Headed to Swing Camp in LA

[SwingerMD]

Hi Everyone!

This is your friendly neighborhood swinger reporting in. Tomorrow bright and early (7:15 am) I\'m headed down to LA for a major Swing dance camp and competition from Aug 1st-5th. If I can\'t get online I\'ll try to post all of my adventures here or at the Hit Squad on the 6th. The camp is huge, dances great, and the opportunity to use pheros . . . . [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] .

I\'m also entered in the Amateur Jack and Jill (will be paired up with random follows) contest on Saturday. Pretty much intend to use plenty of SOE and stay away from -none (don\'t want follows getting nervous and DIHLing like the first one I entered). Now the dances and the classes are a different story . . . [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] . Wish me luck!

[SwingerMD]

Hi Everyone!

Here it is as I have promised, the post of my adventures at a major swing camp/competition down in LA. A few things first though, all names have been changed except names of prominant people (namely instructors and prominant dancers) in order to protect their identity (actually more so to protect mine [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ). I will be updating five times for the five days that I was down in LA. So without any further ado . . . .

<font color=red> Thursday August 1st
Flying Down
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With 45 minutes to go before my flight I decide to duck into the bathroom and apply SOE to my arms and neck applying my ususal total of 12\". Well here\'s to hoping that I get placed next to a cute girl. . . . (about 20 min later after I get to my seat) Uh-oh. Looks like they placed me in between this older gent and lady both in their early 70s. After getting getting seated I turn to the lady and ask, \"So why are you headed to LA . . . .

(About two hours into the flight) \"So Jim, what did you think of the lavatories? My dad was on the design team for the 757 lavatories.\"

\"Hmm. . . tell your dad that there isn\'t enough head room.\" (We both laugh) During the several hours long (we pratically talked the whole flight) I learned that the gentleman sitting next to me, Jim, was headed to LA to attend his daughter\'s studio\'s open house. The lady, Betty, was headed onward to Mexico City to be with her grandchildren. I also got some interesting history from both of them about the Lindy Hop scene in Seattle in the 1940s.

After saying goodbye to Jim at the baggage claim I head for the LAX Marriot shuttle. After I get settled on the shuttle I look at the shuttle\'s other occupants. Oh wow! One of rider\'s is a very cute petite blonde, late teens early twenties. I wonder if she\'s going to the swing camp too. I look away for a second, turn back and we both catch the other checking the other out. I wonder if the SOE is still working. When we get to the hotel I get up and gesture to her that she can exit before me.

She blushes then shyly says, \"Thank you.\" I wonder if I\'ll see her again this weekend. (After resting in my room for about 15 min I decide to head for the concergie for info on what I can do before I can meet up with Amanda, my best friend/girlfriend from high school. I decide to head out for Venice beach on the #3 and #2 bus. Trip there and back is pretty uneventful since I didn\'t reaply any SOE.)

<font color=red>
Touring LA with Amanda
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After my side trip to Venice Beach and before meeting up with Amanda, I reapply 12\" of SOE on my arms and neck. Right after I get out of the bathroom I get a call on my cell phone, \"I found that Carl Jr. that you were talking about. I\'m parked close to there next to the . . . um. . . Live Nude Girls sign.\"

I laught then reply jokingly, \"Mon Dieu Amanda! You have such a dirty mind. I\'ll see ya in a few minutes.\"

In the following hours Amanda takes me on a driving tour of Hollywood blvd., Sunset Strip, Beverly Hills, and West Hollywood. All the while we catch up on each others lives. The entire time I notice that she seems very confortable and chatty. She hasn\'t been comfortable and chatty around me since my junior year in high school. Ususally she has been quiet and tense around me since we broke after my senior prom. For dinner we go to Ed Debevic\'s a 60\'s diner which their motto is \"Good food. Fresh Service.\" The weird thing is that the waitress pretty much left me alone the entire time that we where there. Amanda even said that the waitress today was less insulting than usual (SOE effects).

After Amanda and I part ways (she\'s headed for New Mexico for a weeklong conference) I go to my hotel room to prep for the Opening dance. Before the dance I apply 8\" of SOE to my arms and 1/2\" of RM behind the ears. I notice nothing out of the ordinary during the dance. I did notice that the cute blonde girl that I saw on the shuttle at the dance. Unfortunately she always seem to be dancing with someone when I\'m free.

