skate out

Roomie and I watched "Fire & Ice," a figure skating show fundraiser to benefit the API Wellness Center held at the Yerba Buena Ice Skating Center on Saturday night. We ran into old friends and enjoyed the show. Big headliners like Surya Bonaly, Caryn Kadavy, Rudy Galindo, Rohene Ward and vocalist Ellen Greene, along with local skating talents provided the crowd-pleasing performances.

I ran into Caryn Kadavy during the intermission, and got a snapshot with her. Like always, I never know what to say to people I admire from afar when I actually get up close and am presented with the opportunity to speak with them. The only problem is, I get a little "star-struck," so the weirdest things always come out of my mouth, all with good intentions, of course. I feel like I only have so much/little amount of time with them and I get flustered. So, to Caryn, I said something like, "Oh, I've been such a fan for so long...it's great that you're here...GOOD LUCK TONIGHT!" On my way back to my seat, I thought to myself, "Umm heelloo, you're supposed to say 'BREAK A LEG' instead of good luck!" I did my best to put the incident behind me and enjoyed the rest of the show, waiting for Caryn to come out and skate her routine.

Meanwhile, the show so far is really entertaining and exciting. Surya Bonaly brought down the house with her sheer athletic ability and pizzazz. She really does have a presence when she steps out on to the ice; she's a very unique skater indeed, very special. She skated her first number to "One Day I'll Fly Away" by Nicole Kidman, and then later on, to "I Will Survive;" both skates featured a triple salchow and triple to loop, and the ever-popular backflip! Roomie and I provided color commentary about the skating/skaters to each other. I mentioned to him what I said to Caryn, and he told me to not worry about it. So then finally Caryn comes on to the ice for her number to "Anyone Who Had a Heart." She starts out real nice and flowy, graceful--her trademarks. Then she takes off for her double axel, and wham! A hard fall to the ice, the hardest one we saw that night, but she managed to go on with the rest of her program. All along I kept thinking that the fall was my fault that she fell. Oh how I'm gonna live with that for a long time. Roomie told me to not go up to her after the show and apologize, but SORRY CARYN!!!!! I still think you're a class act.

After the show, we ran into more friends, took more pics with them and the other stars of the show. When we finally left the building, Roomie wanted to go for a drive through downtown because he misses San Francisco a lot. We drove by Union Square, Embarcadero, North Beach, Nob Hill, by his former apartments in Pac Heights and Japantown, then we both felt sleepy and went home.