Vancouver in the Rain

Something lovely we found engraved on a stone while walking on a beach in Vancouver...

"Vancouver is famous for its rain. It can rain here for weeks on end, but it does not usually bother me. However several years ago I found myself close to being thoroughly disgusted with the rain.

I walked home from work one evening in the pouring rain mumbling under my breath the whole way that this weather was only suited to ducks. The building I lived in was large and square and it surrounded a brick courtyard. I came around the corner into the courtyard and there, to my amazement, was a beautiful Peking duck, in a huge puddle in the middle of the courtyard, quacking and splashing with obvious delight. I had to smile, glad that such joy could be found in the gray wetness of such a day.

I have often thought that we do not have nearly enough words for the rain, especially as this was once a rainforest. There is blooming rain, whispery rain, rain that lulls you to sleep, and rain on the leaves which sings you awake; there is soft rain, hard rain, sideways rain, rain that makes you instantly wet, and rain that leaves soft kisses on your cheek, like wings on a butterfly.

Rain brings us all the shades of gray, but it also brings us all the wonderful greenery that surrounds us and blesses us." ~~ Reagan D. Andrade - December 1999

Isn't that beautiful?

That's my friend Ian on the rock with that engraving.

Five years ago, I was on the S.S. Caribbean Princess. After a full night of swing dancing, I went outside about 4:00 am to get some fresh air. A bit exhausted, I placed my arms on the highly polished wooden railings and watched the rushing waves below as well as gazed out into an endless sea. At that moment, I whispered a prayer of thanks as I felt warm winds caress my face and lift my hair.

Throughout all this, I had no idea that eyes watched me. Ian quietly approached me, said hello and asked if I would like to dance. I smiled a silly grin. We walked back into the ballroom inside and waltzed every song until the first rays peaked over the pink horizon...

Thank you, Ian, for being a gracious host to my visit to breathtaking Vancouver
...and for a being true friend.

2009 Dancing Under the Stars back on!!

I went with a few friends to Paseo Colorado and had a great time! This past Saturday, Kid and Nic were playing and they were awesome!! I had such a great time. Not as big a crowd as other years - which I prefer, because you actually have some swing-out room. Hope to see you guys there and please be Golden Sponsor!

More information below:

Saturday nights for four weeks this summer we will be swing dancing outdoors under the stars at the Paseo Colorado. We are putting down a large wooden dance floor, and we have hired a line up of the best local swing bands. We will teach a lesson from 6:30 to 7:00, and bands will play from 7-9:30pm.

JULY 11th- Flattop Tom and the Jump Cats

JULY 18th- Kid and Nic Band (They were awesome!!!)

JULY 25th- The Esquires Big Band

AUGUST 1st- The Eric Ekstrand Ensemble


The Paseo has always sponsored this event, but due to hard economic times this year they feel they cannot. Therefore, PBDA is putting this together ourselves because we believe this wonderful event should continue.

If you are interested in helping support this effort, we are looking for sponsors. Every evening we will be selling 20 seats at a Golden Sponsors table, which includes: reserve seating, recognition for you and/or your business, and a chance to win 10 free passes ($150 value) to our regular Saturday night dances when they resume in September. Reserve your seat today, please contact us at 626-799-5689 or e-mail them at pbda1@earthlink.net.

Frankie Manning 1914 - 2009

I received some sad news today as I was going through airport security. I had heard a week a go that Frankie had gone into the hospital, Last night Kyle had told me that Frankie had was not doing well and the doctor had given him less than 24 hours. This isn't happening, I was in total denial. I prayed last night him and his continued comfort.

As soon as I saw Cindy's phone number show up (she lives in Denver), I knew it couldn't be good news and the truth was spoken when I heard her voice and the sob she tried to stiffle. Frankie had passed this morning around 7:00 a.m. EST. He went into a coma last night and never came out.

It was so hard not to start sobbing right there in the boarding area. A steady stream of quiet tears poured out of me and I tried to control it as much as possible. After I got off the phone with her, I called Kyle then Mariah to inform them. It was the same sadness in our hearts that we shared.

