So, what have I been up to lately?

Glad you asked.

The weekend was almost entirely spent either sleeping, doing domestic chores or reviewing square dance choreo. Once again, I read through my entire Advanced level library of cards, making changes and edits. I had hoped to write more original stuff but never quite got that far.

Monday, kent4str and I taught week #4 of our Plus class. A handful of folks who missed last week's class were present and a handful of newbies --along with most of our angels-- were attending gay day at the Nationals baseball game. It went well but took longer than I was anticipating. We'll have to tighten up the format a little next Monday. Alas, next Monday, we're going to be missing a few bodies who are attending the gay bowling association's open house.

Last night (Tuesday), kent4str and I hosted an open house with the Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore. I missed the June open house as I was in Canada, but kent4str with the ABC program structure, using the A block; this time, we used the B block. For the most part, I was content to play second fiddle: kent4str does better open houses than I do. We had four new folks attending; I hope we'll see them again soon. The Chesapeake Squares' next open house is August 21.

Tonight, we're dancing C1 in Arlington, VA. Tomorrow night, I'm calling Mainstream and Plus for DC Lambda Squares.

Friday through Saturday, we'll be at the trailer. Sleeping. A lot.

So, what have I been up to lately?

Glad you asked.

The weekend was almost entirely spent either sleeping, doing domestic chores or reviewing square dance choreo. Once again, I read through my entire Advanced level library of cards, making changes and edits. I had hoped to write more original stuff but never quite got that far.

Monday, kent4str and I taught week #4 of our Plus class. A handful of folks who missed last week's class were present and a handful of newbies --along with most of our angels-- were attending gay day at the Nationals baseball game. It went well but took longer than I was anticipating. We'll have to tighten up the format a little next Monday. Alas, next Monday, we're going to be missing a few bodies who are attending the gay bowling association's open house.

Last night (Tuesday), kent4str and I hosted an open house with the Chesapeake Squares in Baltimore. I missed the June open house as I was in Canada, but kent4str with the ABC program structure, using the A block; this time, we used the B block. For the most part, I was content to play second fiddle: kent4str does better open houses than I do. We had four new folks attending; I hope we'll see them again soon. The Chesapeake Squares' next open house is August 21.

Tonight, we're dancing C1 in Arlington, VA. Tomorrow night, I'm calling Mainstream and Plus for DC Lambda Squares.

Friday through Saturday, we'll be at the trailer. Sleeping. A lot.

Messages to Myself, Age 17

A number of folks have been mulling over messages they wish they could relay to their former selves when they were 17 years of age.

Personally, I'd like to start a little earlier than that: I wish I could send messages to myself ages 5-8 or so: when I was 17, I was already mostly assembled and, looking back, the decisions I made then were mostly damn good ones. Guiding myself in my early elementary school years would have saved me a great deal of early pain and made my teen years even better.

The message I really want to send back in time would be winning lottery numbers and choice stock picks, but given the limitations, ( here I go with 17 messages to myself at age 17... )

Messages to Myself, Age 17

A number of folks have been mulling over messages they wish they could relay to their former selves when they were 17 years of age.

Personally, I'd like to start a little earlier than that: I wish I could send messages to myself ages 5-8 or so: when I was 17, I was already mostly assembled and, looking back, the decisions I made then were mostly damn good ones. Guiding myself in my early elementary school years would have saved me a great deal of early pain and made my teen years even better.

The message I really want to send back in time would be winning lottery numbers and choice stock picks, but given the limitations, ( here I go with 17 messages to myself at age 17... )

Wednesday C1 Dancing

We danced C1 in Arlington tonight. I was feeling pretty tired in the late afternoon and seriously considered blowing it off but I'm glad I didn't: it was a blast.

We had two new folks join us: Bob and Gretta. They've danced C1 previously but were a little rusty. As it turns out, they were doing much better than me and I've only had a gap of 1.5 months since I last had a chance to dance that level! I hope they come again in future.

I had prepared some choreo this afternoon to call. Moron that I am, I packed my laptop but forgot my microphone at home. Doh! Doren lent me his so I could call the fourth tip and I'm delighted to report it went extremely well. I was particularly looking for consistent and steady flow with simple figures, shooting for a wind-in-your-face kind of tip rather than a detailed and analytical tip.

The only figure which stumbled included the call 'regroup,' which causes issues at the best of times. I made it exceptionally bad by using it from lines facing, a non-standard position. The square collapsed entirely the first time I used it but it was the 3rd call so we squared up again and took it slowly; the second time we made it through and the rest of the figure was smooth. I'll redraft that particular figure tomorrow to take out the call entirely. Lesson learned.

I hope to work on still more A2 and C1 choreo this weekend. Gradually, I'm getting a significant library of tested figures and an improved eye for flow. There's still so much more work to do though.

Thursday night: calling Mainstream & Plus for DC Lambda Squares in Washington, DC.

Wednesday C1 Dancing

We danced C1 in Arlington tonight. I was feeling pretty tired in the late afternoon and seriously considered blowing it off but I'm glad I didn't: it was a blast.

We had two new folks join us: Bob and Gretta. They've danced C1 previously but were a little rusty. As it turns out, they were doing much better than me and I've only had a gap of 1.5 months since I last had a chance to dance that level! I hope they come again in future.

I had prepared some choreo this afternoon to call. Moron that I am, I packed my laptop but forgot my microphone at home. Doh! Doren lent me his so I could call the fourth tip and I'm delighted to report it went extremely well. I was particularly looking for consistent and steady flow with simple figures, shooting for a wind-in-your-face kind of tip rather than a detailed and analytical tip.

The only figure which stumbled included the call 'regroup,' which causes issues at the best of times. I made it exceptionally bad by using it from lines facing, a non-standard position. The square collapsed entirely the first time I used it but it was the 3rd call so we squared up again and took it slowly; the second time we made it through and the rest of the figure was smooth. I'll redraft that particular figure tomorrow to take out the call entirely. Lesson learned.

I hope to work on still more A2 and C1 choreo this weekend. Gradually, I'm getting a significant library of tested figures and an improved eye for flow. There's still so much more work to do though.

Thursday night: calling Mainstream & Plus for DC Lambda Squares in Washington, DC.