As a beginner, I enjoyed all the workshops throughout the day, but now that I "know everything" [giggle] I simply wait for ladies styling rather than paying attention to the patterns. I mean who cares anyway, the followers are there to help the leaders figure it out and, after rotating 50 times, I feel like I’ve been helping the Maytag man test the spin cycle.

I thought the hotel was wonderful again this year and the rooms very spacious. I couldn’t believe, however, that they hid the blow dryer in the closet just to watch me panic. Come on you Hyatt guys, a couple screws and it’s easily mounted on the wall near the bathroom light switch.

I had an especially good time at Swingthing this year. It seemed that the balance of leaders to followers was perfect. I got asked to dance about as often as I asked. The music was good and when it was unrecognizable, I blamed it on my lack of musical sophistication. Hey, as long as I can dance to it, it’s ok with me. Come to think of it, though, I did hear some whining about the music on Saturday morning around 1:30 a.m. as I tried to stumble through what obsessive dancers call "late night dancing." For me, it’s more like zombie dancing and a prelude to a wasted Saturday in delirium.

I noticed one thing immediately, and it was that the floor appeared to be a master dance floor, yet it wasn’t very slick. It helped to spark some unusual creativity in my dance moves as I tripped over the parts that didn’t fit together snugly enough. No cervical collar needed though.

Strangely, there was a general absence of Halloween decorations that made me wonder how expensive could it be to place a couple pumpkins around or some candy kisses for chocolate addicts like me. I especially missed Kermit’s spider web portrait studio. He promises to bring the web next year. I will mention here that I got too sleepy to slip into my bombshell blondie costume so I found a seat near the action and let everyone else entertain me with their antics while I resisted the urge to don my platinum wig. Needless to say, there was no absence of silliness, thank goodness. What a hoot!

It was around 12:30 a.m., Saturday night (Sunday a.m.) when the ghouls and boyz in the hood came out to play. I saw Tonya Harding with bat included, various pirates in wonderful costumes, a couple of severely impaired nerds, Al Capone with a big cigar and a waitress from the ‘40’s who took my order for salad with Three-Mile-Island dressing. I’m still waiting!

As usual the workshops were fabulous. Wayne and Sharlot can pack ‘em in and continue to give us what we crave. However, I still can’t seem to become Sharlot no matter how much I visualize her classic style or straighten my hair. The comps were fabulous especially Tati & Jordan in the Strictly Swing. They, along with other youthful dance prodigies such as Ben, Tara, and Melina, all seem to have been conceived of a blessed dance virgin from another planet and dropped from the sky directly into first place. They are of an entire dance breed that never ceases to inspire, entertain, and startle us with their talents.

All in all, Swingthing came through as a favorite to keep on my agenda. As events go, it is quite an entertaining one with the costume contest being the high point of the weekend. Thank you John Wheaton and staff for a consistently fun event!