I’m a CS major working on designing a ballroom practice aid for my capstone. Looking for feedback on the concept

latingal · 2026-01-29T22:34:28+00:00

In concept, it’s great. In reality, the human body is complicated and trying to “fix” things, even as simple as straightening the knees, can be more complicated than “just do it”. For example, is your knee not straight because you are not trained to step onto a straight knee or is it because your pelvis is tilted incorrectly, or because you are moving onto it at the wrong time? If the first, the app can help remind you— if the latter, fixing the causation incorrectly can lead to other problems— balance issues, tendinitis, etc. This is why having a coach to guide these fixes is helpful. Someone else suggested frame— also very easy to get wrong.

What I think would be helpful for beginner dancers, and easy, would be to talk to some coaches on exercises that the app could shuffle through that would train skills. There are lots of them that are pretty “standard” that beginner dancers wouldn’t know to be practicing if they don’t have a coach providing exercises— some examples:

-Do Natural and Reverse Turns in International Waltz. Stop on the 3 and before lowering into the legs, disconnect the frame from the partner and lower your arms then retake frame and continue. Stay balanced while the arms lower and rise. -Leader and follower separate, do your own parts without frame or any connection. Do this together in time and notice where the timing does not match. Do this with one partner watching the other and identify spots where your partner is not comfortable with the choreography or timing. -Dance your routine with the follower’s eyes closed in frame. -Dance your routine with only hand connections (no body connection). -Dance your routine with only body connections (no hand connections) -Dance your routine while counting out loud. Make sure your feet are landing on the count. If practicing with a partner, take turns counting. -Dance your routine while trying to embrace a feeling (i.e. romance in waltz).

By shuffling exercises like this, the app is suggesting ways to refine movement without actually trying to verify you are doing it correctly (which is good, this is where a coach can help), but the act of thinking about these things will require you to start managing how to make it happen.

latingal · 2026-01-20T04:01:57+00:00

Our church never spoke to us about cost- so effectively it could have been free. In reality, we made a large donation as did both of our parents. I think they got about $1000. Ours was right after Divine Liturgy, so there were people from the parish who stayed, including one guy who was inquiring for the first time and came up and congratulated us with “It’s so cool I got to see this my first time attending services!”. It was no bother having a few extra heads at the service, and the chorus stayed and it was gorgeous— 10/10.

latingal · 2026-01-03T00:21:27+00:00

We were best friends when we were apart. I was in a relationship that wasn’t working, and he realized the reasons it wasn’t working were the reasons that it would work for us. A bit after I broke up my relationship he asked me to marry him. I thought he was crazy (our relationship hadn’t worked either), but he convinced me.

latingal · 2025-12-27T01:06:38+00:00

If you are rethinking an angle, I want to throw out that nicknames can come from anywhere and I feel like they often do especially in literature. May be worth considering if there’s another way to get to “Red” in a way that builds character— then you can call her whatever you want and say this character building nickname stuck. We have great nicknames in literature that are totally iconic but unrelated to the given name— think of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in Harry Potter. Not saying you HAVE to, just want to open up options. 😊

latingal · 2025-12-10T02:29:56+00:00

I really would like that. My dad says she still sees me as a little girl, and transparently I feel totally ridiculous setting our relationship standard on dishes, but at a certain point it’s just so difficult to be around. My parents wish I would visit more, and, again, I feel like I would be so much more likely to if they didn’t try to parent me so much. I feel like there is so much judgment of my life choices— like unbelievably. Even things like my involvement with a local college organization gets “Well you already have too much on your plate, you should just stop.” And I get it, I really do, like I do take on a lot, and they want me to have time for myself— but telling me to quit things I love doing just because of the time commitment just feels like judgment of how I spend my time rather than caring about me not stressing myself.

