Just dance...!

I feel so empowered right now. Tonight was the last of the 8-week Lindy Hop lessons. Sara didn't come because she got great seats to the Yanks-vs-O's game from work (she's taking me tomorrow). That didn't stop me from going.
Yeah traveling 35-40 min alone kind of sucks. But it was so worth it.
The last class was a review of things we learned. In the style of "remember this, this and this? Do just those moves to music for a few minutes" ...then "remember this & this? Add those to it, freestyle". And on and on. Very empowering because we could do it.

Then, and this was great, they taught us how to Lindy Hop to fast music. She put on music a little faster than what we learned to for a minute, then switch partners and a slightly faster song... etc, etc... until we got to "Shout and Feel It" from the Swing Kids soundtrack (you KNOW how much I love that song baby!).
At that point I was dancing with a gal who gets it like I do, and we busted out a couple of high speed, high-energy swingouts that felt perfect. Unfortunately the instructor stopped the music just a bit after it started because apparently no one else could keep up with the speed. Slow pokes! ;P
[Well, that song is around 200bpm (beats per minute)...!]
I think I'm going to take the next class, with or without Sara...


Full moon, beautiful cool night. Happy Diavo. =)
For the first time in a few years I'm as close as I've been to getting back into swing dancing. This time around I'm aiming for the social scene, and not "putting all of my eggs in one basket" so to speak by only training/dancing with my girlfriend-at-the-time.

A couple of girls in my class have told me I should come to the Monday night swing dances. I plan to now. It just sucks that it's on the other side of Baltimore and inward, so any way I go it'll take 40-45 min to get to. And on a Monday, not a weekend. >:-P

I miss Glen Echo. ::sigh::

Also, I find swivels very attractive. ^_^

Waltzes just don't have feeling / Nor does ballet my friends / You know in the end / That you and your gal / Need to swing, and swing, and swing / Cause you love that sting that's SWINGS!
--Big Tubba Mista, The Sting That's Swing

Wii

I was planning on buying a Wii this weekend. Something better happened: Sara lent me hers indefinitely. ^_^

Steve's is set up at the house, so she hasn't used hers since she moved in over the summer. Last night after work (last Sat working for a while) I popped into Best Buy... then Toys R Us... then Target, looking for the Ghostbusters game. No dice. Fortunately all 3 stores are within a mile strip on the same road as my apartment; I didn't travel far. So instead I bought my second choice: Star Wars The Force Unleashed.

I played a little of it at Jason's on the Xbox360 so I knew it was fun. But man-oh-man, the Wii controls make it awesome.
The right hand's nunchuck controls your character's right hand as it uses force powers. Z-button activated Force Grip (telekinesis) and moving the nunchuck in physical space, as well as the joystick on it maneuvers what- or whomever you're levitating. Without the Z-button pressed, the control stick moves the your character. And just thrusting the nunchuck forward instantly throws out a Force Push. >:-]
Left hand, the Wii-mote, controls the slashes of your lightsaber: left, right, up, down, stab forward.

Tax Season Complete.

Well, I got my tax returns back this week. Deposited 'em today at lunchtime. My Dad did my taxes without me asking -- I intended to do them with him double-checking me, but he asked me to give him my forms and he went ahead and did them & mailed 'em in.
I must have misheard him when he told me how much I was getting back, I thought he said $500 and $100.
Instead I got close to $1200 total!
W00t!

Time to order those chrome smootie hub caps... and new tail lights for my car...
Also, I'm probably going to buy a Wii this weekend. On Tuesday a new game comes out, Monster Hunter Tri, and a few of us at work want to play it together co-op. ^_^


And today was the last day of tax season. We actually weren't crazy busy at work like I expected for this week. Thank goodness!
After I left work, popped into my apartment to change, then over to Sara & Steve's. They were chillin' in the 2 hammocks so I joined 'em for a bit. Steve was going to make his yummy mac & cheese but then realized he's out of cheese. Sara heard that today for tax day PF Chang's was giving 15% off meals. So we went to the one in Towson. "Herro prease." Yum!
Then, food coma.
*happy*

