Auld Lang Syne

2012 has been an amazing year, and the ups have far outweighed the downs. I learnt how to Lindy Hop, we've been to Spain, I got an A* in my GCSE Spanish, I had a Charleston hen do, we got married, had a fabulous honeymoon in Italy, redecorated the living room, have been on some fantastic walks with our dog, Levi, and have finished it by adopting a lovely new dog called Jess. I have spent time with family and friends, made new friends, and danced. And danced. Oh, and danced some more.

As the world didn't come to an end on any of the numerous predicted world-ending dates, I think it's time to sit and have a think about what my New Year's Resolutions for 2013 are going to be to help it be (almost) as good.

A Complimentary Culture
In a time when people seem quick to complain about things, I'm going to make an effort to be quick to compliment. If a salesperson is particularly helpful, or a product I buy is particularly good, or an event I go to is particularly good, I'm going to be writing a very friendly letter.

Shop Local
When I first thought about this one, I thought about trying to avoid tax avoiders. Places like Starbucks and Ikea are pretty easy to find alternatives for, but when you think about trying to avoid Google, it starts getting harder. A friend pointed out that all these companies are doing is paying the least amount of tax that they are legally obliged to, and whilst I think that there is some truth in that, I also believe that there is something ethically wrong about it. The blame should, however, rest with the government for allowing the loopholes in the first place and, unfortunately, we definitely can't avoid them without moving somewhere with different (or worse) problems than the UK. Maybe if Scotland goes, the Rileys will go too...
Anyway, in the meantime, I decided that as we live in Sheffield, which is approaching some kind of foodie haven, with a bit of foresight and planning we can reduce what we spend in big supermarkets and make the most of local produce and local suppliers. I have even bought myself an old lady wheeled shopping trolley in preparation!  Our milk will be from Our Cow Molly, our meat from the local butcher, our eggs from my egg lady, and we will make use of Sheffield's craft and vintage fayres for presents, along with the Nichols Building and Sheffield Antiques Quarter. Any suggestions for other local suppliers will be gratefully received!

Debt Reduction
So, with a wedding and two fabulous holidays this year and previously a good while of living slightly above our means has led me to announce that 2013 will be the year to pay stuff off. We will only be buying things that we can afford to pay for, and I intend to have made a sizeable dent in our debt... the first aim is to get us out of Riley Recession and have two consecutive quarters where our debt has reduced instead of increased. If we can't afford to buy something, we don't buy it. Nothing is to go on credit cards.

The Normal Shit
Every single year I say "Lose Weight, Exercise More, Keep the House Tidy". These are standing resolutions and I'm making them again. Fortunately I've eaten a fucking shit load since the wedding, so am at my heaviest that I've been for a while, therefore losing weight should be easy (if that can't be called cheating!), I definitely want to get back to cycling to work again this year, and I have already signed up for the Lincoln 10k and the Sheffield Half Marathon so am dusting my running shoes off. We've also got a nice new living room that I'm DETERMINED to keep tidy and presentable, so maybe, just maybe, in a year's time, as I reflect over 2013, I'll be able to say that I actually managed these three!

Photography Challenge
We bought a Nikon d3100 earlier in the year, and I haven't had it off the auto settings yet, so I have signed up to 365 Project to kick me into learning a bit more about my camera. My username is MrsWickie (of course).

Now all that's left to do today is to reflect on the good and bad from 2012, to celebrate the coming in of 2013 and to look forward to what the new year will bring. I hope it is a lucky one for everyone, that people can appreciate the good stuff and can find a way to cope with the bad.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie's a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

Facebookery

I bloody love Facebook and I use it a lot. I love how it has got me back in touch with friends from years gone by, and I love how you can share photos with people who live miles away, and interact with each other in a whole new way. I update my status regularly and set up events for various nights out. I check it loads and I don’t even mind when they change the layout, or introduce timelines, because I know that I’ll get used to it quickly and then forget what it used to be like. I mean, the Facebook guys seem to know what they’re doing, so I’m going to trust them when they perform updates.

I came across a pretty fab blog post about the rules of etiquette for Facebook from Studentbeans. And, actually, I agree with most of them.

The full list can be found here, and it got me thinking about some of the stuff that both bugs me and some of the stuff that I fall down on. Now, I am far from perfect, and I'm completely sure that a bunch of people on Facebook get really bored with my (fairly) constant and inane updates. However, I do think that the only way you could please everyone is if you never post, like Mr. Riley, or if you are so selective with who you are friends with on Facebook that you only accept real-life close friends.

Anyways, here are some of the things I try and think about before pressing 'submit':

Tagging Photos

Before you tag someone in a photo, think about that person. I hate almost every photo of me, so unless it’s a really good picture please don’t tag me in it. A friend once told me that my beauty is in my animation, and I have thought of that every time I have seen a horrific photo of me. If you are posting a bunch of photos at once, why not just tell the people who are in them and then they can tag themselves if they want. I often do this, but I will tag someone if they are looking really lovely or happy.

Meaningless/Boring Updates

This probably is one where everybody falls down, and actually I do agree that ‘one man’s boring is another man’s thrilling’. The chances are that you have a group of friends on Facebook who are interested in what you write, which is why you are friends in the first place, but with an average friend count in the hundreds it’s likely that you will be friends with someone who doesn’t like all the same things as you. I’m actually happy to put up with all status updates, even if they are about playing/watching/betting on football because I like to post a lot about dancing or baking, for example.

