Monday, April 17, 2006

Girls, Girls Gone Wild, And Girls, Girls, Girls

Okay, now that I have your attention, let me say this will be the last "Michael meets girls" post for a while. I don't feel like documenting every flirt, name exchange, evening out, and whatever for the rest of my love life. So, pull up a chair and enjoy the show. Tomorrow we'll move on to other interests.

First of all, I ran into Lan Saturday night. It wasn't the plan, but that's the way things turned out. I was supposed to spend the evening with someone else, but she and I forgot to followup with each other, and when I called her Saturday night to confirm, well, we didn't get together.

I realized later on in the evening that I am doing this so half-heartedly. I need to just relax and stop thinking about where I'm going next, because I am honestly having more fun when I do that than when I try to plan something. Besides, Easter weekend is not the best time to get together with someone you're not already seeing on a regular basis. People have families. They make plans for holiday weekends.

It's kind of funny, though, as I sometimes check my horoscope at a popular Web magazine just to see how far off from my reality the generic advice doled out to 250 million men (1/24th of the current human population) can be. This week it said I might have opportunities for romance if I involved myself with events that have something to do with children. Hm. Actually, two strange conversations occurred where that did seem like a possibility. But I didn't follow through with either one.

What I did do, as I realized I had fumbled the ball on my Saturday night, was call up Geno, who had told me a week or two ago that he had no parties or special events scheduled for the Saturday of Easter weekend. That just means Geno picks out a club and dances the evening away. I called him up and got him on the phone just as he was getting ready to go out for the evening. The chosen hot spot was Tropicana. I had also spoken with Lan, to see where she was going, and she also said Tropicana.

So, Tropicana became my Plan B right before I found out for sure that Plan A wasn't going to happen. I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to see Mary's Band, who now only play at Plaza 59 on Saturday nights. I sometimes wonder if Lan doesn't like the competition from Mary, but maybe she just likes different bands. She's allowed to have likes different from my own (but she always teases me about how I love Mary -- so I'm going to trust my instincts and stick with "Lan doesn't like competition").

Well, the hostess at Plaza 59 came over to talk with me but she had to get back to work, and I couldn't see me sitting around by myself for 2 hours waiting for the band to come on. So I told the guys up front it was nothing personal and headed out to Tropicana.

Normally when I go to a club I call and reserve a table. I don't like getting stuck in the back or having to spend the evening at the bar breathing in everyone else's cigarette smoke. Nonetheless, I hit Tropicana as the free dance lesson was winding down and found a table in the back against the wall. But I really couldn't see anything and doubted my friends would wander around the club looking for me (it's hard to find people once the crowd shows up, so we tend to stay close to our reserved tables).

The hostess at Tropicana sort of knows me, so I finally went to ask her if I could steal a table by the door. She looked a little panicked but started to think about whom she could move away. All of a sudden, Lan walked in. "Hi, Michael!"

Well, turns out she had a table in the usual spot, and she said something about "My girlfriends will be joining me later. But there's room for one more." So, I invited myself to join Lan's group.

She looked stunning, by the way. Absolutely gorgeous. And Lan never lacks for dance partners. She occasionally gives me grief if I don't ask her to dance, but I honestly don't feel like standing in line waiting for a chance to grab her. She'll ask me to dance once in a while, and she is a great dancer. One is rarely disappointed with Lan as a dance partner. We were chatting for a while as people slowly walked into the club and a bachata started up, so I took Lan out on the dance floor "before your queue of partners shows up". She laughed and said it was good to dance before the club grew crowded anyway.

I think that was the only time I danced with Lan all evening. But when the girlfriends showed up, I suddenly found myself the center of attention. There I was, surrounded by some of the hottest Vietnamese women in Houston, and they were dressed to kill. Men came darting from all sides of the club to ask my permission to dance with the ladies. I had only met one of them once before. She actually signed up for one of Gloria Jones' Houston dance classes and we had spoken briefly about ten days previously.

Geno came over at one point and said, "So, what's it feel like to be the center of attention?" I honestly didn't know what he meant, as I was trying to spread my dancing out across several ladies (Elsie, another of Gloria's students who asks me to dance, came by -- she's very good, too). I let Geno's comment pass until Lan came back to rest for a moment and she sat down next to me. She leaned over and said, "Michael, how does it feel to be the center of attention?"

I said, "What do you mean?"

