And now, on to the 3rd installment in my (evolving) clubbing diary . . . :)

I really thought about not going this time, largely because of my money situation and the uncertainty of not knowing what job I was going to have (or how much I would be paid), but there was a draw inside my spirit pulling me toward another Friday rendezvous with the Lounge, and (for lack of a better way of saying this) it was too irresistible for me to ignore.

I had actually expected to see another live electronica show (unfortunately, as I realized an hour and a half ago, I got my dates wrong) and was surprised to find a crowd of Indians and Pakistanis congratulating me for "coming out to see Rago" (whoever he was). I just smiled and nodded along with them, waited, and was virtually swept inside by a mob of people who were waiting to see a performer I later learned was a Punjabi hip hop star with a damn fine singing voice.

I sweated my way through 3 hours of the worst DJ-ing I have heard to date. (It made the video DJ look good by comparison. :)) I swear to you, I am not exaggerating when I say that the same songs--in the same order--were played 3 or 4 times (I mean, how many times can you really appreciate lyrics like "move, bitch, get out d'way, get out d'way, bitch, get out d'way," anyway?). The man was basically pretending to DJ and looping a CD over and over again (I know because it was the first thing I heard on the first night I attended the Lounge, and while it was playing that night, I heard one of the staff mention that it was a CD).

This, however, was Shakespeare compared to the DJ who followed him and who (again playing the same damn songs) kept saying ridiculous or completely unintelligible things over a microphone the whole time. I was actually (I kid you not) praying that God would deliver me from this man. :)

(I would have gone to the Video Lounge, the establishment's other dance room, but hardly anyone was there (or dancing)--and the tunes weren't that much better.)

Finally (thank God!) he was replaced, but the incessant "yeah, yeah" continued (which was, thankfully, far better than what he had been saying--whatever it was :)), and finally, I saw 4 men get up on stage and begin a short hip hop concert.

This was a relief, for 2 reasons: (1) It gave me something to listen to which was more interesting than the CD and someone's pointless and incessant yammering, and (2) it drew the largest crowd of the night. After the hip hop mini-concert ended, Rago (whom I had just heard about on my way into the Lounge that night) began his concert. It was (to use the vernacular of the nightclub scene) fuckin' awesome (:)), but it was also unsatisfying. I found myself craving for the rave I had experienced the week earlier (and had expected again that night).

After Rago--and another guy who was from the UK--ended their hip hop concert, the next DJ appropriately followed things up by putting on the same damn CD that had been playing all night!

There were good moments, though:

I got to know a guy named Kevin who had lived in the Dallas area for 3 or 4 years before moving away (he was visiting), and he informed me about various club activities in the area--in particular an event known as "The Church" that takes place on Sunday nights at the Lizard Lounge (geared more toward a goth audience). He said the event was quite outrageous (in a good way)--and that it involved a climactic event at midnight in which people came out in vampire costume, and paintings of erotic (and gothic) subjects, like vampires, were unveiled.

(Oh, to be able to afford cab fare to that event! :))

During that time, however, my backpack (which I had brought with me out of necessity, as I had no time to rush back to my apartment and drop it off) went missing. I realized this after Kevin left (I figured he wasn't the one who took it--but since I never saw the guy who did, I could have been wrong), and I asked some of the staff if someone had turned it in. They all gave me blank stares.

Somehow, even in my frustration, I knew I would get it back. (This wasn't a hope--I've had those before, and they have always been wrong in these kinds of situations.:)) I sat watching the staff people glumly--and then the strangest thing happened.

I saw a couple of the staff members walking out of the bathroom with various personal effects--including one very distinctive (and blue) backpack. I followed the person out to the front desk, where I saw the manager trying to figure out who these things belonged to.

Apparently, someone had been stealing things people had left behind on their lounge seats as they got up to dance, and put them somewhere in the men's bathroom, hoping to find valuables inside (in my case, had he been thorough, which apparently he was, I could have been in serious trouble). One of the staff members found him with the belongings (apparently going through a woman's purse), and as I was recovering my backpack, the bouncers were in the process of identifying (and running after) the man responsible.

As I left, I made sure to thank the bouncers for their work in recovering my belongings, and in (as the manager said) kicking the perp's ass for me. As much as I found the overall "scene" of the night to be not my thing (or not what I had expected), it all turned out well in the end, and I got to know some people in the process who I probably wouldn't have had the privilege of knowing otherwise.