Vaguebooking and Negativity

Facebook is not your therapist. It makes people feel really uncomfortable if all you ever do is moan, and the whole ‘woe is me’ attitude can seem really tedious to people who don't know you that well. If you are really unhappy, seek professional help, talk to real-life friends, hell, if you’re my friend talk to me in person. My door is always open* for a cuppa and a chat. There might even be cake.The very fact that we’re friends on Facebook means that I like you in real life and would be happy to spend time with you if you need me.

I’m not saying that you should never have a moan on Facebook, just make sure that you balance it with less moany stuff.

* DISCLAIMER: My door is not open to people I don’t know, nor is this an invitation for vampires. You can never be too careful where the supernatural are concerned.

 

Directed Arsey No-Named Updates

The ones that say something like,

“MrsWickie thinks that someone should learn how to be a better friend”

when you know that the person you’re aiming it at will see it. Yeah, if someone has annoyed you and ‘should think about their actions’ or whatever,  nobody but you cares, so man up and tell them to their face. The only way anyone else will care is if you name them. Otherwise it’s just you being a bit of a dick. And if you do name them, then it's just you being a bit of a dick. So don't post stuff like that at all, and then you won't risk breaking the first rule of life: don't be a dick.

Photos of Kids

Studentbeans say that there should be only one photo per month of your child. I would actually add a slight amendment to that… one collection of photos per month (in fact, one collection per week is entirely acceptable), uploaded at the same time in some form of album. That way you can put the photos up and we can look through them if we want to. The occasional extra is OK as long as it’s actually funny. But everyday photos of your sleeping baby interests nobody but you and your parents. I would post photos of Levi (our dog) every single day if I thought it wouldn’t drive everyone completely mental (and I do put quite a lot of photos of him on Facebook), so I completely understand how tempting it is when you love something to bits and want to show it off. Just remember though that not everyone thinks that your staffie cross is cute, or that your kitten is cuddly, or that your kid is pretty, so resist the temptation.

Levi: actually the cutest dog in the world. No, honestly, he really is. What do you mean it's subjective? Well, fuck you, I'm still going to post pictures of him.

OR, how about, instead of posting loads of photos of your child onto the internet, you get them printed and put into an album so that you and the people close to you can enjoy them, and that friend of a friend you met once at a night out doesn’t look through the photos of your family. Weird, right?

And here’s a few other things…

Events

Facebook is an excellent way of inviting people to events, however it can be pretty stressful for the organiser, especially if it involves food. It’s really easy to click ‘attending’ even if you’re not sure whether or not you’ll go, but don’t forget that if someone is cooking for you then they will have included you in their numbers and bought enough food for you a couple of days before the event. If you cancel last minute, unless due to being deathly ill, then you piss the host off. Also, if it involves group bookings at restaurants, the same thing goes. With a group booking the organiser would normally have to let the restaurant know in advance, sometimes deposits are paid etc. If you then cancel last minute, it’s frustrating and annoying. Basically, what I’m saying is this: If you click ‘attending’ just because you think it will make the organiser happy, but actually there’s a good chance that you won’t go, tell them. That’s all. If you’re struggling for money, don’t let someone book a place at a restaurant for you and then pull out last minute. If deposits have been paid by someone else and you do pull out last minute, offer to reimburse them. If you do absolutely have to let someone down, especially if it isn’t the first time, don’t forget that it’s really your job then to make the first move to organise something else.

Complaining

Don’t complain about other people complaining about things. I get it at X Factor time more than any other… there are more people on my News Feed complaining about the people complaining about who got booted off than there are actual people complaining about who booted off.

Also, don’t complain in your status updates about other people posting photos of their kids or dogs or dinner. Just ignore them if they don’t interest you. I’m sure they don’t enjoy your posts about climbing, or festivals, or music, or nights out, or whatever it is that you post about.

Finally under this heading, if someone says something that annoys you (especially if it’s in an open group) either a) completely ignore them or b) send them a PRIVATE message explaining why they’ve annoyed you. You’ll only annoy everyone else by having an argument (or discussion/debate/whatever you want to call it).

Politics

It’s totally ok to put political opinions on Facebook, so long as you know what you’re talking about, and don’t mind if people disagree with you. With all these groups that are popping up that people can express displeasure in the country, or the government, or the justice system, or whatever, be really careful about sounding racist. Or homophobic. Or just plain stupid. Because if you do, I will de-friend you faster than you can click ‘like’ on a ‘benefits should be scrapped so that we can step over starving children in the street’ post.

Punctuation and Syntax

I don’t really mind spelling or grammar mistakes. What I’m talking about here is making sure that the stuff you post actually makes sense. Some people post stuff that makes no sense, and no matter how many times I read it I have no idea what they have just said. So, proof-read. That’s all.

Bad News (and to some extent Good News)

People seem very quick to jump on Facebook to share bad news, but make sure that the people who love and care about you don’t find out about major life events this way. I’m not saying you should individually tell all your Facebook friends about all your life changing moments, but take a moment to think how you would feel if you found out about it on Facebook. Just because you can shove it on there, doesn’t mean that you necessarily should.

