Dear Proletariat,

Hello. It's been awhile.

You're looking slightly worse for wear. Your red walls (which used to intimidate the hell out of me) are looking a little grimy. Your furniture is still chic, but I saw it once in daylight and, goodness, we could use a little steam cleaning, no?

It's ok, this place is about the people. The musicians, artists, and occasional singing fratboys who fill the place on Friday nights for karaoke. The hipsters who lurk, drink, smoke, play Pacman and pool, and play the Postal Service and Bjork from the jukebox. (Let's not forget, it was Bjork and a birthday that saw the birth of this blog.)

I've met, dated, and to various degrees formed relationships with at least a dozen people as a direct result of you. Um, thanks. For all of them, really, though some more than others.

I've laughed, drunk, lost my temper, danced, cried, sung, been moved, been inspired, graded papers, spent too much money, been undercharged, given and received gifts, made resolutions, made out, made things worse and and made things better within your walls.

I am especially grateful for the shows: Crooked Fingers, Ted Leo, the Kimonos, the Watermarks, Spain Colored Orange, Meowcifer, Ume, the Singles, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, American Analog Set, Stars, Broken Social Scene, Two Star Symphony, Sharks and Sailors, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, and all the ones I'm forgetting. Even when the sound was crappy.

I don't know how much longer we'll get to see each other, because your crowd keeps getting younger and I keep getting older. I don't do a lot of stuff I used to do when we were pals. A friend posted recently about the direct correlation between TV watching and happiness. If I'm watching TV instead of going to bars, how does that impact my overall happiness?

I don't have an opinion on this, really, although caring for my liver and lungs is indisputably a smart move. So here is my open-ended question: how do I incorporate the people I used to share this space with into my non-Proletariat life? What if those people live hundreds of miles away? What if they live only a few blocks?

These are some things I am trying to figure out, Proletariat. Picking up the phone is probably a good start. I hope we bump into each other again, maybe after the smoking ban goes into effect.

With love,
Mary