133: Koningsdag at Big Momma's Ballroom

I found myself with an unexpected moment of leisure and found to my pleasure that I actually had time to drop in on Big Momma's Ballroom to hear DJ Kahvy Smith lead a celebration of a very important holiday in the Netherlands, Koningsdag or King's Day. It celebrates the birthday of the reigning

King Willem-Alexander.
   Hosting duties were handled ably by Crafty Migpalion Foxdale, and the dress, as you can tell from the pictures, is formal. Specifically, formal with an orange accent or royal regalia. (I'm wearing an orange jewel around my neck to honour the House of Orange, honest, although you'll have to look at the close-ups to see it.) Always fun to

have an excuse to wear my L&B tuxedo and the ladies certainly do formal events justice, as you can see, with each gown more spectacular than the next.
   The most interesting part for me, other than the chance to pay my respects to the cultural tradition of my Dutch friends, was the chance to use their super-duper Intan dance animations. As I understand it, DJ Kahvy is in real life a trained

ballroom dancer and so matches the music to the animations, that he also announces. So when he plays a paso doble, you and your partner can DO a paso doble. Unfortunately my fiancé Alex Thaub wasn't with me but a kind gentleman, Theron Mexicola, took pity on me and danced. It was quite a pleasure to be able to dance so well since in RL I am pretty much the guy

standing on the side of the dance floor bouncing up and down holding his beer because he can't dance. ;-)
   It was a lot of fun, everyone was in good spirits, I saw some friends, including the very regal Bock McMillan and Tomais Ashdene, Helene Dragoone, and the always lovely PuPi. And it was a nice change of pace to have a different style of music and a

different style of dancing. Happy Koningsdag!

132: City boy returns

Checking fence is something you do constantly on a farm. The other day I was out at the far end of the farm where it runs up against a rest stop off the highway; there's always garbage scattered around and I like to keep the place tidy when I stop by.
   I was surprised to see a beautiful old sports car parked at the rest stop when

I pulled my truck in; after having a look at the fence, I gave it the once-over. A little fancier than the local vehicles. I was just wondering who'd spent so much money on such a fancy car when a city boy in a fancy suit showed up. I was surprised to see it was the same dude I'd met a while back and ... well, let's just say we enjoyed meeting each other.
   "Hey, farm boy, good to see you," he

said with a smile. "You know anything about Karmann Ghia engines?"  "I might," I said cautiously. Before too long we were trying to figure out why his engine had sputtered and quit. We worked away at it until the light started to fade. "Looks like you're stuck for the evening," I said. "I can give you a bed for the night until you can get it towed tomorrow ..." "No need," he said.

"Yesterday I bought the farm next to yours, if you can give me a lift over there in your truck."
   That made me a little nervous. I squared off with him and said, "You know, we had some fun, but this is the country -- we don't talk about that stuff out here like you do in the city. We like our privacy." He has this funny little grin that just lasts a second. "Not to worry,

buddy. I bought out here to leave all that gossip behind. Nobody's going to hear anything about you from me other than you don't know shit about European engines." We both laughed.
   We didn't manage to figure out what was wrong with the engine by sundown so finally we agreed to pack it in. He'd stripped off the top half of his fancy suit by then, and said, "Let me go wash up."

He had a strong smell of fresh sweat that was ... well, it was kind of sexy. He sauntered over to the little washroom and just stood there looking at me for a minute. A long minute. I followed him over. He didn't say anything but just kept looking at me. I knew what was on his mind, and I have to admit it had been on my mind too. "Nobody around," I said quietly. "Nobody but us," he said as I

followed him in.
   I don't know how it's going to work out to have a city boy on the farm next door, but it will be interesting.