Monthly Archive

SPECIAL NEWS! Arjay and Bridget have a baby boy! Born March 11! Which, as Arjay pointed out, is a cool palindrome:  3-11-13

In other news: I am getting hourly CNN alerts about the color of smoke coming out of a chimney. Cool it CNN! Wolf Blitzer dude seriously! Take a chill pill.  If the smoke is still black don’t tell me about it okay? That’s not news. Also if it’s dark grey, slate-grey, battleship grey, ash-grey … I don’t need to know the 50 Shades of Grey coming out of the Vatican chimney. Just tell me when it’s white. Put it on an elevator TV.

Classic was OUTSTANDING.

1. Eddie and Elise, “Beauty and A Beat” (by Bieber) omg so FAST! And so different than last weekend, first time on the floor! Wow, what a difference one single week makes. It was the BOMB last night – clean, so energetic, so full of joy and health, complete trust and commitment to every movement – she goes full force all the way from one side of a connection to the other whether it’s a bend, lean, or whipped body part – she’s all the way there and looks like she’s having a blast at every moment. Love the look on her face. This routine doesn’t “breathe” – a thing you’re “supposed” to have according to some people who know much more about dance than I ever will – but in my uninformed opinion this song doesn’t “breathe,” either, and the choreography fits the breathlessness of the song perfectly. I loved this.

2. The Uspenskys, “Eet” descriptions here and here  HOLY CRAP THE BALLROOM these guys are LOVED here on their home turf. It was good to have a raucous ballroom tonight since the room had seemed quiet on Friday, timid almost, not how I remember mid-west events. But tonight – different story. Musta been saving up all their yelling for routines. The Uspenskys got a wild standing ovation. I must say that as much as I love this routine I will never ever again be able to see it – or hear the song – without remembering one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen: Matt and Brennar and this.

3. Hugo and Brianne, “Fade” (Claude Hay,) in red and silver diagonal slashes of fabric. So smooth! She’s adorable, he’s adorable, they’re both talented, funny, and great dancers.

4. Sebastien et Blandine (dancing to a personal favorite: “Skinny Love” by Birdy) – OMG I love this routine! Blandine’s dancing? OMG! How she has progressed! In such a short time! This is the girl who only two years ago couldn’t speak or understand a word of English, came to the States for the first time with Sebastien (and Verane, Stephane, Estelle, Benjamin and Melodie, and a few others) to her first event (Atlanta? SwingDiego?) a Novice dancer who really didn’t know the dance.  SUPER nice people from their first tentative foray into the west coast community but obviously new to our dance. Sebastien had been tossing a team of girls around his neck and heaving them up to the ceiling as effortlessly as if he was juggling oranges so he may have been a bit more comfortable at the beginning than Blandine, but both were new. And both have worked their butts off, worked so hard to improve, and boy does it show. They get orders of magnitude better every month. We were blown away by this routine at the Open but last night? OMG simply astonishing. You must see it!

Here is the link to the paid “thumbsupvideo” for last night’s Classic Division.

5. Shane and Keri, “New Alphabet” (Eels) with another of their bad-ass, dangerous, cool “fusion” pieces – combination of swing with Argentine Tango, contemporary and lyrical, hip-hop, gymnastics, thrashing, and jazz. I love their courage in putting daring, cutting-edge routines out there knowing they’re pushing the edges of what and is and is not swing, and that in terms of competing they are taking a risk cause they might not please judges. My favorite part of this routine is how they go from extreme speed and bouncy energy to extreme extreme slo-mo. Pretty cool. They take risks with costumes, too. This one is military-inspired, khaki and camo. My favorite was this dramatic flamboyant costume from the US Open two years ago, with Keri’s stunning face paint.

6. Kyle and Sarah! With their funky, funny, fun, fast, “Seven Nation Army” and “I’m In Miami Trick.” Check this out – their footwork! The combination of speed and smooth! How they slide around the floor as if on wheels! They’re crazy amazing.  Here’s a description, and here’s a video of the routine in full costume.

