Yay!

So, exciting news, I have come to find out that I am the VP of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company! I did not know this... apparently PC thought I did, he and Chris knew at least. It was a very funny conversation. And while I am surprised and pleased, no one else seems to be surprised, although they are pleased for me. In other dance-related news: I had my first latin class today, any my hips are sore! Apparently the new latin medley costumes are also made, and they are red, yellow, and blue. It makes me a little worried, because I like Chris's fashion sense, but I can imagine some very hideous things in those colors. Anyway, classes are going well, friends are awesome! Yay for good things!

Traveling can be an Adventure....

Well, I'm back in Claremont, safe and sound. Finally. Mommy and Daddy and Kari saw me off at the airport, which was really nice because it was so early. And Emily and I got to sit together, which I think the guy who switched with me was really glad he did switch, because I could see us having been really annoying if we had been talking through the chairs. Anyway, we talked, and ate, listened to the pilot talk about the different mountains that we were flying over (which was really fun by the way, and we flew directly over Mt. Rainier, it was absolutely an incredible view. So amazing.) and good stuff like that, and about two hours into the flight, we noticed that we were losing quite a bit of altitude. Which was strange, because we definitely weren't to Ontario yet. And then the pilot gets on the intercom and tells us that they had a guage reading that there was a high oil temperature on one of the engines, so they went through their diagnostics, which said that it should be turned off, so we were going to stop in Oakland and get it checked out. Thus the loss of altitude, it was interesting. So, we landed in Oakland, and the baggage guys come over and start taking baggage off the plane, and we're waiting for them to give us a time update, and going, huh, interesting, why are they taking our bags away? And someone pages the flight attendent, and she gets this really shocked look when they tell her that the bags are being removed from the plane, so a couple minutes later she assures us that our bags are just being moved so that they could access the oil. So they told us that it might only be twenty minutes, so we were just sitting on the plane, and then it was going to be two hours. So we got off the plane while they made repairs, and they gave us miles and a calling card, and food money! So we went and got smoothies. Which, I had a peach and pineapple one which was absolutely one of the yummiest smoothies I've had. Eventually we got back on our plane and made it to Ontario, and our bags came through just fine, which was good. But then, since we were around two hours late, we got back to campus a lot later than expected, and I ran into most of my friends in the first five minutes of getting back! It was so fun! But I didn't have much to unpack, since I only have my suitcases and nothing from storage. Blah. But, I'll get everything done tomorrow, and see more people, and everything will be just fine to start classes on Tuesday. I swear it. We were all wishing that we had at least one more day to get in and get settled though. Apparently Pomona did Saturday returning students this year, which would be awesome. I wish. Oh well, I'll make do. Have fun everyone! I miss you!

Review

So I kept wanting to post over the last four days, and not being able to, so this is a compilation and review of the various things that I thought were interesting or exciting.

I can now say that I've been to Krispy Kreme after midnight, which was fun and interesting. I had no idea they served milk there, although I have to say I rather appreciated it. Milk and doughnuts is good stuff.

Funny work goings-ons: On Saturday we had another pink wedding. I don't understand it! It was also weird because apparently it was their second wedding. The grandmother had missed the first one for some reason, and was so upset about this that they had to have another one. So they had a fifteen minute ceremony, and then a full reception; for 200 people. Seemed a little much for a second wedding, but hey, why not? Sunday was Australian Lobster night, and it was absolutely insane. I haven't had a night that busy all summer. I was wishing I could clone myself. The funniest part was that they only had 24 lobster tails. So only the first 24 people got them, and yet they just kept on coming! Oh well, good tips. Monday we had an outside tournament, and spent the day blowing up inflatable palm trees (which, by the way are as tall as I am) and folding napkin cranes. I also got the weirdest comment I've had in a while: I went to go clean off a table that two guys were clearing of their scoring equipment, and the one asked if I was waiting to clean the table they weren't finished with yet, and I just jokingly said something to the effect of Yeah, just trying to clean you up a little. He said to the other guy: "She's good wife material. *pause* For someone better than us." Which, I suppose could be taken as a compliment, but really, I don't want to be good wife material because I clean things. Weird.

