HFX

I'm feeling much better today than yesterday. I showered, shaved, put on real clothes, made soup, even walked outside to get the mail. Sounds almost normal. It was quite a workout compared to the last few days. I'm still a little too easily worn out, but the flu is in retreat.

I'm glad it didn't hit last weekend, because I would have missed the Houston Fusion Exchange. More than a hundred people came, mostly from out of town. I learned more about dancing in one weekend than in months before. Blues dance lessons were especially enlightening; I was still confused about the basics, and there's a huge difference between mediocre blues and good blues. There's a lot you can't just get from watching other people.

There was this one woman I blues danced with...wow. She had this way of taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out while we danced. In a happy way--you know how when you hear people breathe you can tell when they're smiling? It felt like somehow she'd been waiting the whole weekend just for that dance. She was...she was undressing me with her lungs. Wow. She was good.

I danced a lot, not just with her. There was this one time I found this woman who was leading a lot and asked her to lead me for a dance. That was an intense brain-twisting exercise, probably the most intellectually challenging dance I've ever done. It was like navigating the mirror image of your house, only more so.

I met a lot of cool people I hope to see again soon. I need to start social dancing again. I've been missing it.