MAM After Dark: Greener & Mad Planet 1.15.10

MAM After Dark: Greener & Mad Planet 1.15.10

It is always confusing when you see someone you went to school with in a place you don’t expect to see them. It is also difficult if you are in close proximity to that person for over an hour, yet have no desire to speak with them.

Both Michelle and I were treated to this experience at the Mad Planet last Friday. Neither of us exchanged a word with the classmates in question. It is usually Michelle that sees people she “knows” everywhere we go. At Summerfest or the Brewers game we have contests, the winner is the person who sees someone they know first. Michelle almost always wins.

Anyways, neither of us knew anyone at the Art Museum. It was the first After Dark event of the New Year, and also, Michelle and my first event as members (Thanks, Dad!). When we walked in, we got a couple drinks and then met up with the rest of the group. The theme was Greener, so everything had to do with the environment. Michelle and I tried some green tea and also got a little pin that had a picture of Wisconsin and said “Tea Capital of the World.” Hmm... not too sure about that, I would have thought England or India, but Wisconsin? Never asked for more details.

We finished our drinks and decided to head to the gallery. About three or four After Dark events ago, we were there with a large group of people and waited in a long line to get into something called the “Infinity Room.” Apparently, when you are inside the room, lights and mirrors make the space look infinite, maybe like space, you even have to wear booties over your shoes. Anyways, when our group was two or three people from the front of the line, an employee came around and told us that the gallery was closing (we had our booties on and were ready to go in).

Well, this time, I led as we walked hurriedly toward the location of the Infinity Room, but just like last time, that area of the gallery was dark. Damn. I am sure it isn’t as cool as I think it is in my head, but I really need to see it! I ended up talking to an elderly lady who was a volunteer at the Museum. We talked about the room and then I asked her how she got into volunteering. She told me some of her story and then also that she was a volunteer at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Eventually, Michelle kicked me out of view of the volunteer, silently suggesting that I’d been talking for too long.

Later, she told me that she just thought everyone was getting bored. She also told me she knows how much I enjoy speaking with older people (as I had everyday at my old job), and that I was enjoying this conversation. Nonetheless, she was right, we had to go. It was time for the Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show.

Every MAM After Dark is themed differently and has different events to partake in. The fashion show actually attracted a very large crowd, packed around a runway, in the atrium. Some of these costumes were pretty impressive. They were all created from recycled materials. (There is a good photo of my favorite costume (right) at the top of this page, called East Meets West ).

Michelle and I skipped the second half of the runway show to go and make something at the arts and crafts table. Initially, she was going to make a clutch, however there wasn’t enough material, so we settled on calendars made out of recycled CD jewel cases. When we were done, we decided it was time to head to the Planet.

A good number of friends were there already when we arrived. This is when I first spotted the aforementioned classmate. When I went and got beers for Michelle and I, we made brief eye contact, but I looked away almost instantly before he had the chance to make a move toward me. I hate conversations with old school chums almost as much as talking to hairdressers, if not more. They are so awkward and forced.

Anyways, shortly after, we headed out to the dance floor. The DJ was really good, playing a ton of recognizable songs. The song that got me out on the floor was The Smiths, “How Soon is Now?” After that, we nary left the floor except to get more beer or empty our bladders.

A wise, older man once told me that you rent beer, you don’t buy it. I love that line.

A bit later, they played “Friday, I’m in Love” by The Cure. I always love when they play the song, but for the first time ever I realized how un-danceable it is. My chum and his buddy came out on the dance floor. They danced for several minutes, but when, shockingly, no women matriculated around them, they left the floor. Look, I’ve been to Mad Planet without my girlfriend before, but you at least have to go with a group that includes girls. I wanted to tell this guy that we weren’t on Water St. and this wasn’t really a good place to troll for women, but again, I didn’t want to talk to him at all. Later, I saw him semi-wistfully looking at the floor, but he never rejoined the ranks of the dancers.

Soon after, Michelle whispered in my ear that she had spotted her old chum and pointed her out. Michelle felt the same level of ambivalence toward this person, but I don’t believe they ever made eye contact. Near the end of the night, I went to the DJ booth and wrote three requests, one of which was honored: Madonna’s “Like A Prayer.”

Thankfully, they never played “99 Red Balloons,” which Mike, Shannon and a lot of the others like. I, for one, can’t stand that song.

And we stayed until the final song, and then exited to a crisp Wisconsin, all danced out.