STREET FAIR

Saturday, May 16, 1998

I slept delightfully late this morning, later than I thought I would. Sometimes I have all these things I envision myself doing in the weekend morning hours, and instead I roll over and go back to sleep. Oh, well, as my mother would have said, I must have needed that sleep.

I called my friend Nick to see where to meet him, since I had a white lab coat he needed for a Cacophony event. But he said that no one else had called to confirm participation, so he was cancelling the event. He still needed to return the library book that I had borrowed from him, so I said I'd drop it by his place sometime during the day. Nick lives in the University district, where I was headed.

It was a cool, breezy morning, but sunny, so I didn't bring a jacket with me to the bus stop. I chatted a bit with Amos, an dapper elderly man who lives in the building next door, while I was standing in the sun waiting for the bus. He walks around the neighborhood every day, keeping an eye on things.

I got off the bus in the U-district, and walked up to the announced meeting place at 47th and Brooklyn. The crowds were already building! I walked right past my dance buddies, who were sitting on the curb waiting for a band to finish playing. I put on my strappy dance shoes. I had originally thought that I'd keep these for indoors only, but I broke down last Sunday and wore them for Hep Jen's dance jam at Gasworks Park. The band finished up, and while the next was getting set the sound guys played one of our CDs through the sound system. I danced with Joe Ross and with Nancy. It was the first time I've danced Lindy with her; usually we dance East Coast swing when she leads.

When the next band started doing a sound check, it was time to move on. We walked one block, to the intersection of 47th and University Way (called the Ave by tradition; I don't know why). A lot of other intersections had formal places for street performers, but this one didn't, so we set up the boom box and started dancing.

Unfortunately, Nancy landed awkwardly when doing an air step partnered by Chris Chapman, and messed up her knee! There was immediate scurrying for ice and ibuprofen, and she sat down on the ground and monitored her injury. She works as a physical therapist, so there was no one better equiped to evaluate how her knee was doing than Nancy herself! She lives just a few blocks from where we were, so she was able to limp home later. This could really be very bad, especially since she is signed up to go to the swing dance camp in Catalina, which is only a few weeks away!

I danced a fair amount, but some of the swing kids don't know me, and there was a slight shortage of leads, so I did sit out a few dances. I succeeded at pulling a few classmates out of the crowd, though, and one guy who said something to a friend that gave me the clue that he knew how to swing dance. It was not a situation for dancers with a "thing" about people watching them, though, since we were surrounded by crowds whenever we were dancing. That was the point of the whole exercise, after all: to get more publicity for swing dance in Seattle. It does puzzle me a bit when folks are reluctant to be the only ones on the dance floor. I say, let them look, if they want to! Maybe I feel this way because I've been through class for this sort of dancing, and feel confident that I know what to do. I might not feel the same if I were doing some other kind of dancing.

Group solidarity note: I was amused that shortly after I walked over and bought a beef and cheese piroshky, a lot of others in our group made the same choice. Anita the trend-setter! But actually, it was a very practical choice, since you could easily eat the stuffed, baked roll while standing up or walking around. A lot of the food items at the fair are really meant to be eaten with a fork, sitting down.

As I was standing, watching the dancing, I heard a voice: "Are you Anita?" It was S---, who had contacted me from an online personal ad of mine, a short while back. We've been corresponding since, but hadn't met in person yet. I was surprised to see him! He had come to the fair, prepared with a reverse twist to the Cacophony event we had planned, and had been looking for us. I felt bad that the event had fizzled, because his addition to it would have been very funny! When he didn't find the Cacophonistas, he followed the swing music, thinking I might be there. He only had time to exchange a few brief words, though. It was fun meeting him!

There was some discussion among the dancers about going to Tacoma tonight. There is someone there organizing swing dance events now, and we wanted to dance, to support our friends Jen and Chris who were DJing and teaching, and to support this new dance venue. I didn't feel like driving my car to Tacoma, though, and the bus alternative would have meant leaving the dance too early. I figured it would be better to take it easy tonight, since I'll probably be doing more dancing tomorrow and tomorrow evening.

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After the last song, Shopping! I decided to see all of the fair, and even did some doubling back to inspect the booths on both sides of the street. This reminded me of some Halloween times when I was a kid, when I'd draw a map of our neighborhood with a route that ensured that I would visit every house.

I wasn't in the market for anything in particular, but I usually check out the jewelry and clothing stalls. I did buy a new hair ornament, a large, two-pronged comb (or is it a hair pin?) made of some beautiful light-colored inlaid wood. I tried it out to make sure it would hold my hair securely (for dancing) and it did contrast nicely with my dark hair, which is why I chose the light wood. The craftsman was quite a character! He spent most of the time I was choosing the ornament demonstrating a fancy knife (made like a bow saw) that would easily slice homemade bread or tomatoes. He was just like an infomercial! His wife gave me a tip on the best way to insert the ornament into my hair, which was why I decided to buy it.

I found some great buys at a booth that was a satellite of the Soap Box, a soap and bath store on the Ave. They had a lot of stock that hadn't sold at its original price, so they marked it down drastically! Nice soap that wasn't worth five or six dollars a bar, was worth a dollar a bar to me. So I bought a bunch, in honor of all those online journalers who are always buying bath products, scented oils, and candles. (Hi, Kymm, Karma, Carli!) I think I liked best the "zen" soaps in white, pale green, and black.

I found a booth with imported clothing that had larger sizes, which is rare. I like the name: Gone Troppo, which is a neat play on non troppo meaning "not too much" in Italian. The woman who was working told another customer that the man who visits the Indonesian factories to order the clothes has to model the dresses just to get them to sew normal sizes, since the folks there are all so tiny. I tried on some short print dresses and skirts. They fit! and will be great for dancing. So I got all the ones that were in my size and in a fabric that I liked. Too bad they had no bags to put things in! The woman working folded up my purchases and put them in the small plastic bags that the clothing had been packed in. I met my friend Janna while shopping there, and encouraged her to buy some things, too. "You are evil, Anita!" she cried, when I found a solid brown vest that she'd been wishing for after deciding on some brown print pants. Then I went to their other booth across the Ave and bought more!

I walked the few blocks to Nick's place and climbed up the stairs. I was beat! I was glad he was home, so I could come in and rest for a while. We watched Deep Space Nine, and talked about his upcoming vacation to Ireland. I also shamelessly asked for a larger bag so I could put my clothing purchases in it. The tiny plastic bags from Gone Troppo were driving me nuts, slipping from my fingers and making me worried that I would lose one of them.

After the show, I walked through the fair once more on my way to the bus, buying a ham and cheese calzone for dinner. Yum!

What a great day! I'm thrilled with my purchases, and the dancing was fun, and I got to meet S---. If only Nancy hadn't injured herself.