There was so much I saw and did at the on my first night of dance classes that it was hard to even get half of it on paper.
should probably learn more about the location and instructor.
try to get to know other couples get their input.
Several men seemed to want to do this too. Should talk to them and see what motivated them.
follow my progression as the 'leader' and Kimmie's as 'the follower'
expand on dances learned and how they are taught.
maybe give more definition on what ballroom and swing are.
describe instructors swing dance at the end in detail.
Really good start for having only been there one time. Probably going to be hard to find time to get to know any of the other people and learn about them.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
terms
dancing, ballroom, and swing(better specify swing dance or who knows where I'd end up.) dancemuncie.com , google
How's it gonna be?
1. How big a group will be there?
2. How well will I learn the dances?
3. What should I wear?
4. How into this are the other people there?
5. How long has she been teaching this.
6. Will there be a lot of interaction between the couples or will we all sort of keep to ourselves?
7. The instructor had said there are always more women than men in the classes. How does that work for learning these dances?
8. How will people handle their mistakes or those of others.
9. What is the place like?
10. How well will doing 2 classes back to back work?
2. How well will I learn the dances?
3. What should I wear?
4. How into this are the other people there?
5. How long has she been teaching this.
6. Will there be a lot of interaction between the couples or will we all sort of keep to ourselves?
7. The instructor had said there are always more women than men in the classes. How does that work for learning these dances?
8. How will people handle their mistakes or those of others.
9. What is the place like?
10. How well will doing 2 classes back to back work?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Would you like to dance?
The main factor for me is I have to find it interesting. I get way too little sleep to sit through extra hours of boredom and be able to focus at all. As I mentioned in a previous post time and distance are also major factors. I'm really undecided on what I want to do and was thinking of doing something physical that would help get me into shape and interact with people more, (which is something I rarely get to do out here) Now I have a new email. You all got it the Ballroom and Swing dance classes one. I have wanted to learn to dance for a long time now and was really interested in trying last semester. Having a partner would also help with the getting to interact and fit in factor, but I don't know anyone which is what kept me from doing it last semester. Probably wind up having to do something alone anyway.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
About me
As I am considering what subculture to study I am finding it far more difficult that I originally thought it would be. I am unsure what will fit my schedule and be of significant interest to me to make this work. Also I live forty minutes from Muncie so making extra trips for meetings will be hard. If I go with the Native American group I know my own heritage will play a big part in my view as I have a that in my family history and have always wanted to learn about it. My lack of exposure may cause problems as I have little real clue what to expect. My biggest problem seems to be that most things I would be interested in studying either do not have regular meetings or may not meet frequently enough to meet the course requirements. The few I have thought of that might fit both of those criteria have no connection to the school. I know from talking to many of my female friends and from the safety message in class that many people feel fear from going to places they don't know. This is where some of my 'fixed' attributes really will help. I am male and pretty large so I do not scare easily. I have frequently been exposed to situations that other people around me were hesitant or flat out afraid. These did not affect me. I am older than any of the other students and therefore likely to be old than most of the people attached to any group at the school. This doesn't concern me much as I have always fit in with younger people. If anything this factor seems an advantage to me. By having more life experience than most I tend to be able to read people fairly well and understand what they mean even when they can not seem to express it well.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Visions
The subject leaves his sleeping chamber, bleerily looking around him with eyes half open. He seems to have trouble seeing very well as he trudges down the hall. He enters the room if have heard these creatures refer to as the bathroom and begins the oddest ritual I have ever witnessed.
He first goes to a shelf with a bowl in the middle of it. A pipe of some sort juts out over the bowl. He turns a handle and a clear liquid flows from the pipe. He touches this frequently for a few moments seemingly testing something. Once satisfied with the results he cups his hands under the pipe to catch some of the fluid. This he splashes on his face several times, rubbing his hands over his eyes vigorously. He dries his face and hands on a cloth kept near the bowl, for such a purpose. Then he opens a door in the wall in front of him. Reaching inside he pulles out a bottle with a tapered nozzle, and a small bi-colored container. The container has two compartments side by side. First he opens one, which appears to contain just another clear liquid. He dips one finger in the liquid, sometimes he does this only once but often he repeats it several times. I found his next act to be the most bizarre. He places the finger next to the wet one on his lower right eyelid, while raising his upper eyelid with the thumb of his other hand. Slowly he presses the wet finger against his eyeball. This step is also often repeated followed by rapid blinking and occasionally ranting. He then takes the lid off the other side of the container and repeats this ritual of wetting his finger and inserting it in his left eye. Surprisingly there does seem to be some benifit to this bizzare behavior. As I have studied this creature his vision seems to improve remarkably after he finishes, though I have noticed he frequently blinks and rubs his eyes. Sometimes even using a small bottle he keeps with him to drop more clear liquid into them.