There were some bad puns that they made on the radio that reminded me of PC, although his are usually better I feel like. These ones made me groan they were so bad. The announcers were talking about Hempfest which happened over the weekend in Seattle, and were saying that they even had a mini-Olympics, with high-bar and high-jump contests, all performed on the grass. So bad.

Speaking of bad, I don't think I ever shared the really bad jokes that I heard from Julian: There were two antennas on a roof, and they decided to get married. The ceremony was not much to talk about, but the reception was great. And the second one: The invisible man met an invisible woman, and they were perfect for each other in every way, but their kids aren't much to look at. OK, enough with the bad jokes.

I go back to school in four days! It's insane. But, I've been getting to see all my family and friends, which is keeping me very busy while I'm not working, although it's tons of fun. I really need another week though, to take a break. But, not to be. I'll just hurry busy hurry myself right back down to school. Talk to you all soon!

IMAX

Did you know that the Harry Potter film I saw yesterday was almost nine miles long, weighed about a quarter of a ton, and, had it been filmed on an IMAX camera, the camera itself would have weighed between 80 and 100 pounds! It's insane! The one they took up to the top of Everest only weighed 42 pounds. Only. *shakes head in amazement* It also moves through the projector at a speed of about four miles an hour. That's really fast. Anyway, the movie was really good. I'm so glad I saw it again. I noticed different things this time, like the fact that the director likes shots that move through windows or glass of some kind, or stationary objects that you normally wouldn't be able to "pass through." It happens so much, it's not bad or good, just unique, and maybe a trademark. I just thought it was interesting. Sara and I also noticed that in the scene when Harry first goes into the Leaky Cauldron, there's a waiter/wizard who "disappears" an empty bottle of wine. I hadn't noticed it at all the first time, and we both saw it, and commented to each other at the same time. It was funny. The third movie is so much better than the first two, so much less childish. It's good. I look forward to the next four.

The amusing thing about last night was that we took a detour around downtown Seattle again getting back to the freeway. For those of you who know or have heard about my driving experience two weekends ago, we ended up in some of the same places, and it was so funny to me! I couldn't believe it. Silly one-way streets. They're so annoying! But, that's Seattle for you. Beautiful city, but the streets, bad news. :)

Pants Continued....

I finished my wrap pants!! They are so awesome! I love them to death. And I'm so proud of myself, that with my limited sewing ability, I can create something without a pattern, or another pair to look at, and have it come out right and well. I'm going to wear them out dancing on Thursday, and it's going to be so much fun! :) And I have enough fabric left to make a skirt, so I'm going to! Again without a pattern. Go me go!

Last night was an awesome night. I'm so glad we waited to have Matt's farewell dance, since there were so many more people there last night than there were on Saturday. It was just so much more fun. It was Max's last night too. He's headed back to WSU, so there were two of them in the circle that I knew, so that was a lot of fun. I'm so bad at circles though! I can't get into them for the life of me! I collided with Emily because I moved to the wrong spot when Matt was trying to trade us, and then I just couldn't find the right time to go in to dance with Max, so he came and got me, which was cool. It was really funny. I just felt sort of inept, which is amusing in its own way. It was overall a really good night though. Although I'm so sad that I won't see Matt again until December. I'm glad he'll be back though. So glad. I shall miss him greatly. But it will be really interesting to see what the reaction of the guys at the clubs is when Emily and I show up without him for the next two weeks. We shall see what happens. Anyway, send happy thoughts to Matt on his way to Rochester!

I got another postcard! This one was from Tahoe. I feel so loved! From Troy; it was so nice of her to send me one! :) It made me happy. So very happy.

And now that I've expressed all my jubilation at the happiness of the day, I'm off to the Seattle Science Center to see Harry Potter on the IMAX! :) Wheee!

Matt's Last Night

Tonight is Matt's last night here before he leaves for Rochester, so of course he has to come out dancing! But Sat. he told Emily and I that he probably wouldn't be coming in Monday. We were both shocked! Not only that he would think of not going, because he always goes. But worse, that he would think of not going on his last night here! It was just insane. So he has to come, because he has to have his going away dance, and Sat. was just not the night to do it, there weren't enough people there, not that we knew he wasn't coming tonight until after it was too late anyway! So he's going to come out tonight. We will drag his 6'3" to the club if we have to! :) It presents a very funny image. But I hope he has a good time tonight. It just wouldn't be right if he didn't go.