Liking Horrible Photos

There seems to be a fashion at the moment where pictures get posted of abused dogs, or disfigured children, or other distressing things with a tag line of 'like if you have a heart' or something similar. What this means is that the photos then pop up in timelines and other people are subjected to them. Now, I am definitely not saying that we should ignore pain and struggle in this world, but clicking 'like' on a photo on Facebook is not going to make it better. I don't mean that we should all stick our heads in the sand and ignore the fact that horrible things happen in this world. I just don't want them popping up on something I use for fun and a bit of light entertainment. Does this make me callous? Actually, it's because they make me sad that I don't want to see them. They make me feel guilty and inadequate that I can't do anything about it. And the very, very last thing that I want to do is say that I like it.

A Final, Personal Annoyance

Don’t put ‘.com’. It doesn’t have a place at the end of anything EXCEPT an actual website. You are not confused.com, you are either just confused or stupid. You are not bored.com, you are either just bored or stupid. You are not tired.com, you are either just tired or stupid. STOP IT. It’s a dated reference to a shit website.

MrsWickieEats: Ego

It appears to be Christmas season now and so our work lottery syndicate members took the £50 winnings from the last year (I’m sure we’d be better just putting a weekly £1 each in a pot and then spending that at Christmas, but then we really would never win the jackpot…) and headed to Ego on Surrey Street. I have been a few times before, the first being for our engagement party with a bunch of our closest friends. After that I was on their mailing list and therefore have never paid full price for their food. On my birthday we got a free 3-course meal. On our engagement anniversary we got a free bottle of prosecco. And in October I got an email saying that if we booked on a Monday during November and ordered from the Christmas menu we could get a free bottle of wine. Each.

Louise and I arrived shortly before 7 so made good use of their ‘2 for 1 bellini’ offer and got ourselves some fizzy to start the evening. 

The rest of our party soon arrived, and orders were taken quickly and efficiently. The Christmas menu had a good variety of food, although not much choice for the vegetarian in our group. Starters were a choice of Soup de Jour (Italian Vegetable), Grilled Goats Cheese, Chicken Liver & Rosemary Paté, Prosciutto and Melon or Smoked Haddock Risotto. Main course choices were Beef Bourguignon, Pan Roasted Turkey Escalope, 8oz Sirloin Steak, Slow Roast Belly Pork, Sautéed Salmon Fillet or Festive Nut Roast. For dessert there was Traditional Christmas Pudding, Tiramisu, Classic Crème Brûlée or Warm Chocolate Brownie.

I chose the Grilled Goats Cheese for a starter, which came on toasted brioche with a beautiful, fruity chutney. The cheese was grilled to perfection and I’m still thinking about that chutney. It was the perfect size for a starter.

For my main course I chose the Slow Roast Belly Pork. There was a short delay between the mains being brought out and getting the (inclusive) vegetables to go with them, but it didn’t really impact on the evening. The pork belly was good, but I have to be honest, I was rather spoilt a couple of weeks ago by some superb belly at Silversmiths, and Ego’s offering didn’t quite measure up. The top wasn’t quite crunchy enough, and the fat wasn’t quite melt-in-your-mouth enough, for my taste. Don’t get me wrong, it was still very good, and came on a bed of black pudding and gorgeous spicy chorizo, just not quite as good as the last version I had.

I had the Christmas Pudding with brandy butter for dessert. The pudding itself had a texture closer to Christmas Cake and was perhaps a bit too dense to really be pudding, but it had all the right flavours and spices in all the right ratios. The brandy butter was more like a white sauce than what I would normally expect, and there was less of a taste of brandy in the sauce than in the pudding itself, but it was still very tasty.

The choice of free wine with our meal was either the house white or house red, and it was perfectly drinkable.

So, once again, Ego didn’t disappoint. The service was efficient and friendly and at no point did we feel rushed, despite half of our party arriving a little late. The food was delicious, the vegetables included in the price (which is how it should be on set menus), and the portion sizes just right. I felt nicely full by the end.

Whether you live in Sheffield, Bramhall, Heswall, Kenilworth, Lichfield, Liverpool, Lytham or Stockton Heath, I recommend getting yourselves on their mailing list… there’s always some deal or other to be taken advantage of. Sadly, they have taken their gambas pil-pil off their main menu. They did the best in Sheffield for a while.

Information about all Ego Restaurants can be found at www.egorestaurants.co.uk

Ego Sheffield
88 Surrey Street
Sheffield
S1 2LH
Tel: 0114 278 2004

Seven Days of Dance

Did I mention that I love to dance? Oh, right, I have done that once or twice. Well, on the 22nd of November last year, Mr. Riley and I went to our first Lindy Hop lesson and I got hooked. Immediately. Completely. Joyfully.

To celebrate my first Lindy anniversary, I decided that I would have 7 days of dance... a whole week with at least some dancing every day. Fortunately, the Sheffield Lindy scene accidentally conspired to help me with this mission by hosting their first mini-exchange, the Sheffield Winter Warmer.

Day 1
The Winter Warmer was 3 days of beautiful dancing, starting on Friday 16th November with a Blues taster class by Green City Blues at the Shakespeare on Gibraltar Street. I hadn't managed to get to any of their previous events, despite being intrigued by blues dancing. What I discovered is that, like with many dances, if you have a good lead, blues is lovely. However (and this is a BIG however), because the hold is so close it can feel a bit uncomfortable and awkward and embarrassing if the lead isn't good. 

The pub had booked the Natchez Burning Blues Band as part of their Beer and Music Festival. Honestly, the organisers of the Winter Warmer could not have booked a better band if they had done it themselves. They played a mixture of Lindy-esque Rock 'n' Roll and Blues and us dancers completely took over the room. One thing that I have noticed in the last year is that bands do love to see people dance to their music.

