[rant].
I’m done calling.
This isn’t an eternal pronouncement… who knows what life’ll be like in 5 years from now. At present though, I don’t have the energy to deal with naysayers. Kudos, you win. Feel free to gloat to your hearts’ content while I ponder dancing.
Note to self and other idiot flourishers: a normal Linear Cycle
& Roll ends in left-hand columns.
… or “How My Addiction To Squares Has Faded”
Whether or not I go to a dance hinges on whether I can deal with the spatial-complexity / time-requirement / other factors of giving people rides home afterwards.
Not being good at saying “no” obviously complicates the issue.
Another sign that my interest in squares is waning… it frustrates me that I feel this way… but not nearly as much as I thought it would.
Another C3A weekend is coming soon. Just like the
last
one,
I’m just as worried about being yelled at while on the dance floor. On the other hand, at least this time I’m going. Wherefore the difference?
On the downside, I’m rusty, which, in the end, is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and means that I need to keep my commitment to C3A tonight.
Some socio-political notes regarding squares.
Those not involved in squares can stop reading now.
Points numbered for ease of response.
I don’t think the if clause will be satisfied, and I’m acting accordingly.
When am I going to learn C3A? HTF should I know? I’m not finished learning C1 yet.
Aside: I wish there were a like-clockwork twice a month C1 dance during the week.
The fall class has started for Tech Squares.
That means I only get to dance 3 club tips.
It also means that on Tuesday, I was out of rhythm, and didn’t find a partner for the second tip. Sucky.
I decided to dance with 7 phantoms while juggling 3 balls. Once I realized that I should walk small patterns, I was able to follow along. The most difficult part is turning while juggling. Cast Off ¾ is a pain and a half.
Additional good news, I was able to use three separate sight squares. One square was strong and never broke down. On the other hand, I was not broken down more time than the other two sight squares combined.
The class is fun. I’m trying to learn the subtleties of hand feel and leading class members in ways that just make the dancing feel natural. The club wasn’t so much fun. Stuck in the back for the first square. Wasn’t that good.
Strike three against creepy-woman. She whispered into my ear, in a breathy voice, “Oooo. Such beautiful hair.” on a Right & Left Grand. I’ve been trying to figure out what bugs me about it. After all, others do much worse things than this to me (for some definition of worse). I don’t think it’s because she’s fat, ugly, sweaty, and has a grating personality (me? bitchy? Never!). I don’t think it’s solely because she actually crossed some lines without permission. I think it’s because she crossed some lines without permission & without warning.
C1 was low energy. The dynamic of the group seemed weird. No one seemed into it. I’m also having issues with how much I should help vs. how much I should just do what I need to do to do my part. If I help, I appear indecisive, since I’m an inexperienced dancer. If I do my part, I appear pushy, since I’ve already plowed through the level and danced at an outside dance.
Meta-Aside: Added search to the footer on every page. Cool.
Just had five rolls of film developed, one from my cousin David’s wedding, and 4 from my step-sister Sandra’s wedding. I’m quite proud of myself. A lot of the pictures are good. Two areas where I’ve traditionally been weak, people and light, came out quite well. Lotsa room for improvement, but a glimmer of hope along two otherwise dull axes. My goal is to use time when I’m watching football to get picture related stuff done.
At squares last night, I purposely danced a square with seven phantoms. Though I picked the strongest possible dancer as my shadow, I rarely relied on him to figure out my location. Most of the time my eyes were closed anyway. I only messed up once. The important part though, is that I was able to fully visualize the formation around me for most of the tip. In my opinion, my visualization skills, or lack thereof, has been the main impediment to my learning of squares. I’d be able to learn quicker, and be a stronger dancer at all levels were my visualization skills on par with the other ones that I use in squares. It’s cool that I’m making progress, and improving a skill I’ve known I’ve had issues with since I was about 8.
I’m chuffed. Two visual things coming together.
Square dancing was fun yesterday. Some notes:
Surprisingly, our parents are making fun of us for square dancing. Our friends are uncharacteristically keeping quiet.
I’m learning to meta-square dance. It’s getting to the point where it doesn’t matter if I don’t know a particular figure. I’m recognizing cues. Where I should be to balance the square out nicely. Where someone who knows what they are doing wants me to be. Where the flow of the pattern is taking me.
Yesterday was the most fun square dancing I’ve had. Was close to some of the most fun social dancing I’ve had. Unfortunately, we only danced 3 class tips.
People tweaked my hair. I’m still ambivalent about how that feels. I definitely like the feel of naked / stubbly scalp better.
I keep getting mistaken for an undergrad. I’m still wondering whether that is a compliment or not.
Forgot how fun being flirted at / flirting was.
In the last square, two of the women had pony tails of the exact right length … … to hit me in the face when I twirled them.
The flourishes are getting more and more fun. The jump high 5 on the spin chain and exchange the gears, and the off both feet on the scoot back seemed novel. Some of the club women are learning to flourish me randomly. For next class, I’m thinking of making some sort of badge… “Spin me, twirl me, flourish me, use me as your square dance ornament.” Yeah… geeky… but I’ve always liked dancing in some forms.
I think that one of the reasons that Dina isn’t as into square dancing as I am is that she gets her quota of geek / nerd from me and our friends.
Square dancing was a lot of fun last week.
Finally caught up to a place where I know what I’m doing.
The caller was also playing disco music, and disco is always fun, no matter what people say.
Learning to square dance is weird. I’m not learning in my customary way, which is learn, learn, learn, do, do, do. Because the class is big, and because it’s eight to a square, it’s learn, do, learn, do, learn do. After 6 weeks, including one missed class, and one where I was an allergy wreck, I’m surprised that I’m not hopelessly lost. Maybe I can learn new ways of doing things, or learning things, after all.
One amusingto me failure mode goes something like: