Bitter Cold

When it came down to it: I really wanted a trophy.

I know the whole thing was supposed to be about charity (and Successfully Single did raise a LOT of money for Habitat for Humanity. The event was sold out and the voting alone raised about $1100!) and having fun and I did meet a lot of really nice people and did something I never in my life thought I would ever do (dance in front of 800 people? I don't THINK so) but in the end, after I had worked so hard and made more than a few people believe I was really a dancer I just wanted to go home with a trophy so I'd have something to show for all my hard work and I KNOW that is the wrong attitude and I would NEVER EVER let my kids feel bad and bitter about not getting a trophy after learning a new skill and pushing themselves beyond what they thought they were capable of and having such a great time and finding out (again!) what great friends and family they have and I am embarrassed and ashamed that I feel that way at all and also have a horrible, horrible cold which I'm sure was totally caused by my bad attitude and I deserve to be all stuffed up and headachy and phlegmy and hoarse and yes I would do it all again even if I knew the result would be the same but....

I really wanted the trophy.

I'm so shallow.

Go, sis, go

My nieces are competitive dancers and I am not a fan. I'm a BIG fan of my nieces, don't get me wrong, but I am not a fan of dance competitions. For one thing, their point system seems to be loosely based on ALL point systems in existence...they incorporate metals (gold, metal, silver), gems (ruby, emerald), and the old-fashioned first, second, third into one stew that is unappetizing when served and makes the receiver wonder exactly what they got. ("Is there meat in this? Tofu?") I swear my youngest niece once came home with a Second Ruby Platinum Award and I said "Yes, but did she win?" and my sister said "Well, she was first in her age division but fourth overall" and really, if you're going to make these girls spend all their time practicing and giving up their weekends and wearing false eyelashes for 10 hours at a stretch they should at least be able to go home KNOWING that they danced better than Susie Tapshoes.

I also don't like the aspect of it that hit the news last week - little girls in skimpy outfits doing moves they don't understand to lyrics they shouldn't repeat. My sister insists that the dance company her daughters patronize attends only family-friendly dance competitions (No Hoochy Displays Allowed!) and was, in fact, in town for one such competition this past weekend. To her dismay, there was a lot more on display than ability. She reported that one number resembled a Vegas show she'd seen a while back and was TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE for my nieces (and therefore 80% of the audience) to watch.

So my sister sat down and wrote a letter to the owners of the competition - and quoted their very own website at them and suggested that if they really believe the "family-friendly" values that they proudly tout that perhaps they should school their judges to stop giving top awards to the skanky groups (a top award being a Platinum Diamond First or some other such nonsense).

I've never been more proud. I'm giving her a Platinum Diamond First!

Update: How about she got a response from these losers and all it said was "I respectfully disagree." WTF?! So I checked out the website myself and in the banner at the top it says "Nice matters." Really?! Getting flashed is nice? No, getting flashed is gross. Learn the difference.