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Lindy ExchangeWhat is the price of Experience? Do men Buy it for a song?! and Wisdom for a Dance in the Street? |
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Friday, July 23, 1999
Two years ago: Seasoned with Folly
I did some repetitive tasks at work today, and listened to Gilbert and Sullivan to make the time go fast. I was eager to get on the road to Portland!
Of course, even though I left at mid-afternoon, the traffic was aggravatingly slow until I got south of Olympia -- two hours later! But I do like the drive from Olympia to Portland, even though the NPR station poops out. There's something about hitting the "seek" button and listening to country music that spells "Road Trip." I was really pleased that the clear weather let me get a good view of the northern face of Mount Saint Helens; I'd never seen that side of it before because it's so often been rainy or misty when I've been making this trip.
I was hungry around five o'clock. I'm normally home by that time, eating a snack (or dinner!) while online. But I decided to keep on driving, rather than take a break.
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I didn't have trouble finding Vicki Jean's place this time, unlike the time in April when I was down here for a dance workshop. She's got the upstairs bedroom all fixed up as guest room/computer lab. After I brought my stuff in and reposed for a bit, VJ, Joe and I all went to dinner at Catalina's, a small Mexican place that they like. The building was a bit surprising -- from the outside the place looks big, with a Tex-mex swirly pink roofline, but what looks like the restaurant entrance is really a door into a central hall that extends throught the building. On one side is the restaurant, and on the other side is a mercado (?) or small store.
The place was busy, but we were seated right away. Groups of Latino men were getting buckets of ice, with bunches of small bottles of Corona beer in them. They were eating oysters and shrimp, too. "Next time, that's what I want!" said VJ. But tonight we just got normal combination plates, tamales, soft tacos, and so on. Good and filling! The service was a bit confused -- did the young waitress not speak English, or was she just overworked, distracted, and hard of hearing? But we eventually got the water we needed.
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On the way back to the house, VJ had driven by the North Star Ballroom, which was where the dancing would be tonight, so I'd have no trouble finding it later. It was right in the neighborhood, one block off the same street as the restaurant, but closer to the freeway. I saw people working on getting the place set up as we drove by, so I was eager to get back! But first VJ gave me a key to the house so I could let myself in when I got back.
I returned to the North Star Ballroom not much later. It's a really cute place! An old, smallish Odd Fellows Lodge has been turned into a place that can be rented for events and such. It's been beautifully fixed up on the inside. Two local dance promoters and teachers have just started holding regular Monday night dances here.
I paid for the weekend events I'd signed up for, and went in and got my shoes changed. I saw some familiar faces already, folks I'd met in Portland before, or in Seattle or SwingOut Northwest. Some people knew me! They recognized my name from posts I've made on swing email lists, and had seen my picture on this site, I guess.
The dancing was great fun, of course! Marc D'Olimpio from San Francisco was the DJ for the first half of the evening. The room filled up fast. There certainly wasn't room for everyone to dance at once, but it was warm and humid enough that people needed to sit out and rest -- or go outside and cool off -- between dances anyway.
Most of the dancers were experienced in Lindy, but there were one or two I danced with who were beginners, or had been concentrating on six-count swing so far. Not a problem. But one young man wouldn't dance, when I asked him to! He said that he didn't lindy, so I suggested that he lead six-count, or whatever he was used to doing. Then he said the music was too slow! it wasn't inspiring him to dance. Ok! I said, and moved on. Indeed, I think he just watched for most of the night; I hope he had some fun doing it!
I did make an effort to dance with folks I don't normally get a chance to dance with, but there were some Seattle folks that I always have fun with, and when they ask me, I don't say no. John and I always have a blast together, making each other laugh.
So I got back to VJ's place around midnight. The room upstairs was blessedly cool and breezy, with two ceiling fans and an oscillating fan all going. (This room was originally two, and the removal of the dividing wall means that there are two ceiling light fixtures. Two doors, also, at odd angles to each other.) I reclined on the firm (but not too hard) futon, and read my book and listened to the tv-radio, until I fell asleep.
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