The second Saturday of November is our tenth anniversary. DJ PTSD and I have been present for 95% of these nights, and we’ve only missed one together in 10 years- because we were very ill with influenza! That is pretty damn impressive if I say so myself. Brings new meaning to the idea of committing to something unless one is near death.

I am grateful for all that have helped us in this endeavor, through djing, promotion, being part of the excellent bar staff at Old Nick’s and the Green Room and Oak Street Speakeasy, but especially through those who come to dance. You’re the reason we keep it going. You all know what it’s like to talk yourself into getting out of the house and going somewhere only to lose your worries on the dance floor, even if only for a little while- to get it out to the angst in a Bauhaus song or the harshness of stompy industrial. To walk on the edge of normalcy and commit to being an individual, damn the cost and damn the haters. To be kind to others in your community and recognize that they, like yourself, are not lost in the dark.

I thank you from the bottom of a heart that’s never seen light. (It’s in my chest cavity.)

xox DJ Refugium