Power and Light

So this weekend I went out with the girls to P&L (Power and Light) in Kansas City. For those of you unfamiliar with this place, it is basically the bar/club hub in KC, MO. At least, as far as I know. But I had never been before, so it was decided that I needed to see what all the fuss was about. And to be honest...I wasn't all that impressed.

Mostly, I suppose, because I had never really experienced the whole "big city club scene" before. So this girl from small town western Kansas learned a few things about how these clubs operate. And you'd think I would say they run on lowered inhibitions and overpriced drinks, but I think it runs on something else entirely. I'd say the whole scheme runs on vague lies we tell others - and ourselves. Honest.

So here's a few reasons I feel that way (based on my exchanges at P&L):

1) Nobody tells the truth. I wasn't prepared for this one. When meeting new people, I find the simple questions like, "What's your name?", "Where are you from?", and "What do you do?" to be the three basic staples of base line getting-to-know-you. I don't expect people to lie, because I don't lie about these things. How naive that must sound. But after the first few introductions, I started questioning the truthfulness of the respondent's answers. (That soundly so lawyer-like I smiled. :) )

Most people were quick on answering their names, but never last names. My inner Meg Ryan from "You've Got Mail" was like, "Don't they know you're supposed to have a last name?" And granted, the music was loud and I'm never going to see those people again, so why bother with formalities, eh? But still, I'm pretty sure I looked like this:

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd61/Nerd-Inc/frenchkiss_really.gif

And I met people from all over the U.S. who somehow decided KC was the place to be. The craziest answer I got was from a guy from "Minnesota" even though he didn't have a northern accent and he was in town for the barbeque after doing a bike ride for something. Could be true, but the more he talked, the more I was not buying it.

But the third question...ohhoh...getting an answer to that one was like pulling teeth. The best response I got was "Why does it matter what I do?" which I interpreted as, "I don't do anything and probably still live in my parent's basement, so I'm going to avoid answering this question at all costs by making you feel bad for asking it."Disappointment.

http://s222.photobucket.com/user/Nerd-Inc/media/yep.gif.html?sort=3&o=0

2) Because nobody is really telling the truth, they think you are lying too. Do you know how many guys questioned the fact that our group of girls were, in fact, attending law school? All of them. No one believed Kate was from Chicago. Or that Angela served in the military. No one believed that I spoke German (apparently it sounded like gibberish). They didn't buy it. Any of it, even though it was all 100% truth. Apparently, you're supposed to not tell the truth (the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God) in these places. And no matter what, you end up just being like:

http://s222.photobucket.com/user/Nerd-Inc/media/eminem-apathy1.gif.html?sort=3&o=0

3) Nobody really dresses for themselves. This one is obvious enough, but most people at P&L (men and women) were clothed for other people. I wore something nice, but something I was comfortable in. The point is to get noticed. But I felt like (and I could be wrong about this) if I saw these people on the street, I wouldn't recognize them. So therefore, I didn't trust my instincts about them.

4) Playing "dumb" is all part of the game. This is not my strong suit. I happen to belong to a group of strong, intelligent, wonderful women who are not going to apologize for being that way. And I have been told repeatedly that I need to play dumb when flirting because I will 'never get a man' if I don't. But I will not have that; I will not have it. Therefore, I will not lie about being nerdy or caring about my education and I will let you know that you are in Missouri when you think you are in Kansas and if that upsets you (it really shouldn't) - I'm just here to dance. Also, the sheer amount of laughing at unfunny things in those places is very disturbing.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd61/Nerd-Inc/as-if.gif

My takeaway from all this is this: I had a pretty good time with friends and experienced something new - which is always a good thing I think. But it's not my bag. I'll take a jazz club, a country bar where real country music is played and cowboy boots are worn un-ironically, or a nice pub type atmosphere where casual clothing is readily accepted over P&L any day. Biergartens and Diskotheks are also much loved - obviously. 

Subway Characters

So last night while doing laundry, Lady Gaga's song "Judas" shuffled through. And I'm not particularly fond of the song per se, but I love listening to it because it brings up memories from my summer in Germany. Seriously, Germans have an obsession with Lady Gaga. But that's not what I want to talk about, primarily anyways.

People on the Subways in Germany are...great. Their trains are not like in London, Boston, or Chicago (and I have yet to visit New York, so I can't comment on theirs, but I gather the experience is not that great). The trains in Germany carry their people - all their people in one way or another. But there are some particular characters I met on their glorious transportation system - and here they are in no particular order.

1. The two Lady Gaga fans who (while listening to their iPods) sang and danced  to "Judas" for us, without any prompt, I might add. They were actually pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wagn8Wrmzuc

2. The shaky beggar with crazy eyes that hopped on the train EVERY time we tried to leave the Alexanderplatz station. I don't think he ever filled up that crumpled paper Coke cup in a day.

3. A little old German lady who wore stockings and orthopedic shoes who always had an opinion on where we should go visit next. It usually involved a museum of some sort.

4. A tourist who did not (or could not) speak German. And what's weird is, after being in Germany for awhile, we could pick them out and silently judge them because we sorta felt like natives. Psht. Stupid tourists.

5. A school of little German school children wearing matching scarves on a visit to the school. They were adorable until we all realized that they spoke German better than we did. And they were 7 years old.

6. A middle-aged couple on their way to any one of the many "Fests" around the country. One particular couple went to a Polka Fest  - and they were excited about it.

7. A guy who I think just sat there and read the newspaper all day on the train. Hey - that's not a bad retirement plan.

8. A guy in a business suit who refused to sit down (maybe he thought his pants would wrinkle) with a super serious look on his face. He was probably a lawyer.

9. A group of three or four guys getting their drink on with some regional brew. Which could also be seen on the sidewalk. Note: drinking in public is commonplace.

10.  Instrumentalists that ruined whatever you had planned on listening to because their trumpets were so f***ing LOUD.

Bonus: There were also a bunch of American students pretending to "be German," even though we fooled nobody. But we did get a whole bus to sing along to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" after the first game of the Women's World Cup. People broke out into song a lot now that I think about it...