<font color=blue> Preview for tomorrow\'s installment: First day of clases and The Hunter and Huntress: Sniffing out a female member of this forum at the dance.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

How often do you have to re-apply SOE?

[SwingerMD]

Usually I find the rxn start to tail off after four hours. Now if you get any on your clothes I have found that I can still get very strong rxns the next day.

[SwingerMD]

<font color=red>
Friday August 2nd
First day of classes
<font color=black>

With about 1/2 before the first classes start I decide to put on my usual 12\" dosage of SOE on my arms and neck. I run down to room 3 to take Kim &amp; David\'s 6 count Lindy class (didn\'t want to do anything to hard or easy). With about 15 min to spare I start to look over the various merchandise in the corner when this gentleman of about 50 years old, brown hair, and wearing a staff badge came up to me and asked me, \"How are you doing? Sleep well?\"

\"Um, not bad,\" I replied.

\"Not bad? Not good? Do you have a girl in your room?\"

I shake my head.

He smiles, \"Do you want one in your room?\"

(!?) \"Um . . . sure . . . .\"

\"Hey! I\'m Ernie and it\'s a pleasure to meetcha. Whe\'re ya from.\"

\"Me? I\'m YYYY from Seattle, WA. Nice to meet ya. Oh gotta go class is starting.\"

Other than strange encounter with Ernie, nothing noticable happened during the rest of the classes and competitions throughout the day.

<font color=red>
The Hunter and the Huntress
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Running about 1/2 hour late I apply 1 drop of PI/m to my armpits and about 1\" of RM behind the ears and arms (total 4\"). Tonight I have a mysterious rendevous with a female of the forum that I have been corresponding with for a while. She said that this was the only dance that she was able to make. Since the theme of the dance is collegiagte night, I dress in a purple UW shirt, white vest with a purple W, khaki pants, black dancing shoes, pocket watch, and I ditch my contacts for my oval glasses. She describe herself as having X color hair, X color eyes, X\'X\" tall, and wearing saddle shoes. Didn\'t say anything about her nationality, or did she? Anyhow I get down to the dance about 9:30 pm and start looking around. After 10 mins.

\"Hmm. Lot\'s of follows here (in fact seems like almost 2 follows for every lead [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/cool.gif[/img] ). Let\'s see . . . X hair, X eyes, X\'X\" tall, and wearing saddle shoes. Wait a sec . . . that describes almost 1/3 of the follows around here!\"

\"Would you like to dance?\"

I look up and it\'s a lady in her 40s with blonde hair (definately not her), \"Sure. I\'d like to.\"

\"Hi I\'m Wendy and I\'m from London . . . . \"

Several dances later with many different follows, I had narrowed down the possible suspects when one of them come up to me and asked, \"Would you like to dance?\"

After the number was over she says, \"So. You are the only one here with a white vest with a purple W on it, black spikey hair and,\" she reaches up and takes off my glasses,\" the only one with oval glasses. Hi I\'m XXXX.\"

\"I\'m YYYY . . . . \"

As for the rest of the night, both me and XXXX dance once more, giving her a hug before we part ways. She\'s a beautiful young woman, a good follow, and just about the perfect dance partner size and height for me. <font color=blue> (Do you have anything else to add? [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] )
<font color=black>

The only other interesting thing that happend that night was that I had a very nice long talk with the bandleader\'s wife just outside the ballroom before I went up to sleep (about 1:30 am).

<font color=blue> Preview for tomorrow\'s installment: SOE for the competition, the power of RM in Balboa class, and one very huge Asian hit (be sure to tune in Ferromone [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Sounds like Ernie is a pimp LOL [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[SwingerMD]

. . . man I had this thing all typed up and ready then the board goes down and I have to start all over (Sigh). Now where was I . . . oh yes . . . .
<font color=red>

SOE and Jack &amp; Jill Competition
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About an hour before class starts I find myself sitting outside Room 3 with my OJ in one hand and breakfast in the other. No one down here yet, then again I suppose most people stayed up till 6 am dancing. Oh wait, here comes someone. . . .

\"Hi. How are your feet holding up?\"

\"Not bad. And you . . . ?