Kyle and Sarah make west coast look easy. I’ve always said and will say again: when it looks really easy is when you know you’re looking at greatness.

Because west coast is hard! Really hard. I’d put money on wcs being way harder than any other social/street dance. First of all you have to cooperate with another person. That in itself is impossible, especially if they’re the opposite gender (which I think of as The Enemy.)

Second, you have to be able to be creative and make things up on the fly which is a problem if you are any of the following:

• brain-dead
• annoying
• drunk
• an accountant
• a stripper
• an academic
• boring
• undersexed
• oversexed
• uncoordinated
• shy
• ADD
• mortified
• disturbed
• an exhibitionist
• an introvert
• a 60′s hippy
• Lindsay Lohan
• serious
• haven’t slept for four days

The really great champion dancers, like Kyle and Sarah, make it look easy no matter how they are feeling. You think “Shoot. That looks easy! I know I can do that. Watch me make Champions by next year.”

7. Matt and Crystal, “You Don’t Know Me” – HOLY SHAMOLY THE BALLROOM! So much pounding and screaming when they walked out onto the floor it was bouncing the floor boards up and down! The Auclairs are beloved in Chicago. What a pretty routine this is – I love these guys’ taste in music. And Crystal, sheesh! She’s curvy and sexy, and that beautiful face, and her sensuous movement – oh my goodness. Standing ovation for the Auclairs, of course.

8. Jordan and Tatiana, “Somebody That I Used To Know” (Gotye, Dubstep and Frisbee remix.) The amazing, blazing, winning routine that has brought cheering crowds to their feet at the Open and everywhere they’ve performed it since in Europe, Australia, and far-flung cities across the world.  Here’s the description from the Open.  Have you seen it? Hope you’ll be lucky enough to see it live. It’s thrilling!

9. Josh and Lindsey, “This Love Is Over” (Ray LaMontagne) the gorgeous routine we saw at MadJam last weekend. This routine became an immediate audience favorite – both weeks we heard breathless exclamations about the beauty and emotion of the piece and predictions of high scores and placement. Lindsey is a stunning dancer – she performed a Cabaret routine at MadJam (we were hoping to see her perform this here, too, but didn’t) which outshone most everything else on Sunday – she has not only extreme technical ability, strength and grace, but she has heart and connects with the audience, she speaks to you boldly and directly. Josh is a great dancer too, and the partnership seems, from what I can make out so far, to be a good one. So far the routine hasn’t placed in the top five which might mean that as lovely as it is other routines were even better. Or it might mean judges aren’t seeing swing content. Or who knows what – a whole host of other criteria on which judges base their scores. All I know is that I’d never want to judge. I would put everybody first.

10. Mike and Sheli, “Too Close” (Alex Clare.) Sheli’s balance is amazing – she can do anything. Funny too, she’s so funny. She says she’s smiling in the routine not because you’re supposed to smile when you’re dancing but out of sheer petrified embarrassment. Now that I think of it her face is always red which I’ve always found charming.  But now I know why she’s bright red and smiling.  Her face is stuck that way. She told me the funniest story years ago, about hitting the very first break at the beginning of their routine only doing it backwards by mistake so that she found herself right up against the backdrop, arms outstretched, smiling a huge smile into the drapes. She’s fun to watch social dance because she, literally, can do anything, and does. Oh, and Mike, social dancing, I will only say this: girls tell me he’s so good and so hot they lose the ability to talk and can only grunt space-cadet noises. Maybe that’s why Sheli is always smiling. Also: I have on my office wall an autographed picture of Mike with his shirt off. Limited edition, distributed to a lucky few at Spotlight New Year’s.

11. Kris and Rebecca, “More Than Words” (The Piano Guys.) Beautiful ballet-like slow routine, much different than last year’s fast “Gold,” to show their control, lines, and mastery of balance and strength. Rebecca’s ballet training shows – her long neck, extensions, flexibility and grace.

