I’ve now been dancing swing for a little over two years. The people I’ve met through it have been overwhelmingly some of the nicest, most generous-spirited people anywhere… and also, a lot of the guys are pretty geeky.

Why?

The least charitable answer is “the geeks are there because there are women there,” but that’s not the whole story. Certainly lots of guys get into dancing because they followed (or were dragged by) a woman into it, but those who stay seem to do so for reasons apart from that. Indeed, the scenes I’ve participated in (Toronto, New York, Sydney) seem almost completely free of the creepy behaviour you would expect given that assertion. And that is despite being totally welcoming to guys and gals who might not be as accepted in other circles.

So what is it about the niceness of the swing community? What makes it so appealing to geeky guys? I think it’s the nature of the dance itself that attracts them, and once there, their presence and personality is reflected in the culture that develops around the dance. Read on…

My Dad has Facebook. All my friends have Facebook. I have Facebook. I can count on one hand the people my age I know, that do not have Facebook. The people I met last term in New York and San Francisco all had Facebook.

Anyone who talks about “social networks” today as if they mean anything other than Facebook is being coy, or is deluded.

Classmates and Friendster haven’t been important in years; in the wake of its buyout, MySpace is rapidly losing relevance outside of musical artists using it for promotion.

Facebook is the model of a modern, successful, social website. It hits a very pleasant sweet spot between elegance, user-friendliness, and attention to issues of privacy. But there is one major problem: If Facebook Inc screws up, the elegance and user-friendliness can all go away (some of the new Apps are definitely pushing it), and your privacy might go away, too. Facebook is a closed system; it’s a single point of failure on all three counts. Read on…

The #1 Matt was in town on Wednesday night, so some folks organized a meetup at the Heartland Brewery. I only took a handful of pictures, none of which turned out very well, but fortunately John Keegan has shared some nice snaps.

It was neat to chat with Matt and find out more about Automattic as a company and what some of their plans are for Wordpress. He’s a really fun, personable guy. It’s awesome to use a product with such a great spokesperson.

My room is the cleanest it’s been in months. The dishes are washed, and the counter is wiped. This morning I had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and last night I baked fresh bread. Now there’s a delicious-smelling pot roast on the counter that’ll be ready in a few hours.

It is officially exam time. Can you tell?

I’ve mentioned The Book of Bread previously, but it really is the definitive resource for any kind of bread you can imagine. I thought I’d share one of the recipes I tried recently that was particularly delicious.

I’m cautious of any recipe that claims to be creamy, as I had a bad experience once with bread so creamy that each bite tasted like a glass of whole milk. This recipe isn’t just soft and airy, it’s also tough enough for nice big sandwiches, and has a yellowish colour and very slight sourness that’s extremely pleasant. Read on…

When I changed my banner image for the fall, it was more an act of defiance than as some sort of genuine reflection of the reality outside. We’ve now had several dustings of snow, and there was the small issue of my bicycle brakes being encased in ice, fused to the wheel.

Anyhow, I ran into Matthias Wandel at Swing Club this afternoon—he’s a UW grad, and has a number of really neat project writeups on his site. It was just funny that I was half-heartedly studying some circuits in the studio, and when I asked him about an op-amp question, his response was more about what a useless circuit it was, than what exactly the filter behaviour would be.

In other news, I seem to be getting the hang of Tango a bit more. It’s a far simpler dance than Lindy, and certainly less flexible, but fun enough in its high-heeled, strutting sort of way. Like any of the more intimate dances, it’s more about the subtle communication between partners than big showy spins and tricks.

This fun little piece just came down the toronto_lindy mailing list:

As they chatted while waiting for the dance to begin, one elderly gentleman in colourful shorts and mismatched knee socks was dancing up a storm with a partner half his age. With his right arm wrapped around his partner’s back and his left hand gently holding her right hand, the man twirled her around the dance floor, unfurling the woman gracefully, then pulling her back into his embrace. It was a beautiful sight, but an anxiety-inducing one for me.

I had reluctantly made my way to Lithuanian House because I wanted to learn how to move like that elderly gentleman. I hadn’t always known I wanted to dance. In fact, I had lived my entire life unaware that I had such a desire…

Catch the whole article here. Alana is presently on sabbatical in Ottawa, but she was my teacher over the summer, and I fully second Karastamatis’ experience of her delightful personality and instruction.

The Palais Royale was a dance hall built in the early 20th century, once a major destination for Toronto dancers, but shuttered since the sixties. Well, it’s been bought, renovated, and apparently the new owners are back to throwing public dances there. The first of these was last weekend.

First things first: The floor there is spectacular. Even if not truly sprung, it’s extremely comfortable, and very, very smooth. Sooner or later I’ll buy proper suede shoes, but even given my sub-par equipment, the Palais’ balance between slip and grip is impeccable. I think I really cut loose on my Charleston for the first time; it’s awesome to be able to really twist and shuffle the feet, yet still have enough traction to be confident you won’t suddenly lose it and fall over. Read on…

This seemed to go over well at a pot-luck on Saturday. With prep, rising, and cook time, it was a mite over an hour total, of which twenty minutes was kneading dough and shredding cheese.

Read on…

Exam time means study time. Study time means not enough time. And this, of course, means streamlining.

Obvious targets are tasks that can be eliminated altogether. The justification which allows fast food to replace real food becomes more muddled, and can even extend as far more bizarre substitutions. For example, the purchase of new clothes to save that hour and a half spent on laundry. (Possibly a guy-only savings; apparently some females find clothes shopping to be a veritable black hole of time consumption.)

But besides killing chores, what about the necessary recreation? Man cannot live on studying alone… What kinds of relaxation activities give the highest degree of relaxation per unit of time invested? Read on…