Friday's seven - back in the US version

- 1 -

Public transportation!

I lived in the Upper Valley of NH/VT for six years and never once road on the FREE buses. Living in Sweden for nine months, and adapting to a life of frequent public transportation utilization, I can now proudly say that I took the FREE bus. Granted, here the routes and timetables are extremely limited compared to Sweden, so it would be very difficult to fully depend on the free buses, but I'm still glad I was able to try it out at least once.

- 2 -

And then I drove a car! For the first time in about nine months. I felt really low to the ground?

- 3 -

My husband got his PhD!

both doctors, nbd

Maybe you are thinking I am a horrible wife for making this third on the list, but let me present you with evidence to the contrary.

In the department there has been a bit of a tradition of writing limericks for the newest PhD. Here is the gem I composed for my husband (just keep in mind that I am NOT a poet and I had to google how to write a limerick, because I can never remember the form, and I still might have gotten it wrong):

There once was a man with his beard so exquisite,

Who with stellar models made a really good fit.

When he's not between the pipes,

at his computer he types.

Which his advisor prefers? We'll never know it!

I got bonus points (gave myself bonus points?) for throwing some hockey lingo in there.

- 4 -

Speaking of hockey!

Such an exciting game! I love how they are all hopping at the end. "Look at the jubilation!"

- 5 -

Speaking of athletes!

Last Saturday I got to go contra dancing! I even called a dance and also taught a Swedish folk dance. Lots of fun for me, despite being super tired and jet-lagged.

- 6 -

On Tuesday I stopped by the letterpress studio to check out Julie's impressive creation. Also, lucky for me, Bob was there, so we got to chat for quite awhile. Bob taught me everything I know about letterpress printing, and he is just one of those people I really like. He always prints his own 'Christmas card' each year, which is really a multiple page booklet which would take someone like me five years to complete. He said he would have sent me one but didn't have my address in Sweden, so I made sure to leave it for him for next Christmas;)

- 7 -

I've been doing a really good job of eating the foods on my list, plus more! Taza chocolate (thanks to Julie and Dave), maple cream soda, delicious Indian food... and on and on! So much deliciousness. At dinner the other night, one of the Dartmouth professors who had previously been doing a post-doc in England was talking about how every single place you live will leave you wanting foods you love but can't find in the new place. So, for example, when/if Greg and I leave Sweden, there will be foods that we miss from there. Already true for julmust and glögg, and I'm sure there are plenty of others that I don't even realize yet. At least I can always get myself to an Ikea cafe to get my fill of princess cake!

--------- The End ---------

As always, Jen has more!

creative endeavor

I was surprised to see that it has been over a year since I wrote this post with the quote from Ira Glass about being a beginner at a creative endeavor and working through that. He talks about writing; I think in terms of calling contra dances.

Then more recently I saw this great quote about being a writer, which I'd also like to think applies to calling contra dances.

“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

When you just start calling, it will never be perfect, no matter how well-prepared you might feel. The thing is, it doesn't have to be perfect for people to have a really enjoyable dance. I kept having thoughts of, "Others can already do this so well, so why should I submit dancers to calling that is less than that level?" I had the experience of going to a dance with less-than-perfect calling (far less, if we want to be totally honest), but everyone was still having an amazingly good time. Somehow that really inspired me to just go for it. I knew that I could do at least that well with my calling, and probably even a bit better.

I talked with my folk dance instructor. Asked her if she thought I could call a couple dances. She sounded interested and a couple weeks ago in class we danced three contra dances. It has been a long time since I've done any calling, but I love it so much that I am doing this! Partly I am scared to death, but partly I am kind of just done hiding behind that as an excuse to not do it.

So that is that, and here's to hoping for many more!

"Nobody tells people who are beginners..."

I had seen this little typography video a little while ago. I can understand why people get really inspired by it. Today I saw it posted on an email list for contra dance callers, with the comment that "He's talking in particular about storytelling, but his comments apply to any creative endeavor, such as calling dances." 


Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I like the line about your taste being killer. Once I get back into calling, that will be the one going through my head, I'm sure.

P.S. I also have a new appreciation for this video, because I'm kind of getting into all things letterpress related, typography included. Yeah Caslon.

Contra Dance Calling

I just did a quick review of former posts, and it seems I have yet to blog about calling contra dances. I guess it goes without saying that I am incredibly passionate about contra dancing. Sarah and I always talk about "the contra spirit" which basically entails all the good things involved with contra dancing.

So, about a year ago, I started going to a workshop led by David Millstone for learning to call contra dances. My intention in joining was to not actually call dances, but just to learn the mechanics of how calling works, and how the dances work. Well somehow, it managed to be arranged that I would call one single dance at one of the dance sessions that David runs. It was a bit nerve-wrecking, largely because that involves me, on a stage, with a microphone, in front of a large group of people (>50). But despite the nerves and the shaky voice (and not properly lining people up at the start, so the instruction before music started fell apart completely the first time), it was fun! And it worked! It was some sort of great feat of communication, to see if I could get this whole hall of people (or at least a large portion of them) all coordinated up.

So anyhow, David has helped me along, and it has been great to have him as my mentor. I could not ask for anything better really. I have now called a few individual dances. I have also met dozens of other callers, some of whom are starting to remember my name as well, and even offering me guest calling spots if I ever attend a dance they are calling! Plus! I got my copy of Tony Parkes' book autographed!



I was very glad to see the new edition released, since it is nearly impossible to find a copy of the original edition. You can purchase your own copy from Beth and Tony here. I think they said you can also buy the book from Amazon.

The other thing I recently learned about was an online listserv for contra dance callers. I joined up, and from looking at the archives it seems to be a good resource for keeping in touch with other callers, both for asking questions or sharing useful information. I learned from the latest post that there are people who write software to be able to organize dances and program evenings, and then check the dances to make sure there is not too much repetition from one to the next. It is really quite amazing, but also not free. So my new long term goal is to write my own. I haven't done a ton of programming, but with Greg's help, we can make it happen. The plan is to make it freeware that will work on any operating system.

The future looks bright!