Day 2
On the Saturday I pootled down to the Nichols building: a gorgeous emporium of antiques and nick-nacks, with an excellent little café and a dance studio upstairs. This space was utilised by us Winter Warmers for some easy-going social dancing, milling around and getting to know some of the out-of-town dancers in Sheffield for the weekend. There was some vintage hairstyling going on and Source Photography were busy taking photos. It was a very lovely way to spend the afternoon.

Jenny and Chip loving life!
Photo courtesy of Source Photography

In the evening there was a social dance at St. Vincent's on Solly Street. The Winter Warmer was not just for fun, but also for raising some money for Shelter and Movember, so there were many, many moustaches on display. The night started well for me, but I ended up having one of those occasional nights where I go through a bit of a crisis of confidence. I assume that this happens to most dancers, and it has definitely become less frequent the longer I have been dancing, but still the logical part of my brain occasionally loses the battle of 'why would anyone want to dance with me?', so I don't ask people to dance, and probably don't look massively approachable, so don't get asked to dance. Unfortunately, I was also sitting next to someone who got asked to dance about 150 times (actually, it was more like 10) whilst I wasn't asked at all, which just made me feel worse, so I decided that I would sneak out just before the end and head home early. The rest of the guys went on to the Red House on Solly Street, and by all accounts had a huge amount of fun there.

Day 3
On Sunday there was a tea dance at the Community Centre on Fir Street in Walkley. My confidence issue of the previous night had completely passed (honestly, hormones have a lot to answer for), and I had a wonderful time dancing with everyone. My favourite dances go to Emma for Baby Driver and to Danny/Dave for some stealing action during my favourite track to dance to, Love Me or Leave Me. Not, of course, that I didn't completely enjoy every other dance I had, they just happened to be the ones that really stuck in my mind!

I still can't dance with anyone else to 'Baby Can Dance' by Carsie Blanton. It was our first dance at our wedding, and it means so much to me now that I just want to keep that memory exactly the way it is. Plus, as it was pointed out, there are probably all sorts of legal issues and I might end up finding myself married to somebody else if I danced to it with them, so it probably is just best to sit it out and have a little reminisce about my favourite ever dance with my husband.

I left the tea dance and missed the evening activities due to wanting to spend some time with Mr. Riley. Sometimes it can feel like we haven't seen each other for ages due to his shifts and my hobbies (hobbies? I mean dancing!), so we try and make the most of it when we do have an evening off together.

I would just like to say that the Sheffield Lindy Hop and Blues people did a fantastic job organising the Winter Warmer. It had a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and, crisis of confidence aside, I enjoyed every bit of it and am already looking forward to the next one.

Day 4
I decided to try the Steel City Swing Lesson on the Monday. I hadn't made it there yet, mainly because Mr. Riley has the car on Mondays and almost always works in the evening. From where I live, Heeley is a 10 minute drive, but a 50 minute walk or a 50 minute bus journey, and I struggle to spare that amount of time on a week night. This time, however, I managed to get myself a lift.

The Monday class is very different to Sue's Wednesday class, but they seem to complement each other well. Craig and Emma took us through some positional stuff in the 'technique' class, getting the Leads to aim their Texas Tommies, Swing Outs and other related moves so that the Follow ends up in a specific place... thereby able to utilise a space on a crowded dance floor.

In the 'fundamentals' class, which is the one for beginners, I tried leading for the first time. Wow, you have to THINK when you're leading, and that takes a bit of getting used to .What I liked about this class was that you are encouraged to make your own decisions when dancing rather than just following a routine, and this in turn will help on the social dance floor. It's not until you start social dancing that you really start learning how to dance, but it can be very intimidating at first. My advice is to just get out there and give it a go. Sometimes whisky helps.

After the class we all went for a drink and talked about hairy legs,sperm donors and sanitary products.

Day 5
Not yet having danced outside of Sheffield, I decided to mosey over the snake pass and head to Manchester for their Tuesday night lesson, followed by a little bit of social dancing. Mr. Riley had an unexpected day off, and suggested that he come with me, so we had ourselves a little road trip. Normally when we decide to go somewhere new we get completely lost and I end up crying and stressy and horrible, but this time we found our way without any trouble at all. Manchester Lindy's venue is the Freemasons Hall.

The first class was for Intermediates and we went over some footwork variations, which is my next challenge. When I watch other people dance, the Follows that I really pay attention to are those that do lovely things with their feet, like kick ball changes and little twisty things, and I can never seem to make them fit and then end up on the wrong foot when I try. It was really helpful to go over that in the class, and I'm going to make a real effort to put some variations in on the social dancefloor. I kept half an eye on Mr. Riley, because he has never danced in a class where you change partners, but whenever I looked over he was smiling and seemed to be really enjoying himself.

The beginner's class came afterward, and I chose to Lead again while Mr. Riley sat it out. We did some 6-beat footwork, with tuck turns,changing places and bringing back in. I'm starting to find it really interesting to feel how different people follow. Some just don't, because they know what's coming. Some try to, but have no tension at all. Some are so solid and tense it feels like there's nothing to work with (and they must be giving themselves sore shoulders). And it's really lovely to get someone who get the balance of tension and looseness right, who waits for your lead and who ends up where you put them.

After the class, which was shorter than Sheffield classes leaving more time for social dancing, I even got to have a dance with my lovely husband, which we haven't really done since the wedding. He's so good, it drives me crazy that he doesn't realise it. He did, however, seem much more comfortable in Manchester with people he doesn't know, and I wouldn't be surprised if we head over with some regularity now. We'll have to find somewhere cheaper to park though.