Car & magic... and magic

Love my new car. =)
The weather was great last week for having the top down. We actually had 2 record highs Tues & Wed: it got into the upper 80s!
I love the feeling of leaving work, putting the top down, then crusin' on the beltway without traffic to Sara's [especially if it's Wed and we then head into the city (Canton-area) for Lindy lessons]. "Freedom!"
I bought & received the black outline gauge flames. And from the same company, I bought custom vinyls for the ugly air bag warning stickers on the sun visors. It's PT Cruiser car color-matched metallic blue with silver text: "BLUE BOMBER" which is what I named her. B-)
I have blue fuzzy dice, curb feelers, and the metal script "Streetrod" emblem which should arrive tomorrow.
Next: the chrome smoothie hub caps. (Smartly after another paycheck or I get my tax returns back)
Then: 3-D tail lights.
Then: black flames on the hood.
Still on the fence about the chrome front grille. Leaning toward no. Especially if I do black flames on the hood. >8:-]


Haven't played much WoW since I got the car... getting excited about the third expansion pack (Catacylsm) that comes out in [probably] a few months. Some major, major changes will comes along. Whoa.
Popped on tonight to check my mail. Want to do some "light" raiding with the awesome guild I'm in. Also really want to level my Druid -- it just... takes... so... long sometimes.


This morning Stevo called me to say that in an hour Daniel Garcia was lecturing at The Magic Warehouse, a magic shop 5 min from my apartment and 30 seconds from where I work here in Owings Mills. I leapt at chance. We were thinking of seeing his lecture at Denny & Lee's on Fri night, but I've got to work Sat 9-5 so I wouldn't be able to stay out late and would be anxious to leave to get to bed as soon as it was over. Bleh.
This was perfect: Sunday afternoon, extremely close location, air conditioned, without most of the usual bleh magicians that would be at Denny's. Also, we got the last 2 seats because we didn't have reservations. Those were 2 front row seats, on the side!
The Magic Warehouse is a nice magic shop: clean, air conditioned, with rooms of stuff. It's all on shelves in display boxes so you can pick up items and look at them; not behind glass or behind the counter.
After the lecture Steve & I impromtu-ly got Chinese & ate it back at my place, and jammed with cards for another 2 hours or so.


My coz Joe spent the night Friday -- came up from NC, met me at Sara's during her own hosted birthday party. Fun times that night. He's coming back tomorrow and just spending the night. Sara's supposed to come over after work too. Gotta give her the bday present I made (I'll prob put up a pic afterwards).


Bleh: this week is going to suck at work. It's the last week of tax season. I predict a lot of desperate people trying to log on to check the tax forms for their various financial accounts and thus needing password resets, and trying to download those forms into Turbo Tax at the last minute. Fools.
Or suckers.
Not sure which applies better.
It's like in college and you write a paper the night before it's due and go to print it out at like midnight and the printer is out of ink. Don't do important stuff at the last minute!

I bought a PT Cruiser!

Last Friday night (3/26) I bought a 2005 PT Cruiser convertible!
It's electric blue, with dark gray interior, and a black ragtop. B-)

I put a down payment in, and the dealer took my Saturn for a decent price (more than it might've been worth in my opinion) and financed the rest.

Here are some initial photos I took at my parents' last weekend: coolness.
It came with aftermarket chrome gas door, side spears on the lower doors, and chrome tail light covers.

So far I've already put a K&N air filter in and modified the stock airbox for a little more power. And I added a chrome tailpipe. Naturally my blue dice shift knob is on.
This afternoon Frederick & I installed a black Sony Xplod stereo (with aux input of course) that has blue lighting. I took off the antenna (I don't listen to the radio) and put a silver screw in it's place.
The only issue with the car is that the 2 cigarette lighters don't work. Gotta check the fuses for 'em when I get a chance.


Of course I've already made a build sheet for what I want to do to my new baby. Just a few additions/alterations.

EXTERIOR
Full Moon Hollywood hubcaps (chrome smooties like I had on my old Cruiser)
3-D retro tail lights (maybe these)
Chrome front grille (maybe)
Remove the PT Cruiser logos on the sides
Affix chrome "Streetrod" script lettering on the rear hatch
Curb feelers
Black flames on the hood and maybe behind the head lights (eventually...)

INTERIOR
Blue fuzzy dice
Gauge flames (neat)
Blue neon lights under front footwells