12. The Markers, “Creep” (Radiohead) AUGHGHGH! THE BALLROOM WENT WILD! CHICAGO LOVES JASON AND ANNMARIE! They NAILED it. We’ve now seen this three times, each time it gets even baaaaader, and I mean that as a compliment. Their quality of movement is different in this routine – how can I describe it – they do “sharp” stuff, angular, fast jabs, quick hard hits, stuff you might expect to see from short people who are quick and agile not huge tall Saginaw, Michigan people with long limbs that take forever to extend and retract. The feel of this routine is new – it’s just, I don’t know, not as nice.  It shows the not-quite-as-nice-as-you-thought side of the Markers. Twice now I’ve come home from a comp and in my notes, right beside the word MARKERS!!! scrawled across the page, I find I’ve written “spit.” I guess that word must come to mind when watching this routine. Spit. Like spitfire, or spitting mad. Restless, impatient, itchy. It’s just great. And, like I say, they nailed it this time. I didn’t see a single hiccup, not a moment’s indecision or lack of focus. Not that *I* could see, at least.

Oh! About the Boston Globe reporter! He (or she?) was seen around 1am Saturday night being escorted out the front door by security. So who was this person? Not a reporter I don’t think hahaha. I’m guessing someone dropped that business card on the floor and this lady (man) thought “I have an idea!” Which actually is a great idea now that I think of it. I’m going to use a business card myself the next time I want to crash a party. Maybe I’ll say I’m from CNN and I’m doing a story which will appear on elevators world-wide.

CLASSIC
1st Place Jordan and Tatiana
2 Kyle and Sarah
3 Matt and Crystal
4 Sebastien et Blandine
5 Arthur and Colleen

SHOWCASE
1st Place Myles and Tessa
2 Greg and Lemery
3 Robert and Nicola
4 Rob and Connie
5 Jason and Sophy

RISING STAR
1st Place Hieu Le and Natalie Gorg
2 Kyle and Aimy Patel
3 Chip DiStefano and Michelle Haynes
4 Scott Mehlberg and Tatiana Zavyakova
5 John Elms and Lori Rousar

MASTERS
1st Place Tommy Gibbs and Renee Lippmann
2 Chip and Janice DiStefano
3 Wayne and Cindy Rohr
4 Buzz and Debra McCreary
5 Mike Booth and Cheryl Grange

JACK AND JILL CHAMPIONS
1st Place Jordan and Tatiana
2 Matt and Kellese
3 John Lindo and Blandine
4 Robert and Sarah
5 Ben and Lemery

JACK AND JILL ALLSTAR
1st Place Hugo and Angie Cameron
2 Josh Sturgeon and Sheli
3 Kyle Patel and Melissa Rollins
4 Brad Whelan and Lori Rousar
5 Eddie and Natalie Gorg

JACK AND JILL ADVANCED
1st Place Hareesh and Marina Moeller
2 Jeff Mumford and Kelsy Petrykowski
3 Sebastien and Aimy Patel
4 Jon Elms and Katie Slater
5 JC Bryant and Katia Aviasevich

JACK AND JILL INTERMEDIATE
1ST Place David Brown and Olga Usmanova
2 Miguel Ortega and Tatiana Zavyalovaa
3 Roger Batista and Allison Brown
4 Chris Kompanene and Allison Shu
5 Michael Saloka and Amanda Staley

JACK AND JILL NOVICE
1st Place Pavel and Sarah Sheaff
2 Bruno and Jocelyn Lopez
3 Jean-Pierre Sach and Nicole Skelly
4 Jonathan Villar and Shelby Vandenberg
5 Richard Falls and Amy Laederach

JACK AND JILL NEWCOMER
1st Place Shimpei Muraoka and Lindsay Burkley
2 Jon Young and Jennifer Hutchinson
3 Brett Stacer and Ali Reilly
4 Matthew Freeversyser and Jennifer Czech
5 Karl Dunajcik and Anne Dunajcik

JACK AND JILL MASTERS
1st Place Chip and Peggy Allen
2 Wayne Rohr and Renee Lipman
3 Tommy Gibbs and Jennifer Vaughn
4 Vince Peterson and Theresa McGarry
5 Mike Booth and Nancy Buchler

