The weekend-long Wasatch Wiggle contra-dance event ended on Sunday, and three days later I’m finally getting feeling back in my toes. The blisters speckling my feet are turning into odd-shaped lumps of callus. My knees and hips have stopped trying to give way at odd times and they no longer feel uncertain about which way they’re supposed to bend. So much dancing! So much fun.
I wonder how many miles I walked, hopped, skipped or pirouetted over the weekend. And how many calories’ worth of high-energy snacks I nibbled on from the sideboard between dances. The best I can hope is that I broke even, I’m afraid.
The music was provided by Notorious, which performed as a duo+1—Eden Macadam-Somer, Larry Unger and Sam Bartlett—and they are fanTAStic. Seriously. Go watch this video of them performing “Gelem, Gelem” (the Romani national anthem) earlier this year at a different contra dance event. Marvelous.
The caller was Rick Mohr, and he led us through round after round of intricate, exciting choreography, almost without pause. I guess it’s really Rick Mohr’s fault my feet are so tired.
I took along my new-ish camera—a Canon PowerShot SX200 IS—to the Wiggle, and amused myself/annoyed everyone else when I wasn’t dancing by filming and photographing everything that happened. Here is some of the evidence:
Contra dancing is fun, is (relatively) easy on the joints, can be excellent exercise, and is danced to gorgeous music. And it’s great for beginners, because the steps are fairly simple, each dance begins with a run-through beforehand and then is danced to called instructions. Find a contra dance event near you and check it out!
I put up a new comic! It stars many of my friends, some of whom might decide to no longer be my friends if they saw the comic. So… it’s our little secret.
After the hair-raising experience detailed in the previous post, we got to go up to the fourth floor of the Mormon Church History Library and visit the conservation lab, where materials such as books and photographs are cleaned, repaired and occasionally taken completely apart and reassembled. While we were there I drove everyone else insane by wandering around and taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Here’s the Flickr set I uploaded the photos to.
They do a lot of really cool stuff there! I wish I could have videotaped the whole presentation. It nearly, nearly made me not regret spending the whole day with Mormons.
Late last night, I was sitting at my computer, minding my own business (i.e., watching Season 2 of Doctor Who on Netflix) when a cat came up and rubbed itself against my leg. I think my reaction—shrieking at the top of my lungs and knocking over my chair—is completely explained by the fact that we do not have a cat. And the fact that I am a touch high-strung.
Hopefully the ensuing yells, yowls and high-speed chase through the house will teach my roommate not to leave the screen door wide open when there are inquisitive cats prowling in the neighborhood.
In other news, that same roommate made this delicious peach-and-crème-fraîche pie for our friend Denice’s birthday celebration yesterday, and when everyone had gone home there was still over half a pie left!
Which is why all I had to eat yesterday was brunch (at Pago in SLC) and pie. And more pie. Pie pie pie pie pie PIE. Which is why I feel extra-specially fantastic today, I’m sure.
My roommate Craig made and decorated a cake for a birthday party. I haven’t tasted it yet, but I can vouch for the deliciousness of the icing. I’ve included a few pics below, or you can view the whole set on Flickr.
Sat down in the stylist’s chair on Friday and asked for something different. After a bit of discussion, two pots of color and a lot of razorwork, this is the result.
Last night Craig and I had our Winter Solstice Party. Sorry there are no pictures. You’ll just have to take my word for it that it was lots of fun. Gallons of eggnog and mulled wine and cider and punch were made and consumed. Cheeses of all descriptions were devoured. Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts were also featured. And of course batch after batch of holiday cookies and treats.
There are lots of leftovers. My coworkers are about to receive a bonanza in the form of cookies, bars, cake, tarts and such. Lucky them!
Craig‘s birthday was yesterday, so Sunday we went out and go our eyebrows pierced.
Sunday night we had a Wonderfalls marathon. I love Wonderfalls. I think that has been firmly established on this blog. And now Craig loves it, too! I love infecting others with my media addictions. That is why I am a librarian.
The Wonderfalls Cast
Yesterday, Craig and I went to The Happy Sumo for sushi, and I had a delicious—to die for—veggie tempura roll with avocado, sriracha sauce and fresh mayonnaise. OMG so delicious.
Then we went back to my place and finished watching Wonderfalls (see above), drank a bottle of dry Riesling and downed several cups of sambuca. Liquorice-flavored magic!
Happy birthday yesterday, Craig! I hope you had as good a time as I did. (I also hope you aren’t suffering from a sambuca-induced hangover the way I am.)
To cleanse our palates of the bitter and homophobic course served up in the last blog post, here are some pictures of my nieces.
Vienna is now a year old. It’s hard to believe that she’s walking and climbing stairs and learning to talk.
Gabrielle, Stephen & Vienna show off their pumpkin monsters [photo removed at my sister's request]
Two things:
Allison is my youngest brother’s new baby. She was born on October 1, so she is now 16 days old.
My mom’s mom is Nana, and my dad’s mom was Grandma. When my parents got their first grandchild they decided they wanted to be called by the German titles, Oma and Opa. Except that Mom changed hers to Ama, because that means “loves” in Spanish.
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