Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Portland Lindy Hop Events Oct 10-17


Lindy Events for the Week of October 10-

Wednesday October 10

7:30-10:30 pm Swing Night at Vie de Boheme
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Vie de Boheme Wine Bar (1530 SE 7th Ave, Portland)
Live Music by Everything's Jake

Thursday October 11

7:30-11:00pm Thursday Swing
PPAA (618 SE Alder, Portland)
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:30 DJ'd Music

Friday October 12
 
8:00-11:00 Trashcan Joe at Brasserie Montmartre
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Brasserie Montmartre (626 SW Park Ave, Portland)

Saturday October 13

11am-4pm Portland Apple Tasting Festival 
Portland Nursery (5050 SE Stark, Portland)
11am-1pm Pete Krebs and the Portland Playboys
2-4pm The Stolen Sweets
http://www.portlandnursery.com/events/appletasting.shtml


7:30-11:00 Saturday Swing with S Cubed Productions
Tabor Heights UMC (6161 SE Stark St, Portland)
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:30 DJ'd Music by Allisyn, Kassiane and Orin
http://scubedp.wordpress.com/


Sunday October 14

7-11:00pm Sunday Swing 
Scottish Rite (1507 SW Morrison, Portland)
7:00 Intermediate Swing Drop-in Lesson
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:00-11:00pm DJ'd Music
http://www.stumptowndance.com/

Monday October 15

6:30-8:30pm Learn to Swing Dance with Josh and Emily
Wimbledon Square (2837 SE Colt Drive, Portland)
6:30-7:30 Beginning Balboa
7:30-8:30 Beyond Beginning Lindy Hop
http://www.facebook.com/events/257273261046069/

7:00-9:00pm Guided Swing Practica
Lower Melody Ballroom (615 SE Alder, Portland)
http://www.stumptowndance.com/

9-11pm Kung Pao Chickens
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Laurelthirst Public House (2958 NE Glisan, Portland)

Tuesday October 16

7:30-12:30 Tuesday Blues
Lenora's Room (615 SE Alder, Portland)
7:30 Intermediate Blues Lesson
8:30 Beginning Blues Lesson
9:00-12:30 DJ'd Music

8:00-12:00 The Rigamarole
Village Ballroom (700 Northeast Dekum Street, Portland)
8:00-9:00 Intermediate Workshop
8:30-9:00 Beginning Swing Lesson
9:00-12:00 DJ'd Music
http://therigamaroledance.com/


Wednesday October 17

7:30-10:30 pm Swing Night at Vie de Boheme
Vie de Boheme Wine Bar (1530 SE 7th Ave, Portland)


Upcoming Events!

October 17-21 Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree (Sun Valley, ID)
October 26-29 Victoria Lindy Exchange (Victoria, BC, Canada)
November 9-11 Vancouver Jazz Dance Festival (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
March 1-3 Portland Lindy Exchange

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Weekly Weigh In Oct 9

I did the second fitness test for Insanity yesterday and saw a huge improvement in my numbers.  I'm also seeing a difference in the mirror and on the scale.  Hopefully, I can maintain my current progress and keep losing inches and pounds.  My tape measure puts me down about 1/2 an inch at most points after two weeks of Insanity.  I'm pretty happy right now.  I also have new progress pictures posted on the Fitness Journey page.


Statistics:

Current Weight: 218.6 pounds
Last Week:   220.8 pounds

Weight Loss/Gain: 2.2 pounds lost

Starting Weight: 225.2 pounds
Highest Point: 228.2 pounds
Lowest Point: 218.6 pounds

Friday, October 5, 2012

Guest Post by Gabriel Fitzpatrick: Emoticons

Please welcome Guest Blogger Gabriel Fitzpatrick on his blog tour in celebration of the release of his latest book, Rmnce!

Emoticons

Emoticons, that ugly portmanteau which has lately been shortened, in an irony widely missed, to either ‘emotes’ or far worse ‘smileys,’ are, as with all text speak, a subject of some rancor. They carry with them a sort of juvenile inanity, a sense that they are best relegated to the most informal of communications, if even then. Yet at the same time, they are a phenomenon which bears examination.

In the absence of both tonality and body language, communication becomes challenging. Some, notably writers, use expansive, demonstrative verbiage to take the place of both, words chosen with utmost care to convey an emotion which would be apparent in spoken English but which in writing must be made explicit beyond contestation. However, attempting to do this in every-day conversation, even for someone who has dedicated their life to the pursuit, is challenging if not impossible. After all, what poor soul wants to write a sonnet every time they ask their wife to get milk on the way home in a way that doesn’tmake it sound like either a command or a supplication?

Thus is born into an uncaring world the emoticon, a string of tiny, emotional avatars serving surrogacy for our intentions. The question, when we have established their usefulness, is how much expansion they will brook. Could one, conceivably, improve upon the works of Sartre with a few tactfully-placed smileys to ensure proper understanding? Would the book of Genesis not be, perhaps, enhanced by the addition of a few O.O and >.> here and there? Could not one, in grand and unapologetic fashion, begin to append them virtually everywhere in an expansive experiment into the possibilities?