Coffee Messiah

Oh! I almost forgot! And how could I?! I have now been to the Coffee Messiah! And so have Matt and Emily. And you're probably all thinking I'm insane. The Coffee Messiah is a little coffee shop on Capitol Hill, and it has a neon sign in the window that says: "Caffeine Saves" which we have always found highly amusing every time we drive by it to the Russian Center. And we continually point it out to people we bring up there for the first time. Well, Thursday was Matt's last Thursday here, so we decided that we would treat him by going to the Coffee Messiah. So we went. And you have to realize that the people who hang out there are very Goth looking, which is cool in it's own way. But we really stand out. And Emily and I were a little worried we'd have to stay very close to Matt. But the atmosphere was one of well, you're not like us, but we don't care, you're welcome to come in here. And that was so cool! And the guy behind the counter was an absolute kick! So funny. And they have excellent Italian Sodas, so Emily and I have decided that we must go back next Thursday and get Italian Sodas. The most interesting thing about the shop was that they had musicians in the back, a bassist, and a violinist, and they were playing very avant garde music. I wouldn't necessarily say playing, because a lot of it was vocal. But, as Matt said, I wouldn't have expected anything less from the Coffee Messiah. The other great thing was that we walked in, it was dead quiet, Matt puts his hand on the counter, and all of a sudden, everyone applauded! It was very strange, until we found out that apparently Matt was the hundredth customer of the day. So that was funny. Anyway, very unique place. Good Italian Sodas. And I can now say I have been to the Coffee Messiah; although I didn't have any of their saving caffeine. :)

Pants!

OK, so why is it that at the end of school I was talking to several people about how I wanted to make wrap pants, and they all thought that was a very cool idea. And now, I'm the only one who hasn't yet made my wrap pants? *shakes head* It's not fair! It was my idea! But, I have the most awesome fabric now, so mine are going to be the coolest wrap pants ever!! Yay!

On a sad note, Dustin has left me. Well, he left the Club. But he didn't say goodbye! What a brat! ;) However, I thought Hugh had left too, and that made me so sad because I thought all my boys had left me! But Hugh was back today, he was on Whidbey filming a movie! And apparently it was really cool! He was working with people who are really famous! Like the sound guy that he was working under, had just come off the Bourne Supremacy. And lots of people like that. So that was very cool. And they were on the South end of Whidbey, using Whidbey High as the sets. I could have gone up to see him! Oh, and apparently extras aren't called extras anymore. They are "background artists" no one's extra, they're all necessary artists. ;) So funny. I'm so glad Hugh is back though! He makes the day go a little faster with his silliness. :)

I went to the art museum yesterday to see the modern art exhibit, and it was very cool! I'm very attracted to pointallism. I like it a lot. So time-consuming it must me. But it's so very cool how just little dots can combine to make a picture. Van Gogh is, of course, a master artist, and I enjoyed all of his work. Van Leck had some very interesting things, including one that looked like the people came right off a wall in Egypt! They were all turned funny directions, like the people carved are. Mondrian was the most interesting of them all. And while I did appreciate a couple of his paintings, there were also a few that I just didn't appreciate at all. A little too modern. ;) But I'm very glad I went, it was a very nice exhibit, although we decided afterward that it would have been nice to know what happened to all the paintings during WWII. Because they obviously all survived, but we wondered where and how. Because the Nazis destroyed a lot of things. It would be nice to know some more of the history behind the collection than we did, although we learned quite a bit about the woman who collected them. I recommend it, if you're in Seattle and get a chance though, artists are amazing.

Exchange = AMAZING!

