Tag Archives: Dancing

USO Swing Dance

Two weekends ago was full of fun. It started off with a girl I’d never met spending the night at my house. Why? Well, I’m going to Hawaii in 12 days now, and I’ll be traveling with this girl, Kara, to visit another one of my friends, Joanna. I know, confusing and random. But aren’t all the best things? Anyway, Kara and I hit it off from the start. I love it when that happens. We three will have quite the time!

IMG_0027E Saturday was very eventful. The main event was a USO swing dance at Memorial Hall, but much had to get done before that. 9am Kara and I drove to WalMart to pick up the necessities of breakfast: coffee and bacon. 9:45am we met up with the USO group for a brunch. Homemade espressos were made and consumed. They were fabulous. 11:30am we all went thrift shopping to find navy blue pants to complete an outfit for the evening dance. We also had to get some milk so we got regular as well as chocolate; we wouldn’t want to be racist. 1:15pm we returned home and made lunch. 1:30pm I finally got to play the much talked about game, Bang! 2:45pm lunch was served. 3:30pm everyone dressed up 1940’s style, and we took a few hurried photos. 4:30pm more Bang! 6:00pm the big group went to pick up Joanna at the bus stop since she was just coming back from a trip. Kara and I had brought her dress, shoes, make-up, curling iron and hat. So when she arrived, we rushed into the community bathroom to get her ready for the dance.

7:15pm we were off and arrived just 30mins after the doors opened and just in time for the music. Because the party doesn’t start until we walk in.

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Let me just say, I love Memorial Hall. It’s beautiful. And having everyone dressed in vintage attire and with retro hairstyles was fabulous. The dance floor was packed. And I mean packed. I haven’t been so tightly surrounded since I was riding the Beijing subways. And that’s saying a lot. After the first two dances, I stopped apologizing for stepping on people’s shoes. My black suede dancing shoes were very scuffed by the end of the night. But, you know, I really didn’t mind the crowds. It was something new. And yet so classic a feeling as well. The people, the building, and the live band really made the whole experience thrilling.

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At one point, the band played a polka. Bad idea with the number of couples. Let’s just say I barely made it out alive. And to conclude, here are some words of wisdom: avoid dancing closely to girls with tall skinny heels. It hurts when they step on you.

Devil’s Lake

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A few weeks ago, I went back to Devil’s Lake. I love it there. It’s one of my favorite places in the Midwest. I guess I always find the two 550ft cliffs and beautiful lake a shock after the two hour drive of seeing nothing but corn. And flat land. And more corn. Devil’s Lake is a break from monotony.

There are several paths that go up and around or just around the lake, but that’s not the best way to go. I prefer to go straight up. Instead of hiking along the paths, I go climbing over the boulders. It’s always a bit challenging especially because I’m slightly lacking in height. But it’s always my favorite part. Something about going off the trail and using every appendage and all parts of your body to get somewhere and accomplish something is very satisfying.

(Thanks to Joanna Kay and James for some of the photos!)

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Independence Celebration

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It’s that time of the year. The time for fireworks! It’s that time when we lay outside looking up at the array of falling lights and listening to the ground shaking bangs and booms. I love fireworks. They never cease to amaze me.

This year, my neighborhood fireworks show was even better than years previously because of the joy that a good coterie can bring. It was an incredible night.

It took many trips to and from the house to get all the necessities to watch the fireworks (i.e. blankets, tarp, music), which only added to the comedy of the whole thing.

The fireworks themselves didn’t disappoint, but we still felt the need to commentate, rate, and name them. There was a very fantastic “hipster” firework.

After the show, we all danced to classic Frank Sinatra and smooth Michael Bublé because what’s a good time without dancing? I’ve actually been able to dance lindy-hop with several people since they have learned. It makes me happy. Then late night walks over bridges, throwing pebbles in the pond, and — at home — cheese cake, tea, and Psych waiting for us. All in all, a fine night.

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Spring Formal

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And another occasion to get classy: Hallstrom’s spring formal. Apparently the theme was “A Night of Enchantment” — an intriguing theme choice, but who am I to judge this dance? I merely noticed how much of a homeschool event this was. Thursday night, ends at 10:30pm, sibling photo shoots beforehand, big deal about seniors, songs from who knows how long ago, about twenty parents sniping from all corners — you get the picture. Actually, speaking of parents, mine decided it would be funny to show up. Yeah… That was so funny. But the people were great. We did our best to party like it was a Friday night.

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Prom: A Night in Paris

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I had a new experience this past week; I went to prom. And surprisingly with a date. Of course, there was a lot of pre-prom teen drama, but when the actual day came, prom was well worth the hormonal preamble. (I will say this for prom, it surely shows peoples’ true colors.) My amazing sister made me a gorgeous prom dress and my date a bow tie in 12 hours. And we looked top. I think we had a little too much fun taking photos. Let me just say, photo bombed for the win. (Shout out to Joanna for being a fabulous photographer and putting up with our nonsense.)

With my brother and his date we went to an Asian restaurant downtown and I got some duck. Later we walked along the river and shouted, “I ate you!” at every duck we saw. We also noted the amount of mainstream ducks there were in the Rock River… I think that time downtown was perhaps the highlight of my evening.

And then for the actual prom. Amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun at a dance before. The DJ played a lot of songs that I first heard in Jamaica, so that brought back good memories, as well as some new classics. Cuz’ we be on our suit and tie while thrift shopping. What, what?

Even the car ride home was a party — although we were all about to fall asleep.

Definitely worth going. So many memories; so many goodtimes.

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