Checkin' In

After a long absence from the bloggosphere, I've decided that today conditions are perfect for a triumphant return. I'm playing hooky from school today because my brain is all clogged up with mucus and I can't breathe. I have a terrible cold. It started Friday in my chest and has expanded up into my head. I've spent the last two days sitting around in misery doing more or less nothing. I was hoping I would feel well enough today to go to class, but I got to the end of the driveway (on my way to the bus stop) and felt like I was going to pass out. So I turned around and went back home.

These conditions are perfect for blogging because a I'm super bored, b my brain functions are under the influence of awful cold virus which makes for some really interesting ramblings, c it's been a long-ass time since I blogged. (he he he long ass-time....this will make sense of it all)

When was the last time I wrote anyway? Damn! January 11th. That means I totally missed ULX, the start of classes, a revelation about my personal relationship to the whole dating thing, London excitement, and various other random bits of fun that I'm sure would have made an awesome blog. Sorry guys. I'll try to be more responsible with my updates.

Funny thing: a lot of the blogs I follow have been just as slack-tastic lately about updating. But in the last week or two they've also brought out their typing fingers and jumped back on the wagon.

I guess I'll start out with catching you up on all the stuff I just mentioned. Starting with ULX. Since I have posted about it in years past I'm not going to go into what it is here. Funny enough, I was just recovering from a cold when it rolled around this year. So I skipped out on the Friday dances and just rested with the hope that I could rally for Saturday and Sunday. My method worked. I wasn't able to do too much fast dancing, but I got in my fair share.

Highlight of the weekend: I totally danced with The Doctor. Ok, so he wasn't the real Doctor, nor was he David Tennant. This kid was dressed exactly like The Doctor though, even had the long coat. I found out later (because I had to talk to him... he's The Doctor) that he had it custom made for him. So, yes, the doctor look was totally intentional. Bonus: he is a great dancer. I was geeking out the entire weekend. He indulged my geekery, as did all my friends. Wasn't that nice of them?

I really wish I could go to more exchanges and lindy events. There are so many great opportunities for great dancing, most of the outside of Utah so you get the added bonus of great opportunities to travel and see new places. *sigh* Maybe some day I'll be able to run around the country dancing with fabulous people. In the mean time, there are a handful of fabulous dancers here, and I can be quite content dancing with them.

Speaking of travel... I might go to London this summer for a study abroad thing. Every year the English Department at the U does a summer trip to London. It's 6 credits for 5 weeks in Freaking London. Every year's trip has a special theme - for example, a few years ago, they did a London underground/ghost story sort of theme. They read Doyle and Poe and such and visited places those authors wrote and the setting for many of the stories. This year the theme is Early Modern Performance and Post-Modern Spectacle. That means pretty much Elizabeathan Theater (read Shakespeare!), and then how the city itself acts as a sort of "performer" and is a spectacle itself. But more important... Shakespeare!

I honestly didn't think there was any way I could possibly go on this trip. It's not exactly cheap, and 5 weeks would (will) be difficult to take off work. I didn't want to ask my parent's to pay for it. They've been hit hard by the shitty economy (who hasn't) and I certainly can't afford to send myself. About 2 weeks before the application was due, I mentioned it to my Mom. I brought it up just as something interesting, not as something I expected her to do anything about. When I finished telling her about it, she pretty much told me I should apply. They will find a way to pay for it. I guess these once in a lifetime opportunities should really be taken advantage of.

So anyway, I applied and am now waiting to hear if I got accepted into the program. Cross your fingers for me! There are a handful of things that could still pop up and stop me from going, but hopefully they can be worked around. I'm kind of afraid to get too excited about it until I know for certain I can actually go. It's hard though because, well, London!

My finger nail just broke. I'm going to go take a break now. I'll be back though, just like Arnold. Maybe even later today. Wouldn't that be fun? Two blog posts in one day! It shouldn't be possible! Oh, but I assure you, it is.

2009: Year in Review

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men! I had great intentions to bring you a great blog post looking back at the decade. I also meant to get to this post earlier. It's my traditional look back a the year that is best done on New Year's Day or close to. Well, it's almost a week later and I'm just now getting to it.

I guess I just haven't been motivated to blog.

Anyway, 2009 was not my favorite year. Like anything, it wasn't all bad nor all good. I do feel like this year the bad may have outweighed the good. But I may change my mind. Let's look at the good, the bad, the ugly and the pretty of 2009, shall we?

The Bad (I like to start with the negative and then end on a high note):

• I moved back in with my parents. Yes, I did it for good reasons, and it's not really a bad place to be. Still, it feels like a complete step backwards.
• Rather than completely getting out of debt and saving money, I ran out of money and then some. That's a big part of why I'm back with my parents. I'd like to blame it on the lack of available hours at work or any number of other things. Don't worry, as a human being, I've very good at deflecting blame away from myself. Ultimately there are a lot of things I could have done differently. I'm working on improving the situation, but I'm so broke right now it's not even funny. And I've been that way for a good chunk of the year.
• I'm still subbing. I need a merit job at one library. This one is really not my fault.
• I had to kill my kitty. She was old an sick, and it was the humane thing to do. But she was my baby. That was a very, very sad day.
• My social life kind of fell apart. I think between being broke (which really limits my ability to go out and do things with people) and being busy with school, I managed to neglect some very important friendships. It's kind of hard to put my finger on it exactly. I just feel somewhat dissatisfied with the way things have gone with some of my friends.

The Ugly:

The Pretty:

The Good:

• Obama was elected. Sure, this isn't particularly personal, but I think it's a great thing. Granted, he hasn't fixed everything, in fact, he hasn't really fixed much at all. I'm still optimistic about his presidency.
• I got my head back in the game as far as school goes. Last semester, going full time, I actually did quite well. I feel a new confidence about school. More than that, graduation is in sight! That's a little scary, but also a lot awesome.
• This March marked the 5 year aniversary of my Wegener's being in full remission. I wanted to have a big celebratory party, but didn't. I don't see why I can't do it any time. Even without a party, 5 years is nothing to sneeze at. Here's hoping I can go another 5!
• I learned to tango
• Seattle. MLS Cup Game. Real Salt Lake. 'nough said.

So I guess they're really about even. Maybe 2009 was just disappointing because I expected a lot of it. 2008 was pretty fab, and I wanted the trend to continue. Let's take a look at the goals (not resolutions) I had for the year:

Things to do in 2009:
1. Get a merit position at one of the libraries
2. Get back into hardcore biking shape, and stay there!
3. Improve my lindy. I'd like to get to the point where I feel comfortable seriously entering a contest.
4. Put my monies in order enough that I can afford a place by myself
5. Write regularly and often. Not blog writing or journal writing but Writing writing.
6. Get swing club running and fabulous.

Things to NOT do in 2009:
1. Drink soda
2. Date douchewads (it was a good goal)
3. Go on a mass murdering tour de world (also a good goal, might as well carry it over)
4. Fail at school

Well, the things I meant to do, I didn't really get done. I didn't get a merit position (there haven't been any to get). I totally dropped the ball on biking. The biggest ride I did was 60-some-odd miles. For most people, that wouldn't be too bad, but compared to the epic rides I've done in the past, it's pretty pathetic. I think my lindy has improved, and in August I did enter a Jack and Jill contest. I didn't do very well, but I was way out of my league. I feel pretty good about that one. My monies are far from in order. I haven't written much at all. I did write some for my poetry class, but found it so completely un-inspiring that I hardly did any writing besides assignments. More than that, I didn't blog much or write in my journal. Swing club is... somewhat improved. I have my frustrations about it. There's still a lot that could be done, but I haven't really had the time to do much with it.

I did much better with the things I wanted to Not do. I didn't completely give up soda, but I cut back a lot. I didn't date any douchewads. Of course, I didn't really date anyone at all. I think maybe I should work on that. I didn't murder anyone. I didn't fail at school. So... not bad on that front.

All in all, I guess last year wasn't bad. Nor was it great. It was just a year. Really, what more can you expect? Not every year can be fabulous and at least it wasn't terrible. Maybe it had to be mediocre so that 2010 can be really neat by comparison.

The only thing left for me to do with this post is to set new goals (still not resolutions, because no one ever keeps their resolutions) for this year. Sort of an unofficial goal, I think, will be to actually try to accomplish my goals. I think last year I sort of considered just setting the goals as good enough. I didn't really make a huge effort to keep any of them. This year I want to actually take these seriously and get things done.

Things to DO in 2010:
1. Train for and ride the ULCER
2. Pay off my debt and start saving money
3. Get a merit position at one of the libraries (this year it might actually be possible) OR get another job with benefits
4. Strengthen those friendship that are most important to me.
5. Date someone in a somewhat serious sort of way*

Things to NOT DO in 2010:
1. Fail at school
2. Commit vehicular homocide
3. Build a giant lazer and use it to attempt a global takeover.

*I acknowledge that this may be a difficult goal to acheive. I've been single for a long time. I think I'm ready to try the relationship thing again... emotionally anyway. I grant that living at home with debt up to my eyeballs is not an ideal scenario for starting any romantic endeavor. On the other hand, there's never really a perfect time to start a relationship and if I keep waiting for it I'm going to stay single forever. I don't want to go out with someone just for the sake of dating someone. If I'm going to have a relationship, I want it to be worthwile. I'm not going to force anything, but I also don't want to be completely passive about my love life anymore. Why not go out and try to meet someone? I'm just going to change my tactics a little and see what happens.

Seattle Day One

Trip to Seattle = Super freeking awesome! Here's what happened:

We left Friday around 2:00 and, with one hour long delay to check out a weird warning light, drove for the next 12 hours. Dad and I alternated who was driving and who slept. We finally pulled into Seattle around 3 in the morning, pulled into a random parking lot, and we both slept for about 4 hours. The car was not the most comfortable place for sleeping, but we managed.

Around 7 we went to breakfast, and visited out hotel. We couldn't check in until 3, but we got a parking permit so we left the car in their lot and walked down to the water front.

We started at Pike's market- you know, the famous one where they throw the fish around. I kind of failed at taking a picture of the fish flying through the air... but here it's about to happen:

really, anticipation is half the fun, right? Anyway, we walked around the market for a while - there were all sorts o

f little shops and fun things to look at. Then we walked along the water front a little more. We spent a lot of time in odd little touristy shops. At one point we past a little food vendor and decidedthat we really should get some fried clams while we were there. I mean, come on, it's not going to get any fresher than that.

they were delicious!

After chowing down our clams, we wandered up to Pioneer Square to take The Underground Tour. Seattle's streets were originally 8-35 feet lower than they are now. The underground tour takes you down to the original side walks to take a look at historic Seattle streets while the tour guides tell funny stories - mostly about shit and prostitution.

See, when Seattle started out people didn't really understand how tides worked. And they, just like we do now, occasionally had to go to the bathroom. These two factors meant that every day at high tide, downtown Seattle was flooded with salt water and raw sewage. The invention of the Crapper (flush toilet) made things even more fun. When everyone got their crappers, they needed a sewer system to hook them up to. So they built one, out of wood, that worked with gravity. That was fine, except at high tide water would flow back up the sewage pipe, pressure would build up and you can guess what would happen when you tried to flush you crapper.

One day Seattle burned down. All of it. It was a great time to start over and solve problems. City guys said "let's raise everything so it wont get flooded every day." Business guys said "I'm not going to pay for it." So the businesses re-built their shops pretty much the way the were before. The City guys raised all the land they owned... city land... so basically the streets. The streets were now 8-35 feet above the sidewalks. Having customers fall down onto the sidewalk, and having to climb up and down ladders to patronize your shop is kind of bad for business. So business owners raised their sidewalks and all the first floors became basements.

This is a picture of a skylight at a corner of the underground sidewalk. Up on the street it just

looks like decorative mosaic tile in the sidewalk. The original skylights were thick, solid pieces of transparent glass. This caused two major problems. 1 - fat people (or people carrying big loads) would walk over the skylight and fall through. 2 - they were transparent. Crowds would gather beneath them to... um... enjoy the views. Local "seamstresses" found them to be a great way to advertise their wares though. The gentlemen below got a sneak preview of what they were offering. They just wrote their prices on the bottom of their shoes.

After the tour, we wandered back to the hotel to check in. As soon as we got to the room, we both kind of crashed - although Dad only napped for about 15 minutes. He believes in the power napping thing. I slept for a good solid 2 hours. Between driving all night and walking around all day, I was pretty damn tired.

We went to dinner at a local pub, and then I went dancing. Seattle has some great dancers, so I thought I should check them out. Funny enough, I actually knew two of the guys there. One was a kid I met at Lindy on the Rocks this summer. The other guy I met last year at the Utah Lindy Exchange. He was just in town for the game too. I guess Disney is right, it is a small world after all.

I have stuff I have to take care of. I'll finish writing about the trip later today, or possibly tomorrow.

All Things Dance

I hope no one has been holding their breath waiting for me to blog about ULX. I had the best intentions to do it, because it was a spectacular weekend, but I was distracted by the inauguration and, you know, life in general.

It's very hard to go from an exchange back to the real world. Never mind that my sleep schedule is still a little skeewompus, but to actually have to do something besides dance is... a little bit of a downer. In an ideal world I would be able to go around to country attending exchanges and workshops and things and not have to worry about anything else. How cool would that be?

I will say that I'm really happy with my experience this year. I met so many amazing people and have hopes of keeping up with them. So I now have contacts around the country so when I do manage to get out of UT, I have people I can meet up with.

It's an odd thing (I'm going off on a tangent here)... All these new friends of mine, it was really cool hanging out with them this weekend. Now most of them are friends on facebook and I'm not quite sure what to do with it. Part of me says I should send them messages and things like that, but it feels... somewhat insincere. I guess small talk in person is much easier for me than over the internets. I'm not sure that's a bad thing. Isn't it better to be less awkward in person than online? I like to think so. Still, any new friendship is going to fizzle if it's not fed, and facebook is the only way to feed some of these. I'm sure I'll manage.

Moving on! Enough about swing (what? there's something besides swing? ... I really do feel that way sometime lately. I've gotten so into it, I feel like I hardly do anything else) I'm not going to talk about Belly Dance! Yes. Booty shaking, shiney, sparkly belly dance.

This weekend I went with three friends of mine, with whom I belly dance, down to Wendover. One of the gals is involved with the VFW and they were hosting a fundraiser for cancer research. As part of that we volunteered to come down and dance. It was a lot of fun! In the twenty minutes or so we were dancing, we collected around $410! Not too shabby.

Now it's all over. My fair city is sitting in the middle of a snow storm, which is really lovely. I love snow like this. The flakes are big and soft and everything is quiet and clean. I'm also glad to be getting actual winter weather. The last few days it's been raining. Rain! in January! Bah!

Ain't What You Do It's the Way that You Do It

Guess what! This weekend is the Utah Lindy Exchange! You may remember me posting about it last year. It's amazing how much things are different now though.

Last year I had only been dancing Lindy for a few months so I was totally out of my league. Friday night I didn't dance much and even though I danced a lot of Saturday, I was often awkward and not really up to par with most of the leads there. After a year of pretty hardcore dancing, I am a million times better suited for this event.

There are still a few dancers here that I am a little intimidated by. They are seriously brilliant and have been dancing for years. I can really hold my own with most of the leads though. Not only that, but this year guys are actually asking me to dance more than once. Know what that means? That means they think I'm fun to dance with.

Ok, that sounds a little silly, but it's true. A lot of leads will, at the beginning of an event, try to dance with every follow present. They shop around and see who is really fun to dance with and who is not. Naturally they're more prone to dance with the fun girls. For some guys at least, I'm not one of the fun girls.

The really big dance of the weekend is tonight. I'm kind of catatonic right now because I was dancing pretty hard for nearly 11 hours yesterday (wow, when I actually add it all up, it's pretty damn impressive). There were three dances I went to - one in the afternoon, one in the evening and the Late Night, which went until 5. I had to stay because I volunteered to help clean things up. I'm taking it easy this afternoon because I've got about 8 more hours of dancing ahead of me tonight. I don't know if I'll make it til 5 though again.

Also this year, I'm hosting someone. Vanessa is staying on my couch for the weekend and she is pretty cool. Plus she's an amazing dancer.

I'll write more about the weekend later. Now I'm either going to make lunch, or take a nap. I just woke up about an hour ago, so I think lunch makes a little more sense.

Another Year Gone By

Hello everybody, welcome to 2009!

I rang in the new year with the most incredible night of dancing. Royal Crown Review played at a local club. People were encouraged to dress up and there was a dance contest (which I entered with my friend Celcey. We were by far the best girl/girl couple in the contest) and great music. The band was really good. Right before the break the bass player and the drummer did solos that absolutely blew the mind. There were tons of good dancers there and the energy was really high. Plus you could actually get a drink, which rarely happens for swing dancing in Utah. Not that it's really necessary to have drinks when dancing, it's just one of those things that makes Utah special. When I went to Lindy on the Rocks in Colorado, every dance had a bar. People had a couple drinks throughout the night, but no one ever got belligerent. It was kind of nice to have that options.

After last night, I'm kind of exhausted and sore today... in that really good way. I also worked 8 hours yesterday so I was on my feet a lot. It's no surprise that my legs feel like they are going to fall off now and, actually, my lower back is pretty tired as well. That said, I'm going over to my parent's for dinner tonight and I'm thinking about walking over there. Best way to cure tired legs is to use them, right?

So, it being the start of the new year and all, I thought about doing an epic year in review post like I did last year, but I really haven't had time. The last few days have been so full of... I don't even know what. Besides the holidays I've been working a lot and playing a lot. It's all been very fun, but I'm getting a little burned out. I feel like almost every day I've left the house at 8 and haven't gotten home until 11 or later. So the whole year in review is out. If you want to know what I did all year, you can go back and read all the little post thingies I did.

I will, however, take a look at my list of things to do in 2008:

Things to do in the new year (not resolutions, mind you. No one ever keeps resolutions):
1. Find a new job.
2. Get into hardcore biking shape again
3. Eat veggies
4. Shrink my "to-read" list... by reading.
5. Make new friends and strengthen the friendships I already have

Things to NOT do in the new year:
1. Date complete douchewads
2. Waste away in my death job
3. Go on a psycho mass murdering tour de world
4. Waste all my time watching TV and adding books to my "to-read" list that I will never get around to because I'm wasting all my time watching TV.
5. Eat meat (that's right kids, I'm going to give the vegetarian thing a try)

I think I've done pretty well for the most part. I did, indeed, find a new job. I quit the receptionist gig and am now doing something that I really love. I rode the MS 150, so I think that counts as getting back into hardcore biking shape. However, after that I kind of slacked. So I got there, but didn't maintain. I have eaten several veggies. I read a lot, but my "to-read" list is longer now than it was before. It's a hazard of working with books.

I have made several new friends and become better friends with those I already had. That's a tricky one though. I think some of my older friends have slipped through the cracks. I still keep up with a few, because they are the best friends I have, but.... If I look at who I was spending most of my time with this time last year compared to now, the dynamic is really different. I think it's mostly due to regular drifting apart. I've gotten so into the dancing thing, and most of the friends I have outside of that just aren't interested. I mean, that's why I started going to the U swing club in the first place. I wanted to meet people who I could go dancing with because none of my friends did it. I'm really passionate about swing, so there's no way I'm going to give it up. It's sad, but it makes sense that if I spend so much time dancing, I'm going to bond more with the people I go dancing with. C'est la vie.

As for what I wanted to not do in 2008... I didn't date any douchewads. I actually didn't really date anyone. I went on a few dates with a few people, but they didn't seem to go anywhere. And you know what, I'm totally ok with that. I've had fun, and I don't need to be with someone to be happy. I'm not saying that I want to stay single, anyone who has read my blog knows that I want to find love just as much as the next gal. I just am in no major hurry. It will come when it comes, meanwhile, I am perfectly content with what I have. Moving on, job o' death is no more, I didn't not mass murder anyone. I don't have a TV. I do watch shows online, but I don't spend too much time doing that. Especially not lately. I really don't miss TV at all. The vegetarian thing totally failed.

I'd say that I did pretty well on my goals for the year. Nine out of ten ain't bad. For 2009 I have a long list of things I would like to do, but don't know how possible they really are. First I want to do the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Ride in July. And, since doing the MS 150 early in the season made my brain say "hey, I don't have anything to train for anymore. I can totally slack off," I think I may do the ULCER again too. (Hey, Aaron, you should come back and do the ULCER with me again). I want to go to a few Lindy Exchanges outside of Utah. Exchanges are so much fun, and the best way to get better at dancing is to go out and dance with good dancers. There are a few good dancers here, but the really brilliant dancers are elsewhere. They all go to the exchanges though. Plus doing that exposes you to all sorts of different styles. I also would like to get a one bedroom place or a studio when our lease is up this summer.

These three big things are high on my list of things I want to do. They're all kind of on the expensive side though, so they may not be possible. I'm definitely going to do the bike rides, and I'd really like to do the apartment thing. I may have to settle for just one exchange though. We'll see. There are other, not big things I would like to do too. So I guess I'll do a list of goals again, just like last year:

Things to do in the new year (still not resolutions. Resolution is a bad word)
1. Get a merit position at one of the libraries (I like the subbing thing, but I wouldn't mind having a steady schedule, and I'm going to need a job with benefits soon)
2. Get back into hardcore biking shape, and stay there!
3. Improve my lindy. I'd like to get to the point where I feel comfortable seriously entering a contest. Yes, I did do a contest last night, but that was just for giggles. Celcey and I knew we wouldn't place or anything. We just thought it was fun.
4. Put my monies in order enough that I can afford a place by myself
5. Write regularly and often. Not blog writing or journal writing but Writing writing.
6. Get swing club running and fabulous.

Things to NOT do in the new year
1. Drink soda
2. Date douchewads (it was a good goal)
3. Go on a mass murdering tour de world (also a good goal, might as well carry it over)
4. Fail at school

I have to say, I think 2008 was a really good year. I'm sure 2009 will be as well. There are lots of things I'm looking forward to. Not the least of which is I will hit the 5 year mark of being in remission in March! My bestest buddie, Arrakis, is getting married in August. Who no what other fabulostiy awaits.

I hope your year has been lovely. I hope your next year will be lovelier still. Happy New Year, my dear and faithful readers!

Hit That Jive

I've had a busy last couple days. On Tuesday I conspired with my friend, Jake, to take over the U Swing Club. Yesterday we talked to the current president and... well, Jake is now officially the president of the U of U Swing Kids and I'm the V.P.

Today we took care of all the official stuff. Paperwork and all with people on campus.

We have big plans. It's going to be awesome!

That is all.

You may call me Madame Vice President.

Doncha Wish Your Girlfriend was Hot Like Me?

Guess what I did last night! I danced. With a pole. Yep. Pole Dancing. It was girls night out and we all went to a dance studio and learned how to pole dance from a real live stripper!

It was so much fun! And an amazing work out. I can barely move my arms today because they are so sore.

Jump, Jive and Wail

Here's the breakdown

Where I was this weekend: Denver CO

When I got there: 1:00 am on Thursday

What I was doing: Lindy on the Rocks

What the hell is that: A weekend of swing dancing. Including classes all day Sat and Sun, plus dances all night.

Hours of Sleep each night: no more than 5

Hours spent dancing Friday: 7 or 8

Hours dancing on Sat (including classes): around 14

Hours dancing on Sun (including classes): around 11

Time I left Denver: 12:00 am Monday (After the Sunday dance. And it was so hard to leave! I would have liked to stay all night and gone to some of the unofficial after parties/dances)

When I had to let someone else drive because I couldn't keep my eyes open: 3:30 am

Number of Perseid meteors spotted: 2 while driving, 6 when we stopped for maybe 5 minutes to change drivers

Time we got back to SLC: 7:45 Monday morning

Lindy Crushes: Too many to count! There was Eric, who was so much fun to dance with. Benjamin, who was just really cute. Peter Strom, who was one of the instructors (this is more of a celebrity lindy crush. He's a brilliant dancer... and a total dream boat)

What I did on Monday: Slept. All day.

Gold Dust On My Feet On The Sunny Side of the Street

I am so tired. I swear, if I weren't sitting at my desk, I would be running into walls as I try to walk around.

My feet have a few sore spots (no full blown blisters though, which is good but surprising). I have several sore muscles.

I had an amazing weekend. Let me tell you about it.

Thursday, as I mentioned, was sort of the kick off. The Big Band Bash pales in comparison to the rest of the weekend. The band was quite good (Nate Anderson Band).

Friday was when the party really got started, so to speak. The Friday evening dance was at the Apollo Ballroom in American Fork. They have a great floor that is "sprung" as they say. And by that they really mean sprung- like if you just stand still and don't dance you run the risk of getting motion sickness from all the bouncing. The band was decent. They were more of a dixieland jazz band and the pieces they played seemed to be either hyperspeed or catatonic. Still it was good music. It would probably be worth going to these dances just for the music.

The dancers though! Omigod the dancers. I was completely intimidated after watching just a few songs. Remember those videos I posted? The kids who came out for the exchange really are that good. I sat out at least as much as I actually danced on Friday and just watched. I was really completely blown away.

The evening dance ended around midnight and I went to IHOP with a few other people for a bite to eat before the late night dance. The late dance was at Noah's and had three small studios for dancing and a lounge (where most people ended up, I think) with a large couch and a nice TV (for watching a movie and then playing Rock Band). Shortly after arriving I discovered that I was too tired to actually dance at all. Things just weren't connecting, so I left around 2.

I slept in Saturday morning, but as soon as I woke up things started going downhill. I'm not going to tell you about it though because it will take away from the fabulousness of the weekend.

Saturday evening was beyond spectacular. I don't even know where to begin. I guess the band, which I have already raved about, but New Deal Swing really is fantastic! If I had to pick just one dance of the whole weekend to go to, Saturday evening would be it. Actually, there were quite a few people who did it that way. Because I had such a bad start to my Saturday, I was determined to have a fabulous evening. I refused to wait around to be asked to dance. I had an amazing time dancing with guys of every skill level (some of them were still very intimidatingly good) and by the end of the dance I'm pretty sure I was a much better dancer. If nothing else, my confidence level was up and I was enjoying myself immensely.

During the band breaks we were entertained by the (unique to ULX) Polygamy Lindy contest. Contestants start out in groups of three (one lead, two follows). After the first round half the leads are eliminated and their follows are assigned to the leads who are left (so you have groups with one lead and 4 follows). For the final round all but two of the leads are eliminated and the follows are distributed between them. It ended up being 12 follows to each lead. It's quite something.

Saturday's late night dance was a continuation of the fun. There was a blues room, a lindy room and two gigantic sandwiches and a room full of deliciously comfortable cushions. Officially though, we were all just hanging out, not dancing. Why? Because Salt Lake has a rule: No dancing after 2am. Because, you know, dancing is a gateway activity that always leads to debaucheries like Sex, Drugs and Drinking. Unofficially though, the energy level stayed up, for the most part, and the dancing went on into the night. Having the blues room was nice because it provided an opportunity to mellow out a little but still keep dancing.

I imagine some of you are wondering what I mean by blues dancing. It's honestly kind of hard to explain and I'm certainly no expert (having never done it before Saturday night). There is no basic step really, it's mostly about just getting into the music. It tends to be kind of slow and sort of sensual. Look it up on youtube, I'm sure you'll find something.

I left around 4:30am and crashed almost the second I walked in my door, completely exhausted, but in the best way possible.

Sunday night was the final dance of the weekend. Not very many people showed up compared to the other dances. I actually talked to some of the guys that I had been dancing with all weekend. It was a nice, relaxing note to end on.

I think I shall have to do it all again sometime.

Oh Frabjous Day! Callooh, Callay!

I have been looking forward to this weekend for months. Included in the weekend is tonight (I know, it's cheating a little) because that when the unofficial kick-off of the fun starts.

What is so special about this weekend? I'm so glad you asked! This weekend it the Utah Lindy Exchange. What this means is there is lots of dancing all weekend. I am especially excited about Saturday night- New Deal Swing is the band at that dance. New Deal was founded by the Utah Symphony's principal clarinetist and is comprised of Utah Symphony members. Just going on that, it can be assumed that they would be pretty darn good. I've heard them play a couple times and I have to say they rock... er... swing... jive.... they are quite awesome.

ULX doesn't officially start until Friday, but tonight is the UofU Swing Club's Big Band Bash. It's a big pre-exchange hoopla (and by hoopla I mean dance). So tonight is the night to dust off my dancing shoes (figuratively. I actually will probably just wear chucks as they are pretty easy to dance in. I do have dancing shoes that have been sitting in shoe box for a while but might still be a little dusty. They're not very comfortable though. Maybe I'll wear them sometime this weekend. I also have saddle shoes that should be danced in, yeah? I might drag those out on Saturday. Note to self: your parenthetical asides are WAY TOO FREEKING LONG) and get this party started.

For those of you who are perhaps still scratching your head about what Lindy-Hop is (or are wondering how truly awesome it actually is), chizzeck the shizzle outta this:



Of course, those kids are pros. And champs. Here's a video from a Chicago exchange, it's pretty good (I covet the tall blonde's skirt):



It's a little weird with the four guys there, but hey, it's still good dancing. And finally, if you've never seen the movie Swing Kids, you should. I mean, really, it's got Christian Bale, great dancing, and great music. What more could you want? Oh yeah, it's a good story too.



Of course, I only wish I was half as good as some of the kids in these videos (the movie one cheats, what with being fully choreographed and all). I like to think I'm not bad though, and it's tons-o-fun in any case.

Friday Dance Party

Cincinnati knows how to rock the party.

Wintery Wonders of the Webnets

Just some random fun from the interwebs for your enjoyment. Exercise your clicking muscles and check them out.

Not sure why this entertained me so much, but here it is: A-team fun

Dear Santa: All I really want for christmas is This

Keeping in the spirit of x-mas: Jesus is one very angry baby

Hee Hee buffalo I for one am really glad this information is out there.

Seriously, it doesn't really get better than this:


Spidey and MJ getting their swing on. Weeee! She even has red hair!