"One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering." ~Ida Scott Taylor
Dear Ms. Taylor,
I have no idea who you are, or where you are from, or your significance to the world as a whole, but thank you for that. I needed a reminder.
Until next time,
Avery
November 24, 2010
November 23, 2010
The Comeback Kid
**Disclaimer, since I know some stop by, and will take all words seriously: this is in no way relating to any of my relatives, nor is it meant to be taken seriously. It is simply to inject some light humor in to the holiday season for the singletons. Please do not kill me, or give me death glares, when I see you over the holidays. Hasta pronto**
“So honey, do you have a boyfriend yet,” like it’s expected of you. Of course everyone stops eating and talking to find this out because they weren’t brave enough to ask it themselves.
If you do, good for you! You have successfully avoided the awkward moment that follows this question and can continue to have a wonderful conversation about him with your relative while the rest of the family goes back to eating and talking.
If you don’t, and you say you don’t, your response is usually met with:
a) A look like you’ve suddenly grown a third head
b) A sad “you’ve-failed-at-life” kind of look
c) An awkward “oh” and a sudden change of subject or exit from a room
OR
d) A combination of all three
Because you see, to this tactless relative it doesn’t matter that say for example: you studied abroad in Spain after saving money for years; it doesn’t matter that you have discovered what you’d like to do with your life/career in the future; it doesn’t matter that your first ever news article got published in your college paper, nor does it matter that you are now writing for them on a regular basis. It doesn’t matter that you’re meeting tons of new people while managing to work with your clubs, have a social life and control your workload; or that you’ve had an awesome interview; gotten a job; received a promotion or volunteered somewhere; nor does it matter that you’re almost done with school, or looking for an internship, and the fact that you’re doing a damn good job in your hardest classes ever is unimportant. All that matters to this tactless relative is that you don’t have a boyfriend for yet another year.
So, here are some comebacks that I’ve thought up, please feel free to write your own:
“Oh yes, his name is Hank, he just got out of prison and we’re looking at a wedding date sometime next year. Of course it will be after he goes through his anger management classes…”
“Oh yes, who knew that boring lecturers could be so interesting outside of the classroom.”
“Oh yes, who knew that [insert ridiculous age here]-year-olds knew so much.”
“No, but my girlfriend’s pretty nice.”
“No, but he’s going to be out on probation in June.”
“No, but I’ve decided to throw away my college education and become a nun after I graduate.”
Or my personal favorite, which is a quote from Katherine Heigl in 27 Dresses, paraphrased of course to fit the situation:
“No, but then I think of all the hot hate sex that I can have and everything seems to be better somehow.” (Wouldn’t that just give them all a heart attack?)
Now, if only I was brave enough to use them.
We’ll make it through this my fellow singletons, and we’ll have a blast, possibly more than others, celebrating in style! And hey, who says love isn’t possible along the way? Enjoy your holidays, and travel safely!
Until Next Time,
Avery
November 16, 2010
In Full Swing by:Avery Cropp
A headline published in the New York Times in August 1936 said: “DANCE INSTRUCTORS SEE DOOM OF ‘SWING’.” Philip S. Nutt, the president of the American Society of Teachers of Dancing who was quoted in that article did not believe that swing dancing would last beyond winter. “It’s like the other dances,” he said, “there for a month or so and then gone.” Well, the craze is still here and getting stronger on the campuses of Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota State University-Mankato, and Bethany Lutheran College.
But what is swing dancing? “Swing dancing is hard to explain,” junior Emily Heintz, a founder of Bethany Lutheran College’s swing dance club said. “You can give the dictionary definition of two people dancing, and doing fancy moves on the dance floor, but to me it’s just a great way to meet people.”
The craze began at Gustavus Adolphus College. “Chris Rupp started Gustavus’ swing club roughly 15 or 16 years ago,” senior Sara Van Vreede, Gustavus’ current secretary of swing dance club, said.
Gustavus’ swing dance club is still going strong. The club’s members meet every Wednesday from 9-11 p.m. in Alumni Hall or at The Dive, which is a lounge area in the Johnson Student Union. Lessons go from 9-9:30 p.m. and open dancing goes until the end of the night. “Or until they kick us out,” Van Vreede said with a smile.
Rupp later teamed up with Nick Burt and started The MSU Swing Dance Club at Minnesota State University, Mankato during spring semester of 2004. Club members meet up Monday nights in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom at 9:30 p.m. and dance until around 11:30 p.m.
Heintz and her friends decided to start a swing dance club at Bethany Lutheran College after they hosted a swing dance there on Thurs. Sept. 30, 2010 and had a great turnout.
Sophomore Jill Bartels, a member of MSU Swing Club’s leadership, mentioned that on one night in September the students from Bethany brought 30 people to MSU Swing Club’s open dance. “There are a lot of them,” said MSU Swing Dance Club president Wesley Anderson.
Everyone is welcome to come to the club meetings, though the main attendants are students. The members stretch across all majors, alumni come, and sometimes faculty members stop by. Students come to the club meetings from Bethany Lutheran College, Gustavus, MNSU-Mankato, and South Central College. Larger events, such as Gustavus’ fall dance, may even draw people from St. Olaf, Carleton and the Twin Cities area.
The layout of the night at Gustavus and Mankato start with lessons. There are three styles of swing dancing that are well-known: East Coast; Charleston; and Lindy-hop. The most basic is East Coast which is a six-step count involving two side-steps and a rock-step.
The Charleston can be done solo or as a pair, and involves an eight-step count where you kick out your left foot, set it near your right foot, step back on your right foot, forward on your right foot and repeat it all again.
Lindy is a more complicated eight-step count which involves triple steps. According to Bartels, it’s hard for some people to get the hang of, though Anderson, Van Vreede and Bartels said that it was one of their favorite styles.
