The Days Ahead

This is going to be a busy week --busier than usual, anyway-- although it just got a little lighter.

Tonight, kent4str & I are co-hosting DC Lambda Squares' open house. If you're in the greater Washington DC area and are even slightly curious about the cult square dancing, this is a great opportunity to learn more risk-free and commitment-free. Just drop by First Baptist Church, 17th & O Streets NW, 7:30-9:30 PM and say hi.

We were supposed to be calling in Baltimore Tuesday night but since it's primary day in Maryland and the Waxter Center where we dance is a polling station, dancing is cancelled. Bummer, but instead I'm hoping to attend John Marshall's A2 dancing in Tysons Corners, VA.

Wednesday is clear. Thank god.

Thursday, I have a montly 2009 IAGSDC convention meeting, along with a Plus/A2 club night.

Friday is largely clear but we have a lot of preparation work to do because...

Saturday, we're teaching the second Mainstream class of a series of six for Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore. There's 13 calls to cover along with a review of the prior week's session; we have three hours. Later that night, DC Lambda Squares is co-hosting an open house with Equality Montgomery County in Silver Spring, MD, 7:30-9:30 PM.

Sunday, we're attending Equality Maryland's fall festival in Glen Echo, MD, 2-5 PM. At least we're only passive participants in this one.

The Days Ahead

This is going to be a busy week --busier than usual, anyway-- although it just got a little lighter.

Tonight, kent4str & I are co-hosting DC Lambda Squares' open house. If you're in the greater Washington DC area and are even slightly curious about the cult square dancing, this is a great opportunity to learn more risk-free and commitment-free. Just drop by First Baptist Church, 17th & O Streets NW, 7:30-9:30 PM and say hi.

We were supposed to be calling in Baltimore Tuesday night but since it's primary day in Maryland and the Waxter Center where we dance is a polling station, dancing is cancelled. Bummer, but instead I'm hoping to attend John Marshall's A2 dancing in Tysons Corners, VA.

Wednesday is clear. Thank god.

Thursday, I have a montly 2009 IAGSDC convention meeting, along with a Plus/A2 club night.

Friday is largely clear but we have a lot of preparation work to do because...

Saturday, we're teaching the second Mainstream class of a series of six for Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore. There's 13 calls to cover along with a review of the prior week's session; we have three hours. Later that night, DC Lambda Squares is co-hosting an open house with Equality Montgomery County in Silver Spring, MD, 7:30-9:30 PM.

Sunday, we're attending Equality Maryland's fall festival in Glen Echo, MD, 2-5 PM. At least we're only passive participants in this one.

9/11 and such

Call it 9/11 fatigue. I'm so sick of hearing how tragic the attacks were.

As though no other country ever suffered a terrorist attack before. As though none suffered one since.

As though the US --and many other western nations-- never did anything which could possibly incur enmity from anyone else on the planet.

As though we're supposed to express our unbearable sadness & anger every hour of every day since 9/11/01. As though those who don't aren't human beings in either a moral or legal sense.

As though the 3,000 deaths of 9/11/01 justify 40,000+ deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq and the use of torture.

When the attacks occurred, I wasn't among the people who hid in the dark sobbing "Why do they hate us so much?" Nor was I among the simple-minded who declared "They hate our freedoms!" It never occurred to me to ask why there was an attack: it seemed to me that anyone who read almost any daily newspaper published since 1945 should be able to produce an extensive checklist of people with grievances against the US or the west in general. My only questions were "who initiated this one?" and "who will initiate the next?"

Yes, the deaths of innocent people was a tragedy. My sense of outrage however is tempered by knowledge that death has been visited upon vastly larger numbers of equally innocent people both before and since. My sadness is overwhelmed by my burning disgust at certain politicians who seek to exploit public anger & fear for their own benefit, promoting ancient hatreds and unfounded prejudices to help their next election cycle.

Not a single person responsible for the most egregious failure of US security in this generation has lost their job, yet somehow everyone else is required to surrender constitutional rights, due process and personal liberties. If we don't accept torture, if we don't accept a network of secret prisons, if we don't accept unconstrained wiretapping of communications, if we don't accept clamp-downs on freedom of speech, the terrorists win.

I'm saddened about the events of 9/11, but I'm tired of the attacks being used as a crass cover by which others camoflage their incompetence and pad their bank accounts. I will not be manipulated into guilt, anger or mindlessness by insincere right-wingers any more than I will let myself succumb to lunatic conspiracy theorists. I will not let myself be used as yet another prop in which a tragic event is reduced to a hollow Hallmark card moment.

9/11 and such

Call it 9/11 fatigue. I'm so sick of hearing how tragic the attacks were.

As though no other country ever suffered a terrorist attack before. As though none suffered one since.

As though the US --and many other western nations-- never did anything which could possibly incur enmity from anyone else on the planet.

As though we're supposed to express our unbearable sadness & anger every hour of every day since 9/11/01. As though those who don't aren't human beings in either a moral or legal sense.

As though the 3,000 deaths of 9/11/01 justify 40,000+ deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq and the use of torture.