So, this weekend, was probably the best weekend of dancing I've had ever. It was just incredible. I had so much fun! And it was such an experience to be able to dance with so many people that I otherwise wouldn't have had the opportunity to. There was a guy from Australia, and one from Boston, and a couple from Denver, SF, Whittier, all over the place! And it was such a blast! The live music was fabulous every single night. I love live jazz, and it's such a pleasure to dance to. Especially because no one knows exactly what they're going to play, so your musicality can by totally made up on the spot, instead of recordings, where you should kind of know what's going to happen next. The Solomon Douglas Trio that played at late night Sat. night was really good. I thoroughly enjoyed their mix of songs. And although I wasn't a huge fan of Porkpie, (I just didn't connect as well with their music) dancing in the Seattle Centerhouse was a ton of fun! Despite not always connecting completely with the music, I was still dancing really well, so it was a lot of fun. And I looked so cute! Because I wore my lindy pants! :) (No modesty. ;) ) But they were awesome. I love them to death. They're so much fun to dance in! Anyway, there were all kinds of people in the Centerhouse, just watching us, and it was a lot of fun. I danced with this one guy, who, while he didn't really know any lindy at all, pulled an aerial on me! It was crazy! It was totally unexpected, and while it was kind of cool, it was very strange. Most people wouldn't do that with someone they don't know. But hey, why not? Especially if that's the only cool thing you can do. We stayed until four Sunday morning at late night. It was fabulous! Partly because they had the Trio there, and they were awesome. And partly because that was the one night that we could actually stay most of the whole time. I spent the night at Emily's because it would have been a really bad idea to drive home, so that was nice. Plus, that meant that I could just sleep in, and then get up for the airshow that they were doing. It was incredible. From their deck, we could see the hydroplne races, and the entire airshow, and the blue angels flew right over the house, several times! It was so loud! But amazingly cool! And I met her cousin, who's twelve, and knows more about airplanes than any person I've ever met. It was amazing. He could give you all kinds of information on any plane that you wanted. He knew all the ones that were flying, and was even one-upping Emily's dad and his friend who know planes really well as well. Crazy! Anyway, it was so fun to see the planes. I don't remember having seen the blue angels in action before, and it was so fun to watch! They also had some people flying biplanes and things, which were really cool too. I have no desire to ever fly in one of those planes, I think I would get way too dizzy, it'd be like an extreme roller coaster, and while I like roller coasters, I'm not sure I'd want to "ride" one suspended in midair. I do admire the pilots though, they can do some absolutely amazing things. In the afternoon we went out and swam in the lake because it was such a nice day. It was fun. I haven't been swimming in a long time, and I haven't been swimming in a lake in so many years I can't even count. It was fun though. We swam down the island until we could see this amazing house. It had it's own sand beach (they had to have created it because there's no sand on MI.) And the house was humongous! It had this huge glassed in room on one end looking out over the water that Emily's brother told me was a pool. If I had that house, it'd be a ballroom. What an amazingly cool room with a view that would be to dance in! The house was crazy though. Way way way too much money!
Last night was also really fun. The band that played at the Century was really good. And although I wasn't dancing so well, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them. I had a couple of good dances though. Which was good. Late night was the best though. For whatever reason, I was suddenly dancing amazingly well! It was so fun! I wished I could have stayed longer, but at 2:30, it was definitely time to call it a night so that I could get home. Having not been home in over 24 hours, it was nice to be back. Although I really really wanted to stay. There was this one guy there, who I'd been watching most of the weekend because he was really really good. And I knew that if I didn't dance with him at late night last night, I wouldn't get to dance with him at all, because he wasn't from around here. So I went over and asked him, and he said "You're the third person who's asked me, but I have to go change my shirt, so I'll come find you after, you're number three." I was thinking to myself, OK, you seem like a nice guy, but you're good enough that you wouldn't have to come back and find me. It'd be disappointing, but understandable. But he came and found me! I was so excited! And we had an awesome dance! He was so good! SO good! I danced with a lot of really good people this weekend, it was really fun. Unfortunately I didn't get to watch many of the good girls, I was too busy dancing, but hopefully I improved a little! I certainly had fun. I am definitely going next year as well. There's no way I'd miss it! So much fun! Anyway, that's my rave review of the exchange, I'm done now. :) It's back to normal life for me again, work, and the U. *sigh* But, there'll be more dancing, just not quite as exciting.