She laughed and replied, "You're surrounded by beautiful women!" I looked around and suddenly understood what she and Geno were talking about. We were in the middle of a cluster of women. Now, the doorward area of the club is often a spot where guys congregate, but Saturday it seemed like the girls in that spot outnumbered the guys 2-to-1. It's usually the other way around.

The full effect didn't hit home, though, until I was actually leaving. As I got up to leave and said good-bye to Lan and her friends, a cute girl behind us actually gave me the most disappointed look. I didn't even know she was there, but that's the way it goes. She could have asked me to dance or something.

Although I hate dancing with strangers unless I've seen them dance first. I broke that rule with one lady. I was walking by Elsie at one point and she said, "Michael, this is my friend...." She couldn't remember the friend's name, but I held out my hand and shook the friend's hand. Elsie suddenly disappeared. I thought, "Okay, I guess she wants me to dance with the friend." So I did the courteous thing and asked the friend to dance.

This lady could not dance Salsa, and she didn't want to follow. I owe Elsie BIG for that.

Or maybe it was just a trick Geno set me up for. When he came by the table at one point, I said, "Why haven't you asked one of these ladies to dance?"

"They look like beginners."

I laughed and shrugged. "They are beginners," I said. But I figure forewarned is forearmed. Besides, they were willing to follow. So Geno grabbed one and took her out on the dance floor. Naturally, the band (Grupo Kandente, who have just added a female singer) launched into a super fast Salsa. You don't want to dance with a beginner on such a fast song, but Geno stayed with it and she did a pretty good job of following him, in my opinion.

I saw German Hernandez standing close by and asked him why the song sounded different to me. It seemed to have an almost Jamaican feel to it.

"They're playing it too fast," he replied. "It's just a standard Salsa, but they've upped the beat." He counted off 123..567..123..567 really fast and suddenly I understood what he meant. "But this is an older Salsa song," he added. "It's a classic." Older Salsas (from the 1960s through 1980s) tend to be slower than modern Salsas, but the band had obviously brought it up-to-date for the 21st century.

So, I had a great time Saturday, maybe I found a new dance partner in one of Lan's friends, and my only big disappointment was not getting to hear Mary's Band. I may check them out at another venue next weekend. They play at Cantina Laredo earlier in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays.

So, what's with the "Girls Gone Wild" in the subject line? I'm getting to that.

I went by the dance studio to help out again tonight. I helped demonstrate the Two Step for a beginner class at 8:00 PM. I'm not very good at Two Step but for beginning stuff I can usually handle a teacher's backleads well enough to get a basic step across to other people. I didn't embarrass myself too much.

The real fun started at 9:00 PM, with Gloria's Beginner Ballroom class. Anna, the cute redhead from the Intermediate class, did not stay around to help as there were once again too many ladies. Another girl I don't know did stay. But I found myself standing near the tall Asian girl I mentioned previously. I think she has a boyfriend, but tonight she was by herself.

Asian women generally are not as aggressive as American women. American women may not feel they are aggressive, but the cultural differences are immense. I think that was the big problem between me and Linda, the Vietnamese girl I had been seeing for a few months. She stole my heart but my Asian friends warned me that she was probably too traditional to accept being with an American man. I don't know. I meet Asian women all the time, and their acculturation (or Americanization) varies tremendously. The girls who grow up here are very much like other American girls, except that they still tend to be more conservative than Anglo and even Hispanic girls (in general -- every ethnic group of course has its conservative and liberal families).

But my point is that Asian women don't usually try to draw men out (through overt flirting) the way non-Asian women often do. An Asian woman can be just as intensely interested in you as any other woman, but her family has raised her to act a certain way. It's hard to know if there are signs of interest or what the interest represents (it's not always romantic or sexual interest -- some Asian women are more receptive to befriending non-Asian men than others).

So I moved over to stand next to the tall Asian girl and started chatting with her. She recognized me from both the Ballroom and the Beginner Salsa class. I drew a complete blank on the Salsa class, but she is taking the Beginner Salsa class this month. I'm sorry, but I have danced with so many girls in Salsa classes, they have to spend a fair amount of time with me to register on my radar. I slowly began to recall her from across the room. I spent most of that evening with the girl I called Miss Cute Reluctant, whose friends had brought her into the class on the second week. (NOTE ON EDIT: Nope. Miss Cute Reluctant is from a Saturday class -- I cannot keep them all straight.)

