The Ninth Thing in Common

"What?!" This was only my third time in a row repeating this question.

"I said what song is this?!" He yelled at me from 3 inches away.

"Oh, this is Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus!" I yelled back him, who was a mere 3 inches from my face.

"Who's that?!"

"Some stupid Disney girl!" I had to yell so that my new guy friend and I would be able to hear each other over the screaming girls who jumped in excitement over the tween song.

"I think all the Disney girls should be punched!"

"Yeah, I agree! Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus...!" Wouldn't it be nice to slap these girls back to reality?

Okay, so this guy and I were getting along great. We seemed to have at least one thing in common: we didn't know how to bridle our innate rage other than wanting to slap millionaire girls who possessed no talent.

Now, usually, for this type of deep conversation, I would have preferred to have been in a nice, quiet restaurant that has candlelit table tops, cloth napkins that go on your lap, where the servers are anxious to bring you four bowls of Fagioli soup, without muttering to themselves, "Dang, this girl's eating like this in front of a guy?!" Where bread sticks come and go at your request. Where you can take a tour of Italy just by ordering The Tour of Italy. This place is known as Olive Garden. However, the pounding dance floor that was full of guys and girls jumping to a Miley Cyrus song would have to suffice as a place where he and I could talk openly about anything and everything. It would only be right--after all, I only met him an hour ago, right in this very spot, and we needed to be loyal to our roots. Plus, uh, we had both come with a ride.

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on

A slow song interrupted our unbridled topic of conversation about how all Disney girls turn out messed up.

"Do you wanna dance?"He said with his hand making its way toward mine. This intriguing guy wants to touch my hand?! I think I may or may not have had a heart attack at that moment.

"Uh, sure." I shrug. "But I don't know how to dance." Play it cool, Shannon, play it cool.

"It's okay. I don't either." We're meant for each other!

Second thing in common.

"You know, I have never seen all of Titanic," he remarked as he swayed me back and forth to the non-Disney girl song.

"I fell asleep in it. I also fell asleep in all three Lord of the Rings movies." Yeah, I know, I know, I have pure talent for the ability to make myself sound interesting.

"Really?! You should watch them again. I read all of those books." Glad I didn't tell him that I also fell asleep in Sherlock Holmes, Avatar, and Invictus.

"I tried reading The Hobbit but couldn't make it past the first chapter." I sure do know how to impress a guy.

"You're not one of those girls who has read Twilight, right?" What kind of girl did he think I was?!

"Um, no. I have never laid a finger on that book and never will."

"Good, but knowing that the author of that book graduated from BYU makes me feel a little embarrassed."

"You know, the makers of Napoleon Dynamite also attended BYU. And I hate that movie. You don't like it, do you?" Please say no. Please say no. Please say no.

"Well, it was funny the first time. Then it got annoying." He saved himself with that last sentence.

"No, it's always been annoying."

Third thing in common.

By this point I couldn't believe it. Was I actually talking to my soul mate? This guy and I seemed to have very similar tastes. Or...at least three things in common!

The fourth thing we shared in common was our love for Seinfeld.

"The only dance I know is The Elaine," I admitted to him. My secret was out.

I then proceeded to stick my fat thumbs up and do little kicks (with my little legs). And, I admit, I had never felt this comfortable in a guy's presence before. I mean, sure, I always make a fool of myself in a guy's presence, but this time was special. Let me rephrase that; I always make a fool of myself in a guy's presence, but this time was special, for it wasn't on accident.

"I also like The Carlton dance," I admit, "but I can't do it."

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is awesome!"

Fifth thing in common. Is this guy perfect for me or what?

"Oh, hey, do you remember the head-banging dance move from A Night at the Roxbury?" He asks me.

"Heck yeah, I do!"

Our sixth thing in common. Aww.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go add that song to the request list. Is the song called What is Love?"

"Yeah, it's by Haddaway."

Is this guy perfect for me or is he perfect for me?

Shake Your Head Yes.

I decided to make this song our song, "...but if they play this song, I don't think anyone here will get the head-bopping reference, except me and you." Yes, I know. I'm a romantic.

For the hour and a half that this guy and I spent talking to each other, I had gotten him to dance, which, when I had first spoken to him, he made it clear that he doesn't dance. I had gotten this guy to open up to me. We were able to connect in some way. Some way that I'd never experienced before.

"Hey, I'm going to go get some water," he told me.

"Oh, I like water!" Seventh thing in common.

As we were having our water cooler chat, he admitted two things to me.

One: "My ride's leaving in a couple of minutes. But I think you're cool and fun. We should stay in touch." Our eighth thing we had in common...because I felt the same way. I think I'm cool and fun.

and

it's really too bad for me that we shared one last, very important ninth common interest: we were both attracted to guys.

