From Tuscaloosa to Winston-Salem to Austin

When I was in college, my friends and I loved to go dancing. We would dance wherever--it didn't necessarily have to be a dance club. We would dance at the Downtown Pub and at the International Deli and at the Booth and the Chukker. Most of those places aren't there anymore. They were sacrificed to the inexorable march of progress.

Later, in grad school (both in NC and at Austin), the same held true. A small contingent of folks--smart, ballsy, beautiful folks--would go out and dance. And, again, the places we danced were various. We would dance in the debate room, at Freddie B's and at the West End Opera House, at First Street and Gatsby's-- in E! and Z's living room and at the Red Fez and at Trudy's and at Saba and at Malaga and at the Hole in the Wall.

Today, I am far from most of those people. But I was just talking to a dear friend about some of those days. And then another one of my favorite dancers sent this video to me. This is one of my perennial favorites.


Now, grown ups that we are, we still dance to this song--just like we did when we were 19 and vigorous, 23 and nonchalant, 27 and disillusioned... I don't know what adjective I would use for us now.

Still. It's a marvelous song.