Fascination (Or, Middle America on a Ship)

I'm back from the wonderful world of fanny packs, jorts, mom jeans, and denim looney tunes shirts. Otherwise known as a Carnival Cruise. Originally planned as a large (15-20) group outing of friends, the numbers dwindled down to a final four. While we had a nice time, I think it would have been a lot better with the large group. The weather also didn't cooperate. The cruise left from Florida on Friday afternoon and returned Monday morning. In between there was a docking in Nassau, Bahamas, and a "Fun Day at Sea." 60 degrees and windy wasn't exactly beach or deck weather, so we had to make do with other activities. A little mini golf, beer in a bucket, and football. The highlight of the weekend was definitely our dinner companions, with whom we sat for all three nights. They were two lesbian couples and they were great. They were funny and interesting and it made dinner a whole lot of fun. The most enjoyable aspect was the dynamic between one of the couples. One of the women in this couple was very young, just out of college, and pretty much spoke her mind, and her partner, who was in her thirties, was a little more reserved. Pretty much everytime her young partner spoke, her head would just fall forward into her hands, in a very much Oy vey! moment. They were also big into bingo. It wasn't clear right away (to me anyway, Marielle, who is very astute, picked up on it much quicker than me) that they were lesbians, but then we saw two of them on the Newlywed Game that the ship was having, and that kind of gave it away. The ship was huge, with some very fun things to do in the evening, including a casino, piano bar, disco, and karaoke. During the day, not so much things to do. And yes, there was plenty of food. I have to say that I did feel somewhat disconnected from a majority of the people on the ship- based on what people were wearing and doing and snippets of conversation that I overhead, "Look- it's Pente with Proskyooto." I am not making this up. Ironically, I started to read "What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America." This book essentially discusses how the Republicans have created such a backlash against the liberal elite, that democrats are out of touch with the values of the heartland, and are so consumed with things like lattes that they couldn't name a NASCAR driver. Further, the Republicans have managed to win the heartland despite economic policies that are extremely hurtful to them. Anyhow, walking around the ship, I couldn't but think that I did feel disconnected from most of these people, given that I was born, raised and live in the northeast. We may share some of the same values, but I felt miles apart. So, that's the cruise. I definitely think we made the best of it, considering the weather, and one of our crew catching a cold.

I am totally into "Dancing with the Stars." Check it out. B-list celebrities ballroom dancing with professional partners. Think Drew Lachey (Nick's brother), Jerry Rice, George Hamilton, and Tatum O'Neal. They compete against each other every week doing a different dance, and then are praised or panned by three very serious judges. It is very addictive.

Finally, I want to leave with this parting thought. We have a blender in our house that gets quite a bit of use- almost every day. Each time I wash it, I think how remarkable it is that we haven't dropped it into the porcelain sink yet. Well, back to ballroom dancing. Hope all is well with you out there.