-
Closed For the Holidays!
Filed under Blog NotesDec 1I have often heard that the brain is the most powerful sex organ. Powerful or not, it is certainly the last to give up, as a visit to one of our dance spots on Saturday night will prove. There, victims of this stubborn sex organ twitch and jerk to the strains of Proud Mary, oblivious to the fact that their mojo is missing. Obviously, this is one of those moments that sneak unobserved into our lives, like peeing when you sneeze and viagra, the moment that Proud Mary starts to seem like a rocking dance song. Hello? It’s not. “Cocaine” is a dance song. “Shout” is a dance song. Anything by the Black Eyed Peas or Michael Jackson. Don’t they know, these men who once wore their slippery polyester shirts half unbuttoned and the women who wore sequin tube tops over spandex jeans, that the first time they ask a band to play “Jeremiah was a Bullfrog” there’s no turning back? Seriously, what happens to baby boomers and their ability to get their groove on?
I was born in 1958, a few years before the Twist changed the world, as people say. The Stroll, a seriously sexy song, had been out for a couple of years. Even the Madison was a pretty groovy line dance situation, far more than the abominable heel clicking nonsense being taught to unsuspecting grandmas these days. (Oh, I’m on to you, line dance teachers! No, it is not cool to do country line dancing. Not. Cool. Nor is it a good way to meet men, because you’d only meet one who was willing to do country line dancing, a disqualification so comprehensive that it ranks higher than being registered as a sex offender.)
Throbbing rock and roll and dance floor foreplay is our legacy, isn’t it? That’s what being a baby boomer is all about..we’re the generation who broke the chains of dance position. We do dirty dancing!
Last night I wandered over to Cafe Adelitas, a boite around the corner from my house. The Lucky Dogs, a justifiably popular band, were playing, and I know the guys. This has none of the cachet that “I know the band” has backstage at an Eagles concert. Here, it’s impossible to not know the band, as there is a small pool of musicians who group and regroup regularly, and can be found at the gardening supply store or waiting to get their blood pressure checked when they’re not playing. They have a following among the dancing gringos, and play all the favorites, whether they like it or not.
The Cafe is around the corner from my house in the village of San Antonio, and I told Bruno I’d meet him at the plaza, so I had occasion to walk over alone, taking my time and thinking about Mexico. It was well after dark, and only one out of three street lamps has a working bulb, so the lighting I walked by was iffy. Still, there was added illumination from doorways that opened into living rooms where Mexican families waved hello as I ambled by, and from a bright moon that made the cobblestones glitter like a dirty river, so the street was never fully dark. The weather was perfect, of course, as it only knows one way to be around here, perfect. I passed a dog or two, old friends who thumped their tails but didn’t bother to look up. I enjoyed it. It suddenly occurred to me that over thousands of vacations in thousands of enchanting locations, I have always tried to grab and hold on to the magic of the place where I visited, a magic that was wanting in the place where I had to return at the end of my rented week.
Until now. Now, I’m satisfied with the magic where I live, of which there is plenty
The Christmas season is coming to our village, so the magic is getting cranked up a notch, if that’s possible. There are going to be parties and concerts and children’s posadas at which I will cry for the sweetness of it. I’m going to have my tamale making party and go to the tree lighting ceremony on the Plaza, when they plug in the lights that sit on the tree all year, along with the wrapped shoe boxes that decorate it. The school will put on their annual Nutcracker Ballet, although it doesn’t teach dance.There will be dozens of chances to dance to dumbass songs like Proud Mary and Joy to The World and there will be some Alvin and the Chipmunks thrown in. It’s going to be awesome. And I’ll be back in 2010 to continue my bitching. Until then, XOXOXO
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
6 Responses to “Closed For the Holidays!”
-
mike briney said on December 2nd, 2009 at 7:57 am
Country line dancing makes we want to ask—-Why?
This is the season that my workmates think it’s OK to play the dogs barking line “Jingle Bells”
-
nancyd said on December 7th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I hope you have a wonderful holiday, Elliott! I would so love to meet you, might get a chance this coming summer as we think we might spend 6 weeks Lakeside if we can find a place that’ll take dogs. Of course I’ll be in touch!
I can’t believe I finally took the time to reset my password so I could comment. It’s been ages! Take care and keep having fun.
XO Nancy
-
Oh Nancy, it would be so great if you and Paul come! Thank you for bothering with the password..I don’t know why, but my blog is way to hard for people to log on to. Exclusive, you know. Have a wonderful holiday, I ‘ve been watching your adventures.
-
Mke,don’t get me started on those dogs. Merry Christmas to you.
-
David said on December 13th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Elliott,
I just checked out Bruno’s blog
brunojoachim.com
the photo “Gaye Brown at Home” is so kewl! If she hasn’t ordered a poster-sized copy to hang above the mantle she should. BTW, I do wish The Alleged Bruno would post more essays. I really enjoy reading them. (these talented people: not only a great photographer but the man can WRITE!)
hugs,
David -
David said on December 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
barking dogs: jejeje. back when I was in the record biz and cassette tapes were the Big New Thing we had a warehouse crew that was mainly fresh from the Philippines. Since few of them spoke English and none of us Management Types spoke Tagalog for our Christmas party they performed the barking dogs Jingle Bells.
Yes, Virginia, it is just a big melting pot….
mabuhay!
Leave a Reply
Follow Us!