Learning to Viennese Waltz

So a little while back I got on the ballroom dancing bandwagon. Growing up with movies like Dirty Dancing, Moulin Rouge, and Strictly Ballroom, it was something I definately wanted to try. So found a great local place that taught classes and started to take lessons.

A friend and I started with the beginning classes, and then moved up to advanced, all with Pro/Am teacher Nikki Morin. Then we started going really nuts...

Visiting Davy Jones' Locker

If you're familiar with the Pirates of the Caribbean, you might remember the slightly odd scene after Jack gets swallowed by a Kraken and has to be rescued from Davy Jones’ Locker, which is interpreted as his own personal hell of being stuck with himself on his boat and no sea.

Now, it just so happens that a personal hell like Jack Sparrow’s exists, and it’s in the beautiful landlocked state of Colorado. There’s a giant 85,000 acre Great Sand Dunes National Park that’s home to some of the tallest sand dunes in North America (some as high as 750 feet). And, these sand dunes are about as far from the ocean as you can get. How did so much sand get there? Well, according to their website, "the story of their formation is still being discovered," which I take to mean that they don’t really know. But I have a hunch it has something to do with a tentacle-bearded undead sailor…

The fun thing about dressing up like Jack Sparrow in public...

Shooting a black powder weapon

This is my first time shooting, and my first time firing a black powder weapon.

We made our own cartridges with rolled up paper, and then tore it all piratey-like with our teeth...

Impersonating a Pirate Diety

(First of all, if you’re not familiar with the Flying Spaghetti Monster, I’m going to need you to go here so you, too, can be touched by His Noodly Appendage.)

During a recent trip to Brethrencon, Colorado’s premier pirate event in celebration of the annual Talk Like A Pirate Day, I decided to impersonate a pirate diety...