the thing other than scoots that dominates my free time (I have other obsessions, really!) is swing dancing. I've been dancing for 2.5 years now, and love it: the music, the style, the retro nature of it all. it's a sad fact that there are *no* rockabillies in chapel hill, which is tragic; I learned to dance with a bunch of boys in massachusetts who were inordinately proud of their pomps and their shoes, and I kinda miss it. whenever I'm craving them, I go and look at the rockabilly dating page, which is good for hours of entertainment, when it's up and running

as is, here in north carolina, I keep up with the vintage clothes at least, and have found some great sites on the web for shopping. kittygirl vintage is one of my favorites by far, as is daddy-o's. and I just discovered enokiworld; they clearly have fabulousness cornered, and I love what they have. Then even do a little zine every month, full of interesting details and tidbits that you'd never know otherwise. despite the coolness on the web, it's more fun to go to the local junk shops; places like 'everything but granny's panties' and 'beggars and choosers'. the only sucky thing about vintage is the constant need for upkeeps, but that's why you learn to sew, right?

I go through spurts of dancing all the time, then periods when I hardly hit the dancefloor. and then I miss it, even if I am too distracted by the rest of life. but I keep listening to the music, all of the time: royal crown revue is the best of the new swing, I think, but there are other bands who are putting out some nice stuff, like dem brooklyn bums or indigo swing. The old stuff, well, no way to list it all: bobby darin, sarah vaughn,billie holiday, that sexy man elvis... and the in between stuff, it's impossible to not love the stray cats, I mean really.

a few people have asked me recently what kind of music I listen to, with a kind of bewildered, we-just-can't-peg-you sort of expression. and then when trying to explain myself, I always forget things. but I love tom waits, bjork, swing (yeah, I already said that), portishead, throwing muses and kristen hersh's solo stuff, pj harvey, jeff buckley, fatboy slim, desmond dekker and other first wave ska, and whatever else is currently in my cd player. because of my roommate, I've been hearing magnetic fields and belle and sabastian and the like. plus I get fits every so often to listen to music that I used to love, like concrete blonde or belly or something. so there. that's what I listen to.
some newly found stuff that is wonderful: chris whitley. the best I've heard yet is his album of covers, which I highly recommend. it's like front porch music...

updated: 08.13.01