CHAMPIONS STRICTLY
1st Place Jordan and Jessica
2 Kyle and Tatiana
3 Brent and Kellese
4 Robert and Rebecca
5 Ben and Sarah

STRICTLY MASTERS
1st Place Chip DiStefano and Renee Lipman
2 Mark Endo and Theres McGarry
3 Mike Booth and Peggy Allen
4 Claude and Gordana Fortin
5 Tommy Gibbs and Joann Podleski

Remember the tall hairy bearded guy in the pink tutu and ballet slippers? Who crashed the party? At Swing Dance America 2007, I think it was, Saturday night? Hollering and making hellaruckus when security escorted him out of the ballroom? Tried pulling off his tutu in protest?

Well I think we maybe got crashed here tonight by a very drunken, pretend newspaper reporter (she gave us a Boston Globe business card) a woman about my age, blonde, in way too tight skinny-jeans, with lipstick applied up to her nose, in high heels, which either because of alcohol or because of age she couldn’t stay up on so instead she kind of thumped over to the reserved seating table, her ankles taking turns flopping on the floor, to ask Julie Hein, Rosa Passi, and Bob and Beverly Budzynski if they were important people she should talk to. But she immediately lost interest and anyway was too drunk to stay for an answer and her eyes were rolling around in her head so before anyone could say anything she flopped herself out onto the floor where she stood, wavering, in between dancing couples, staring them down intently for as long as her eyes would stay put then turning to stare at someone else, swaying on her bent ankles like a tree about to go down, which was a little disconcerting for the dancers. And then she pulled a small red camera out of her bag mumbling something incoherent about somebody posing if she could figure out how to use her camera.

Rosa coughed into her hand and said “bbbprr” we said “What Rosa? What?” She coughed into her hand again, a cough with a word attached, “[cough] -ipper! [cough cough]” We were laughing we said “Rosa WHAT?!?”  so she cough-talked louder and this time we heard “[cough] zipper! [cough]“

“Oh!” we said, “Zipper! Her zipper is open?”

And indeed it was, the woman’s fly was down, actually more busted open than down since the pants were so tight simple engineering would show that unless that zipper was made of aircraft grade steel it was not about to stay zipped.

By this time we were starting to suspect she wasn’t from the Boston Globe.

Should we tell her? What should we do? We thought we really ought to tell her so I walked over and said “Excuse me honey your zipper is down” – I had to repeat it three times, loudly, before she could focus – and you know what she said? She said “Uh oh! Hope my thang wasn’t stickin’ out. Just so long as my you-know-what wasn’t pokin’ out if y’know what I mean.”

That is what the reporter from the Boston Globe said when I told her that her zipper was down.

The last I saw of her was just as Classic was about to begin. When everyone ran to find a seat on the floor she wobbled herself over to the table and trying to reach to get her pocketbook her knees and ankles just kind of gave out – slowly – she got shorter and shorter like Groucho Marx on bent knees, sinking downward almost gracefully, in slo-mo. Have to ask if anyone saw where she went.

Or he. Where he went.

Tonight was routines! Eight Masters couples (this comp is on Bob and Beverly Budzynski’s Masters Tour) and thirteen Classic couples! SO much superb dancing tonight! I am not just being polite – the routines tonight were absolutely terrific. I would NOT want to be a judge! Judging seems impossible when each routine is over-the-top marvelous in its own unique way. Like trying to judge a Renoir against a Picasso.

I’ll tell you all about routines, and the wonderful Champion Strictly finals, tomorrow.

Cold, overcast, gray weather out there today but who cares? This hotel is so beautiful you don’t want to go outside. You’re too busy lounging on a plush couch in the lobby, with your notepad, watching the balconies.

