Great weekend!

[cjsmith]

Rob and I went to Chicago last weekend. We got to stay with a friendly, intelligent, straightforward couple. I could really enjoy friendship with people such as these: not only do they not mince words, so I know where I stand, but their observations are worthwhile.

Saturday we danced C3B. Fun! During the breaks I got to play with two mostly-well-behaved little boys, ages fiveish and threeish. Well-behaved kids are such a joy.

Later I got to visit the house of a square dance caller I know. She has five cats. Rapture! Surrounded by felines! It was wonderful!

On Sunday we danced C4. I had been nervous about my first C4 dance with some of the skilled Chicago-area dancers. Fortunately, I did well, despite heavy abdominal pain. I even had a very good time once I had ten Aleve in my bloodstream. Several people said my dancing was coming along nicely. Yay!

It snowed Sunday afternoon. Beauty! Several of the visiting Californians ran outside squealing like little girls, trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues and other such silliness. I do so miss seasons.

I had the best cream-of-chicken-with-rice soup I've ever had at a place called "What's Cooking". I have no idea how to find that place again, and I may never see it again in this lifetime, but if by chance I do, I know I will order the chicken soup.

Arrived home quite late last night. My kitties were very happy to see me. :-)

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

(I know, I know, RTFM) What are C3B and C4, if I may ask? I've really been getting into dance lately, particularly contra and English country.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ahwhoops! Square dancing. Modern Western squares have sets of calls divided into lists. The first ninety or so calls are Mainstream, with which a person can dance to any caller in the world so long as the dance is labeled Mainstream. This is a little, but not a whale of a lot, bigger than the list of calls commonly used at contra dances.

Then each list builds on the previous, adding some. Plus, A1, A2, C1, C2, C3A, C3B... by the time the dancer has reached C3B he knows some six or seven hundred calls. There are also "concepts", modifier-words: do this call as if each couple were only one dancer, for example, is one of the simplest modifiers. C3B has probably some fifty or so modifiers, all told. C3B is the level I called in Stockholm.

Everything not on C3B gets lumped into the last and by far largest list, C4. Going from new-dancer to C3B is about like going from C3B to C4. It technically contains something like five thousand calls and concepts, although only between one and two thousand are in common use. More is being invented continuously.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! This sounds like something I must investigate further and possibly pursue. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It is sooooooo fun. :-) :-)