Lady Gaga, Dance Halls, My Birthday, and Pumpkins

It's not news that I am consistently behind the times, but on this round, everyone in my apartment is.  At Halloween, I was baffled as to why all the girls at the party we went to were wearing leotards and high heels.  Then the facebook pictures started popping up: more leotards!  And later, I finally learned.  We all did.  Lennon, Eirik and I: we have finally discovered Lady Gaga.  Specifically, this song:



 

In Little Rock, my favorite dance clubs were Backstreet and Discovery, and it makes me very sad to know I have only been dancing in Austin once since moving here, and then it was ten minutes before last call.

This is me breaking it down at the monthly Cool Shoes Dance Party.  One time with my friend Scott, other times with a bunch of strangers.  I'm friendly.  

I want to go out dancing again on my birthday, and I'd say I should take a few tips from the video:

But I can't get over how the costumes remind me of this:

I'm also thinking the finale of the video is very Faulkner-esque:

"A Rose For Emily," anyone?  I wasn't allowed to teach that story to my sophomores, but I did to my summer academy students.  It may be high time to giddy up on that higher degree so I can get to teaching the material I love most - Faulkner, the naughty parts of Chaucer, (I got in trouble for using "The Miller's Tale" to get my seniors interested in Chaucer - it was worth it), etcetcetc.

So for my birthday festivities, I want to go back to Qua and dance with the sharks and fishies.  Anyone from Austin know other good places for dancing?  The two Little Rock clubs were great because they stayed open until 5AM.  Being nocturnal, I do not approve of 2 o'clock shut downs.

Speaking of time - twenty-six!  Yikes!  In honor of my racing clock, I have devised my perfect "older but fabulous" birthday ensemble, complete with flats so as not to poke holes in the shark tank plexi-glass.

Of course I'll need sunglasses so no one sees me falling asleep like a pumpkin before the night is over, and an umbrella in case it keeps raining like it has been all day today.  Maybe I should have selected wellies.