How I learned to stop worrying and love to dance.
Dear friends,
I have to be honest with you all, I almost didn’t write my Listserve. When I received the email roughly 45 hours ago, I was psyched. I told all my Listserve buddies and started brainstorming some ideas. Well, none of them panned out. (By the way, I write for a living, so this shouldn’t have been that difficult.)
So here we are, 3 hours from deadline and not a word on the page. That’s cool, though. It’s not like I don’t know how this happened. It’s pretty obvious, after all – I’m just overthinking it.
Which brings me to a very quick story I’d like to tell you all. It’s about how I learned to stop worrying and love to dance.
Heading into college, I wasn’t what you’d describe as the grooviest guy around. More like the clunkiest. No moves, no swag. But I think I’m an okay dude, and I was lucky enough to make friends with a lot of great people. All sorts of people from all sorts of places, but with one thing in common – they all loved music.
Now, I loved music, too – it’s not like a grew up under a rock. But I didn’t dance. (True story: I got a C in a mandatory high school dance class and at one point my teacher told me I had the flexibility of a brick.) I don’t really know why I didn’t dance, but I just didn’t. I think I was probably mixed up with what people would think and whether I’d screw up and whatnot – the usual things people think in such conversations.
I’m not sure if it was the music or my friends, but something met in equilibrium that changed me forever. I became interested in new types of music and thanks to the supportive atmosphere I found myself in, I didn’t mind letting loose.
The point is, this isn’t just a story about learning to dance. It’s more about being yourself. And I’m not telling this story because I think you all need a lecture. I’m just telling you because, well, how often do you get to tell 23,000 people that you really like being the person you are?
I didn’t want to leave you all without sharing some music! Here are ten great songs, in no particular order.
Ghost – Phish (If you’re really interested, look up the live version from 11/17/1997.)
Rosalita – Bruce Springsteen
Dayvan Cowboy – Boards of Canada
Let’s Go Dancing (Solomun Remix) – Tiga vs. Audion
Achilles’ Last Stand – Led Zeppelin
Ocean (2012) – John Butler
Baby, I’m Yours – Breakbot
Peaches En Regalia – Frank Zappa
Acid Raindrops – People Under the Stairs
William Tell Overture (Finale) – Rossini
Anyway, thanks for reading. I want to give a shout out to my Listserve buddies, Tyler and Avery, who run a great blog called Sandwich Funk, which you can visit at Sandwich Funk dot com. They make playlists that correspond perfectly with delicious recipes. Check them out!
Take care everyone,
Dean
Washington, D.C.