Well, no. One really couldn’t. But one could go so far as to accept them, slowly, into increasingly formal works, and by doing so enhance one’s communicativeness. And maybe, just maybe, one could place them alongside their contemporary vernacular and write a Rmnce for the ages…


Gabriel’s new book, Rmnce, hits digital shelves October 1st! Find it on Amazon, and Smashwords.

Rmnce series is a love story told in 4 parts. It follows a couple from the first drunkenly passionate days of their college romance all the way through a life together, often tumultuous, always overwhelming, and overridingly disquieting as only true love can be.

Rmnce is not, however, your traditional love story. Or perhaps more accurately, it does not appear to be your traditional love story. It is written entirely through the communications of the couple. Text messages, emails, and even a few old-fashioned letters make up the entirety of a story, what one early reader termed "A story not so much written as formed organically in the negative space."

It is, in short, a commentary on love in the digital age, a tribute to the great love affairs of the digital generation, romance not lost in the sea of text-speak and instant gratification, but merely obscured from the prying eyes of those too far removed from its cultural roots.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Portland Lindy Hop Events October 3-10


Lindy Events for the October 3-10

Wednesday October 3

7:30-10:30 pm Swing Night at Vie de Boheme
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Vie de Boheme Wine Bar (1530 SE 7th Ave, Portland)
Live Music by Hush Hush Smut Club

Thursday October 4



6:00-8:00pm Libertine Belles at the Secret Society
Secret Society Ballroom (116 NE Russell, Portland)  

7:30-11:00pm Thursday Swing
PPAA (618 SE Alder, Portland)
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:30 DJ'd Music

Friday October 5

6:00-8:00pm Boy and Bean at the Secret Society

Secret Society Ballroom (116 NE Russell, Portland)  
 
9:00-11:00 Bridgetown Sextet at The Blue Monk
Drinking Age Only, 21+
The Blue Monk (3341 SE Belmont, Portland)

9:00-11:00pm Shanghai Woolies at Duff's Garage
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Duff's Garage (1635 SE 7th Ave, Portland)


Saturday October 6

7:30-11:00 Saturday Swing with S Cubed Productions
Tabor Heights UMC (6161 SE Stark St, Portland)
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:30 DJ'd Music by Allisyn, Kassiane and Orin
http://scubedp.wordpress.com/


Sunday October 7

4:00-7:00pm Workshop with Ben White and Jenna Applegarth
Scottish Rite (1507 SW Morrison, Portland)
http://www.stumptowndance.com/

7-11:00pm Sunday Swing 
Scottish Rite (1507 SW Morrison, Portland)
7:00 Intermediate Swing Drop-in Lesson
7:30 Beginning Swing Drop-in Lesson
8:00-11:00pm DJ'd Music
http://www.stumptowndance.com/

Monday October 8

6:30-8:30pm Learn to Swing Dance with Josh and Emily
Wimbledon Square (2837 SE Colt Drive, Portland)
6:30-7:30 Beginning Balboa
7:30-8:30 Beyond Beginning Lindy Hop
http://www.facebook.com/events/257273261046069/

7:00-9:00pm Guided Swing Practica
Lower Melody Ballroom (615 SE Alder, Portland)
http://www.stumptowndance.com/

9-11pm Kung Pao Chickens
Drinking Age Only, 21+
Laurelthirst Public House (2958 NE Glisan, Portland)

Tuesday October 9

7:30-12:30 Tuesday Blues
Lenora's Room (615 SE Alder, Portland)
7:30 Intermediate Blues Lesson
8:30 Beginning Blues Lesson
9:00-12:30 DJ'd Music

8:00-12:00 The Rigamarole
Village Ballroom (700 Northeast Dekum Street, Portland)
8:00-9:00 Intermediate Workshop
8:30-9:00 Beginning Swing Lesson
9:00-12:00 DJ'd Music
http://therigamaroledance.com/


Wednesday October 10

7:30-10:30 pm Swing Night at Vie de Boheme
Vie de Boheme Wine Bar (1530 SE 7th Ave, Portland)

Upcoming Events!

October 17-21 Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree (Sun Valley, ID)
October 26-29 Victoria Lindy Exchange (Victoria, BC, Canada)
November 9-11 Vancouver Jazz Dance Festival (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
March 1-3 Portland Lindy Exchange

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Weekly Weigh In October 2

Insanity and I are getting along just fine.  Even in just a week I can tell that my strength and endurance are improving.  I'm able to do more and more of each exercise in each video.  So far, the Cardio Recovery video is my favorite.  I like that it is slower and lower impact.  It works in ways that are more familiar and more comfortable for my body.

On a related note, I started counting how many squats and push-up moves I've been doing and I was pleasantly surprised by the numbers.  I'm looking forward to improving.


Statistics:

Current Weight: 220.8 pounds
Last Week:   221.6 pounds

Weight Loss/Gain: .8 pounds lost

Starting Weight: 225.2 pounds
Highest Point: 228.2 pounds
Lowest Point: 220.8 pounds



Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Weight Loss Tools