The tattooed lady, and dancing with Vinnie. ;)

Hi there again. Well we both had a really busy day yesterday, but the house is all done and dusted and there’s only the ironing to do today after I’ve been to the gym. On my previous post there were pics of the little people in my life. I love the newness of small children, such soft skin and perfect all over. Why can’t we just stay like that forever, with flawless skin, unspoilt by the ravages of time? This question brings me to my thoughts on tattoos. I know that some of you have them, and that’s your choice, but there was a woman at the pool on Saturday, a mother of two small boys, who in my opinion, had gone completely overboard with the ink. Her back was also covered in tattoos. I found it so fascinatingly ugly, that I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

I remember that my Gran had a couple of tattoos on her arms, done when she was a young army wife during the second world war. One was of a ship’s anchor, and I don’t remember what the other one was, but I do know that they were her biggest regret, and not a pretty sight, especially as she grew older. She always wore sleeves to try and hide them, even in warm weather. Fads and styles are temporary, but life goes on, and every fad has its casualties, and I think that those who take it too far can pay a high price for wanting to be trendy or stylish. What do you do if you don’t like it once it’s done?

Sunday evening’s show was really fabulous, and featured Vinnie Talarico, a multi-talented Italian performer from New Jersey.

He has been singing professionally since he was nine years old. Just imagine a combination of Tom Jones, John Travolta and Neil Diamond. He was resplendent in satin shirt, silver belt, a very shiny black dress suit, and he just oozed personality.

He sang songs made famous by various artists, like the three aforementioned, plus Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, Pavarotti, Elvis, etc.. His jokes were really funny too and had us all in stitches. He was a great dancer and an awesome drummer. He told us that he had been taught to play the drums by Dave Brubeck’s drummer, Joe Morello. During the second half of the show, he took off his jacket and came down into the audience. He clowned around a bit, singing to some of the women in the front few rows. I was seated on the aisle of the third row, and just when I thought I was safe and he was going back on stage, he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me up to dance with him. “Undo my shirt,” he whispered to me, as we gyrated in the aisle, with about five hundred pairs of eyes fixed on us in the spotlight.

The satin shirt was damp with perspiration, and the buttons were tiny and many. “How far down?” I squeaked, as he fixed me with a sultry look. He didn’t answer, so I stopped just before his belly button, just to be decent, and anyway, hubby was right there watching, and his wife was in the back row. On such occasions, one doesn’t wish to be a spoil sport, so I just played along. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it. My dance classes really came in handy as we did a bit of bump and grind and a few twirls. The audience were beside themselves. After the show, I had so many people come to chat and congratulate me on my performance. It seems I’m getting quite well known at the club, what with being gym member of the month, my piano playing, hula hooping, and now the dirty dancing. Not sure whether I’m famous, or infamous. LOL! He ended the show with some great songs from “Grease” and then for an encore, sang that beautiful Josh Groban song, “You raise me up.” What a fantastic evening it was.

I just love it here, with all the friendly outgoing people who’ve made us feel so welcome. It’s really going to seem very tame indeed when we get back to our house in SA at the end of March, where the neighbours keep very much to themselves and there’s no partying going on at all.

Hope you’re all having a great day. Chat again soon.