What social or religious implications this routine has are still unknown.
He first goes to a shelf with a bowl in the middle of it. A pipe of some sort juts out over the bowl. He turns a handle and a clear liquid flows from the pipe. He touches this frequently for a few moments seemingly testing something. Once satisfied with the results he cups his hands under the pipe to catch some of the fluid. This he splashes on his face several times, rubbing his hands over his eyes vigorously. He dries his face and hands on a cloth kept near the bowl, for such a purpose. Then he opens a door in the wall in front of him. Reaching inside he pulles out a bottle with a tapered nozzle, and a small bi-colored container. The container has two compartments side by side. First he opens one, which appears to contain just another clear liquid. He dips one finger in the liquid, sometimes he does this only once but often he repeats it several times. I found his next act to be the most bizarre. He places the finger next to the wet one on his lower right eyelid, while raising his upper eyelid with the thumb of his other hand. Slowly he presses the wet finger against his eyeball. This step is also often repeated followed by rapid blinking and occasionally ranting. He then takes the lid off the other side of the container and repeats this ritual of wetting his finger and inserting it in his left eye. Surprisingly there does seem to be some benifit to this bizzare behavior. As I have studied this creature his vision seems to improve remarkably after he finishes, though I have noticed he frequently blinks and rubs his eyes. Sometimes even using a small bottle he keeps with him to drop more clear liquid into them.
What social or religious implications this routine has are still unknown.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Little bit of everything
Native American: divided by tribe but still united, strong ties to nature, spiritual ceremonies.
Weirdo: also known as freaks, do not fit the norms for the society, often stand out, frequently attacked by those outside this group, no central organization or belief structure yet most people know if they belong and will naturally be drawn to others like them.
LDS: Latter Day Saints or Mormons, religious affiliation, believe in God, Christian, Not Protestant, family oriented
Writers: creative, intelligent, varied in taste and belief
American: citizen, nationality, far too varied to find definitions that include all or even most of our attributes.
I am a weirdo, also known as a freak, geek, and even anomaly. More people belong to this group than anyone outside it would ever guess. We outnumber them. We are the people that do things differently, the ones that in high school were probably made fun of. The joke is on them. Leave that sheltered little existence and we weirdos are suddenly cool. Most of the cliques that thought the were better than us dissolve outside of that environment. Suddenly people are just people again and those that don't realize it and still try to hold themselves superior are the ones looked down on. While they flounder we weirdo's flourish. We do not need an organization or team to tie us together. We generally recognize each other quickly form a bond without even realizing it. What's more is without the structure that formed and held their cliques together, many more people suddenly find they are one of us. There is no real norm. It is all just an illusion that people use to feel safe. More over it's no fun to be 'normal'.
It's a simple concept to understand. Weird is a compliment. Normal is the insult. Normally is really just a polite way of saying boring.
Weirdo: also known as freaks, do not fit the norms for the society, often stand out, frequently attacked by those outside this group, no central organization or belief structure yet most people know if they belong and will naturally be drawn to others like them.
LDS: Latter Day Saints or Mormons, religious affiliation, believe in God, Christian, Not Protestant, family oriented
Writers: creative, intelligent, varied in taste and belief
American: citizen, nationality, far too varied to find definitions that include all or even most of our attributes.
I am a weirdo, also known as a freak, geek, and even anomaly. More people belong to this group than anyone outside it would ever guess. We outnumber them. We are the people that do things differently, the ones that in high school were probably made fun of. The joke is on them. Leave that sheltered little existence and we weirdos are suddenly cool. Most of the cliques that thought the were better than us dissolve outside of that environment. Suddenly people are just people again and those that don't realize it and still try to hold themselves superior are the ones looked down on. While they flounder we weirdo's flourish. We do not need an organization or team to tie us together. We generally recognize each other quickly form a bond without even realizing it. What's more is without the structure that formed and held their cliques together, many more people suddenly find they are one of us. There is no real norm. It is all just an illusion that people use to feel safe. More over it's no fun to be 'normal'.
It's a simple concept to understand. Weird is a compliment. Normal is the insult. Normally is really just a polite way of saying boring.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Cultures and subclutures
Native American(still not sure how much or where it all comes from but its in there)
French
English, Irish, Welsh & Scottish(yes the entire island)
American
Hoosier
resident of Purgatory(the sign says New Castle but I know where I am)
Writer
Sci-fi/fantasy geek
weirdo
male
boy scout
LDS
an anomally(as I was proudly dubbed last semester in English)
French
English, Irish, Welsh & Scottish(yes the entire island)
American
Hoosier
resident of Purgatory(the sign says New Castle but I know where I am)
Writer
Sci-fi/fantasy geek
weirdo
male
boy scout
LDS
an anomally(as I was proudly dubbed last semester in English)
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