I Ballroom Danced before Dancing with the Stars made it cool!

"They're just jealous"

"Don't worry about what others think"

"They will wish someday they knew how"


These were the repetitive reassuring phrases passed down from my parents. You see I started learning how to ballroom dance when I was 8 years old, and this was the mid 80's. So as I was going through the emotional devastating time of youth known as Junior High and High School, it wasn't exactly socially acceptable to be a ballroom dancer. Needless to say, the cat was released and the ridicule began. Somehow the fact that I chose to spend my afternoons holding girls in my arms, and not wrestling around on the ground with another guys, was cause for jabs at MY sexual orientation. Really?!?

So I had to hide my hobby from the rest of the world the best I could, until....

... Suddenly celebs like Jerry Rice, John O'Hurley, and Evander Holyfield are seen on TV doing the sensual moves of the Rumba with a hot blonde. So now when people discover that I can dance, I hear "That's So Cool" and "I'm so Jealous" and "I wish I knew how". Which means I have to admit that my parents were right about something, and that's just not right. Damn you Jerry Rice!

I share this as a partial intro to myself and to say how excited I am to start dancing again. It has been almost 6 years since I was a member of a competitive formation ballroom team and I just tried out last night for a local one. It was the happiest time in my life when I was on a ballroom team, and I have never dated more girls then during these times, needless to say, I'm stoked.


So to all of you Ass-slapping jocks of my youth.... who's laughing now?