Tomorrow night begins a new chapter in my life. My friends Vangie and Stephanie have convinced me that we all need to take a class. Is it a class that I actually need to take (for example: cooking), or a class that will provide invaluable skills I can use for the upcoming Halloween season and beyond (for instance, sewing)? Of course not. We're taking hip hop dance lessons. Every Thursday night. For the next six weeks.

Now, I don't dance. Never liked to dance, still don't like to dance. If you happen to be one of the lucky few who can attest to the fact that I did, in fact, dance in college, perhaps even atop a bar once or twice, I have one word in my defense: Jagermeister. I'm just not a dancer. And I don't like hip hop. In fact, I can't stand it. Fergie can lower her London Bridge all she wants and Gwen Stefani can take pride in being a Hollaback girl all day long for all I care, but don't make me listen to it. So why am I paying good money to torture myself every Thursday? Well, first of all, my friends asked me to. Second of all, the dance studio happens to be strategically located above a bar and it also happens to be open after class. And third, ever seen the abs on Gwen and Fergie? If that's what hip hop dancing gets you, I can suck it up for an hour once a week.

On an entirely different and more altruistic note, my friend Julie Kenner is actually doing something useful with her life. If you love to write, or read, or just love a good cause, check out Julie's auction benefiting Love Without Borders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphaned children in China. The idea for this fundraiser came to Julie only days after she and her husband submitted their Letter of Intent to adopt Chu Yongchen, a little girl born with a cleft lip and palate living in the Chuzhou Social Welfare Institute in the Anhui Province of China. Julie's complied a tremendous collection of cool stuff for auction, including critiques by agents, editors (including my very own Kara Cesare), and published authors. Lots of signed books by cool authors (including yours truly) and other assorted goodies. So bid often and generously. And thanks for helping!