Good Evening, and Welcome to Short Attention Span Theater.

Dear constant reader:  if you skimmed my last post you'll recall that I seemingly can't remember to bring all the required gear to a practice session (and no, I haven't caught myself putting the car keys in the sugar bowl or my wrist watch in the freezer--yet).  Your diarist has no interest in a repeat performance and to that end has been racking his brains for a solution.  Not being clever enough to invent something on my own, I did the next best thing: I stole someone else's idea.  I now pass it shamelessly on to you.  I stole this idea, as well as the accompanying photo, from Bill Schneider's Skating Web Site. (thanks, Bill if you ever read this; I looked for your contact info but didn't find any.  Your idea is too good not to share).

Fig 1.  Laminated Dance Diagrams with neck lanyard.  This idea seems obvious--why didn't I think of it?  Perfect for someone like me who needs to sneak a peek at the printed diagram until the steps sink in.  No more fumbling for a wadded scrap of paper in one of my pockets.  The laminated diagrams are sturdy enough to ride along in the skate bag (rather than being left behind on the computer table) and won't disintegrate in my pocket the next time I wash my jacket and forget that my little road maps are still in there. Additionally, while big enough to read on the ice, the diagrams can be scaled to whatever size seems convenient for neck wear.  The plastic lamination is flexible enough not to be a bother if you decide to tuck the card inside your vest or jacket rather than have it flop around while skating.  You can download the various dance pattern diagrams from any number of websites.  I printed out the first half dozen dances, trimmed them to an agreeable size, and placed two diagrams back to back prior to having them laminated at a local office supply store's copy center.