The happy dance
It consists of sort of staying on the same spot but shifting your weight from one foot to another, swaying your hips while ever so slightly rolling your pelvis in a figure of eight movement, shimmying your shoulders in alternating rotations and moving your head in short snappy snakelike movements backwards, forwards and from side to side. Hands should be held out a little way in front of you with elbows pressed in close to your side, palms facing down (fingers and thumbs tight together) and should be pushed forward and back in time with your body’s movement.
If you crave variation then advanced students may place all their weight on one foot, rotate the opposite hip only. In this case, hands should be in a diagonal parallel to the hip and move in opposition to the head and shoulder. Weight should remain on one foot until head and hands have completed one and half circuits. At this point head and hands should face direct centre and the action repeated in the opposite direction with the weight on the opposite foot and movement coming from the opposite hip. It is important that this configuration should only be attempted by advanced students and only then under supervision.
When done properly, it’s a sweet little dance and I’ve been doing it ever since 4.37pm yesterday. It’s completely bugged the hell out of F as every so often I’d shimmy into the computer room and interrupt him.
Obviously, I did have stop when I went to bed last night but I have a feeling (because the real HendrixCat was not on the bed when I woke up this morning) that I was wiggling my toes while I slept. Wiggling my toes is something I only ever do when I’m really really really happy (or I’m watching fireworks – which amounts to the same thing)
And right now, I’m really really really really happy.
Because I’m on the 23rd of November, F and I are going on holiday.
The idea of a holiday was F’s. Like most men he was stumped as to a what to get me for my birthday present (shoes?) and flatly refused to buy me a pony on the grounds that we were in enough trouble with the neighbours after my “pruning” of the cherry trees and that a pony in the back garden would seriously piss people off. In a moment of weakness engineered by the rather gorgeous flash fried scallops mum had cooked for my birthday tea, he suggested that he bought us a holiday as a joint birthday/tenth anniversary present. Me? I would have been thrilled by a pair of 60 denier black opaque tights because all the ones I have are darned and I never remember to buy more.
Now I know what he was thinking (because he told me). He was thinking that given the choice of travelling to anywhere in the world, I would pick LA. I make no secret of the fact that there are only a very few places in the world that I really want to see – I’d love to do the Tran Siberian Railway, walk along the great wall of China, bathe in one of the hot springs in Iceland and look out across the Sahara – and top of the list of places is LA. I know it’s shallow; I put it down to growing up in Newcastle. For me, going to California isn’t so much a song as an aspiration. If I ever do go to San Francisco, I will wear flowers in my hair and though when I come into Los Angeles I definitely won’t be bringing in a couple of key’s, I can’t promise that I won’t be humming the tune. Look just compare the two places – America – glamour, Hollywood, cool voices and long highways, deserts and diners. Newcastle – funny accents, the A1, chip shops and the metro centre. No real competition there.
This is why after long deliberation (and not a few hissy fits- much thanks to Missus Jboy for all her patience and understanding!) …we’re going to Kerala on the 23rd of November.
I’ve never been on a holiday before.
I’m not quite sure what you do.
November 4th, 2006 at 4:45 am
Great. My sister is going to Tsunami country in the Tsunami season.
Can I have F’s guitars? And the Marshall Bluesbreaker amp?
November 4th, 2006 at 4:56 am
What? you don’t want the Orange as well? and what about the amazing collection of pedals?
November 4th, 2006 at 5:05 am
“I’ve never been on a holiday before.
I’m not quite sure what you do”
Absolutely nuttin. It’s the only way to vacation.
November 4th, 2006 at 9:56 am
you would have hated L.A., my dear. it is the ugliest, dirtiest, tackiest, most depressing place on the planet. the only colors are found on billboards. you cannot drink the water that comes out of the tap, but you CAN smell it. you cannot breathe the air outside, but you CAN chew it. if you like shopping, have money and enjoy nightlife, you may as well be in any other major city in the world for all the ambience you’re going to soak up being indoors all the time.
enjoy Kerala!
it may be monsoon season, but you can enjoy all the beautiful sights and friendly people as they float by your room!
*tries happy dance, trips over boob*
November 5th, 2006 at 8:00 am
you’ve been to FRANCE ! wasnt’ that a holiday???
November 6th, 2006 at 3:01 am
take me with you. i can fit in your luggage.
November 6th, 2006 at 3:56 am
Babs. Absolutely nuttin I can manage…I think. How do you do absolutely nuttin without a computer around?
FN. I know. I think that’s partly the reason why I didn’t pick LA. I don’t want my dreams of a place to the clash with the reality of it. I remember how disappointed I was to see Stonehenge for the first time - it had none of the majesty and magic I’d built it into in my brain, it was just a circle of stones in the middle of a muddy field. The other reason for not picking LA this time round was that it wouldn’t be a holiday. F knows so many people over there from when he lived there that the whole trip would be a round of meeting people who had known him for years and him musicking. Not exactly a break!
Dont mind it being the monsoon season - I’m from the North of England we’re used to the rain! Warm rain will be nice though!