Frankie, to me, was such an inspiration. When I first got into swing dancing I was heavily overweight, less than confident and unmotivated after going through a divorce. At Camp Catalina, I met this spry, energetic, smiling 86-year. I went to my first Frankie Shim Sham and Big Apple class.

He just.. wanted us to dance and with free abandon and open hearts. I remember sitting through one of Frankie's storytime when he spoke of his first experiences at the Savoy in New York.

Throughout the years I looked forward to seeing him and different venues. He was beautiful person and am so priviledge to have danced with this man. Goodbye Frankie and until we dance again, look out over us.

Congratulations to Jaime & Kathy!!

Yeah!! Jaime & Kathy won 2nd place in the Dancing Under the Stars Dance Contest at the Paseo Colorado in Pasadena!! So proud of both of them!! Can't wait to party with you guys at the Paseo condos!! Whoo Hoo!!

DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME?

Uhm....

YES. I WANT TO PLAY GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR.

OKEE DOKEE PROFESSOR FAULKIN

GOOD W.O.P.R. NICE COMPUTER.

Man, that was a lot of fun!! I haven't watched that movie since... well... a few decades. In fact, it was *almost* like watching it for the first time. Here are the highlights of this fun group night:

- I haven't been back to Century City Mall in a few years. I like the improvements! Especially the addition of Zara, my favorite store from Spain!! (I think I hit every Zara store there was. Love the style and the materials.) Sorry, I digress.

- Met Sher and she introduced me to Joe Malone fragrances and products! I loved the lightly sweet scent of White Ginger and Mint enough to take some home with me.

- The new food court rocks. Dinner was more than I expected - we went to Lawrys Carvery. It was like a little taste of the real thing. More than great considering it's mall food. I have very happy with my 6 oz. Prime Rib with horshradish mashed potatoes and asparagus with lemon and basil aioli. Yum-mo!

- Nice to see Rockapella posse: Linda, Cindy and Glenn!

- We laughed and chuckled at all the little 80's references in the film: 8 inch floppy disks, that clicking noise old keyboards loved to make, leg warmers, Galaga, rotary phones, NORAD tourists, etc...

BASICALLY, THE MOVIE WAS AND IS STILL AWESOME!!

Side note: It was fun to remember all those memories. In fact, I was reminded on an incident I had as a high school summer intern in Northrop Gruhman back in the late 80s. I was part of their corporate information systems. One afternoon, I was bored and just started to "browse" the many, many folders that were out on the system (back then I knew enough DOS, TSO or JCL to get me into real trouble).

My mother told me that two people from corporate systems security went to her cube and brought them into their manager's office. They asked her what she was doing "snooping around the system." She was alarmed, but didn't have a clue to what the men were talking about. They showed her the commands that were being entered and monitored. She peered in close and started to get angry... she pointed and said, "that's not my login, that's my daughter's!!"

Long story short, I had my mother and three other adults immediately found me and brought me in. They berated me in a small ofice for an hour on how curiosity killed the cat. What I didn't know was, back then, that the company had a code named "Black Hole" - which was basically the B2 Stealth Bomber project and I had started to get down into some of the files that belonged to it. Big Ooops. Most were CAD files and there were no interesting Word Perfect documents anyway... LOL. Serves them right for not securing system folders.

Ooops. See?? Teenagers do like to play games....

Swingout Pasadena 2008

My goodness I haven't posted in a while! That's what happens when you work in the bay area for a year! Swingout Pasadena 2008 featured a dance right under the Rose Bowl sign - how friggin cool is that??! There were hundreds of people there, wathcing us as we danced under those neon signs. Our favorite Ambassador of Swing, Frankie Manning, broke his hip right before, so in honor of him, everyone donned on Frankie on a stick masks as we danced the Shim-Sham - I hope he loves it!!

Portland Exchange 2008

Mariah and I had a great time. Kyle and Rhonda joined us tihs time round. It was good to Dawn and David! It was fun and hope that they repeat this every year instead of bi-annually!