Prodigal daughter of the Shenandoah

The adventures of an over-educated, ambitious young thing returning home to rural, blue-collar Virginia and the hilarious culture clash that ensues. And I'm not just talking about when I dress like a 1930s housewife to feed cows.

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Safe Dance Space

VERY IMPORTANT for my young dancer friends. Please share. I care about you all. Please know that your voices are valid, and you are heard and cared for. 

A resource centre for young dancers to find help if they feel unsafe.

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THE END OF TRAVEL SEASON

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Real life.

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On Facebook, a friend recently linked to an article called 20 Tools for Men to Further Feminist Revolution. Although he liked the list, he (correctly) noted that most of the suggestions were quite academic.*

His comments have prompted me to create a list of more practical...

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This is super important to me.

[soyeahbluesdance]

When people say that organizing is simple and painless

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Yas

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How organizers feel about hardworking volunteers

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Also this.

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When volunteers try to back out at the last minute.

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gpoy

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Last night my hostess for dinner looked me up and down and said outright, "I don't think Baltimore is the right place for you." I laughed and said, "Of course not!" Sometimes I forget that others can't see the signs of a little girl longing for fields and wooded hills and creeks off back roads. If they looked, they'd see the maple seed pods in my passenger seat, the way I laugh with relief when I see a truck off an exit ramp filled with bee boxes, the way I finger fresh vegetables, how the humidity of the night makes me itch to swim slowly in a creek. They'd see the glistening tears of longing when I roll down my car windows as I drive by orchards.

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No better mug. (at Cedar Grove, Frederick County, Virginia)

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Home.

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And for all these reasons, I’ve decided to scalp you, and burn your village to the ground.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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The best way to wish a Happy Thanksgiving XD

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Look, I love me any holiday where you're encouraged to consider how privileged, lucky, and thankful you are PLUS there is feasting, but this one did not have nice origins. Tribes of Native American/American Indian/First Peoples are still living all over the United States, recognized or not, on reservations or not, but for sure systematically and continuously messed over for hundreds of years. And If any of that is a surprise to you, go do some some reading. (If it wasn't, sorry for the oversimplification; I am no authority.)

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I’m sick of acting like a dumb, helpless girl just so a hot boy who dances his feelings will notice me! That’s not who I am! I’m a smart, strong, sensual woman!

Tina, Bob's Burgers. 

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Does anyone know if the swing dancers who decided to attend a competition in a couple's costume of someone in brownface and someone in blackface are...

Right now on some poor soul's facebook page, there is an incredible discussion happening about blackface in swing dance and cultural (mis)understandings. There are some great things being thrown out by some pretty brilliant and influential members of the Lindy hop community.  Eat your veggies. They're good for you, and interesting to boot.

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As Nina always says, she is queen of the nerds.

Ohhhhh, tumblr hoppers. You. Are. Welcome.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/misteranders/2359398366/in/pool-710035@N23/

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Dear Hunger and Tumblr Forcers—Skye Humphries and Peter Strom have a message for you.

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Chuckled creepily forever. Tumblr hoppers, these humans are real humans, and they think your love of them is weird...though they're super-flattered. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a room with instructors and thought, "Man, this would blow the tumblr hoppers' visions right out of the water." So remember, love their dancing, love them, but don't assume you know them any better than that new kid who is hanging out over by the water fountain...who is just as worthwhile a person to  get to know.

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I got the cat food stealing Blue Jay. Caught him on a glue board and then shot him. I got the cat food eating, deck railing shitting Blue Jay! I put glue traps around the food bowl and he got his feet stuck when he landed. When attempting takeoff he could not clear the Pussywillow bush. BANG! goes the gun.

Verbatim text from my father after he won a hard-fought battle. Restructured by me for poetic impact.

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Mamma's secret year

Mamma's just the right combination of tipsy, tired from hard physical work, and content, so she told me for the first time ever about the mysterious block of her life she left out: the year with Rick. Mamma apparently spent nearly a year living in a house with no plumbing or heat. She learned to cook ham and gravy on a wood-fired cook stove, raised puppies and a rooster, made moonshine, stomped a baby copperhead to death, and built a home with a man who got in a bad mood one day, got offended by how she was singing while she swept the kitchen, and hit her. She hit him right back, called him a motherfucker, and moved out immediately. I don't remember being more proud to be her daughter.

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I like this one a lot!

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Guys, Fenna turned me into a gif! And she totally caught me being a hussy at All Balboa weekend.

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Now let’s think about how, in the absence of an experience-based preference, these dance students will decide what to do when told they can either lead or follow. They are in a classroom, ready to do what they are told to learn a new skill. They are probably a little nervous and uncomfortable, and they want to give the teacher the “right” answer. If the teacher won’t tell them what they are supposed to do, they will fall back on other resources to figure it out. How will they know whether they are supposed to lead or follow? They’ll rely on popular culture and the other people in the room. They will think about the images and messages they’ve received from Fred and Ginger, Dirty Dancing, and Dancing with the Stars, and they will easily conclude that men are supposed to lead and women are supposed to follow. Maybe the teachers give them non-verbal clues, like a man teaching the leads and a woman teaching the follows. Students put these messages together, and when the teachers say, “Leads, come stand over here,” most of the class will translate that into “Men,” and segregate dutifully along gender lines.

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Yes. Ambidancerous gets it exactly. Now let's figure out how to implement this.