Or maybe down in the ballroom watching Jack and Jill prelims which are today …

Grace is our emcee this weekend – so funny! Jim and Nancy opened the event last night entreating us to be nice to each other. “Turn to the person you came here with, tell them how much you love and appreciate them.” Then they introduced Grace who said “I feel weird. I didn’t come here with anybody I came alone. So I’ve been back behind the curtain, in the dark, with my arms around myself, saying “I love you Grace I appreciate you.” She’s hilarious.

Pro couples came on one by one to dance to a song they’d chosen:

~ The Roystons to “Swannee,” (Grace: “Robert you always look fierce, you dazzle audiences. No pressure.”)

~ Brent and Kellese to “Things are Changin” (Gary Clark) – Kellese in Daisy Mae short-shorts denim overalls, a one-armed paisley peasant blouse, black tights with knee-high black lace-up suede boots and red, red lips. I love Kellese’s sense of style, every outfit she’s ever worn a totally different work of art, created at the moment like cooking with whatever you find in your pantry, created not from high-end designer pieces but from stuff anyone could find in a mall, or collect from hand-me-downs, or by tying your husband’s dress shirt around yourself upside down, or by draping curtains or other large swaths of fabric around yourself like she did one year with only two strips of metallic gold and scarlet red. I love Kellese’s artist’s soul.

~ Luis and Taletha to “Better Without You” (Rhian Benson) and because the Keys had just left the floor kissing Luis felt moved to enter the floor kissing so he put a smacker on Taletha but with a hand covering his mouth. Taletha gagging, barfing, looking totally nauseated and grossed out. That’s how they started their sexy romantic dance hahahaha.

~ Ben and Jessica IN 6″ spike heels and a miniskirt  – Ben said “Do we have to do anything? Can’t she just stand here and we can all clap?” which she did, and we did. Jessica brings a party wherever she goes. She’s gorgeous, smart, and a tireless worker. I listened to her explain to a new competitor how she handles nerves, stress, pain, mistakes on the floor – how she sees her responsibility to an audience, her duty as an entertainer, her duty to be “on,” to bring positive energy, love, laughter, cheering, and support. Jessica is the person any event director – any producer in the entertainment business – wants to hire. (They did dance, too, to “Valerie” – she can dance in 6″ heels as ferociously as she dances in 1/2″ sandals. She’s not human.)

~ The Auclairs to “Let Me Love You” – wow Crystal holy mackerel more beautiful every time we see her. Matt more funnier. And more faster if that is possible. (Grace: “I don’t feel old at all when I remember that I competed with Matt when he was ELEVEN.”)

~ John Lindo, Jessica, and Jessica’s Shoes, to “Booty Voodoo.” She is not Homo Sapien Sapien.

~ Myles and Tessa to “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars.  We heard they were out on the town Thursday night – would have been a treat to see these two tearing up some of Chicago’s famous blues bars! Did they do lifts?

~ Kyle and Sarah to “Naked” by Kevin McCall – SO FUNKY! SO FUNNY! SO FAST! SO SMOOTH! SO MUCH HEART! What a treasure Kyle and Sarah are! How precious to the community! How lucky are we to be part of the community now, and see them live, and know them! Future generations will look back at videos and wish they could feel what it’s like to be here now, in these heyday years.

~ Jordan and Tatiana to “Beauty and The Beast” (by the Bieber) in which Jordan, on that last YAA!, at the end of the song, that last yelp that you might not have noticed before but will now, forever after, always wait for, on that yelp Jordan yelled YAA! and sprung straight up in a jump shot that would scare Kobe Bryant. I caught the bottom half of him on camera – the rest of him was up near the ceiling.

Daylight Savings begins on Sunday at 2am which means I must “Spring Out Of My Bed One Hour Earlier Than I Want.” Do they have this in countries other than the US or is this a uniquely confusing custom we have here like the truly nutty 0.3048 meters in a foot and 8 ounces which does it weigh that much? Or does it fill up a cup but weigh who knows what. You decide! Cause we’re a little confused here in the US and this is why I don’t bake.

Want to see the ballroom? Watch the live stream all weekend! Click here for Thumbs Up Video!