When the attacks occurred, I wasn't among the people who hid in the dark sobbing "Why do they hate us so much?" Nor was I among the simple-minded who declared "They hate our freedoms!" It never occurred to me to ask why there was an attack: it seemed to me that anyone who read almost any daily newspaper published since 1945 should be able to produce an extensive checklist of people with grievances against the US or the west in general. My only questions were "who initiated this one?" and "who will initiate the next?"

Yes, the deaths of innocent people was a tragedy. My sense of outrage however is tempered by knowledge that death has been visited upon vastly larger numbers of equally innocent people both before and since. My sadness is overwhelmed by my burning disgust at certain politicians who seek to exploit public anger & fear for their own benefit, promoting ancient hatreds and unfounded prejudices to help their next election cycle.

Not a single person responsible for the most egregious failure of US security in this generation has lost their job, yet somehow everyone else is required to surrender constitutional rights, due process and personal liberties. If we don't accept torture, if we don't accept a network of secret prisons, if we don't accept unconstrained wiretapping of communications, if we don't accept clamp-downs on freedom of speech, the terrorists win.

I'm saddened about the events of 9/11, but I'm tired of the attacks being used as a crass cover by which others camoflage their incompetence and pad their bank accounts. I will not be manipulated into guilt, anger or mindlessness by insincere right-wingers any more than I will let myself succumb to lunatic conspiracy theorists. I will not let myself be used as yet another prop in which a tragic event is reduced to a hollow Hallmark card moment.

Smart Car vs. Suburban

Last May, while in Vancouver with kent4str, tdjohsn and rlegters, I saw a Smart Car for the first time. It's an amazingly compact bit of work. While I wasn't able to sit in it to judge fully, it struck me as being fairly roomy inside, at least more than I'd expect for such a tiny machine. I took some photos at the time, but the lighting in the garage sucked and I didn't have anything to show scale.

On Sunday, that changed.

As kent4str, cuyahogarvr, Woody and I left the Air & Space Museum in Dulles, VA, we saw another Smart Car, this one in the parking lot during daylight adjacent to a Suburban! What a comparison of scale!

( Click for photos... )

I'm not sure I'd want to own one --kent4str probably wouldn't fit and there's no room for cargo-- but it's kinda neat.

Smart Car vs. Suburban

Last May, while in Vancouver with kent4str, tdjohsn and rlegters, I saw a Smart Car for the first time. It's an amazingly compact bit of work. While I wasn't able to sit in it to judge fully, it struck me as being fairly roomy inside, at least more than I'd expect for such a tiny machine. I took some photos at the time, but the lighting in the garage sucked and I didn't have anything to show scale.

On Sunday, that changed.

As kent4str, cuyahogarvr, Woody and I left the Air & Space Museum in Dulles, VA, we saw another Smart Car, this one in the parking lot during daylight adjacent to a Suburban! What a comparison of scale!

( Click for photos... )

I'm not sure I'd want to own one --kent4str probably wouldn't fit and there's no room for cargo-- but it's kinda neat.

DC Lambda Squares Open House Summary

We're freshly home from hosting DCLS' open house, a lead-up to the new Mainstream course on Monday nights. I think it went pretty well, despite both kent4str and I being utterly exhausted.

In a two hour session, we had four blocks in which we lead two squares (three newbies) through some simple square dance calls (in no particular order: circle left/right, into the middle & back, dosado, allemande left, partner swing, promenade, stars, pass thru, u turn back, right & left grand), each building on the prior where appropriate. The club wanted a full MS tip so I called the patter, Kent the singer; we put this in the middle of the overall session so that the newbies would be on their feet through the latter sessions.

I'm not particularly good at first nighters... I find it takes a vast amount of energy to maintain a social & perky persona --if you can imagine me perky-- to help overcome the newbies' shyness. Being extremely extroverted, even for a short period, requires a huge output of energy for me. Still, outside of kent4str accusing me of being uber-perky through the first block, I think I held myself together pretty well.

There are a number of folks who are committed to the MS class starting next Monday but couldn't make it tonight so I'm cautiously optimistic we'll have a better attendance next week.

DC Lambda Squares Open House Summary

We're freshly home from hosting DCLS' open house, a lead-up to the new Mainstream course on Monday nights. I think it went pretty well, despite both kent4str and I being utterly exhausted.

In a two hour session, we had four blocks in which we lead two squares (three newbies) through some simple square dance calls (in no particular order: circle left/right, into the middle & back, dosado, allemande left, partner swing, promenade, stars, pass thru, u turn back, right & left grand), each building on the prior where appropriate. The club wanted a full MS tip so I called the patter, Kent the singer; we put this in the middle of the overall session so that the newbies would be on their feet through the latter sessions.

I'm not particularly good at first nighters... I find it takes a vast amount of energy to maintain a social & perky persona --if you can imagine me perky-- to help overcome the newbies' shyness. Being extremely extroverted, even for a short period, requires a huge output of energy for me. Still, outside of kent4str accusing me of being uber-perky through the first block, I think I held myself together pretty well.

There are a number of folks who are committed to the MS class starting next Monday but couldn't make it tonight so I'm cautiously optimistic we'll have a better attendance next week.