On a dark and windy night in east Texas, a little baby boy was born….

Ok, ok, maybe we won’t go back that far.  Instead, let me welcome you to my little corner of the web and tell you what you’ll find here.  The subtitle on the blog header pretty much sums it up; the primary topic of this blog is “Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me!”

So you’ll find me blogging mostly about:

• health
• fitness
• loosing weight,
• dancing
• and me!

I hope to have some things here that people will find interesting, fun, and informative, but this blog is at its core a personal story about one guy’s journey to a healthier lifestyle.   And since this is “my story” I’m sure all kinds of tidbits about “my life” will show up in the blog.  Who knows, maybe I’ll be noticed, the blog will go viral, I’ll be offered a book deal and a speaking contract and I’ll end up with a show on Oprah’s new cable channel.  Woo Hoo!

So now you know all there is to know about…  Huh?  Did you say something?  Oh…

….Hmmmm…. Do I hear grumbling from the masses (all two of you who are actually reading my blog?)  Ok, ok, here is some basic info you should know about me.  In no particular order:

• I dance.  I love to dance.  I am a dancer.
• I am a Professional Line Dance Instructor.
• I am an eight-time UCWDC World Champion in Country Western Dance:
  ..
  • 2007 Line Dance Classic Newcomer Male Open
  • 2007 Line Dance Classic Newcomer Male Diamond
  • 2008 Couples Diamond IV (Newcomer)
  • 2009 Line Dance Classic Novice Male Open
  • 2009 Line Dance Classic Novice Male Crystal
  • 2010 Line Dance Classic Intermediate Male Diamond
  • 2011 Couples Diamond III (Novice)
  • 2013 Couples Silver II (Intermediate)
    …
• For the competition year (2013-2014) I compete in Country Western Dance in several circuits:
  • UCWDC
    Advanced Line Dance: I’ll be competing in both Classic and Showcase Line. I will definitely compete in the age divisions, and if things go really well, I’ll be competing in the Open division as well.
    …
    Couples: My dance partner are waiting to see how practices go before competing in Couples this year.  We are going to do the minimum required “Two-Step” at the early events in the year before committing the financial resources required to compete at Worlds.
    …
    ProAms: I have a new coach and we’re working hard.  If everything goes well I’ll be competing in 3 divisions at Worlds and if things go really well, I’ll compete in Open as Well.
    …
  • IAGLCWDC  in Advanced Line  (I used to compete in Couples and got as high as Intermediate before stopping couples.  I also competed once in Novice Pro-Am)
    …
  • ACDA I’ll only be competing in Advanced Line
    …
  • and occasionally IGRA although it has been a few years since my last IGRA contest.
    …
• I’m a librarian. (as of March 9, 2012, I’m an out of work librarian and an “economic statistic”)
  Read my blog posts starting with the March 20, 2012 entry:  “I lost my job…and turned into a bear…kinda, sorta” and continue reading from there to get the full story.  2012 was, hmmm, a very interesting year.
• I like cats, but can’t have one because my best friend and roommate is allergic to them.  *sigh*
• I love chocolate.
• I’m a native Texan.
• I live in Dallas in “Uptown/Oaklawn” which is just north of downtown.
• Until Dec 2011, I drove a beat up pick up truck.  Now I’ve got a new toy.  My new toy got totaled in Nov 2012 and I now have a different, but not as nice “new toy”  (I just looked through my blog posts and realized that I didn’t blog about that… ooops!  My bad)
• I am in my late 40s (Ok, Ok, I’m in my early 50s.  I am 50 — with 51 looming ever closer like one of those Dementors from Harry Potter–Does anyone know how to perform an “expecto patronum” spell?)
• I’m gay.
  I’m open about it and since this blog deals with “me,” I’ll probably say something from time to time about being gay in connection to my journey to a healthy me.  So… if you have no issues with gay folks then awesome, and “Welcome to my blog!”
  …
  If you don’t know any gay folks, you’re curious, and you want to stick around, that’s awesome; “Welcome to my blog!”  You’ll learn that gay folks are “just not that different” from “straight folks” except that we’re attracted to and fall in love with the same sex. 
  …
  However, if every time you hear the word “gay,” your hair stands on end and your face turns purple, you have two choices:Option #1 — ignore the fact that I’m gay and allow your eyes to gloss over any mention of it; just allow your mind to go numb whenever I inevitably mention my “gayness” in this blog and enjoy all the other stuff that will be here.Option #2 — if your issues about the fact that there have always been, and always will be, gay folks in the world are insurmountable, then I suggest that you go try this website instead of mine.  ‘Nuf said.  🙂

One of my readers… (see the comment down below) requested a recent photo of me and a recent video of me dancing.

The photo over to the right was taken by a very nice guy (whose name I can’t remember) who is a regular at the local “corner bar” I hang out at when I want to have a beer or two.

The name of the bar is Pekers and I even blogged about it in one of my posts: As the Boots Turn…

I really like the bar.  I don’t go there a lot now that I’m unemployed.  sigh  Pekers is one of those local places where you just go in and everybody knows you, at least casually and you can just relax and have a beer, play a video game, and if you’re in the mood, have a conversation or a couple of laughs.

Here are a few more photos, all from the 2013 World Championships (Jan 2013)

As for that video…  This video is from Worlds.  I’m dancing with Natalja Sawal, my pro for the past two years.  We are doing a West Coast Swing in the Male ProAm Diamond Division.

So, now you know a little about me, welcome, and read on…   …and I”ll

See you on the dance floor! 🙂