Dim, sexy red lighting for late-nite dancing in the ballroom! It’s a trend! It’s a meme! We’re getting great moody lighting at more and more events. Really ads trancey dramatic atmosphere as the night goes into the wee hours.

Great Rising Star tonight! LOVE this division! How terrific to see new couples put routines on the floor for the first time! Cool new ideas, new personalities being revealed through dance, new music choices, new history being made, new drama … what a great place for new west coast dancers to get their feet wet.

I think that here at this event the division is called “Rising Star Classic,” which I think means you can’t test out your showcase skills if that’s the division you’re aiming for. I think a Rising Star division should include both Classic and Showcase so that any new couple thinking of competing will know there’ll be a division for them.

Seven Rising Star couples tonight:

1. Levi and Melissa, “Arms,” Just saw them dance this last weekend, giggling throughout their performance which was delightful.  No giggling tonight though which made them look much more powerful, bold and confident.

2. John Elms and Lori Rousar, “Save The World” (by Swedish House Mafia.) Brand new! Great dancing! Oh and by the way last night Lori got her suitcase stuck in the escalator (the long, open, golden escalator which takes you from the front door up to the lobby) causing her to do a back flip-roll over her suitcase tumbling all the way back down to the bottom. She wasn’t hurt at all. It sounds scary but I’ve now heard at least ten different people tell the story (she had a large audience) and everyone says it was one of the funniest things they’ve seen in a while.

3. Chris and Amy, “Hazy,” now the third time we’ve seen this and it just gets better and better. Amy is so elegant!

4. Scott and Tatiana,  “I Want You Back,” – just saw this one, too, last weekend.

5. The Patels – Kyle and Aimy – Sexy And I Know It” (by Noah) – new (to us, at least) – Kyle without the GINORMOUS bushy black santa-claus beard he was sporting last weekend and Amy cute as a button with that infectious smile that makes you want to laugh, both of them in bad-ass black with laces/cut-outs or some embellishment suggesting bikers and bondage which on these two is particularly funny and adorable.

6. Hieu and Natalie, “Unfold” (by Jason Mraz) – this we saw in – okay where did we see this everything is a blur – where am I right now oh yeah Chicago okay we saw this at Spotlight, New Year’s Eve. Beautiful dancing. Beautiful music, beautiful choreography, beautiful dancing.

7. Chip DiStefano and Michelle Haynes, “Foxy Lady” (Alain Clark) – Michelle is one of our favorite people. So are Chip (and Janice, his wife) as a matter of fact. Fun, funny people, and it shows in their dancing – full of spirit.

SHOWCASE!

1. Rob and Connie, “I Feel Good” (James Brown) – descriptions here and here.

2. Braden O’Dell and Lila Ferguson (from Denver) to “Beauty and The Beast” (Justin Bieber) – brand new! first time on the floor! and what a supportive audience. And what a great routine! She lifts HIM at one point, in a kind of slow-mo leveraged balancing planking thing for which they got a rousing ovation. This was prettttttty daggone great for a brand new couple with a brand new routine, first time out.

3. Hareesh Kapoor and Angela Baker to “Pretty Little Heart” (Robin Thicke) – also brand new, first time on the floor, fun routine.

4. Myles and Tessa who NAILED it! Nailed the trick (they didn’t last weekend at MadJam – ugh hate it when they fall! And Tessa is fearless – brave and determined and fearless – their tricks are scary great, scary dangerous, and it feels like we’ve seen Tessa fall more than a few times at this point. But does it stop her? No way. She’s inspiring.) And they nailed his pirouette at the end, spinning himself on one leg while holding her above his head. Sheesh. This routine is really beautiful. Great song, great choreography.

5. Jason and Sophy! (to “Starships”) Back on the floor again after two pregnancies, two births and two BEAUTIFUL little daughters. Sophy looking more chic and stylish than ever before. Talk about inspiration! Or fearless! Holy cow. Sophy is tough as nails, immune to pain, ferocious, and absolutely clear-minded and unambiguous about what matters in life.