So for the entire hour before class I find myself swamping stories with April, a high school teacher, from the Bay area on how we got into swing dancing. I found out from her that one day a group of her kids got together a swing dance club, forged her signature as advisor, and sent the paperwork into the main office.

\"I couldn\'t really refuse after that.\" We both LOL.

\"So your kid were the one\'s responsible for getting you into swing dancing. And now you\'re here.\"

Other than the long and pleasant conversation with April, nothing much else happened through the first class and competition. Then again, I was pretty loose and relaxed during the competition so the SOE did it\'s job nicely. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

After the competition I run into the bathroom to apply about 1/2\" of RM behind the ears. I thought that this might give me a better rxn than the possible OD at the dance yesturday. Nothing happend in the first Balboa class (went over basic steps so didn\'t get to dance with anyone much). But the second and third one is a different story. After dancing with a few follows I spotted the blonde chick from the shuttle bus without a partner.

\"Hey do you need a lead?\"

\"Sure.\"

\"Didin\'t I see you on the shuttle bus on Thurday around tenish?\"

\"Yes I came in on that shuttle. Hi I\'m Nina, from Seattle.\"

\"Oh, wow . . . .\"

I found out that Nina goes to Scripts, one of the Pumona colleges. Oh and about 10 sec after we start dancing she pulls in closes and lays her head against my chest. Hmm perhaps she is a bit tired . . . . After about 6 follows that decide to pull in close and lay their head on my chest, shoulder, or against my cheek (glad I shaved this morning). Oh and one whose had on my back kept on inching further and further south [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] . I think I\'m convinced that this much RM is good for right out of the bottle use (no charging time).

<font color=red>
Where the Hell Did She Come From?
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Running about 1/2 hour late before the dance (theme is Stars and Stripes). I find myself in one of the hotel\'s resturants grabbing a quick meal. About 1/2 way through dinner in runs this Asian woman about 5\'5\" aprox 28 years old with a Caucasian male 6\'0\" late 30s in tow.

\"Hey can we sit right here?\" I nod motioning to the two empty seats at my table. \"We\'ll just be a minute. We\'re going to look at the menu outside for a sec.\" After a minute they walk back in and sit down at my table.

The asian woman looks at me intensly and says, \"I know you from my classes yesturday. I\'m not sure which ones, but somehow,\" looks puzzled for a sec,\" . . . I remember you.\"

Whoa. What the hell was I wearing yesturday to get such an intense rxn? <font color=blue> \"1/2 before the first classes start I decide to put on my usual 12\" dosage of SOE on my arms and neck. I run down to room 3\" <font color=black> Oh yes that\'s right . . . oh whoa . . . I haven\'t had a rxn like this before with SOE. Anyhow I find out from Emma, the asian chick, that she\'s a fifth grade teacher, lives in the Pasedena area, and has been Lindy Hoppin\' for about six months. Derek, the caucasian guy, is a laid off stockbroker, lives in the LA area, and has been Lindy Hoppin\' for about a year.

Before the dance, I decide to try about 12 drops of APC in my hair gel. Nothing interesting happend at the dance that night, except I found myself dancing with Emma several times that night. Not only that, it seemed that she was paying very close attention to my moves and play off of them. In other word we seemed to be connecting very well.

<font color=blue> Tomorrow\'s Preview: Oh the Power of SOE, Dancing on Cloud Nine, and Afterthoughts.

[SwingerMD]

<font color=red> Sunday Aug. 4th 10:40 am <font color=black>

\"Mmmm . . . 10:40 . . . (!?) . . . 10:40!? Holy [censored]!!! I got 20 min before class starts!\"

In less than 15 min I race down to the ballroom. Unsure of how much SOE that I put on (think about 3/4 of what I normally put on). . . . Nothing interesting happens up to the end of the last class at 4pm. Well except for the hour long conversation/pratice with Derek and Emma during luch. About 5 min after I sat down in Rm 3 Emma showed up with Dereck not too far behind. Couldn\'t help but get this feeling that I\'m being followed.

After classes, being tired of hotel food and itching to explore Santa Monica and Venice Beach I head out . . . unfortunately without the mones (Oops).

