Vårfest vårfest hela dan!

Årets vårfest med Cats' Corner gick av stapeln igår. Nytillskott i form av eldkonstnärer gav festen ytterligare en dimension. Roliga grabbar det där! Dom dansar ju naturligtvis också. Kvällen var mycket angenäm och jag skrattade mer än jag gjort på länge. Underbart sällskap och mycket roliga samtal - skulle man sammanfatta det vi pratade om så fick det nog bli med den gamla devisen "Det var bättre förr!"

Grillfest grillfest hela dan!

Svenska idag. Orkar inte tänka på engelska just nu. Jaha, ännu en trevlig kväll med dansgänget. Ca 40 pers inledde sommaren hos Ingrid, med grillning enl. tradition. Mycket trevligt! Alla var där. Ikväll är det vårfest här i Malmö, som jag är med och fixar, så det blir väl att bege sig ditåt snart. Ali sover nog på soffan, som vanligt. Gårdagens höjdare inträffade när en tjej sa: "bästa myggmedlet är öronproppar, så man inte hör ljudet, resten kan man bekymra sig om senare". Vi fortsatte prata, och jag berättade om när jag campade i Yosemite och hur det var att se alla varningstexter om björnar där, och skåpen man var tvungen att låsa in allt i, inklusive sin solkräm som björnarna annars åt upp. Varvid Olle snabbt kläckte den ytterst vältajmade kommentaren:

"Hade du öronproppar mot dom också då?"

Perfekt tajming. Väldigt roligt.

The Great Wind-down

Activites, activities, activities, and an immense work-load during the last few weeks before we go on holiday for the summer, is really taking its toll on me. I'm not slowing down, because I like having alot to do. In the past 30 min, I fell asleep on the computer keyboard 3 times. :) Anyway, today saw the light of a reunion at the school I work at. I stayed after work, but couldn't bring myself to do any more grading. My brain couldn't take anymore. Overheated!? So I drew a picture, something I never do anymore, but used to before Internet came along. It was really relaxing. I should do it more often.

Progress

Yesterday, Mårten and Emma had a birthday party. Alot of people showed up, around 30 I would say. Quite a large number. Another large number is the attendance of the somewhat 700 that showed up at Tom's dance at Glen Echo last night for Tom Cunningham orchestra. I would have loved to be there. Today I'm buying a tent for Stockamöllan and Herräng, which I think will come in handy. I was also invited to learn (or re-learn?) the Big Apple routine in Lund. I was excited to fill my day with more dancing. Will try to work on a few things in my dancing and see where it takes me. Keeping my body together is one, second thing is to try to dance with a bit more attitude. I have a problem with that, in general, and my body language is nowhere near where I want it to be, not even when I teach. But when I'm on stage - you'll see a different person. I wish I could transfer that feeling to the dance floor, but I will, I'm sure, as I grow more confident, it's all about self conciousness. Third, I've been told to do bigger swivels so I'll work on that too.

I think I've improved when it comes to dancing to fast songs, but I can feel I'm not up to scratch. I think Stockamöllan will help. The music there is insane. It's fast. Three days of that, and you improve. For sure.

Healthwise, I'm going to bed earlier and lost 2,5 kg, by cutting out the junk food.

DJ Battle

Last night's dancing was great! (But sweaty!). I danced alot, and we had a DJ battle between Anton, Finn and Mårten. Anton won. All of them did a great job, and I think people enjoyed almost every song last night.

Tonight we're all going to Tuppen again so we can swinout amongst the civilians. Can't wait!

Dance disaster!

Yuck bloody yuck. Today was crap. I sucked. Period. Thursday, on the other hand, was probably the best night I've had, dancing. Weird.

In the country

Finally got to see Ali's place yesterday. It's funny - we talk every day in one way or another and have done for well, at least six months. Yet, I've never seen his place. A bunch of us went out there yesterday, some walked for hours, I didn't. I had recordings instead. We had a barbecue and lots of fun. Stayed up till 3 in the morning talking. This morning, I woke up, went outside sat in the sun and watched the horses and the beautiful fields.

Another Friday Night

Yesterday was practically my last day of teaching. I have a few more weeks to go but there will be mostly field trips and fun stuff. I baked Ali's famous rhubarb cake, but replaced the main ingredient with apples since rhubarb was nowhere to be found.

Today I have two recordings in the studio. After that I'm taking the car out to Ali's where I'll be meeting up with my friends who will have walked for miles and miles.

Herräng / Beach 2009

Who cares about the bikini-season? I've never cared, and I never will. What I do care about, however, is to learn how to incorporate routines into my daily life. I've never had them, even when I was a kid. Going to bed a certain time, or having dinner at a certain time never existed. Anyway, I want to get in shape. My body has told me it's unhappy, and that, in return, makes me less happy too. Herräng 2009 - something some of us dance nerds focus on, in order to become a bit more fit.

Here's my deal. I'm going to start to have routines in my life, bit by bit. This past week, I've worked on mainly one thing (everything else was a bonus): to go to bed at 11 and try to sleep 8 hours instead of my normal 6. I think I did pretty well! Maybe twice I slept less than 8 hours. I also managed to skip kebab, McDonald's candy and potato chips. Instead, I ate pea soup alot, and some other easy-to-make stuff. Started doing exercises, very basic.

week 2: This week I'll add a few long walks, and taking the bike to and from work.

Let your body decide

Well, the other day I had to face the facts about alot of things. I was exhausted from things that have occupied my mind for quite awhile, but also I have really abused my body by not getting enough sleep, and living off McDonald's, kebab and crisps and such. Now I've decided to sleep a bit more, and eat proper food. Just taken an evening walk with a friend of mine. Been two great days. We'll see if it changes the way I feel and perform.. Hope so.

Lovely

This comes pretty close to showing what I love about this dance. The song, the coreography, the bodies and faces - all merged in perfect harmony.

Frankie Manning - Ambassador of Lindyhop

Frankie died a few days ago. Sad as it is, I must say it's not bad to live and still dance in your 90s! I never got to meet him but I heard alot of stories from everybody, most of them from Tom who knew him very well. The thing that inspires me about Frankie is his personality. I want to be like that when I dance - love it, love every moment, or pass. Don't dance if your heart is not in it.


Here is Frankie talking to Tom, my best buddy in the whole world:


There must be alot of cats swingin' up in Heaven now!

Crazy busy

Thursday we had a barbecue at Håkan's in Lund. Most of the dancers I hang out with were all there. Then, hungover struck, and I spent most of Friday lying on the sofa. Ended the day by going to Johan's in Lund for whiskey sampling. I drove the Malmö people there, which meant I couldn't drink. I didn't really feel like it either yesterday. Anton, Åkers and Birgitta went. Today I've recorded 15 girls at their hen party. Went swell, but after that I had to stress like crazy to get my printer working so I could meet the 5 pm deadline, when someone I recorded last week was supposed to turn up to pick her CDs up. The pic shows the result. Tomorrow, I will grade papers, do my taxes with a friend and meet someone for a bit of wine. Then work the next day.

Deep breath.