Emerald City Soul Club last night at the Lo Fi was a sweaty mess. There are a lot of people at Emerald City Soul Club these days—more than ever—and though there are two air conditioners in the dance room that feel great when you stand in front of them, in the grand scheme of things they don’t do a damn thing. It was so hot in there that I took off the dress shirt and tie I was wearing, removed my tank/wifebeater thing, and put my shirt and tie back on. (One wants to look good for dancing to soul music—everyone else certainly does.)

That did almost no good. So I just started buying bottles of chilled water and pouring them on my head. Then I went around the room saying, “You want a shower?” and pouring cold water on other peoples’ heads. I poured some on the head belonging to Elise Hunt, she of WET fame (and the best laugh of any actress in Seattle). I poured some on the heads of David Nixon and Rob Witmer, of the band “Awesome,” and also on the heads of poet/writer/editor Jennifer Borges Foster and non-poet/writer/editor Bethany Jean Clement. Proven: Everyone looks better slightly wet, especially in very hot environs. Undoused notables: Michael Seiwerath, Amy O’Neal, Brendan Kiley, Rachel Kessler (happy birthday!), and Mike Nipper, although all were in attendance.

Katelyn, over on Myspace, says: “nothing makes me sweat like the ECSC!”

At another bar, later, someone grabbed my shoulder to say hello and recoiled. “Did you just go swimming?” he said.