Liralen and TAFF

Saturday, September 12, 1998
One year ago: Dancing Begets Warmth

Today is the year anniversary of the first time I ever went to the Century Ballroom. I certainly didn't think then that dance would be such a major activity for me now! I love the music and the exertion, and the sense of mastery that comes from making progress at a new skill. I've also met a lot of great folks! I hope to get to know some of them better in the future.

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Since I was going to the East side anyway, today seemed like a good day to visit the Bellevue Square shopping mall and make a few purchases.

I had read in a fat-acceptance related newsgroup that Lane Bryant now had garter belts, so that was my first stop. Unfortunately these had proved so popular that the only ones they had were at the extremes of the size range they carry, and I'm somewhere in the middle. Rats! So I looked at the Sheerwear bras that I buy there, and found some colors that I don't already have. I tried on a few different styles as well, and got some that are mostly cotton which should be good for dancing (dancing is hard work!). I even got a plaid bra! Of course, all of these needed matching panties.

The saleswoman who was helping me was very happy with me! Once I was done with the underwear, I decided to cruise the rest of the store, and succeeded in finding three new outfits: short skirts in a suede-like fabric, in hunter green, maroon, and camel, and tops that coordinate with them. Great for, what else, dancing! When all these purchases were added up, the total was rather staggering, but I've learned that it's OK for me to buy clothes, since I wear what I get for a long time, and almost always get my money's worth.

I visited Nordstrom next. I bought a pair of stocking there a while ago and I liked them a lot! So I wanted to get some more. I also tried one pair of another brand, in red! But I haven't worn them yet. Be assured, you will get the full report, including other peoples' reactions, when I do.

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I drove to Liralen's place, which is in a wooded area on the east side of Lake Sammammish. I'm sure it was once much more rural, and is still down a few gravel roads, but the first gravel road parallels a new subdivision.

I parked in an area that I think belonged to a neighbor, and walked down the last bit of driveway. JulieR was on her way out. She said she was overloaded from new folks, but I convinced her to stay and chat with me. I took advantage of this for the rest of the afternoon, and didn't talk much to the other people there. They seemed mostly to be coworkers of Liralen and her husband John, and their families, I think.

Since the deck was very crowded, Julie and I stayed in the family room and talked most of the time. As I was filling her in on what's been going on with me, I said that I didn't want to talk much about a certain topic. Of course, I then proceeded to talk about it quite a bit! But she was patient with me, and only teased me a little. We talked with Tibo and someone else that I forget the name of, another computer guy. Finding out and remembering peoples' names was extra challenging, because we'd been asked at the front door to put on name tags with our dog names, if we were dogs. This was because the party was in honor of Fezzik's ten year birthday. He's Liralen and John's dog, a Newfoundland, and ten years is a long time for such a dog to live and stay healthy, as Fezzik has. We feasted on various things. I especially liked the Mexican chocolate home-made ice cream!

Since Julie wants to meet new folks and get involved in new activities, she expressed a wish to come with me to the party I was going to later. "Of course!" I said. Julie is a long-time SF fan, though her fannish circle isn't exactly congruent with mine.

Jon Singer arrrived and did tea with Liralen. This is an interest they share, but I don't know how they originally met.

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TAFF stands for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund. This is a project that has been going on since the fifties, I think! Fans vote, and contribute money, to send a fan from the US to Britain, or in alternate years, from Britain to the US. The winner gets zir ticket paid for, and zie travels all over the host country, staying with and meeting all the local fans, and building up trans-Atlantic ties. When zie gets back home, zie is required to administer the fund for the next election, and to do a written report. It's a huge honor to win this! We won't talk about the Mid-Atlantic Fan Fund, where fans vote on who they would like to drop out of a plane in the middle of a flight from the US to Europe.

The party tonight was at my friends Kate and Glenn's house, and in honor of TAFF winner Maureen Kincaid Spiller, who has been traveling all over the country for the last six weeks. We all wore nametages to make it easier on her, with all these new folks.

Kate and Glenn have been doing a lot of stuff to their house, which I duly admired. They've recently had one of Glenn's daughters -- and her daughter, age six -- come to live with them, which has made a lot of changes for them, I think. But she was out of reach for a long time, and I know they are happy that she is back now.

Julie was slightly annoyed that I would either introduce her as another online journaler, or as that and a furry fan. She says she's a fan, not a furry fan, and has been doing her taipan stuff since before Furry fandom existed. I apologized for not understanding these fine points, and I described what I did when I was introducing Jack around at Bumbershoot; each person gets zir name, and one additional data point. Mark and Holly were dance buddies, Jack was a VB developer or guitarist, depending who I was talking to, etc.

I had a good chat with Andy Hooper while sitting on the front porch. He filled me in on the plot twists at the end of the season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which is certainly my favorite Trek at at this time. I was amused by the contrast later, when we were all sitting in a circle in the back yard, and Victor started telling us plot synopses of the Teletubbies!