Thinking of you? I will survive? Where am I?

March 4, 2007

“Mind if I sit here?”

“No. Go right ahead.”

I went right back to Conrad’s The Secret Agent, which I found under the bed after misplacing it for 2 months or so ago. She put down the tray table and placed her purse and a book there. After messing about her purse, she started reading also. Because I had gone through one and a half book after misplacing The Secret Agent, I was having a difficulty getting back into it. I thought about getting my earphones back on to listen to old Machito recordings again. I noticed that she stopped reading and put her tray table back up again. I glanced at her again. She turned towards me.

“I am too cold. Sorry.”

Then she got up and moved to a different seat about ten rows back.

I moved my hand to where she was seated to see if there was anything unusual about the temperature there. I didn’t feel anything at first, and then I felt a slight breeze caused by the ventilation system. Okay. Maybe it really was the cold air rather than the way I looked or smelled or such. The ventilation system seemed to shut down when the train started moving about 2 minutes later.

It was raining at Kings Cross – in a way not unlike the way it did Friday night. Nasty. At least I brought my umbrella with me this time. Not exactly an inauspicious start.

The song being played when I entered Mary Ward Hall was – “Thinking Of You” by Lenny Kravitz. Wow. This was unexpected. It was surprisingly crowded, but it was full of people I didn’t recognize. Many of the people I hoped to see were nowhere to be found. I decided to lower my expectations a great deal.

By the way, I do not mean to denigrate people who were there. I enjoyed my dances with people I know – including Natalie. From Cambridge, I saw Johnny and Serap as well as Laura and a few others whose names escape me for the moment. A guy I remember seeing last Thursday was here as well. I felt better as okay to good dances accumulated steadily.

Other songs played included a version of “I Will Survive” (What’s with the music tonight??? Not Celia Cruz according to my dance partner). Better songs among the ones I recognized included – “Para Ochun” by Hector Lavoe, “Japan Mambo” by Tito Puente, “Babarabatiri” by Willie Rosario and “Tu Tu Ta Ta” by Eddie Palmieri (a guess – possibly the original version). As for dancing to those songs, Japan Mambo, Tu Tu Ta Ta and I Will Survive were better (probably more dependent on whom I was dancing with more than the song). I think the DJ slowed down some songs because I noted that he speeded up one song right after starting it.

As for dancing, there was nothing earthshaking. I would say that quantity was what rescued the evening. It was what I needed considering the fact that I have not had much dancing in terms of quantity for past 3 weeks or so. I could say that it was a nice if not great pick-me-up. Another highlight was dancing Cha Cha On2 – I had not danced Cha Cha in well over a year. For a change, I felt a little tired after a night of dancing.

Reading was easier on the way back.