-Nadine Knows
Halloween party at Vito's
What are you gonna DO for Halloween, Nadine? asked my
friends. Interesting question. I've been laying low these days. I mean I know
what I'm not supposed to do. Emails warn me to avoid shopping malls on Halloween.
Those nasty terrorists might be lurking and leaving explosive-trick-or-treats
there. I'm also not supposed to cross any west coast suspension bridges either.
No sweat. The nearest suspension bridge is the Tacoma Narrows, and I don't
have any reason to be near it. I also know I'm not supposed to open mail that
looks bulky or has white powder on it. (And nuking the mail in the microwave
before opening it is not a good idea, since it'll potentially scatter the
spores. Yup, CNN headline news said so.)
We must heighten our awareness. We must live our lives normally. The leaders
of our nation tell us. Great, our confused leaders have lost it. I know they're
not telling us to. Be paranoid, but be normal, are they? But after a little
more thought, I've decided the true message is to go about your daily business
and be street-smart about it.
Hey, I can do that. In fact, I happen to think I'm pretty street smart already.
Armed with the power of rediscovering my street-smartness, I decided to come
out of hiding and do the normal thing. Go salsa dancing!
Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, and I was happy to see that my old
haunt, Vito's, was throwing a Halloween party. The new promoter, MENEA! Productions,
threw a great gig. It was complete with salsa, Merengue, hip hop beats by
Manny and El General Gustavo. Lessons, costume prizes, tall drinks, and a
mix of dancers and minglers added to the fun of the night.
And did you SEE the salsa crowd? So many people came in costume! Then again,
I should have known that salseros are hams at heart. The panel of judges and
the crowd picked out the top four costumes award winners. First and second
place went to two brightly decorated Chiquita banana and Carmen Miranda girls.
(I didn't get the name of the first prizewinner, but the second went to Susan.)
They were definitely the crowd favorites. Third prize was shared between the
salsa dancing Gangsters Coco and Bernard. Fourth prize was shared between
the devil and angel couple Daniela and Luis.
Who else was there? Well, Batman was doing his Bat-thing on the dance floor.
Toxic-waste-dump cleaner (or was he Ebola-man? Or maybe he was anthrax man?)
was chilling at the bar, while Mr. Fangs poured the drinks. Alongside Anthrax-man
was his secret agent friend in the shades and trench coat. Matrix guy was
doing his fancy footwork and spins. Gangster boy spent most of the night dancing
with the beautifully delicate nymph. In another corner, one of the nurses
was nursing a grinning emcee (ok, they were just dancing) while the pervert-with-the-big-wig-and-sunglasses-
and-open-shirt enjoyed the view. A little later in the night, he met his match:
Ms-Thang-with-her-big-hair-large-shades-and-gold-catsuit-under-a-furry-coat.
Looks like we're back to normal in the salsa world.
I’d love to read your comments, questions, and suggestions. Replies will be posted anonymously. Send them to me here: nadine_chan@yahoo.com