Day 6
I have a Spanish class on a Wednesday until 8.45, but I hot-footed it down to Solly Street to catch the last half of the improver's class and the whole of the intermediate class. I like coming in half way through improver's, because it really tests my following ability. Having not learnt the routine from the start I need a good lead to quickly get me up to speed, so I guess it also tests their leading ability. Both classes this week were challenging, but I managed to throw in a kick-ball-change or two from Tuesday's Manchester class which made me smile.

After a full day of work, 3 hours of frustrating Spanish class and then an hour and a half of challenging dance I was ready to go straight home and not do my normal divert to Rev de Cuba for their swing night, so sadly missed Tessa Smith playing, but I bet you any money she was as lovely as ever.

Day 7
This was my Lindy Birthday, and what better way to spend it than withour first teacher, Mike Tate. He teaches a free class at Rev de Cuba in Manchester on a Thursday for their 'Swing Revolution' night (the Sheffield version of this, also with Mike, is on a Wednesday), so once again I ventured back over the Pennines after work. Unfortunately, Mr.Riley was working so couldn't come with me, but Lindyers are so lovely that it doesn't matter if you're on your own, you soon have someone to talk to.

The venue is massive, and the dancing was downstairs in a bar that really should have been dark, smoky and playing dirty blues music. However, thanks to the smoking ban, we had enough air in our lungs to dance. I arrived just as Mike's lesson started so joined in with that then stayed for a couple of hours afterwards as well. After the lesson there is a live band (all this is for free!), and this week it was Swingamathing. They have played at Sheffield Rev de Cuba a number of times, so I knew what to expect - fast, fun and long songs to dance to. I've said it before, but there can hardly be a better work-out than a night on the Lindy dance floor. I even put my two leading lessons to good use and led Sarah... I think I need some more practice though!

And that's it. I have completed my Seven Days of Dance and have now been Lindy Hopping for a whole year, and hope to be dancing for many,many more years to come. A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of it, all my new friends, the people that work so hard to put on such brilliant events, the Sheffield Winter Warmer monkeys, Steel City Swing, Manchester Lindy, The Dance Co., Tim at Rev de Cuba, Mike for getting me started, Sue for keeping me going, and to every single person who has danced with me in between.

Here's to the next year... I have a feeling it's going to be a good one!

If you are tempted, details of Sheffield and Manchester lessons are below, or google 'Lindy Hop + your city' to find some in your area. To read why I think everyone should try it, go here.

DETAILS OF SHEFFIELD LESSONS:

Look for Lindy Hop Sheffield on Facebook for loads of information about classes, socials and related dance events. If you have any questions feel free to get in touch by leaving a comment on here or on Twitter (@MrsWickie) and I'll do my best to answer or at least put you in touch with someone who can.

Mondays:

Steel City Swing

Fundamentals: 20:30 - 21:15

The Everyone Centre (next to Heeley Bath)

Broadfield Road

S8 0XQ

£4 (£3 conc) per class

You can find Steel City Swing on Facebook

Tuesday:

University of Sheffield Swing Dance Society

Beginners: 20:00 - 21:00

Arts Tower Lecture Theatre 1

£4 for non-members, £2 for members, membership costs just £6 and lasts the academic year

You can find the SU Swing Dance Society on Facebook

http://swing-dance.union.shef.ac.uk/

Wednesdays:

The Dance Co

Beginners: 19.30 - 20.15

St. Vincent's Social Club

Solly Street

S1 4BA

http://www.thedanceco.co.uk/SheffieldLindyHop.html

£5(£4 conc) for 1 class/ £6(£5 conc) for 2 or more classes

Thursdays:
SHU Swing!

Beginners: 19.00/19.30
The Hubs/ St. Vincent's Social Club (check details before you go as the venue/ start times currently vary)
£3 per class
You can find SHU Swing! on Facebook

DETAILS OF MANCHESTER LESSONS:

Look for Manchester Lindy on Facebook for more information about classes etc.

Tuesdays: 
Beginners: 20:30 - 21:00

Freemason's Hall
Bridge Street (off Deansgate)
M3 3BT

£4 per class

http://manchesterlindy.co.uk/

REV DE CUBA - SWING REVOLUTION:
Free lesson with Mike from about 8.30, followed by a live swing band.
Wednesday's in Sheffield
Thursday's in Manchester

So, you think you can't dance?

When I talk to people about dancing, a lot of them say 'oh, I can't dance'. Well, you know what? I don't believe them. I couldn't drive a car until I had some lessons, but I can now. You wouldn't be reading this unless someone had taught you how to read. Jess Ennis wouldn't have won an Olympic gold without practice. Why would dancing be any different?

If you can tap your foot in time to the music, or find yourself walking down the street to the beat of the song on your MP3 Player, I'm going to hazard a guess and say that if you wanted to, you could dance. I'm not for one second suggesting that everyone in the world can hear the beat in a song, but for everyone who can, dancing is little more than putting a bit more weight on your foot than a tap and moving in time.

As mine and Mr Riley's first Lindy Hop* anniversary approaches on the 22nd of November, I thought it would be a good time to put down some of my thoughts about why everyone should at least try some form of dance, and why partner dancing is so much easier than getting up on a dancefloor in a club and strutting your stuff without feeling like a tit.

Mr. Riley and me and our first dance at the
wedding busting some Tandem Charleston moves!

A good friend of mine told me recently that Lindy Hop isn't a hobby, it's a way of life. Once you start, it grabs you and it's not long before you're practicing your steps to any swingable music you hear, or whilst out walking the dog, or when you're waiting for the bus. In fact, the music is one of the great things about swing dancing. I mean, who doesn't love Frank Sinatra? If the girls on X Factor could sing like Ella Fitzgerald, then maybe it would be worth watching. But don't for one second think that you have to go back to decades gone by to find Lindyable music. In Sheffield we have had a dedicated Lindy night for 'alternative' tunes… think ska, hip hop, punk, rock, pop. Be warned, there are two schools of thought on this one. Some folks think that swing dancing should be done purely to swing music. However, what I think Sheffield tried to do was get across that music can cross genres. Who's to say that a punk song can't swing, or that you can't demonstrate an excellent Charleston to Goldie Lookin' Chain. All these dances have developed by people trying out different things to different music, so maybe this is one way to keep it current. One of the first Lindy socials that I went to, King's of Leon's Sex on Fire was played and I looked up, not expecting many people to be on the dance floor, only to see almost everyone up, with massive smiles on their faces. And this was on a Sunday afternoon at a TEA DANCE! Needless to say, there is some versatility to Lindy Hop. You can pull the moves out of the bag at almost any night out.

Possibly the cutest dance EVER to Jason Mraz's 

'I'm Yours'

The people. That's another great thing about dancing. You meet new people. A couple of years ago I remember thinking how hard it was to make new friends once you hit adulthood and leave full time education. But it's not true. All you have to do is get out there and join something sociable. SHWI has been brilliant for that for me, but what about something for the boys? DANCING! That's how you meet new people. It doesn't matter if it's lindy, salsa, tango or jive you will meet new people. I may be a little biased, but the Lindy crowd are really, really lovely. A real mix of ages, backgrounds, humour, style, there really is someone for everyone. I don't want to make it sound like a dating agency, because I am talking about friendship here. Then, once you get hooked (which you will), there are dances and exchanges in cities all round the country, where you can meet even more people. It is a real community that stretches not just city-wide, but nationally, and now that Mr. Riley and I have the wedding out of the way I will be able to participate in more and more of these. I can't wait!

Vikki & Craig at Edinburgh Lindy Exchange.
Photo courtesy of  Roseweir Photography

That brings me nicely on to travel. Lindy doesn't just happen in the UK. There are international events as well, where you can do workshops and learn from some of the best dancers in the world. Loads of European countries have Lindy communities, and then you can go further afield as well, to America, Canada and/or Australia. (I keep forgetting about salsa... the same applies, but you get Latin America, you lucky things!)

I now dance several times a week, and it really is great exercise. When you break it down, it's basically interval training, the gold standard of cardiovascular exercise. You see, what happens is this: You dance for a song or two and your heart rate goes up, then you sit down for a song and let your heart rate drop a little, and then you get up again, and dance a fast track, followed by a slow track, followed by a fast track and then another sit down. And this you do for 1, 3, maybe even 5 hours at a social. I bet you don't stay in the gym that long. And talking of the gym, have you ever been halfway through a workout and thought, 'wow, I could really do with a beer right now'. Guess what, with dancing you can drink while exercising. Although you tend not to drink as much, and there's quite often cake.

The final thing that I really want to mention is how happy I am when I dance, and how much this has rubbed off on my every day life. You see, it's not just your physical health that dancing is good for, but your mental health as well. I can't begin to explain the joy I feel when I follow a good lead, or nail a Texas Tommy, or get into tandem Charleston without standing on my partner's feet. Importantly, however, it is also fun when a move doesn't go quite right. In fact, in Lindy, there is no such thing as a mistake, there are only variations, and that is an excellent motto to apply to life. It's funny when you get things wrong. I've heard tales of girls accidentally putting their fingers up boys noses coming out of a turn, and I myself have been subject to a full on boob grab when I finished a spin slightly further to the left than anticipated. The dance floor is full of smiles and laughter. It's ace. 

The lovely Matt from Manchester and me at Sheffield's Speakeasy.
Photo courtesy of  Music Gone Ape Photography

Now that I've perhaps raised your interest, even just a little, you'll be wanting to know what you need to get started. Well, you don't need much. You don't even need a partner. A lesson is a good start. Try searching 'Lindy Hop + your city' on Google to find details of local classes. For Sheffield people, you can go to classes on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and/or Thursdays if you want (details below). On top of that, there is social dancing most weekends in Sheffield, and you don't have to go too far to find some in another city if you need more. In terms of clothing, something loose and comfortable is a good start. You can get quite warm when dancing, so you don't want to be wearing woolly jumpers. In terms of footwear, again you want something comfortable and that doesn't have too much grip. I prefer to dance in flat shoes rather than heels, especially at lessons. 

Please don't be put off if you find dancing on your own in clubs uncomfortable. I still do. In fact, I think at the moment I'm worse than I was before, because I'm so used to dancing with someone that I've forgotten what to do when I'm on my own. But that's what solo charleston workshops are for, right?

Try a lesson. In fact, go to more than one so that you start getting the hang of it. Chat to the other dancers. Go to the socials. If you feel nervous, bring a friend along. You'd be surprised at just how quickly you learn enough moves to look like the best dancer in the world to people who don't dance. 

Charleston Taster Session for my hen do

DETAILS OF SHEFFIELD LESSONS:

Look for Lindy Hop Sheffield on Facebook for loads of information about classes, socials and related dance events. If you have any questions feel free to get in touch by leaving a comment on here or on Twitter (@MrsWickie) and I'll do my best to answer or at least put you in touch with someone who can.

Mondays:

Steel City Swing

Fundamentals: 20:30 - 21:15

The Everyone Centre (next to Heeley Bath)

Broadfield Road

S8 0XQ

£4 (£3 conc) per class

You can find Steel City Swing on Facebook

Tuesday:

University of Sheffield Swing Dance Society

Beginners: 20:00 - 21:00

Arts Tower Lecture Theatre 1

£4 for non-members, £2 for members, membership costs just £6 and lasts the academic year

You can find the SU Swing Dance Society on Facebook

http://swing-dance.union.shef.ac.uk/

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Wednesdays:

The Dance Co

Beginners: 19.30 - 20.15

St. Vincent's Social Club

Solly Street

S1 4BA

http://www.thedanceco.co.uk/SheffieldLindyHop.html

£5(£4 conc) for 1 class/ £6(£5 conc) for 2 or more classes

Thursdays:
SHU Swing!

Beginners: 19.00/19.30
The Hubs/ St. Vincent's Social Club (check details before you go as the venue/ start times currently vary)
£3 per class
You can find SHU Swing! on Facebook

*Other dance styles do exist.

Honeymoon Part 3: Stresa, Milan & Bergamo

We travelled 1st class again up to Milan, and then just used a machine to get the tickets up to Stresa. I have to say that public transport in Italy does seem pretty straightforward. We had a bit of time to kill before our train, so we went to a horrible canteen thing and had a slice each of pizza with chips on. Yes, the chips were actually on the pizza. And it was cold. And really unpleasant. Still, you have to have at least one horrific meal, right?

We checked into our hotel, the Hotel Villa Mon Toc, which was 5 minutes from the train station. We then went to explore the town and find some food. We decided to have... burgers! It may not have been the most traditional Italian meal, but it was better than pizza with chips on, and actually they were really good. We had noticed in one of the tourist leaflets the hotel had given us that there was a bar called Willy's Cocktail Bar that had live jazz every Thursday, so we went there but it turned out that we were just out of jazz season and there was no music. We stayed for a drink or two and then popped back to the main bit of town for some food. We chose La Botte randomly, and had a really excellent meal with great service. In fact, Mr. Riley said later that he would quite happily go back there every night for the rest of our stay. Praise indeed. To finish off  the evening we went to a little bar called Caffe Savoy for a nightcap.

I had a rubbish night's sleep that night so we had a lazy morning. We pottered around a local market and then had some bacon and eggs. Mr. Riley went out to find a boat to play on the lake whilst I had a bit of a sleep, but he came back unsuccessful. After lunch (another burger!) we walked to the Parco della Villa Pallavicino, which is Botanical and Zoological gardens. It was a lovely place, and you actually get in with the animals. Not that they have lions or things that can kill you, but goats and deer and stuff. Walking back to town we stopped for a game of crazy golf, which I won. Of course.

That night we chose one of the many restaurants near the centre and went back to the Caffe Savoy for a drink. As we left we walked past two guys playing old rock 'n' roll tracks on guitars outside a pub, and as we walked past an old guy from the audience had got up and was tap dancing with them. He was ace! I would LOVE to learn how to tap dance. And I would LOVE to have the nerve to get up in front of that many people and just do it. He got a bigger round of applause than the musicians.

More photos and whatnot after the jump...

Honeymoon Part 2: Firenze

We arrived in Florence and walked the short distance from the train station to our hotel, Soggiorno Sogna Firenze on Via Delle Porte Nuove. When we checked in we were thrilled to find that our room was the only one with direct access to a little patio area on the roof. Mr. Riley went out for a bit of an explore whilst I had a siesta. When he got back he was pretty excited about what he had seen, so we wandered into town and had some food in the main square. We had no idea how to get back to the hotel as we had walked a fairly circuitous route into the centre, but kept walking down the road we happened to be on and ended up at the right place, just at the point that I was thinking we should turn round and try a different direction. Sometimes you just have to keep on plodding on and stick to your original decisions I guess.

The next morning when we woke up it was raining heavily. Mr Riley was pretty grumpy and wanted to go home on the basis that we could sit inside in Sheffield, but at least he'd be able to understand the TV. Fortunately for us, my wedding vows had included ignoring his morning grump, so I chose not to pack our bags just yet and instead go for breakfast. By the time we had eaten, showered and left the hotel, the sky was already clearing. We walked along the river, over Ponte Vecchio and then decided to go for ice cream at the Gelateria dei Neri, which had been recommended to us by a uni friend of mine who had spent many years as a tour guide in Europe. I have to say it was pretty damn good. I had stracciatella (kind of like chocolate chip ice cream I guess) and amaretto & peach, which was beautiful.

More photos and whatnot after the jump...

Honeymoon Part 1: Roma

* If you just want our recommendations for places to stay, eat and visit in Rome, scroll down to the bottom of the post... I doubt anyone other than Mr. Riley and me will be interested in what we did each day, I just wanted to record it for posterity's sake. Something to show the grandkids, I guess!

We went on our honeymoon the Tuesday after our wedding. I had a bunch of cheques to pay into the bank in the morning, some in Mr. Riley's name, some in my maiden name, some in my new name, but all into one account. Fortunately it was easier than I expected. I guess people get married quite regularly.

