10 Things I've Done Related to This Blog that I Never Thought I'd Do

Last Thursday marked the six-month mark since I launched this blog. Six months, a whole bunch of Facebook followers, several Forum threads, many emails, a lot of in-person discussions, and quite a few new friends later, we're still going strong with no plans to change that.

I got to thinking, and realized that it's been one heck of a half-year. Like many things in life, it's spawned a bunch of interesting stories. Here are 10 of mine:

If you asked me six months ago, I never thought I'd....

1. Have a musician call me for a 20-minute interview in the 25 minutes before he was supposed to start a gig. (I let him go with a full four minutes to spare, thankyouverymuch.)
2. Arrange to call a caller at midnight to conduct a phone interview (note: he picked the time).
3. Have minor (harmless!) mutual stalking occur with a musician while trying to do another interview in person over the course of a dance weekend.
4. Have taken off work in the middle of the week to drive up to western Massachusetts (9 hours each way from my home base) to attend a 5 hour dance (which featured many of the current forces in the EDM-contra fusion scene under one roof). I maintain that it was totally worth it.
5. Have had many people come up to me saying, "Hey! You're that girl from the videos!" and not reacted with the horror that statement might bring in other circumstances. ;-)
6. Play phone tag with one of the legends of the contra dance world.
7. Go to a contra dance where the caller crowd-surfed at the end.
8. Set foot in a Hot Topic to look for stuff to wear to a contra dance.
9. Discover the world of DJ monikers and have to figure out how to get in touch with the person behind the persona.
10. Get a hug from one of my favorite contra musicians because he liked the article I wrote about him.

Thank you to everyone who has made these possible, from everyone who has helped promote this blog to those who have agreed to be interviewed and of course, to those who have read my posts week after week!

I've got more syncretistic goodness coming your way this week and next, including an interview with George Marshall, who has called and played in the contra dance community for many years (and whom I saw very briefly at Contra Evolution)! Stay tuned!