Surprises

Friday, August 7, 1998
One year ago: Birth of the New

Thursday evening we had the last dance class of the current session with "Hep" Jen and "Cat Daddy" Chris. Their business has been very successful since they started in January, and they've been recommending for a few weeks that people shouldn't wait till the next class begins to sign up. It will probably be full by then, and people will be turned away both from the beginning and intermediate levels.

At the dance that evening, a couple whom I'd met at the Century Ballroom a while back came up to say hi. The man said they'd come to the dance at the Russian Center since I've been talking it up here, and he's been reading this journal. We agreed on the addictiveness both of swing dance and online journal reading!

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Tonight some of my film festival buddies got together at "A Taste of India" to celebrate the birthday of my friend A---. This was actually a surprise to him! We were also including the birthday of one of the other folks in the group, and the first anniversary of a couple. Dinner was good, and this group always has fun together. C--- and Y--- are one of the nicest couples I know: he is blond (Norwegian ancestry), long-haired and bearded, she is Japanese-American and works at a local newspaper. Lots of good talk about movies, books, and exchanging personal news and gossip.

K---, the woman who instigated the evening, told me that she admired me for all the efforts I'm making in the dating arena. This startled me a bit! I think I'm doing the right things to send my life in the direction I want to go, but I don't think of myself as brave, especially. Persistent, perhaps!

I wonder if this non-film festival socializing will continue this year. I hope so!

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From dinner, I went to the monthly dance held by the Savoy Swing Club at the Russian Center. It had been going on about an hour by the time I got there, so I slipped on my dancing shoes and put my hair up. As I was bent over, fastening my shoes, Earl came and tapped me on the shoulder. We danced for about one minute, then they cut the music and a troupe of tap dancers came on (but he and I danced again later). Thankfully, this was a brief performance, since I'd rather dance than watch people dance, in the context of a social event like this one.

There was a big crowd! The band was "Jump Up!" which I've heard before. I danced with most of the people I wanted to, and a few new partners as well. I did help one beginner get going on the basic step of East Coast Swing. One thing that amused me: a couple of guys that I've either never danced with before, or perhaps just once, thanked me for the dance after I'd asked them and we danced together. Nothing unusual there, that's common dance-floor politeness. But both of them said something similar to "Thanks, that was a fun dance!" in an surprised sort of tone. This tickled me! I guess I exceeded their expectations, which is better than disappointing them.

At the end of the dance I was talking with Stacy and Benjamin. She is the registrar for Swing Out Northwest, the dance camp being held at the end of the year by the Savoy Swing Club. There have been a lot of people signing up already, but it will fill up, so I need to send in my money right away.

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