6. Greg and Lemery, with their stunning, emotional, clean, quiet, theatrical, heartfelt piece – “Your Eyes.” It’s fun sitting with people seeing this routine for the first time – they shake their heads at a loss for words, wipe their eyes, shake their heads some more.

7. And finally the beloved Roystons with “Mercy,” Nicola so sexy in her bustier, ruffly short-shorts, boots and above-the-knee socks.

This hotel! OMG stunning. The lobby! Most dramatic, elegant hotel on the circuit (at least here in the United States) that I’m aware of. Contemporary, Hyatt-atrium style, like Atlanta. Excellent for spying! Relaxing in the lounge or bar you can watch every person walking around the balconies on every level on their way to their room. Or someone else’s room. You get the picture.

This is that great hotel where one year the Bondage Convention was held. Such goings-on that year! Also the Wheelchair Convention and the Soapy-Clean Salesman’s Convention, all simultaneously. That was a good year at this hotel.

(Click here for the that Update.)

(Click here for Pictures)

Televisions in the elegant lobby restrooms! One over each sink projected from within onto the wall-to-wall mirror beam-me-up-scotty-style.

Televisions in the elevators! Brilliant! I’ve always been bored on the elevator. No more! Now I can watch CNN on the way to my room and keep up with important world news: “Hideous norovirus outbreak on the Royal Caribbean! Cruise ship forced to turn around mid-ocean to power to nearest hospital.” Eeeew. Last month overflowing raw sewage and mass starvation on Carnival, this month vomiting and diarrhea on Royal Caribbean. Eew eew. That settles it. Cruises definitely on our Not-Bucket List. Also, CNN is stupid.

Glass elevators with multi-colored light show on the underside which one watches float up! up! up to the skylight and night stars at the tippy top. (Glass elevators are also favorable for spying. One hides behind a planter watching to see who exits the elevator on one floor, after a few moments appearing on another walking quickly to duck into a different room. Tip: it helps if you carry a small notepad to keep track of which room goes with who, etc.)

Fire at the entrance to the clubby restaurant in the gigantic atrium lobby. A big fire, not a small fire.

Way over on the opposite side a second restaurant – upscale, fine-dining – also open to the lobby. And a bar lit with multi-colors glowing through the bottles on glass shelves. Like you’re on a space ship. Lobby floor dotted with enormous glowing glass tiles lit from below like you’re walking in outer-space in a starry galaxy. Contemporary touches at every corner – skylights everywhere, angles, curving corridors, floor-to-ceiling glass.

Club Lounge is awesome – elegant food for breakfast, dinner, snacks throughout the day, honor system for beer, wine, even mixed drinks! How nice to be treated with respect as if I’m trustworthy.

They forecast 1-2 feet of snow for DC the day before I was to fly here to Chicago. Grocery stores sold out of bread, toilet paper, and milk – all things I need in a snowstorm. They were calling it the “SnowQuester” (for non-US’ers – that’s a play on the word “Sequester” which is your guys’ version of “Austerity” or, in plain English, “We’re broke.”) They closed the government for this snowstorm! That’s unheard of in DC.

I thought between the sequester and airport personnel being fired and a snowstorm I am never getting to Chicago.

Snow dumped on Kansas and Boston. But in DC? Nothing! Not even a dandruff flake. I had a totally easy flight, and this hotel is walking distance from the airport so getting here was tres magnifique.

Hey, I have a question: Do you use Sky-Mall? Any of you Frequent-Circuit-Travelers? For Christmas shopping, since you’re on a plane more than you’re in an actual mall? I earmark a SkyMall magazine every flight, take the catalog home with me intending to buy stuff, and a month later look leaf through what I marked and wonder WHAT WAS I THINKING?!? I don’t even have a cat! Why do I need a Litter Kwitter 3-Step Cat Toilet Training System? Or a Bacon Throw and Pillow Set Complete With Bacon Fragrance?

Frequent-Circuit-Traveler Question #2: Are barf bags good for anything besides barfing? They’re free so I could be collecting them if I had some re-purposing ideas.