Sex Dwarf 8th Anniversary
It was the first Friday of August in Philadelphia. And just like every first Friday night of the month, DJs Robert Drake and Marilyn Thomas gather the '80s new wave-loving masses at Sex Dwarf. But unlike most Friday nights, I was there.
I can't overstate how rare it is that I can attend a Sex Dwarf party. One, they're in Philly, and I'm in Connecticut. Two, I don't work a common Monday-to-Friday, 9-to-5 schedule. To be free for Sex Dwarf, I have to either (a) be on vacation; (b) work days and be off Saturday; (c) work nights and be off Friday; (d) feel like driving four hours there and back for a party. This past trip to Philly, I was working nights and off Friday! And thus I'd be making my first Sex Dwarf since NYE '09. Where I wore the ninja-pirate outfit in my userpic above, drunk my face off thanks to the open bar, barely remember half the night, made out with Marilyn, wanted to get corn at Wawa (which does not sell corn), and barfed at least twice overnight -- and it was great.
Rosemary and I gussied up and got down to South Street on a summer night. Very different vibe these days, with so many of the classic stores gone for years now -- Zipperhead, Pearl Art Store, Tower Records, even the McDonald's -- and the police looking to round up kids off the streets thanks to the random teen-mob violence popping up from time to time.
We took our friend Erika with us. Besides being a generally awesome woman with amazing knitting skills, Erika also is known for being among the few women among our friends who can challenge Rosemary for bustiest woman in the room. It's become such a source of comedy for us all that she and Rosemary call themselves the Breast Friends. In fact, they said their self-appointed name in unison as they posed for this photo.
So I'm walking into Fluid with these beauties. Nothing could stop me.
Killing Joke's "Eighties" was pumping through the darkness punctuated by disco glitter and strobe flares. The sweaty, shuffling, bopping and jumping sea of humanity pressed against each other -- a pleasant mix of nerds, costumed freaks, hipsters, gay men and women, and the '80s new wavers who shimmied in the clubs for this music the first time around just as DJ Robert Drake did.
And soon enough we saw our people, our old friends. And new ones, too, since SD has taken on a new life on Facebook. There the "family" posts and chats at all hours, and now I'm putting more names to faces I'd seen over the years. I remember Robby and hugging uncontrollably, jumping up and down and screaming at how we're finally all together again. Crowding up the floor with Rosemary, Erika, Robby and Sal. Bumping into Wanda and seeing Shari in her awesome "1984"-themed outfit. Hugs and kisses with Marilyn and meeting other folks for the first time post-Facebook. Fused at the hip grinding with butches and pogo-ing with Joe. Giving lapdances to Rosemary and Erika for a laugh and catching up on each other's lives. The night couldn't have gotten much better, really.
It was fitting that I made it back for Sex Dwarf's eighth anniversary party. I'd been attending Sex Dwarf from the beginning, back when the party happened on the last Tuesday of the month. (My workday started at 11 a.m., so I never was dragging the next day!) And even when I moved away to Connecticut, I made it down as much as I could and still saw some of the old crowd. Some of them have moved on to other cities, other lives. Some are dead now. But when the music's playing, and the people are dancing, all the old times are made new. The beat goes on.