The Liar

me:  I saw that look.

He:  What do you mean?

me:  You looked at Jennifer the way I look at Sonia.

He:  No!  She's just a friend!

me:  Lie to yourself, buddy, but don't lie to me.

The Five Second Rule

She:  I remember when I moved to Austin, I looked for a dance studio to attend.  I tried the local salsa studio, and you were the first person to talk to me when I came in.

me:  Well, yeah. Have you ever heard of the Five Second Rule?

She:  Sure.  That rule states that if you drop food on the floor, you have five seconds to pick it up, or else it gets cooties on it.

me:   Correct.  That's one of them.  Another one states that when you see someone for the first time, and your head jerks around for a better look, you have five seconds to go talk to them.  No hesitation, no self-doubt, on what ifs.  Just go.  If you hesitate, if fear, uncertainty and doubt overwhelm you, you can be sure you're a pathetic loser.

She:  And?

me:   And so, when I first saw you enter the studio, I said to myself:

         "One one-thousand..."

Marcelo

The other night at the One2One, while dancing with Maria, I stepped back with my right foot to open the door for a CBL.  Just after I planted my foot, Marcelo, dancing behind me, stepped back with his left for an Open Break. His heel caught my foot high on the ankle.

( I know I was there first because my foot was on the bottom.) 

As I steeled myself for a foot injury, he did not transfer his weight onto his heel.  Instead, feeling my presence, he maintained his balance, stayed on his toes, and pushed off into a spin.  His dancer’s awareness and athleticism saved my foot.

Hot

Viernes Sociales was hot like a mutherfucker. A heady mixture of estrogen and testosterone filled the air. At one point, Mariah got stepped on by a stiletto-clad heel. As I pressed ice on the swelling, three inch long gash on the top of her foot, I reassured her with the thought that she had just made a blood sacrifice to the salsa gods.

Chachos

Last night at the Pura Austin salsa social:

me: See those four chachos sitting over there?

She: Yeah.

me: That's a Murderers' Row of salseros. They don't know if you can dance. I'm showing them           you can.

She: Thank you.

The watchers

As I sat with my buddy last night at the One2One, we witnessed a woman dancing spasmodically, with great enthusiasm and effort, to the timba band.

me: She's dancing like nobody's watching.

He: Yeah.

me: The bad news is, we're watching.

Dogs...

me:   Hi! Where have you been? Haven't seen you in a while.

She:  I've been busy.

me:   Let me guess. It's either involves a car wreck or a boyfriend.

She:  Neither.  6 months ago I started an intensive boot camp to become a certified dog trainer.

        I just finished. Now I hate dogs.