<font color=red> Dancin\' on Cloud Nine <font color=black>

I Arrive at the dance all dressed in white (theme is Dancing on Cloud Nine) and fashionably 30 min late. I have about 8\" of SOE on the arms and 1/2\" of RM (50/50 RM Aloe oil mix) behind the ears and on the neck. At the door one, Matt a lindy hopper from Vancouver Canada, waves me over.

\"Hey how are ya doing? Great weekend, eh?\"

\"Yup. Just got back from Santa Monica . . . .\"

About 45 minutes later, I was finally able to extracate myself from Matt and walk into the ballroom. After putting down my pack on a table near the central dance floor I head for the dance floor and run straight into Emma (Man, she must have the nose of a bloodhound). I dance with her twice and have my picture taken with her before the floor is cleared for the intergenerational dance (couples must be 35 years apart).

After the competition I\'m on my way out to grab some caffeine and reapply some RM. Before I get the door Emma finds me and says and points out Derek and suggests that we take a few more pictures with him. About 15 min later I finally get to the bathroom and reach into my pocket and pull out . . . .

\"Hey wait a sec this is my SOE. I grabbed the wrong bottle. I just have to go back and . . . hmmm . . . on second thought I\'ll just put on my usual dose of SOE and head upstairs for a mountain dew.\"

I make it to the elevators where I run into this lady in her mid fifties, brown hair with iron grey streaks. She turns around and asks, \"Do you by any chance know where I can find some pop?\"

\"You\'re in luck. Just follow me.\"

After grabbing 500ml bottles of pop we head over to the main lobby where we sit down. I look at my watch and it\'s 12:00 am. Plently of time to dance. This mountain dew should keep me going till 6am. No classes tomorrow and I have a late flight out so I can dance the night away tonight. Besides, Yasmine\'s story is just starting to get interesting and it would be impolite to . . . .

. . . . about 50 min later Ernie walks into the lobby and says, \"You two are still here?\" He looks over at me and grins, \"You\'ve been talking to her all this time and you still haven\'t gotten her into your room?\"

I flash Ernie my \"Not my type\" look and her walks over to join the discussion. . . . Around 1 am I am finally on my way down to the ballroom. Oh crap Matt\'s at the door and he just spotted me, I want to get to the dance floor . . . .

\"Hey YYYY? How\'s the night goin\' . . . . \"

I after I am finally able to extracate myself from Matt after . . . 30 min I find that the band has gone and people are dancing to DJ\'d music. Wait a sec they\'re dancing to \"the hustle\". OMG just as long as they don\'t play disco. I find Emma out on the dance floor and we dance to a couple of songs before they stop and start taking down the sound . . . hey wait a sec. . . .

\"Emma isn\'t there supposed to be late night dancing tonight?\"

\"I don\'t know. I\'ll ask one of the crew.\" Comes back after a few seconds. \"He said that they are all done.\"

\"All done?! OMG I just had a bottle of mountain dew. (Groan) I\'m not getting to sleep anytime soon.\"

Emma grabs my hand, \"Hey can you introduce me to your friends?\"

\"Sure . . . .\"

After a few minutes of conversation with my friends Emma asks, \"I don\'t see Derek around here. Can you walk me to my car?\"

\"Sure.\"

Halfway to her car we are intercepted by Ernie who introduces us to his with and daughter. Emma and Ernie are in deep into a discusion when I ask, \"Can you wait here for a sec. I\'m just going to get my pack before they take it.\"

. . . . (will continue after a break)

[SwingerMD]

. . . (continued)

I run into the ballroom (gotta hurry, don\'t trust Ernie) grab my chapstick (my lips were a bit dry [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) put some on. Grab my RM (made certain that it was this time) and put two small dabs on my neck. I grabbed my shoes and pack and flew out of the ballroom. I got to Emma and Ernie in time to hear.

\" . . . you just got to come to the Swing Pit since you are close by in Pasedena. Well goodnight.\" Kisses Emma on the cheek.

\"Come on YYYY. Let\'s go.\"

Out in the parking lot Emma starts to talk about some guy from where she dances at regularly that she is uncomfortable around and always seems to try to get alone with her. (!?) Whoa. . . .What is she trying to tell me . . . ? We get to her car.