So, we're talking and I learn she's out of college and working for a company in a nearby location. And her name is Linda (but she is not Vietnamese -- at least not ethnic Vietnamese). I was kind of stunned to be dancing with a Linda but life goes on. There are a lot of Lindas in Houston. Lots of Asian Lindas. Who are beautiful and find me interesting enough to engage in light conversation with me. Yeah, right.

It was a freaky moment, but she made a point of saying good-bye to me when the class was over.

As we started dancing, Linda refused to make eye contact with me. That's not unusual in Asian culture. It's a sign of respect for the other person, so I knew not to try and stare into her eyes, and kept my eyes diverted as much as possible. But at one point I noticed her pupils were extremely dilated so something had got her interest and I'll be bold and say I think it was me.

Linda has danced before. So she followed well enough and we were having a nice chat when Gloria came over and asked me to trade partners (was I being too obvious, or what?). I'm just there to help, so I do what I'm asked. And Gloria asked the Intermediate girl who had stayed to help (and who was filling in as a "guy") to dance with Linda. Gloria paired me up with the other Asian girl I had danced with last week.

This girl's name is May (I asked her tonight, and she at least asked me what they call me when people speak with me). I don't know much about May, but she is not a traditional Asian girl. She grew up in America. For all I know, her parents grew up in America. So, not only is she extremely cute; she's not afraid to flirt.

Dear God, what a flirt this girl was. So far as I know, she's only 18-20 but I don't ask ages and I just go with the flow.

May doesn't have as much dance experience as Tall Linda, so she still needs a little gentle reminding about keeping her frame and putting a little more pressure into her arms. I decided to make a game of it by gently but firmly pressing her hand back until she caught on.

Boy did she catch on.

One minute we're dancing the FoxTrot and the next we're locked in an arm-wrestling competition. She slammed her hand back into mine and caught me off-guard. My first reaction was to relax my arm because I didn't want to look like I was fighting with a girl half my age in the middle of a dance class. But I realized quickly that would send the wrong signal, so I started fighting back.

Now, I'm pretty sure Gloria doesn't want me to wrestle with her students in the middle of class, so I didn't put all my effort into it. But May found a little more strength to throw in. This girl is strong. I didn't ask her, but I think she must be into sports. She works out, I'm sure. I had to struggle to seem manly and firm without losing the poise and dignity of just being there to dance.

By this time, we're locking gazes and our expressions are getting intense. She was smirking at me and I said very carefully, "What are you doing?"

"Giving you pressure."

"I see. So, you like to dominate all the guys?"

She laughed and kept it up. By this time I'm leading her around the room in a FoxTrot but she's not following at all. Too much of her attention is going into pressing home the attack. She got out of step several times and tried to take the lead away from me. That don't work with Michael.

I said, "You're not going to win this battle, so don't even try." She began to relax at that point, but the fight hadn't quite gone out of her yet.

I teased her about leading street gangs in her spare time. "But my gang is such a nice gang," she replied.

"There ain't no nice gangs," I said coldly. "You just need to learn to submit."

Now, I'm just recapping the highlights. Every time Gloria came by I had to relax and act like nothing untoward was happening. Fortunately, May caught on to that quickly and she relaxed, too. But we'd go right back at it as soon as Gloria moved on. If Gloria ever reads this blog, she'll kill me, I'm sure.

I kept saying, "You are so going to get me into trouble."

I've been in a lot of funny dance situations, but that's the first time anyone has tried to wrestle me down. It was a funny moment but as the other students rumbled across the room in their first unrehearsed dances, things got a little crazy. I'd be counting for May to help her (and me, to be honest) stay in time, playing the subtle Pressure Game with her, teasing her about wrestling tigers on the weekends, and avoiding collisions on a near minute-by-minute basis.

I doubt she learned much about Ballroom Dancing tonight, except that it's important to follow the man's lead. By the end of the class, I'm pretty sure she understood that I lead, she follows. I injected a few moves that Gloria wasn't teaching yet just to keep May off balance. She had no idea of what was coming next, but she didn't stop smiling so I know she was loving every moment of the class.

Only problem is, what am I going to do next week?

Well, you all will just have to bide your time and hope I blog about it again. But this girl, young as she is, definitely has some potential. Yeah, I said that. Any 18-20 year-old-girl who is gutsy enough to almost start a fight with me in the middle of a dance class deserves a second look. You just don't often run into spunk and fire like that.

And she's cute, too. Did I say that?

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