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Convention Notes: Day 3 (Monday July 4th)
Monday we woke up late and ate breakfast in the room (I brought some good stuff from home.) We were expecting to be well fed at the Brunch, but when we got there after dancing a few tips, the food was undernourishing -- a tiny quiche with maybe 1 egg in it, a small cup of yogurt and muesli, altogether about half of what I would usually eat for lunch and way too low on protein. They did, of course, offer a full plate of chocolate chip cookies, which are much cheaper than providing real healthy food. The lack of coffee at the meal deals and the skimpy protein portions were my only real complaints about the arrangements with the hotel, since they fixed the lack of water early on quickly and kept it coming.
The brunch continued with a mercifully short annual meeting and presentations from the up-and-coming Conventions in Anaheim and Denver. Anaheim has a cute schtick featuring a Disney theme -- Snow White, seven dwarves, other Disney characters used, which I presume is not a copyright violation because it's so obviously not for profit and a harmless parody. This went on way too long, alas, and they duplicated a lot of their presentation in a video. Denver's presentation was also too long, and too uncleverly scripted, but it was fun watching them continue the night's theme of going shirtless for attention, which Rusty Tooley had used. The most successful 50/50 ticket sellers were also shirtless. I think they're setting a bad precedent here, because it's not always pretty when square dance people remove clothing!...
I was feeling guilty about not specifically serving as a volunteer. While I did some fill-in jobs, I didn't commit to anything in advance. OTOH, I had spent hours and hours putting together and addressing the newsletters in previous months, and Paul did enough for five people, so I guess all the housework I've had to do while Paul kept his job and also did Convention work was also a contribution. OK, I no longer feel guilty.
Danced several more times with JC (that courtly, tall Latin fellow.) He tries to really dance -- that is, move with grace and fluidity, rather than running from place to place or plodding in a workmanlike fashion to get to his position like so many others. He knows the calls much better than he did last year, and it's a pleasure to dance with him. I hear castanets when I remember. One of my missions on the last day was to get his contact info, which he guards carefully. He also told me how he came to disappear from the Leather Tip the previous evening: I was in the bathroom and he was washing his hands nearby when a Spanish-speaking gentleman started a conversation with him. The conversation ended in English with the unknown gentleman's suggestion they should get together, with some hint that their shared heritage (or something) meant they'd have to get together sometime. So JC told me he had been so annoyed (I presume by this, though he didn't directly say so and I don't think he realized I was near enough to hear) that he left for the night. Awww. I guess I am inured to the pushy rudeness of some people. Like their dance form, they can't be bothered to find a graceful way to get to where they want to go.
We decided to leave after dancing to Andy (aka![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
otterpop58) for a few tips after the BBQ dinner (also disappointing.) I was tempted to stay for Michael Kellogg, who is terrific, but we were getting pretty tired and we'd just had a great square do flawless work, so with the thought of quitting while we were ahead, away we went. As we passed, I told Andy we were leaving and he made me come up and give him a hug. But the evil man also made an announcement that "Dr. Scott and Excessor are leaving, wish them a safe trip," (or something like that.) Andy loves embarrassing me. I shall have to think of a way to return the favor. [g]
I'd say it was a big success, all in all. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I realized how much I love my sweetie. It is so great to have a partner who understands how I feel about people and doesn't start sniping at or undermining me in a sneaky attempt to punish me for having feelings for other people. I had a great time flirting and socializing, and wish there had been more.
The brunch continued with a mercifully short annual meeting and presentations from the up-and-coming Conventions in Anaheim and Denver. Anaheim has a cute schtick featuring a Disney theme -- Snow White, seven dwarves, other Disney characters used, which I presume is not a copyright violation because it's so obviously not for profit and a harmless parody. This went on way too long, alas, and they duplicated a lot of their presentation in a video. Denver's presentation was also too long, and too uncleverly scripted, but it was fun watching them continue the night's theme of going shirtless for attention, which Rusty Tooley had used. The most successful 50/50 ticket sellers were also shirtless. I think they're setting a bad precedent here, because it's not always pretty when square dance people remove clothing!...
I was feeling guilty about not specifically serving as a volunteer. While I did some fill-in jobs, I didn't commit to anything in advance. OTOH, I had spent hours and hours putting together and addressing the newsletters in previous months, and Paul did enough for five people, so I guess all the housework I've had to do while Paul kept his job and also did Convention work was also a contribution. OK, I no longer feel guilty.
Danced several more times with JC (that courtly, tall Latin fellow.) He tries to really dance -- that is, move with grace and fluidity, rather than running from place to place or plodding in a workmanlike fashion to get to his position like so many others. He knows the calls much better than he did last year, and it's a pleasure to dance with him. I hear castanets when I remember. One of my missions on the last day was to get his contact info, which he guards carefully. He also told me how he came to disappear from the Leather Tip the previous evening: I was in the bathroom and he was washing his hands nearby when a Spanish-speaking gentleman started a conversation with him. The conversation ended in English with the unknown gentleman's suggestion they should get together, with some hint that their shared heritage (or something) meant they'd have to get together sometime. So JC told me he had been so annoyed (I presume by this, though he didn't directly say so and I don't think he realized I was near enough to hear) that he left for the night. Awww. I guess I am inured to the pushy rudeness of some people. Like their dance form, they can't be bothered to find a graceful way to get to where they want to go.
We decided to leave after dancing to Andy (aka
otterpop58) for a few tips after the BBQ dinner (also disappointing.) I was tempted to stay for Michael Kellogg, who is terrific, but we were getting pretty tired and we'd just had a great square do flawless work, so with the thought of quitting while we were ahead, away we went. As we passed, I told Andy we were leaving and he made me come up and give him a hug. But the evil man also made an announcement that "Dr. Scott and Excessor are leaving, wish them a safe trip," (or something like that.) Andy loves embarrassing me. I shall have to think of a way to return the favor. [g]I'd say it was a big success, all in all. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I realized how much I love my sweetie. It is so great to have a partner who understands how I feel about people and doesn't start sniping at or undermining me in a sneaky attempt to punish me for having feelings for other people. I had a great time flirting and socializing, and wish there had been more.
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The shame of these things is that you never get enough time to spend with people. I wouldn't mind a week-long Convention, myself, with the dance schedule a little less intense to allow for more non-dance time. Some smaller resort we could completely take over would be nice.