I guess I don't need to tell you that the DJ never did play What is Love, but it would've been nice to hear the answer.

Try New Things

Everyday when I go to work (at an elementary school, just so you're aware), we do the exact same thing. We verbally repeat the same exact thing every morning during calendar time. Repetition is good for children. Repitition is good for children. As a result, I now have ingrained in this brain of mine the 5 rules of the classroom:

1. Use kind words and kind voices

2. Keep your hands and feet to yourself

3. Raise your hand

4. Follow directions without complaining

5. Try new things

Well, last night I followed at least one of these rules without complaining, and that was Try New Things. Last night I went horseback riding (why is it called horseback riding? Couldn't it just be called horse riding--I mean, where else are you going to ride on the horse?) AND "swing" dancing; two things I have never really done before. Oh yeah, when I was like, six, one time I got to ride on a horse that was pulled along by a rope, but I don't think that counts. Then when I was older like, eight, I was the only person on the saddle and we followed a trail, but that horse just followed the other horses. So, I don't think that counts either.

I was really excited to go horseback riding! (why is it called horseback riding? Couldn't it just be called horse riding--I mean, where else are you going to ride on the horse?--more repetition.) There were three horses that like, twenty of us had to share. There was a tall horse, a medium horse, and a short horse. I, of course, wanted to ride the short horse--you know, less amount of work to get on the saddle, and so forth. Little did I know, the short horse was the feisty one. Great. I hadn't been on a horse for what, over fifteen years, and I have to get the wild one. Not to mention, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. So, my horse would trot without me wanting it to. My horse would bite the other two horse's butts for some reason and get those horses aggravated. My horse even started into a gallop, and here I was, without my feet in the stirrups (because I couldn't reach...sigh) holding on for dear life onto the saddle horn for like, ten seconds. I seriously almost fell off. I would've been bruised--emotionally.

So that was fun. I rode on the feisty one for maybe five minutes. After my turn on her I tried the medium horse--much nicer. Sure, less exciting, but maybe I had just a little more control over this one. Maybe. Still, she didn't exactly do what I wanted her to, but she was calmer...which is good in my book. I rode this one for maybe ten minutes. I found that I really like to ride horses, despite my legs being really sore today.

After horseback riding, we went swing dancing. I have also never done this before...and there's probably a reason for it. I suck. We walk into this room of about thirty people just doing all these swing moves and I'm just standing there in shock. How could I ever do that? I couldn't possibly do that. So, I didn't do that. Good thing my brother was there because he and I just did whatever the crap we wanted. We did dumb moves that no one has ever seen before. Yes, that's right, we made up our very own moves--which was kind of fun. What was even better was that I didn't care. I'm sure those swing-dancing activists were looking at us in horror. Who really "raises the roof" at a swing dance? No one. But my brother and me.

Definitely not my bro and me

This isn't us, either

Getting closer: my dancing could somehow be related to the Elaine Dance

My brother's dance could stem from The Carlton

You know how there's always at least one awkward person at a dance who will generally walk around by himself and just stare? Or start dancing by himself as he tries to fit into some group? Those people are cool! Anyways, there was an awkward girl at this swing-dancing joint. She walks up to our little group and just stands there. Then she tries making conversation with my brother. Obviously, my brother doesn't want to dance with her but the girl is trying so hard to get him to ask her to dance. It's funny stuff watching your brother try to get away but having a girl follow him around everywhere. I guess my brother was trying to get me to ask him to dance so he could get away, but I wanted to watch him squirm--it makes things more entertaining that way.

Towards the end of the dance the awkward girl left. My brother then decided to take on the role of the awkward person at the dance. He tucks his shirt in, pulls his pants up high, puts his hands in his pockets, walks around between each couple, stopping to stand in a spot for a few seconds at a time, all the while having a creepy grin on his face. What a great way to end the night. Made me laugh.

It is good to try new things. I learned not to judge a book by its cover--the smallest horse had the biggest personality. I learned you can make anything fun no matter where you are (okay, this isn't true for everything)--like you can make swing dancing something you enjoyed doing, by making a fool of yourself and dancing however you wanted. I learned that awkward people at dances are so fun to watch. But it's even more fun to watch the expressions on people's faces as the awkward person comes toward them.

I would love to go horseback riding again. However much fun I had at the dance, I do not think I would go "swing" dancing again--it's embarrassing when a guy asks you to dance and you have to explain how you don't know what you're doing. And then he tries to teach you steps, when really, you don't want to swing, you just want to make up your own stuff (or moves As Seen on TV!)...and people-watch...and people-watch...