“[At Gustavus] what will be taught that night is determined by leadership,” Van Vreede said, “The people that show up are split into skill levels of less-experienced people and more-experienced people. At our meetings a couple of couples volunteer to teach the levels and they decide what moves they will teach that night about 15 to 20 minutes before lessons.”
The same approach is taken at MSU’s swing dance club. “Beginners are always welcome,” said Anderson. “It’s really easy, though it kind of depends on gender. If you’re a girl it’s pretty easy: you just follow along. If you’re a guy we’ll help you out.”
After the lessons portion of the evening is finished everyone swarms the dance floor and dances the night away to music ranging from big band to jazz to pop. Couples pull out their favorite moves that include the boom-boom-boom, come-and-go, titanic, skin-the-cat, multiple spins in a row, and many more.
“I like switching partners when we have lessons, because I get to meet more people,” said Heintz. “I like open dancing of course, but that seems to be everyone’s favorite part.”
Once at MSU’s Swing Dance Club this academic year the number of people in the CSU ballroom topped out at 180. “We counted,” said Bartels. “This was a month into the year too. It’s been growing and we like that…the more people the better.”
A common problem for MSU’s Swing Dance Club is a lack of guys. Bethany doesn’t seem to have this problem though: “We wanted to start a swing dance club because we have a lot of guys interested this year,” said Heintz.
Whether there are enough guys or not, the smiles on the faces of the members tell you enough to know that no matter the crowd it’s always fun, and there’s always someone to talk to.
“The social aspect is huge,” said Van Vreede, “but dance is a way to relax, to meditate, to remember, to forget; a way to learn new things and make new connections with people.”
But what is swing dancing? “Swing dancing is hard to explain,” junior Emily Heintz, a founder of Bethany Lutheran College’s swing dance club said. “You can give the dictionary definition of two people dancing, and doing fancy moves on the dance floor, but to me it’s just a great way to meet people.”
The craze began at Gustavus Adolphus College. “Chris Rupp started Gustavus’ swing club roughly 15 or 16 years ago,” senior Sara Van Vreede, Gustavus’ current secretary of swing dance club, said.
Gustavus’ swing dance club is still going strong. The club’s members meet every Wednesday from 9-11 p.m. in Alumni Hall or at The Dive, which is a lounge area in the Johnson Student Union. Lessons go from 9-9:30 p.m. and open dancing goes until the end of the night. “Or until they kick us out,” Van Vreede said with a smile.
Rupp later teamed up with Nick Burt and started The MSU Swing Dance Club at Minnesota State University, Mankato during spring semester of 2004. Club members meet up Monday nights in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom at 9:30 p.m. and dance until around 11:30 p.m.
Heintz and her friends decided to start a swing dance club at Bethany Lutheran College after they hosted a swing dance there on Thurs. Sept. 30, 2010 and had a great turnout.
Sophomore Jill Bartels, a member of MSU Swing Club’s leadership, mentioned that on one night in September the students from Bethany brought 30 people to MSU Swing Club’s open dance. “There are a lot of them,” said MSU Swing Dance Club president Wesley Anderson.
Everyone is welcome to come to the club meetings, though the main attendants are students. The members stretch across all majors, alumni come, and sometimes faculty members stop by. Students come to the club meetings from Bethany Lutheran College, Gustavus, MNSU-Mankato, and South Central College. Larger events, such as Gustavus’ fall dance, may even draw people from St. Olaf, Carleton and the Twin Cities area.
The layout of the night at Gustavus and Mankato start with lessons. There are three styles of swing dancing that are well-known: East Coast; Charleston; and Lindy-hop. The most basic is East Coast which is a six-step count involving two side-steps and a rock-step.
The Charleston can be done solo or as a pair, and involves an eight-step count where you kick out your left foot, set it near your right foot, step back on your right foot, forward on your right foot and repeat it all again.
Lindy is a more complicated eight-step count which involves triple steps. According to Bartels, it’s hard for some people to get the hang of, though Anderson, Van Vreede and Bartels said that it was one of their favorite styles.
“[At Gustavus] what will be taught that night is determined by leadership,” Van Vreede said, “The people that show up are split into skill levels of less-experienced people and more-experienced people. At our meetings a couple of couples volunteer to teach the levels and they decide what moves they will teach that night about 15 to 20 minutes before lessons.”
The same approach is taken at MSU’s swing dance club. “Beginners are always welcome,” said Anderson. “It’s really easy, though it kind of depends on gender. If you’re a girl it’s pretty easy: you just follow along. If you’re a guy we’ll help you out.”
After the lessons portion of the evening is finished everyone swarms the dance floor and dances the night away to music ranging from big band to jazz to pop. Couples pull out their favorite moves that include the boom-boom-boom, come-and-go, titanic, skin-the-cat, multiple spins in a row, and many more.
“I like switching partners when we have lessons, because I get to meet more people,” said Heintz. “I like open dancing of course, but that seems to be everyone’s favorite part.”
Once at MSU’s Swing Dance Club this academic year the number of people in the CSU ballroom topped out at 180. “We counted,” said Bartels. “This was a month into the year too. It’s been growing and we like that…the more people the better.”
A common problem for MSU’s Swing Dance Club is a lack of guys. Bethany doesn’t seem to have this problem though: “We wanted to start a swing dance club because we have a lot of guys interested this year,” said Heintz.
Whether there are enough guys or not, the smiles on the faces of the members tell you enough to know that no matter the crowd it’s always fun, and there’s always someone to talk to.
“The social aspect is huge,” said Van Vreede, “but dance is a way to relax, to meditate, to remember, to forget; a way to learn new things and make new connections with people.”
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