Saturday Night

Saturday nights, generally, are when I do nothing at all. There just seems never to be anything happening on Saturday. This seems to me to be one of the odd aspects of New Orleans, or of my New Orleans. So Saturday tends to be the day I don't do anything at all. Today was one of those. It became decisively so as I felt worse and worse through the day. My head and neck hurt a lot and I don't really know why, but it's kept me from doing anything.

The one thing I did do was convert my new Big Ship record to MP3. It's cool that they put out their album on vinyl, but a pain in the ass. I also looked for songs for Sarah. I don't know what she's looking for.

It's been a little stange and not so great to be back after Thanksgiving. I was the least happy I've ever been to get back into town, but I think that's mainly because I was so tired. I left Pennsylvania around 3 in the afternoon and drove straight through to arrive in New Orleans aroudn 8:30 the next morning. Then I had to unload and return the car. It hadn't even occured to me that I would have to get back from the rental place, so I got a bike ride out of it too. It actually felt really good to be on the bike. Strangely so-- especially as I was so tired. The trip was so long. It rained a lot, and snowed just a little in Virginia. The minivan I was driving was pretty miserable. I have a Mazda 5 minivan-like-thing as my work car, and getting into that I felt like I was in a sports car by comparison. I'll spare you my rant on the placement and configuration of windshield wiper controls, though. (They should be on the right, and don't give my anything on the stalk that I have to twist.) I also had a revelation about dashboard lighting that probably no one cares about.

It was strange to be back in PA. I wasn't there for long, but it felt like I was away from here for a long time. I didn't really do anything while I was there. Thanksgiving was strange, partly because I didn't really seem to have anything to say. I ended up peppering everyone with songs to listen to and videos to watch, but didn't really know what to talk about.

It was a long and pointless week at work, mainly involving a lot of pointless training. I also really didn't get out to do anything. I hardly saw Sarah, and Shani didn't get back until Wednesday. Friday was a bad day. On Thursday, Shani and I got talking and she showed me a lot of video clips of dancers she knows. The Sarah appeared and we all got talking. The only thing I remember specifically was a lot of talk of Meschiya and the Marbles, and what a shame it is that she's not with them anymore. Sarah wondered whether Mush knows just how much she's appreciated and the effect she has on people. I hope so. We all miss her.

Anyway, we were up talking until 3, which meant I was terrifically late for work on Friday. I don't think anyone actually noticed, but it's not good. I was out in the field for awhile, then I got back to the office to find that my boss had already left for the day, which didn't make me happy because I felt I should check in with her. There was a very annoyed email from her, though, about how I had left a document open on my computer that she needed, preventing her from opening it. I finally left just in time to get to Chance's class, which completed what felt like an off week.

I got there any almost no one was there. It started a half hour late and there were still only about 15 people instead of the usual 50-60. In a way that was good, but not so good for Chance and Nathalie and the band. It was also a reminder of why I sometimes skip it-- It's open to anyone, and it can be fun, but you have to be in the mood to help beginners. Sometimes that's fun, sometimes not. I was pleased to see Werndy show up because I know she's good. She came around to me when we were working on swingouts and said something really self-deprecating. I thought that was weird, because I'd done other workshops with her, and she's quite good. But not last night. I don't know what got into her, but she was really goofy. Finally, at the end of the night, I got to dance with Shani, and it was like a revelation. It was utterly unlike any other dance I had that night. She's so good, and swingouts with her remind me why one would want to do a swingout-- especially after a night of no good ones. The only problem was that the song ended up being a marathon. I was desperate for it to end, I was so exhausted. It turned out to be the last song anyway.

It's time for sleep now, but there's plenty to say about the city if I can remember what I was thinking. Later.