We set off for Manchester airport and probably left it a bit too late. I was entirely unworried until we got to Glossop, and then the queue of traffic did make me have a flicker of doubt about whether we would get to the airport on time. Fortunately, that fear was unfounded and we arrived with plenty of time.

Neither Mr. Riley nor I are happy flyers. He gets really worried from a couple of hours before and then all during take-off. I don't worry about it at all until the plane starts moving, and then I'm pretty terrified until we land again. However, this flight was a particularly smooth one. Mr. Riley pointed out the White Cliffs of Dover, and then we were presented with a bottle of champagne, which had been bought for us as a wedding gift. This meant that we were sipping champagne as we flew over Paris... pretty romantic if you ask me!

We arrived in Rome on time, and organised transport to our hotel, the Hotel Artemide on Via Nazionale. It was a scary-arsed drive into the city, with the driver driving with his knees, whilst sending text messages, on the motorway. We got there incident-free however and checked in to our fancy hotel. I must have mentioned whilst booking that we were there on our honeymoon, as they had upgraded us to a 'superior' room and we had a complimentary bottle of wine with a little note from the hotel staff, and best of all the mini-bar was free for the duration of our stay!

We decided to just eat in the hotel's roof top restaurant that evening. I had MASSIVE prawns and Mr. Riley had steak. We were given a free glass of prosecco each and finished with an ice cream to share. We got back to the hotel room, put Avenger's on the TV and both fell asleep in about 6 seconds flat.

More photos and stuff after the jump...

Becoming Mrs. Riley

On the 25th of August, 2012, I became Mrs. Riley, and I couldn't let the opportunity pass to write about my wonderful wedding. After all, no-one else is going to do it.

Mr. Riley and I got engaged on New Year's Eve 2010/11, and quickly got the important things booked. Several years previously, before I had even met Mr. Riley, I went to a leaving party at Wood Lane Countryside Centre and thought to myself "this would be a lovely venue for a wedding". At the time, however, they didn't have a licence to perform marriage ceremonies there. You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that by 2011 this had changed and that we could have our whole day at this beautiful house. We went to visit it and booked there and then. I then got in touch with Sheffield Register Office to pre-book our registrar, and we also asked the very lovely Blanche and Richard from Coco Catering to do our food (I know Blanche through Seven Hills Women's Institute). So, we had a venue, a registrar and a caterer, which meant that we could have a wedding. No further planning happened for at least another year.

During the first couple of months of our engagement I looked at one wedding magazine (I can't remember which one, but if you go and buy any other bridal mag it will no doubt have the same articles, the same adverts and the same ideas) and I went to a grand total of two wedding fayres (one local, and the other at the NEC in Birmingham). What this told me was that 'weddingy' weddings bored me. All the stuff looked the same, all the dresses looked the same, nothing showed any personality at all. I did look at a few wedding blogs to begin with and definitely got inspiration from some of those, but I ended up making the decision to stop looking at blogs too. I had the opposite problem with the them... too many beautiful ideas that we had neither the money nor the style to be able to pull off ourselves! We wanted something that would still feel very much like a wedding, but with lots of our own personalities in there too. Oh, and it needed to be at least half of the national average cost of a wedding.

What a wonderful day it turned out to be. Did everything go entirely to plan? No. Did it matter in the slightest? No. Mr. Riley stayed with one of his Best Men the night before and I woke up at home with the dog and the sound of people stirring. I had planned my perfect wedding breakfast... croissants, smoked salmon, cream cheese and champagne, which I think my mum and aunt were quite tickled by. Champagne at breakfast? Can I not do that every day?? I then had a leisurely bath with a Lush bath bomb while my mum and aunt potted up the Busy Lizzies I had bought from a local garden centre. The rest of my family arrived at about 10.30, along with our photographer (another SHWI friend and writer of Real Ale Women Eat Pie) and there was much giddyness and excitement all round. Oh, and a little bit of sherry!

I had booked The Vintage Salon to come and do mine and my sister's hair and make-up. Their stylist, Kia, arrived bang on time to the sound of an over-excited dog. Fortunately he calmed down reasonably quickly and we could get on with the styling. Kia and I had a quick chat about what I wanted and we chose a style for me that would work with my bespoke Imogen's Imagination fascinator, made by the very talented and equally lovely Sophie Cooke. My sister and I had our hair and make-up done while my younger bridesmaids were getting ready upstairs.

After that it was time to get dressed. The girls in their lovely yellow dresses from Next, my sister in the beautiful, full length, pure silk dress THAT SHE MADE HERSELF the clever thing, and me in my Vivien of Holloway 50s Circle Dress. I felt AMAZING. The Dress had been something of an issue for me. I had realised quite early on that I don't really like wedding dresses. They are so expensive for something that you will only realistically wear once, they're not entirely suitable for garden-based weddings, and they're certainly too long for the arrival that I wanted to make. Those early blog readings had introduced me to Vivien of Holloway and I knew that I would love their dresses. My sister and I took a day trip to London in April to go to the shop, and it is such a beautiful place. The rails are full of stunning dresses, tops and trousers made from wonderful fabrics. The girls are so helpful and look so perfect. I could have bought the whole shop if I had the money! As soon as I tried on my dress I knew what everybody meant when they said that you just know that it's the right one. And for less than £200 I got the dress, the petticoat and a belt to complete the outfit.

More photos and whatnot after the jump...