It’s been too long since I wrote anything meaningful hear, sorry. I’ll make a determination to write more frequently this year. To celebrate the winter season I decided to work on some of Erci‘s honey-do-list for me a bit, so I began wiring up and connecting all the unconnected speakers in our house. It’s what she asked for, really! The doorbell is working now, and surround sound is connected in the family room. I have a 12 channel amp coming soon, and volume controls for several rooms in the house. New outdoor speakers are already installed on the back patio, and waiting only for outdoor weather-proof volume control and the amp. That was over the company holiday they call Christmas.
Details and update after the fold…
Last week was delightfully quiet at work, so I hooked up an old desktop PC with Windows XP Pro (corporate install image) and have been slowly building it with useful and defensible software. It was also a very short week because we took two days off to compete at Yuletide Ball. A huge thanks to Ann, Dan, and Pranu for nudging us to go to this great event, and a huge thanks to Darryl and Michele for letting us go with their studio: The Ballroom Studio of Centreville. Erci danced a solo (aka: showcase) with Pranu, a Waltz. She also did competitive heats with Darryl and with me. Ann and Dan did fabulously, and we did well on Saturday (American Rhythm) but I woke up Sunday with a muscle knot in my neck and did less well in our American Smooth heats. We had a fabulous time, and I got a surprise benefit of getting to dance with Susan who needed a stand in for David who was sick (sorry David!). Maxim Kozhevnikov & Yulia Zagoryuchenko did a thrilling dance show with an stunning Jive routine. I can’t think of a better way to bring in the new year than being with a bunch of friends dancing and having a great time.
We’d have loved to take our instructors from the Tysons Corner Arthur Murray studio, but they could not attend (pout). This event was our first non-Arthur Murray event and there were a lot of similarities, but also some differences. There was a lot of fantastic dancing, both competitive heats (like a freestyles) and solo routines (like a showcase). There were several studios present, from all over the Eastern seaboard, but also as far away as Pheonix, AZ and Missouri. The studios were mostly unaffiliated, but some were from Arthur Murray franchises in other states. The biggest difference is that we students are free to dance with other students (in both heats and solos) and sometimes students dance with teachers from two or more unrelated studios. I really like that aspect, as we have long wanted to dance competitively or do a showcase with friends at our local Arthur Murray studio but not been permitted to. We’ll continue going to our local studio as we love our teachers there and many, many of the students; but we will also be taking lessons at some other studios more regularly to add some variety.
Today we started the new year right with a fantastic New Year’s day gongyo (chanting) and meeting with Fair Oaks Area Soka Gakkai in Centreville for the first time ever (much closer to home, woo hoo!). We heard a wonderful experience and made strong determinations for the new year. We had a yummy lunch with Richard and Howard at Minerva in Chantilly before coming home to feed Bailey the cat and process the laundry from Yuletide Ball.
Happy New Year! Be safe, warm, and share compassion with all those around you this winter.
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