2015 In Review - Social, Recreational
Dec. 31st, 2015 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bjarvisI think I've been socializing less in 2015 than in prior years. Part of it was being busy, some of it was just needing more personal time to keep my introvert self from going postal.
I'm still out calling square dances regularly, although I've been turning down most outside gigs. For the most part, I'm calling regularly for the Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore, DC Lambda Squares in DC, our own C2 group in Arlington, VA, and an occasional Zig Zaggers (A2) gig in Vienna, VA. It works out to at least one gig per week on average, although sometimes the scheduling goes nuts and I get 3-4 gigs in a single week. And it's enough.
On occasion, we attend fly-ins and weekend dance events, but these days I'm content to put in an appearance without actually dancing. This year, we attended:
and a few others I've probably overlooked.
Both DC and Baltimore had Mainstream classes this year; I was one of the instructors, but not the primary. I like teaching and workshops in general, but Mainstream is by far the hardest to teach and requires the most preparation work. Ultimately, for the good of the square dance industrial complex, it's the most important program to (a) get people into dancing at all, and (b) get them dancing well so that they can, if they chose, move on to other dance programs. That said, it's the part of the industry I think I'm least qualified to do, and have the least interest in doing. It's just not me, and I'm fine with acknowledging it's not my strong suit.
We're registered for the CALLERLAB convention in Norfolk, VA, in 2016; I'm on a couple of panels. We're also registered for the 2016 IAGSDC bash in Toronto; I'll be a TA for the caller school.
I'm still a vice-president for the Mid-Atlantic Challenge Association. We had Sandie Bryant calling at our spring event this year, and John Marshall for our December membership dance event. We'll have Don Moger in spring 2016, as well as Ett McAttee late in the year. We're also adding an A2/C1 event in August of 2016 with Dayle Hodge & Doren McBroom co-calling. And we have Ross Howell signed up for spring of 2017.
In other projects, MACA secretary Kathy Zottmann sorted through boxes of archived materials, sending me three. I've dutifully scanned all of those pages into PDF files; when time allows, I'll index them properly so we have a working archive of documents from the 1970s, 1980s & 1990s.
The new MACA executive is selected in January; I expect to be a VP again for another two years, but am not counting my chickens too early.
Our happy hour crowd still meets regularly although I haven't attended much at all this year. I miss them, but I've been so exhausted most Friday nights that I can't get my sorry ass downtown to link up with the boys. A greater effort will be made in 2016.
We still have our trailer at Roseland Resort in West Viriginia, and I love it more than ever. It needed some maintenance this season, including replacing the power distributor, replacing some fixtures, and having a roof built over it and half of the outside deck. The roof was required because of leaks in the ceiling of the trailer which we never seemed to be able to permanently address; it also has the advantage of giving some shade to the dining area of the deck so we can go outside without burning to a crisp during summer, but leaving half the deck open for those who wish direct sunlight or star gazing at night.
This fall, Michael and I stayed at the trailer for the week following Labour Day. Heaven! I was technically still working, but the wifi at the main campground buildings is solid enough to support my VPN to the office. And I got vastly more done in that week than I had in any other to that point because of the lack of distractions. And using the poolroom bar as a standing desk has convinced me of their virtues: I was surprised how well & how comfortable it was to work standing!
The sitting lounge above the barroom is a great place to work too but much too dark. I now have a USB-powered light for my laptop to help in such circumstances.
Our trailer was just barely out of wifi range from the main buildings and the new campus network hadn't reached to us on Rose Hill yet at the end of 2015, but I assembled a hotspot repeater with a high gain antenna in October, giving us a very useful & stable signal from inside our trailer to the main buildings and thus to the outside world. Now that the deck & roof is complete, we'll permanently mount the new antenna when we de-winterize in the spring of 2016.
We need to sort out our trailer weekends for 2016 still, but I'm looking forward to it all. And I'm hoping to spend an extra full week there, perhaps after Memorial Day, in addition to our traditional Labour Day week.
