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New ShoesIt is the fragrant lack of practicality that makes high-heeled shoes so fascinating: in terms of static mechanics they induce a sort of insecurity which some find titillating.... There is something arousing about this declaration that she is prepared to sacrifice function for form. |
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Sunday, April 19, 1998
This morning I completed journal entries for Friday and Saturday, and took a luxurious bath in honor of Lunesse.
I took the bus over to the University of Washington for a Cacophony event. We've been wanting to build a catapult or trebuchet for some time, and this was the first session of planning and research. I had especially wanted to go because this was the first event sponsored by my friend Tom Lawrence, whose intitiation into the Cacophony mysteries is now complete. (My nefarious plan worked! Bwa-ha-ha!)
The UW campus is really a beautiful place. I had an idea where the Engineering Library was (our meeting place), so I got off the bus by the University Hospital and wandered up the hill, through paths that wound around the gothic-style buildings, and along allées lined with flowering cherry trees. Tom was sitting on the library steps, so I joined him there and we basked in the sunshine. The library didn't open until one, and we were a few minutes early.
After a few minutes Jayson showed up, and he and Tom started sharing the results of the research they had already done. It was evident that they both had the tech aspects of catapult research under control, so I started considering not staying for the library portion of the afternoon. I had come to make sure that Tom got a good response for his first event, but I had other things to do as well.
After Nick rolled up on his three-wheeler and distributed some books he had gotten from the main library (including Catapult! Harry and I Build a Siege Weapon, a book Burr had been telling me about yesterday, which I snagged to read in the next few days) I decided to take the bus downtown and do some shopping.
Lunch at Westlake Center: I had forgotten, if I ever knew, that there is an Indian food stand in the food court here which seems to be related to the food stand I like at the Fremont street fair. But now that I look, I see the names are slightly different: Masalah Wallah at the street fair, and Bombay Walla at the food court. Never mind, I got to have one of my favorite snacks, masalah dhosa, for lunch today. This is a lentil-flour crepe, filled with spicy vegetables and served with raita and chutney and good things.
Next: the temple of shoes, Nordstrom. I need new dancing shoes! I had surveyed what they had available at the Bellevue square store a while back and had decided to buy the black leather Keds (not for dancing in) and some heels or lace-up oxfords. My requirements for dancing shoes don't go with current fashion trends, so I didn't have a lot to choose from. I need smooth soles so I can spin (as well as I can), heels not too high, straps so they'll stay on. All this, and they should be comfortable and look elegant.
The sales person helping me, a young woman with an Italian accent, was a bit puzzled by all this, but I did find three pairs that I think will do. They didn't have the black leather Keds at the downtown store, so I'll have to go back to the mall for those.
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Tonight was the first night of Zoot Suit Sunday, a new event at the Showbox nightclub downtown. The Showbox has been around since the thirties, and went through a comedy club incarnation a few years ago. This new event had been talked up by my dance buddy Dan for the past week or so, so I wanted to check it out.
People started showing up right on time, but the club wasn't ready for us. We had to wait out on the sidewalk for fifteen or twenty minutes. A good number of familiar faces were there, plus a lot of new folks. Sterling arrived with his parents. What a nice family!
They finally let us in, but turned away one girl who had come from Canada. That sort of ID isn't acceptable to the state liquor board, it seems. The interior of the club is on the rough side, with some remnants of a more elegant past. There are columns that have lotus-like capitals, with uplighting built in that reflects off the ceiling, but I noticed more the gum stuck to the floor.
The class (a beginning swing lesson taught by Dave Atkinson, who seems to be organizing this thing) was extremely crowded. I like to participate in these before-dance lessons, since it's a way to find out who can dance, and get to meet new partners.
The dancing was fine, except for too much rockabilly, not enough swing from DJ hubbahubba. I danced with Sterling, Dan Ross, and Hugh, whom I met Friday night. Hugh is in the band Mummery. There seems to be an interesting intersection between pop or rock musicians, and swing dancing. (see: Joe Ross and Green Pajamas) Dan Ross complimented my seamed stockings and asked where I got them. Answer: on the web!
The crowd was really too big for the space, so I hope when there isn't a live band, the numbers will diminish. The Fenix has a similar phenomenon on Monday nights, but the dance floor there is contained within railings, so it's still possible to walk around, chat with folks, and find partners even if the dance floor is packed. At the Showbox, the dance floor blends into the surrounding areas, and the entrance dumps right on to it, causing traffic problems. The Showbox does allow smoking, but the levels weren't too bad.
I timed my exit perfectly; the bus arrived about two minutes after I got to the bus stop!
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