Greatest Hits of 2007

Since 2008 is rapidly approaching, I thought I'd take a look back at 2007 before it completely leaves me in the dust. It's been a good year, and I managed to travel to more places than I realized. Also, it was the first full year in which I owned a digital camera (yeah, I know, I was probably the last person on earth to jump on that bandwagon. So I'm a slow tech adapter, so what?). Thus, I present to you (*deep booming announcer voice*) "Places Kay Has Been This Year."

Okay, so the title of my photo essay needs work, but you get the idea.

January: The Deep South

This was taken in the tiny town where my grandmother lives. In case you're confused, allow me to explain: This is a Baptist church that sells fireworks. I love the cross behind the sign, don't you? It implies that pyrotechnics don't just illuminate the night sky -- they illuminate the darkness of your very soul, too.

February: Barcelona Vacation

Park de la Ciudadella

Park Guell

Park Guell again


The gardens of Teatro Grec at Montjuic

La Sagrada Familia

March: Home Sweet Home

The Jefferson Memorial


The Washington Monument


The Smithsonian Kite Festival at the Washington Monument


May: Business Trip to Las Vegas

The Strip as seen from my room on the 29th floor of the Mandalay Bay

Nighttime

October: My Cousin's Wedding in Seattle

View from the ferry


Pike Place Market




And because I couldn't resist...

(Swing) Dancing Fool

I could probably write an entire book on why I love to swing dance. And believe me, I know that not everybody feels the same way I do. “You swing dance?” people ask me, with one eyebrow raised politely. It's as if they were to say, “You churn butter in a wooden barrel? How quaint!”

Call it quaint, call it weird, call it whatever you want; I don’t care. I love swing dancing mostly because the dance floor, to me, is life’s great equalizer. I’ve met so many interesting people through dancing whom I never would have met otherwise -- lawyers, doctors, elevator repair technicians, freshmen in high school. They each have a story to tell. And we create new stories together on the dance floor.

Two years ago I didn’t know how to swing dance. And if someone had suggested to me that I try it, I would have said, “Why? I think I’ll stick to writing, thankyouverymuch.” Even though I had been dancing for years and years, the idea of swing dancing didn’t appeal to me at all. It was... antiquated. And I’d have to touch strange men. Definitely not for me.

But then I read this article in the Washington Post Magazine, and the idea of swing started to percolate in the back of my brain. I was touched by the story of Steve and his partner F.G., and I had a lot of spare time to kill with nothing to do. (I had recently started working, and I was having problems adjusting to post-college life.) Instead of wondering why anybody would want to swing dance in the first place, I thought why not give it a try? What's the worst that could happen?

It took me six months to work up the courage to give it a shot. And once I tried it, I was hooked. The WaPo Magazine article makes more sense to me now -- every anecdote in the story resonates with a deeper meaning. I actually have something to look forward to in my life, which is a big contrast to the days when I would come home from work and watch Friends reruns until bedtime. Now I get cranky during weeks when I’m too busy to dance.

Two years ago, I didn’t even know who the legendary Frankie Manning was. Now I’ve met him, taken a class from him, and had him sign his autobiography for me. I’ve also met Steve. He knows my name. We dance together occasionally. He likes to make silly faces while we’re dancing to get me to laugh. I’ve never told him that I read the WaPo story about him and that it inspired me to learn swing dancing -- I'm too shy to admit it. I think it would just embarrass him anyway.

Steve is one of many people I dance with. In fact, I’ve danced with so many men that sometimes one will come up to me and greet me by name even though he doesn’t look familiar at all. I’m pretty good with names and faces, so it’s always slightly troubling (and embarrassing) when that happens.

And then there are the people I can’t forget even if I tried. There’s T. the mechanical engineer whose mother just passed away from cancer. And A. the struggling grad student who is finally ABD (all but dissertation). There’s B. who is annoyed that his youngest has moved back in with him. And C. who works as a fancy scientist and is studying the use of laser beams on the moon -- or is it the use of lasers at the speed of light? There’s also a deaf gentleman, whose name I unfortunately do not know. He has taught me how to say a few things in American Sign Language, and he’s a better dancer than most hearing people.

Last week, I got to see the Jive Aces perform -- they're the U.K.’s number-one jive and swing band. They attracted a sell-out crowd of more than 800 people to the ballroom. Old people, young people, all kinds of people came, and it was so crowded that it was difficult to dance. The band looked sharp in their matching yellow zoot suits. At one point, the trumpet player jumped off the stage into the crowd of dancers, grabbed a woman, and danced with her while he continued to play the trumpet. He didn’t miss a note. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen on the dance floor. Everyone went nuts.

I danced until the bitter end, and after the show I got to meet the band. Y’all, they KISSED ME. And they signed a CD for me, too. I’m still reeling from that...

...and I don’t ever want this feeling to go away.

A List of Things that are Frunny*

*Frunny = funny + frightening

1. There is a huge void in my life now that season 5 of Dancing With the Stars is over. The new season of Project Runway doesn't even make up completely for the emptiness that I'm feeling.

2. This week, our office held its annual holiday party. Except that it was not called a holiday party. The Powers That Be decided that our celebration shall henceforth be known as a "thank you luncheon" because the word "holiday" is too politically incorrect and offensive to those who do not celebrate the holidays. During the event, everybody knew deep down that we were celebrating the holidays.

3. My 60-year-old father received a coupon for Victoria's Secret in the mail recently. He has never once set foot in a Victoria's Secret store, nor does he plan to in the future.

4. I can't think of a single thing that I want for Christmas. I was asked to come up with a list, but my mind is actually drawing a complete blank. This is a first for me, and I don't think I like it.

5. Some bitch in a Jeep Cherokee rear-ended my new car at a red light. We pulled over, and as we were inspecting the damage to my bumper, she said, "I think those scratches were there before I hit you." And she would know because...?

6. I received a spam message the other day from "Lt. Holloway" of the U.S. Army. He wanted me to safeguard a hoard of cash that he found in an abandoned building in Iraq. "This may sound illegal to you," he wrote, "but I have suffered so much to protect your freedom that I thought you might be willing to help me."

7. As my mother and her coworker were leaving their office building to go on their lunch break, they saw two people having sex in the parking garage. It was 40 degrees outside, yet the man had his pants around his ankles and the woman had no pants whatsoever. My mother's coworker took a picture on her camera phone, and the couple was completely oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. This story is even better if only you knew where my mother works -- let's just say she works at a county-run organization for children.

As you can see, the trite phrase "there's never a dull moment" doesn't even BEGIN to sum up my life over the past few weeks.