the same age the majority of the time, only sometimes we are, and I lose track.

So I have to do the arithmetic on a distressingly regular basis.

I appear to be going to be twenty-six. All right then.

Anyhow, I celebrate birthdays, generally by doing something or other that I do not do very often, and this year I have decided that I would like to go out dancing.

And this means: Washington, D.C. area people, can any of you tell me where I can go dancing? I do Scottish Country dancing, can fake English Country dancing (but not contra), can cope with most other folk dance, can *not* cope with swing, ballroom or Latin, and would very much enjoy goth, techno, house, or Terrifying Eighties Rock clubs. I am not in the mood for fifties/sixties rock or current hits.

If you give me a good address and decide to come with me, I'll pay your cover/admission. I'm thinking the Friday or Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, since my birthday is on a Wednesday.

I tend to prefer recommendations for places to go dancing because ads in the alternative papers are centered on drink prices and I don't actually care about alcohol, so even if people can't come please tell me where you'd go. If I don't get any recs I'll go roller skating, and that will satisfy many of the same basic urges.

You know, I really wish they had Goth roller skating nights. Just sayin'.

I used to know what year it was

It is that time again when every time I look around it is some absurdly short number of days till my birthday. I like birthdays. I celebrate them quite firmly as a matter of principle, even though every year Ruth and I have a conversation at some point that goes something like this:

ME: Ruth, how old am I?
RUTH: Two years younger than I am, as usual.
ME: Ruth, how old are you?
RUTH: I haven't the faintest idea.

(Which is true. I never forget when my birthday is, just which one; Ruth has actually failed to notice her birthday until informed it was going on at the time.)

Lately, I have also been having a conversation with B. that goes something like this:

ME: B., how old am I?
B.: As old as I am.
ME: Oh.

And all would be well, except for the fact that B. is not in this circumstance actually telling the truth. He is older by an amount that means we are not the same age the majority of the time, only sometimes we are, and I lose track.

So I have to do the arithmetic on a distressingly regular basis.

I appear to be going to be twenty-six. All right then.

Anyhow, I celebrate birthdays, generally by doing something or other that I do not do very often, and this year I have decided that I would like to go out dancing.

And this means: Washington, D.C. area people, can any of you tell me where I can go dancing? I do Scottish Country dancing, can fake English Country dancing (but not contra), can cope with most other folk dance, can *not* cope with swing, ballroom or Latin, and would very much enjoy goth, techno, house, or Terrifying Eighties Rock clubs. I am not in the mood for fifties/sixties rock or current hits.

If you give me a good address and decide to come with me, I'll pay your cover/admission. I'm thinking the Friday or Saturday night of Labor Day weekend, since my birthday is on a Wednesday.

I tend to prefer recommendations for places to go dancing because ads in the alternative papers are centered on drink prices and I don't actually care about alcohol, so even if people can't come please tell me where you'd go. If I don't get any recs I'll go roller skating, and that will satisfy many of the same basic urges.

You know, I really wish they had Goth roller skating nights. Just sayin'.