Opening the Cornucopia of Blogs

"Life is for the living."

It's a mantra I've always lived by.  You don't get to do anything when your life is over, and there are certain things it's only easy to do when you're young.  If you don't do those things, though, you're going to spend your life wishing you did, particularly when you have opportunities that, literally, only come along once in a lifetime and are only for a select few people.  It was with all of that in mind that I somewhat talked Pam into taking advantage of her free pass to Camp Hollywood, despite the fact the trip would still cost us a pretty penny for all the other accoutrements (airfare, hotel, car rental, etc.).

Ultimately, Pam said it was worth it, and I believe it was, too.  There are so many reasons why, of course, and some of them are more worth covering than others.  I don't think there's much of a need to discuss the fact that we now have a new favorite roller coaster, Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain, nor do I think I need to explain the joys of having the top down on a 2013 Ford Mustang convertible as you cruise down the Pacific coastline.  However, there are a number of very interesting, swing-related things to discuss about the trip.

I have a tendency to be very, very verbose when I start to blog, so I'm making a point to try and split my thoughts up into a few different blogs over the next few days.  Pam will have her blogs, too, but I think there's some commentary that's important to come from me with an outsider's perspective rather than from Pam's voice.  Here's what I've got in mind:

• For The Best:  As great as out-and-out winning Miss Camp Hollywood would have been, second place might actually be the most ideal result for Pam in more ways than one
• The Leap:  How I've seen Pam transform as a person as a result of being Miss Heartland Swing, crystallized into two minutes on a poolside stage in Los Angeles
• Wingtips, Cicadas and All Things Smooth:  Having seen swing dancing in 15 other states, I assert that Los Angeles is still the capital of the vintage world, no matter what anyone anywhere else may think
• How to Win a Beauty Pageant With a Black Eye:  Crisis management, 3,000 miles away from home, and how we handled the situation after "the drop"
• What Now?  With the biggest dance event on the National Tour schedule behind us, where do we go with this whole Miss Heartland Swing thing from here? 

It's all on my mind and it's all worth discussing, so look for those thoughts in the coming days.