You'll Never Guess...

Who I met last night!! It was so absolutely exciting! But first, the whole story. :)

So, I picked up Emily at her house, and then we met Matt and drove into Seattle. I ended up being very glad Emily was in the car with me, because there was so much traffic that we missed one of the right turns that the directions said to make, and therefore couldn't follow Matt anymore. He had been far enough ahead that we were having trouble following him anyway. The hilarious part was that we then tried to make our way back to it, and couldn't get there, there were just too many one way streets in the wrong direction, so we took a tour of downtown Seattle for about thirty minutes, which was highly amusing. We had fun, even if it was slightly stressful. And we did make it to the place, after going around this one block three different times. It was so funny! But we were really glad we had left early, otherwise we would have missed some of the band, and that would have stunk because they were really good. So we got there, and were really glad we had registered, because they couldn't let any non-registered people in, there were too many, so even the amazingly good people had to wait until ten, it was insane! So we went in, and told Matt about our adventure, because he had been there for a while, and then they announced the members of the band that would be playing that night. And when they said Matt Emswiler on bass, I froze, and went, I know that name. Can it really be him? How many Mike Emswilers who play jazz bass can there be?! And I looked over, and although it's been three years, and he does look slightly different, I was pretty sure it was him. But I wasn't sure he'd have any clue who I was, because we didn't really know each other. I knew his sister much better, but I had to try. The band was awesome! I loved their music. The only problem being that each song was about 20 minutes long, and when you're dancing with someone really good that's perfect, but when you're dancing with someone not so good, it's a really long time. But it was really good music, so I enjoyed it very much, and only had two dances that I would have preferred to be shorter than they were. So anyway, when the band took a break, Mike was still standing there, so I went over, and said hi as I walked up, and he said "Hi, you went to Kentridge." I replied "Yes, you did too." Apparently he'd seen me dancing out on the floor and recognized me! Which is way cool because I totally didn't expect him to recognize me at all! The legendary Mike Emswiler know who I am?! It had to be impossible. He didn't remember my name, but he knew I had been on Chatelaines, and so we talked about what we had been doing, and school, and what Sarah's plans are, and had a really nice conversation for at least ten minutes! It made me so happy! And apparently he comes back here every summer, and has played at the lindy exchange with this band for like three years! What a small world! But it was awesome! Anyway, Mike's really good, still as amazing as ever, and intends to go to school in New Jersey now. Very cool. That will be quite a change. The only thing I realized I forgot to ask him was whether he still kept in touch with Orlando or Jeff or anyone, it would have been nice to hear about those guys too. But it was really nice to talk to him! And so exciting to see someone I knew playing in one of the three bands that will play this weekend. So cool!
Last night was absolutely amazing! There were so many good dancers there, really good. And I had some fabulous dances. That was definitely one of the best nights I've had ever, and it's been since the beginning of the summer since I've had a night that good. It was so much fun! It was really fun to dance with people from other states, because I don't get the opportunity very often, and they were all really good, and had some different moves and styling, which was really fun to play with. It was just awesome! I had such a good time! So I'm very excited for tonight, because it should be awesome again, and I'm going to wear my lindy pants, which just make me happy anyway, so it should be a good night! I love it! I hope you all are having as much fun as I am! I'll write more when I get a chance. :)

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Wet Day

And if you don't know to which children's book I'm refferring, you've been deprived!