\"Well. It has been wonderful meeting you this weekend.\"

\"Same . . . .\"

Before I can say anything else she steps really close to me and touches my elbow. I then slip my hands around her back and we both pull each other in close for a intimate hug and slowly kiss each other on the cheek. We slowly untangle ourselves and say our goodbyes.

I then head back to the ballroom (Hey it\'s no use trying to sleep when you have mountain dew coursing through your veins) to where a group of dancers have gathered around a guitar player, fiddle player, and a guy with two plastic cups. Oh wow. An impromtou jam session a la Dejango Rheinhart. So in the wee hours of the morning I met a guy from Omaha, a husband and wife couple from Toulusse France named Francis and Francis, dance partners from North Carolina, and several instructors.

After getting about 4 hours of sleep. I pack up and put on some SOE. With four hours to kill before my flight I have some nice conversations with fellow swing campers on their way out and had luch with campers from Vancouver, Canada at Denny\'s.

<font color=red> Afterthoughts <font color=black>

Did I have luck with pheros in LA. I most certainly did. Thanks to SOE I now have of pen . . . er . . . e-mail pals from all over the country. The -none that I used didn\'t seem quite as effective as the SOE, perhaps it is because the SOE is great for getting to know people that you haven\'t meet. SOE seems to work fairly well on the dance floor (-none seems better), that is if you are able to get to the dance floor [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] .

I had so much fun that weekend that I am seriously considering going again next year at the very least. I have also found other camps across the US and one in Sweden. Anyhow after seeing all of these wonderful dancers, it brings one thing to mind . . . I really need more pratice [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] .

[SwingerMD]

Hi all,

Just had an interesting conversation with Matt, the Lindy Hopper from Vancouver B.C. . I was at a major dance tonight (part of the Seattle Lindy exhange) when I approached him and asked him about whether he wanted to go back to Camp Hollywood next year.

\"You know I\'m kinda torn.\"

\"Why?\"I asked.

\"Well the Lindy scene down there is hard to break into. The people down there just don\'t seem to want to dance with visitors . . . . They don\'t seem as open as people up here.\"

Wow. As you can see from my previous posts in this forum I really didn\'t have all that much trouble meeting people on and off on the dance floor down there. In fact I don\'t think I have danced that much with that many people ever. This was the second person from this area that I have talked to (the first person was someone I talked to before I left for camp) that has had bad experiences in the swing scene in Southern Cal. I definately want to go again next year. I just hope that I have enough money [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] . (Heading to Hawaii with the family next year)

[ironration]

I really enjoyed reading your story [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[**DONOTDELETE**]

He\'s cool isn\'t he?
-The Bat

[SwingerMD]

Thanks gents,

(Sigh) Now I\'m waiting for some added info from certain female forum member that I met Friday nite at the dance. <font color=blue> (Hey! You lurking out there?)

[SwingerMD]

It\'s time. Bump!

[Funlover]

Hey Swinger,

Were you using SOE gel, or a roller topped bottle? And is there a difference in so many inches, and the way they affect someone? Or should they both work the same?

Wonderful story and sounds like you had a great time.

Thanks,

Funlover

[SwingerMD]

Funlover,

Haven\'t tested out the gels as much as the oil. So far it seems that I do get close to the same effect that I get with 1 packet compared to about 12\". But I still have not tried less of the gel.

[Funlover]

Thanks Swinger, I appreciate it!! That answers my questions.

I used to live in Seattle. I worked as a mechanic there at \"Clinton Auto Repair\" on Roosevelt Way. That was in the late 80\'s. I liked Seattle, the boats, the water, and of course, eating at the Space Needle!!

Keep posting, I am learning a lot!!

Funlover

[SwingerMD]

No problemo Funlover! I luv sharing stories of my phero spiked adventures! [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] So you used to work up around Roosevelt H.S. just north of the U-District in the 80s. I tend to hang around the U-Dist, great test bed for pheros [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img] . I also head up, once in a while, to a essential oil/aromatherapy shop not too far from Roosevelt High on Roosevelt Way called Zenith Supplies. I tend to get all of my e-oils, dropper bottles, and roll-top bottles (only $1) from there.

Never have eaten at the resturant at the Space Needle. Heard the view is great, but the food needs more work. I actually started to learn how to dance twp years ago at the Center House on Tuesday nites.