M. No France doesn’t count as a holiday. My dream of a holiday is a time when you; wake up when you wake up, amble to a beach when you get round to it, lie on a beach until you’re either fried or hungry or both, saunter to a restaurant for food and eat and drink what you feel like eating or drinking with someone else cooking it, serving it and cleaning up after you’re done, stroll back to beach and resume frazzling, leave beach when sun goes down, saunter back to restaurant for more food, linger over a couple of drinks for a few hours, go to sleep without setting an alarm and when you wake the next morning do exactly the same.
Much as I love going to France it’s a bit like going to Newcastle (but with more sun). Time has to be spent with friends and family, all of whom (because we see them so seldom) would be very disappointed if we didn’t visit them. Although its always lovely to see people you care about it does mean that theres a certain amount of pre-planning involved to your day and so alarms have to be set, meals have to be eaten and conversation has to be made.
CB. You got a deal. I’m packing my case on the 22nd. If you’re here I’ll fit you in…maybe you can stop all my jars and bottles from spilling out over my clothes while you’re tucked up in there…
November 6th, 2006 at 6:04 am
Brilliant Brilliant News - you well deserve it!!! And even better we can swap holiday stories when you get back because on the 15th to 21st November I am off to Sans Sebastian for my first ever adult holiday. Woohooooo!!
Only folk that have been on holiday can swap holiday stories, we must be going on a holiday….do the dance
November 6th, 2006 at 7:05 am
Hooray! I also do a happy dance, but since I too have never been on a proper vacation that didn’t involve visiting friends or family the happy dance has never been implemented for holiday. It has been used to express the joy of anticipation for whatever I may be cooking. Priorities and all that.
Have fun!
November 7th, 2006 at 2:15 pm
ooh, you know what? i take it back. 22 Nov is the day the Pirate comes home, and wild horses couldn’t keep me from him. So sorry, love; you’ll have to find some way of enjoying your trip without me. It will be struggle, i know…
November 7th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
CC. San Sebastian? It’s gorgeous there!! - it was one of the places I thought of going when I was picking a holiday! Have loads of fun and when you come back - bang on our door and demand to show your holiday snaps!. xxH
Christine - I too have done the happy dance in anticipation of something I’ve cooked up. (hell I do the happy dance whenever F goes to the shop to buy me chocolate - any excuse I say)I’ve got my fingers crossed that you get to do the happy dance in celebration of going on vacation somewhere exotic soon!
CB. Much as I was looking forward to packing you in my suitcase,I certainly wouldn’t want to drag you away from that reunion. Hopefully I will find something to do!
November 7th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
what do people do on holiday?
Mine always includes seredipitous walks, eating out all the time, esp tea in cafes, I suspect that the tiffin is good in Kerela. I wonder if you can get Dak Bungalow Pudding a left over of the Raj…. Next time we meet I must tell you about The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook by Annie S Swann
November 11th, 2006 at 10:03 am
trying to blog the almond chcolate recipe but blogger is being a bugger
Recipe
melt 8 oz of dark chocolate and 4 oz butter together
beat mix 8 oz of caster sugar and 8 eggs together ( I used 7 as I wanted to make a quiche as well and couldn’t be bothered going to Scotmid)
mix in 8 oz of ground almonds
she says cool the choc/butter mixture before mixing into the egg/sugar/almond thing but I was too impatient.
I added a capful of vanilla essence
put into cake tin. Preheat oven to gas mark 6 bake for 25 mins.
I made a big cake for Tuesday and a small one for now.
I used fair trade chocolate and sugar, organic butter and eggs. If I’d used organic almonds I really would be making the world a better place.
I feel so much better having made something with quality ingredients.
November 12th, 2006 at 11:37 pm
I remember my math teacher explaining to us that women are better at visualizing in 3D, or 2D, or any D, whereas men, or at least me, are sort of helpless in that respect, and therefore i must ask that you append a short video of aforementioned happy dance, as i was totally lost after the first series of rotations in your description.
Thank you.
November 14th, 2006 at 5:02 pm
M. I’m already ebaying for it because it sound like the sort of book I like to read!
B. Nice try. But no way. Bad enough catching sight of myself in the mirror while I’m doing my happy dance. Do I really want to put my humiliation on line?
Everyone. The chocolate cake recipe is one of the best I’ve ever had. Well worth checking it out. If I weren’t on the “oh shit I’m going to be a beach in a week and I’ve worn baggy jumpers for the past two years diet! I’d be making it..
November 15th, 2006 at 7:27 am
yes.
you do.
your eyes grow heavy.
my soothing voice guides you down the pathways of sleep.
when i count to three and snap my fingers, you will feel an irrepressible urge to turn on your video camera and dance before it.
you will then post said video online.
ready?
1…
2…
3.
November 15th, 2006 at 11:29 am
er..excuse me… I’m the only one allowed to do the counting thing round here.
November 16th, 2006 at 4:39 am
sorry. hadn’t realized the counting thing was your sole prerogative. I must have missed the blinking banner atop the page.
now go make that video.