p. 148 (Chapter 5)

April 13th, 2010 | by Tara

If you’re new to the story or just otherwise scratching your head over this page, that’s OK! I totally understand. Try starting from a few pages back, or if you’d like a little more, from the beginning of Chapter Five.

This past weekend was full of awesomeness, as I spent the majority of it at the Toronto Spring Thaw Contra Dance, dancing to foot-stomping jigs and reels by bands Rumblestrip and Relative Harmony. Here’s a video I took of one of the dances. It can be a little difficult to explain to people who’ve never danced at one of these things before what actually makes it so much fun– I think for a lot of people my age it calls up unpleasant memories of being forced to do Square Dancing in high school or something– but it’s the energy of the people around you, the good music, and the movement, which when done well can feel a bit like an amusement park ride. I’ve often thought that more people from comic fandom should give Contra Dancing a try (I can almost guarantee there is a group somewhere near where you live; go ahead and Google it), since the common rules of behavior in Contra Dance (change partners at every dance, always accept the first person who asks you to dance, if you are an experienced dancer then seek out the new dancers to help them learn the figures) makes it the perfect kind of social interaction for the socially inept (like me! ^_^). Also, the dance community is extremely tolerant of all kinds of weirdness (like guys wearing skirts. Can you spot them in the video?). See, it’s like a match made in heaven. And I guess that’s enough proselytizing from me. :-)

But the capper to the weekend, the fine accompanying dessert to a wonderful meal of dancing, was getting to see Oysterband in concert on Sunday night. They’ve been together as a band for 30 years now, and I’ve only really known about them for the last three. I saw them for the first time, at the same venue, two years ago, and  became an instant fan after their first song. It seems my lot in life in recent years to discover I like a band only as they are on the brink of retirement (actually, I have no reason to think Oysterband is retiring anytime soon, but the fact of the matter is they are all grey haired), rather than when they are in their prime. Oh well. I suppose it’s better than most– there have certainly been lots of performers I’ve discovered I liked long after they’ve already retired, or worse, passed away.

Well, that was my weekend! I expect to have a completely different kind of awesome weekend on April 30th-May 2nd at Penguicon in Troy, MI, and on the heels of that will be the boundlessly awesome TCAF in Toronto, May 8th and 9th. If I find out my table location at these shows I will post that info as soon as I know it. Hope to see some of you there!