Anyway, today started off horribly! I sincerely hope it gets better! I also hate coffee! With a passion!! I had to be at work this morning at six-thirty. Which is fine, but I didn't get to bed until one because of dancing. So I was a little tired. So I went in, and I started the coffee, and went down to the ballroom to get the other stuff set up, and I walk back in, and Mama is there with a tablecloth out on the floor which is sopping up spilled coffee, and tells me that the spigot on the tank had been left open the night before, so when it started making coffee, it all just poured right out. Good thing she saw it! It made a HUGE mess though. And when I say huge, I mean it. I had set it to make ten liters. We ended up with it making about six, which means there were about four liters of coffee all over the counter and the floor. I had to get more dirty table cloths to soak it up, and then clean the counters, and of course it flows all over the clean glasses, so I had to pick out the coffee'd ones and put them to be washed again and then mop. But all that happened later, because I had to still get stuff set up downstairs, so Annie comes in and she's trying to help me, so she starts a pot filling from the tank to go downstairs, and then leaves, and I walk in just as it starts to overflow, fortunately, but then I had to clean the counter again! And then I almost overflowed a pot! Marg. I hate coffee! And then I got the really hot water on my hand, so my hands smell like coffee still, and are slightly burned from the heat of the coffee and the water. So, we get all the hot liquids figured out, and the breakfast ends up going really well. I won the wet shirt contest! So, our uniform is white long-sleeved shirt. And it's raining today. So the golfers have their breakfast out under the tent, and all the water that's on top of the tent is running off the sides, and I was changing the coffee pots for them, and in order to be behind the table, I was standing right where the edge of the tent is, which means that not only was I getting rained on, I was getting water run-off from the tent. I was pretty wet when I went back in. It was amusing though. I told the other girls we should have a wet t-shirt contest, but they wouldn't join me. ;) So, I get home from work finally, and can escape the making of more coffee and hot liquids, and decide that soup sounds really good for lunch. So I get out a can, and it's one of those pull-top kinds from Campbell's, so I pull of the lid, and chicken broth splashes all over me. I had to change my shirt. And then I got spilled milk on the table. Only a little, but goodness! I don't think I've spilled so much liquid in one day in my entire life! It was horrible!
And in the middle of it, this guy comes up to me and one of the other girls, and says: "Why did God make women beautiful and dumb at the same time?" And I'm just looking at him like Do you realize who you're talking to? The answer is: "He made them beautiful so that men would love them, and he made them dumb so that they would love men." Which I find amusing, although still slightly on the offensive side, although it's not any worse than blonde jokes.
But, today better get better because tonight officially starts the Seattle Lindy Exchange, and I want to dance well! I'm excited. Although a little tired, but, I'll be alright. A two-hour nap has really helped the tiredness. :)
Oh, by the way, it's really weird how two days away can put you totally out of the loop on things. *sigh* Ahh the wonders of technology.
I spent two days on Whidbey with my family, and it was fabulous. We saw an aircraft carrier go out on deployment from Everett. Those things are gigantic! I'd been next to a small one, and it was huge, but this was a full-size behemoth! It was enormous! It was funny though because Kari and I had been playing Battleship earlier that day, and there was a little destroyer, and then the huge carrier, and so we had to comment on how it was a two pointer and the five pointer that were passing. Crazy.
Anyway, wish me luck dancing the next few days, and leave comments! :)

Drunken Studies

No, I'm not at school yet, and no, I haven't been, nor do I intend to be drunk. However, the title seemed to fit one of the most intersting studies I've ever heard about. Rick, who also works with Elizabeth, and comes in and checks his e-mail at the computer next to the one I work on, was telling me about a study that he got approved through Human Services that involves getting people drunk. The idea is to see what goes on in the brain when people are drunk, since we know more about FAS, and the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcohol dementia but not really what happens when people are currently drunk. So he decided that getting people drunk, sticking them in the scanner, and having them do some cognitive tasks would be really interesting. And while it is really interesting, the most interesting part to me is that it got approved! It would never have occurred to study drunk people because I didn't think it would be allowed. Of course, he's got a lot of limitations, like people can't leave for three hours after the scans, which gives him time to do some more tests outside the scanner, and then they'll just watch movies or something. And he's only going to do men, because a man getting women drunk could be a bad idea. But still, it got approved. And I'm still slightly amazed. Although, considering that the Medical Center is right next to the university, I can't foresee there being any lack of subjects! ;) Anyway, I thought that was really interesting, and thought I would share. Any of you want to participate in a study? ;)

I am Loved!

I now have recieved two postcards from outside the country! One, from Sandor, was sent from Israel while he was there. The second I got just two days ago, from Paris, where Lindsay was for a week. My friends have visited some amazing places this summer! Someday I hope I'll get to go to some really neat places outside the country too. But for now, it's so fun to get postcards from them! It makes me feel special. :)