The Answer Is: 42!

Fans of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy know what 42 is: it's the answer to the "Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything."

Deep, huh? Hey -- just don't forget to bring a towel!

But for me, in addition to being the answer to all that exists ... 42 is the age I've become. Yes, I'm now more than well acquainted with being in my 40s. Wow! Can't believe I've been on this planet for so long. I wonder how much longer I'll be here, and what comes next?

Exciting to find out!

But in the meantime, I'll keep on enjoying life here on Earth. The above photo was a self portrait I took on my previous birthday last year. It was right before I was set to fly off to Morocco for a week. One of the best trips I've taken, in addition to this one I already blogged about of course. I'll write up my Morocco trip report soon here, so stay tuned for that.

Anyway, fast forward to this year and now I'm one year older. Which is fine, I don't mind. I still consider myself young anyway. I certainly feel it!

I ended up spending the evening at a quite excellent Turkish restaurant in Kip's Bay. Wow! It was such a great dinner, and best yet -- I got baklava for dessert. Yum!!!

Afterward, we went to a nearby theater to see the latest Spike Lee joint: BlacKkKlansmen. I was super impressed with this movie. It's so good! I'm currently trying to recommend it to everyone. You should check it out, too, if you get the chance.

Overall it was a pretty good way to turn 42. Before heading out to dinner, I took my annual self portrait for posterity:

Dancing On A Saturday Night

So, for the first time ever I went clubbing this weekend.

Yes, you read that right. I've never been clubbing before. Correction, I did go last year with my awesome friend, Jennifer Hillier, who was in town on writerly business and brought her bestie along so we could all have a fun time out on the town together. But see, that night ended up being Queer Night--or some other similarly titled event--at the club I had chosen. So we only stayed for about 20 mins, and never danced once, before getting the hell out of there with the quickness! It was a very weird vibe there that was not in the least conducive to dancing. *shudder*

But this weekend I decided to give the same club another shot. I mean, it's normally supposed to be a cool, retro, 80's themed venue called, appropriately, the "Culture Club," located in the heart of midtown Manhattan. And if you know me, that sounds right down my alley, right? I had my misgivings. It's notoriously hard to find out any information on what's going on in this place on any given Friday or Saturday night. So I had to go and pray to both the old gods and the new that I was not walking into another awkward gay-love trap.

It's not officially the 80s if it does not have Pac-Man.

Happy to say everything went off without a hitch! Culture Club is where both genuine 80s kids and wannabes alike can go for dancing and drinking while tunes from that era blast through the speakers into the wee hours of the morning. It used to be located in a much larger venue a bit farther downtown, but the new location was adequate enough, I thought.

Drinks are stupendously expensive here, even by NYC prices.

However, another first this night was me dancing. Yes, except for my school prom and my wedding reception, I've never danced in public before. Heck, I don't dance in private, either! And I've certainly never gone to a club to dance. I suck at it. But I must say I had a damn fun time trying, at least. Seriously, it was exactly what I needed. Although it got super crowded by around 11pm, no one was being an asshole on the dance floor, and at some point the entire club joined in unison to belt out the choruses for some of the most beloved and iconic songs of that era. Shouting along to "Livin' on a Prayer!" at the top of my lungs (yes, a few drinks had been imbibed at this point) will forever be one of my most cherished memories of the night. Tubular!

Tiny main dance stage is tiny. But we made it work.

I had more fun than should have been possible, and I daresay it's made me curious to try this whole club/dancing thingy again. Preferably at another location, but maybe I'll return back here again sometime soon since I had such a good time.

And if any of you blogger friends of mine are ever in town and want to hit up Culture Club, let me know. I'm totally game! Like, totally.