New Years Eve SONW
For tribal man space was the uncontrollable mystery. For technological man it is time that occupies the same role.
-- Marshall McLuhan
Sunday, December 31, 2000
One year ago: New Year's Eve
Two years ago: Swing Out V
Two years ago: New Year's Eve
I had only a few hours sleep, since I went to the late night dancing. But I wanted to get my newsletters out at breakfast, so folks would know about the planned EXTRA edition to come later in the day. So I just put on my shoes and coat, keeping my velour pants on. Unfortunately the pants are a bit too long! I hadn't noticed them dragging on the ground when wearing them inside, but outside they were soon damp along the hem. Phooey!
I dropped off newsletters in the cafeteria and the lounge, then went immediately back to bed for a few hours. I think I did sleep some more.
After officially getting up, I wandered back to the lounge. Melanie Moore was busily typing on the computer that was officially there to display the digital pictures everyone was taking, which will be compiled into a CD-ROM later. She said it was something for the newsletter. I thought it looked long, so I warned her I might have to trim it to fit. I was startled when I actually read it -- it was a very serious article! I was glad I had this extra issue to put it in, since it was something that needed to be talked about. She'd disagreed with someone on camp staff about the proper type of teaching for beginners, and she'd been very eloquent about it.
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I don't know how many people had actually picked up the newsletter at breakfast, but they did read it at lunch. There was a ransom note at the end of the second page -- the pink stuffed-toy poodle had gone missing, and a camper had written a ransom note. I claimed to have no idea as to how it had gotten into the issue! In aid of the decorations for the New Years Eve dance, they passed out balloons and we all blew up a few.
After lunch I had the last balboa class of the camp. Working on this smooth fast dance consistently for the last few days has been really fun! Rob and Diane are good teachers; maybe I'll go to the dance camp they are putting on next September.
I'd set a 3 PM deadling for this EXTRA issue. I did have a bit of empty space, but the long essay by Melanie took up the front page. I printed out my originals and drove to the convenience store up the road, the Jackpot (an interesting name). They had a copier where it worked on the honor system, no putting money in the slot. I did 100 copies, front and back, which did take a while. When I went to leave, the clerk jokingly said he thought I'd set up camp in the back of the store! He rang up 150 copies, but I told him he needed to charge me more, because each page was two sides! I'm glad I did, because besides the honesty factor, his boss was hanging around behind the counter. The boss agreed with me (the clerk was new, I guess), but said to charge a lower price for the second side since I'd already paid for the paper.
I was back around five thirty, so the extra edition came out with dinner. People read the essay intently! I heard later that the instructors and staff had quite a discussion about it. I'd made sure that the exact identities of the people involved couldn't be figured out, since it's the principle that was interesting, not who said what.
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After dinner we had time to get dressed in a leisurely fashion -- I knew what I was going to wear, but some other women on the hall had alternatives that we looked at and gave opinions on. I was wearing my sweetheart neckline black velour top, and my burnout silk chiffon circle skirt (I like the way it moves!).
As I drove out to the fairgrounds for the last time this year, I noticed that the cops were already out in force! But despite my irrational feelings of guilt, they didn't pull me over.
The decorations looked great! They'd put some sort of wall covering, dark blue with stars, all over the walls. there was an arch with tiny lights at the door, and the ceiling was covered with hanging stars also.
The place was soon crowded enough that I decided to sit out, and only dance when asked. This saved my feet, and helped the crowding. When people actually asked me to dance, it was a treat! I'd say I stuck to this about 90 percent of the time, only giving in and asking when a partner I especially wanted to dance with was looking around the room (presumably not seeing me).
The refreshments, served in a side room, were good! There was plenty, too. When they started doing the thank-yous in the main room, someone came and told me to go back out there. I did, but -- psych! -- my name wasn't called. I can't bitch too much about this, since I'd certainly lobbied for keeping this part of the evening brief. An endless stream of thankyous to staff, instructors (thanked the night before) and volunteers bores the rest of the camp stiff! I know this from my time as a worker/intern at the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra.
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Before we knew it, it was time to count down to midnight. I wonder how often this is accurate, when we aren't watching tv or something. "Three...two...one..2001!" Happy New Year! They had a balloon drop, and everyone had those popper "champagne" bottles that send out streamers and confetti. People were jumping up and down and cheering. For some reason, people started stomping on all the balloons we'd blown up at lunch. I'd rather have had them kicking around the dance floor.
I was hugging some buddies when Devin grabbed me for the first dance of 2001, as the band got going again. A huge circle dance developed near us, so we joined in, boogying around and doing the hokey pokey and such. Very pagan! I thanked him for making the first dance such a good one. I'm sure we'll have good dance luck this year.
All too soon, George Gee and the band were done. (They refused encores both last night and tonight. Were they pissed?) The lights came up. I started digging around under the chairs for my dance bag. Just like the other night when I couldn't find my coat and dance bag for the longest time (but they were there all along), I didn't find my bag until I went around the entire room, looking under every chair. A lapse of short-term memory meant that I thought I'd put it in an entirely other part of the room than where it finally appeared.
I drove back to camp, picking up a few folks that were already walking. I changed to normal clothing, then went back for more late-night dancing. Exhausting but fun!
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