Lindy Exchange 2   We are persons of quality, I assure you, and women of fashion, and come to see and to be seen. -- Ben Jonson

Saturday, July 24, 1999
One year ago: Sore Throat
Two years ago: White Teeth, White Hands

What bliss, to sleep as late as I wish! I ran downstairs early to pee (a disadvantage of an older house -- the bathroom on the first floor, added on at some time) and Joseph was already up, using VJ's laptop in the living room. I sank back into bed and sleep for several more hours. When I did wake up, and again, often through the weekend, took advantage of sleeping in the "computer lab" by reading my email and webstuff on one of the PCs there.

Sarah came and picked us up, and we went off to breakfast. The first place had a line spilling out onto the sidewalk, so we drove across town to another place. Before parking there, we needed to drive by -- Sarah had found it closed on a visit earlier in the week, so we needed to confirm that we'd be able to eat. Yes! it was open -- the earlier failure caused by a new schedule of being closed on Mondays. And we had good parking karma, finding a space right on that block. There was a short wait, during which I wandered by the windows of the antique store on the corner.

We were seated at a booth in the back corner. The place was done up with souvenir plates, brochures, and postcards, with a Viewmaster on every table. I had good homemade corned beef hash. Lots of bell peppers and onions, red potatoes, cheese, and real corned beef. I liked the complexity of flavors in the meat, from the spices it was cooked with. The other three eat breakfast together often, and got themselves caught up on the latest news and gossip.

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Later in the afternoon, the three of us set off for the garden party we'd been invited to. (Well, they'd been invited. My arrival was to be a delightful surprise!) First, though, we had to stop at Fred Meyer on the way. The party givers had requested silliness, if we wanted to contribute any, and that seemed a likely place to look for some. I also needed underwear (how did I leave home without that!?) and a set of earphones. I thought I'd forgotten mine, but my old ones actually were in my bag all along, tangled up with some item of clothing.

We found those items, and some stuff for blowing bubbles, and I grabbed some of my favorite green tea therapy shower gel. I still find that scent very soothing. VJ and Joseph resisted buying a 1-inch screen Watchman color TV, but it was a near thing.

Again, Vicki Jean made a point of driving by the place where I'd be dancing tonight, thereby greatly increasing the chances that I'd be able to find it later. Little by little, the structure of the areas of Portland that I'm traveling through is becoming clearer to me.

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The "garden-warming" party I invited myself to was being given by Kate Yule and David Levine. They are fannish friends of mine, and I knew they wouldn't mind me adding myself to the party.

This was the first time any of us had been to their house. It's a craftsman-style house, freshly painted in "yacht" blue and white, with some details picked out in a warm dark red. I especially liked the unusual railings on the porch, done with broad, uncial-like curved c-shapes.

It was starting to sprinkle as we arrived, so at first we were occupied taking the food indoors. Then it stopped, so the party continued in the garden, the dining room, and the front porch, instead of being concentrated in the back. The new garden is very nice, with a small patio in one half of the yard, and a small lawn in the other, tastefully bordered with various shrubs and perennials. The plant most prominently in bloom right now was a deep purple clematis that had been "borrowed" from the back neighbor -- grown over the fence and down again.

I chatted with the other guests, including David and Kate's gay-squaredancing friends. Later on, Kate gave a small tour of the house. The bookshelves that run the lenght of the finished attic were great! They were built by David to fit their collection, with the proper amount of shelf feet being devoted to paperbacks, hardbacks, oversize and so on. I also liked the game and costume room, which had all their con badges on the wall.

VJ and Joseph felt like wandering the neighborhood, so they left for a while. I sat in the garden and chatted with John Lorentz and Ruth Sachter, some other fans I know from Orycon. We were having a good time, so I didn't feel marrooned there.

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Back at home, we had Papa Murphy's home-bake pizza for dinner, then I set off for the dance. There had been a lindy hop workshop going on during the day, which I had decided not to sign up for. I wanted to spend some time with my hostess!

The band hadn't yet started when I arrived. The dance venue was the Norse Hall, belonging to the Sons of Norway lodge. These lodge halls are really a great resource for us dancers. There was DJ music playing. Travis asked me to dance, a "warm-up dance," he called it. He has a very athletic style, and is very creative!

I was shocked -- when I asked one man to dance, he flat turned me down! Nothing about him needing a break, or already having a partner for that dance. Because of the music playing, I didn't quite hear him the first time; he had to repeat it! At first I thought that he was one who had just come to hear the music, since the band is good. But I did see him dancing later on. I wonder if I offended him when I was down in Portland in April? Did we dance at that workshop? It's possible, I guess; but I don't remember doing such a thing. Oh, well, his loss.

I enjoyed the band -- Lily Wilde and her Jumpin' Jubilee orchestra. I went ahead and bought the CD! I did sit out more than I like during the course of the evening (this was to be a theme for the weekend) but I danced enough that I was pleasantly tired by the end of the night. The hall was warm and humid, enough so that hanging out on the front steps of the building was a pleasant change.

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