I'm still out calling square dances regularly, although I've been turning down most outside gigs. For the most part, I'm calling regularly for the Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore, DC Lambda Squares in DC, our own C2 group in Arlington, VA, and an occasional Zig Zaggers (A2) gig in Vienna, VA. It works out to at least one gig per week on average, although sometimes the scheduling goes nuts and I get 3-4 gigs in a single week. And it's enough.
On occasion, we attend fly-ins and weekend dance events, but these days I'm content to put in an appearance without actually dancing. This year, we attended:
- ACDC 2015, DC Lambda Squares
- Independence Squares' fly-in
- Pass the Ocean, Hon!
- IAGSDC convention in St Louis
- John Marshall's C2 weekend
- Harvest Moon Festival
- Harvest Festival Hoedown, DC Lambda Squares
and a few others I've probably overlooked.
Both DC and Baltimore had Mainstream classes this year; I was one of the instructors, but not the primary. I like teaching and workshops in general, but Mainstream is by far the hardest to teach and requires the most preparation work. Ultimately, for the good of the square dance industrial complex, it's the most important program to (a) get people into dancing at all, and (b) get them dancing well so that they can, if they chose, move on to other dance programs. That said, it's the part of the industry I think I'm least qualified to do, and have the least interest in doing. It's just not me, and I'm fine with acknowledging it's not my strong suit.
We're registered for the CALLERLAB convention in Norfolk, VA, in 2016; I'm on a couple of panels. We're also registered for the 2016 IAGSDC bash in Toronto; I'll be a TA for the caller school.
I'm still a vice-president for the Mid-Atlantic Challenge Association. We had Sandie Bryant calling at our spring event this year, and John Marshall for our December membership dance event. We'll have Don Moger in spring 2016, as well as Ett McAttee late in the year. We're also adding an A2/C1 event in August of 2016 with Dayle Hodge & Doren McBroom co-calling. And we have Ross Howell signed up for spring of 2017.
In other projects, MACA secretary Kathy Zottmann sorted through boxes of archived materials, sending me three. I've dutifully scanned all of those pages into PDF files; when time allows, I'll index them properly so we have a working archive of documents from the 1970s, 1980s & 1990s.
The new MACA executive is selected in January; I expect to be a VP again for another two years, but am not counting my chickens too early.
Our happy hour crowd still meets regularly although I haven't attended much at all this year. I miss them, but I've been so exhausted most Friday nights that I can't get my sorry ass downtown to link up with the boys. A greater effort will be made in 2016.
We still have our trailer at Roseland Resort in West Viriginia, and I love it more than ever. It needed some maintenance this season, including replacing the power distributor, replacing some fixtures, and having a roof built over it and half of the outside deck. The roof was required because of leaks in the ceiling of the trailer which we never seemed to be able to permanently address; it also has the advantage of giving some shade to the dining area of the deck so we can go outside without burning to a crisp during summer, but leaving half the deck open for those who wish direct sunlight or star gazing at night.
This fall, Michael and I stayed at the trailer for the week following Labour Day. Heaven! I was technically still working, but the wifi at the main campground buildings is solid enough to support my VPN to the office. And I got vastly more done in that week than I had in any other to that point because of the lack of distractions. And using the poolroom bar as a standing desk has convinced me of their virtues: I was surprised how well & how comfortable it was to work standing!
The sitting lounge above the barroom is a great place to work too but much too dark. I now have a USB-powered light for my laptop to help in such circumstances.
Our trailer was just barely out of wifi range from the main buildings and the new campus network hadn't reached to us on Rose Hill yet at the end of 2015, but I assembled a hotspot repeater with a high gain antenna in October, giving us a very useful & stable signal from inside our trailer to the main buildings and thus to the outside world. Now that the deck & roof is complete, we'll permanently mount the new antenna when we de-winterize in the spring of 2016.
We need to sort out our trailer weekends for 2016 still, but I'm looking forward to it all. And I'm hoping to spend an extra full week there, perhaps after Memorial Day, in addition to our traditional Labour Day week.