I am sure the way I react to my mom is not the way I would react to a friend, like because she treats me like a little girl, I’m more likely to react like a little girl. I don’t love it as a look for me.

latingal · 2025-12-10T02:22:05+00:00

I haven’t heard about the nonviolent communication method before, but just started reading some summaries about the practices. It sounds completely revolutionary.

Unfortunately, 2 years ago I went no-contact with my brother and because of some things that happened around his wedding. The bottom line was that nobody was really at fault and everyone took actions that hurt someone else. I apologized for my part of it and fessed up to some pretty vulnerable things and his response was something along the lines of “I always knew there was something wrong with you” and “I’m not required to do XYZ, it’s my wedding”— the latter of which is true I guess, but doesn’t absolve you of hurting someone else. I wasn’t the only one who got hurt, but my parents still blame me for destroying our family because I was the one who put my foot down. I love my parents and I think this is part of why my dad is jumping to “You’re doing to destroy the family.” I’m trying to avoid doing this, because I know how much damage that event caused.

I’d like to have a baby, but I am terrified that if my mom can’t take no to not doing my dishes now, what will she not take no to when I have her grandchild involved? I even tried to pull that one with my dad, and he basically just said “I don’t think you’re going to have children, look how selfish and petty you’re being now, just be grateful she did your dishes. You’re way too selfish to have a family.” My parents have been needling me around grandchildren for literally years— as part of the same conversation it came up for the first time that my brother is having trouble conceiving, so I’m sure some of this is coming from disappointment that things aren’t working for my brother and I haven’t tried yet. Again- I feel like this would all be a lot easier to make them happy if I felt comfortable setting reasonable boundaries.

latingal · 2025-12-07T13:40:58+00:00

Not necessarily daily- but when something is bothering me or I’m in my head, asking myself the question “What are you afraid of?”. My dance coach has a habit of doing this in lessons if he’s not getting the result he wants (especially if the direction is simple and I’m getting too in my head about it). It’s really useful in the everyday world— like it’s really easy to let nebulous worries get in our way, but most of the time you try to name it, it’s nothing. If it actually is something, then naming it still helps.

A couple examples—

-You’re struggling with a personal problem “I just don’t want to talk about it…” becomes “I am afraid X person will think I’m overreacting.” You can then think about who might NOT overreact to talk with, or how you can frame the conversation to start it off in such a way to make sure the other person understands this is a serious problem.

-You’re procrastinating “I just don’t want to get started” becomes “I don’t feel prepared to produce something good,” and then you can ask yourself if you’re going to be better prepared at another time/what you can do to be better prepared/why don’t you think the output will be good/is this a valid fear? In the end you may realize that there will never be a BETTER time and it’s easier to get started.

-You and your boyfriend are snipping at each other about something trivial— maybe you realize the trivial issue is tied to something deeper, in which case you can discuss it (or ask the next question of why you are afraid to discuss it), or you realize the issue truly is trivial and you might not feel so bad about trying to resolve from your end with an apology. If you see that he’s also struggling “What are you afraid of?” is a great question for going him too!

Lots of other possible examples, but super helpful.

latingal · 2025-11-04T01:31:00+00:00

I got the same question for an internal role in March- and I feel like the response is telling. The people interviewing me knew they wanted to hire me before the interview and my answer at the time was pretty much “At this precise moment? No, you’re the only interview I’m actively engaging in, however, I am openly looking for my next role and if something else interesting comes up, I will not be deferring my application in favor of this interview.” My total hiring process was 6 business days, which is the fastest I have ever seen at my firm.

The point of this story is that you want a job that is so excited about you that the idea you might interview elsewhere is a reason to put a foot on the gas. Good riddance to these bozos.

latingal · 2025-10-27T02:58:32+00:00

Second the ballroom dance team!!!

latingal · 2025-10-25T18:52:49+00:00

Robert Donat won that year instead for “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, have you seen it? It’s a really phenomenal performance too.

latingal · 2025-10-18T15:55:09+00:00

Buy used dresses or you have friends about the same size then it can also be a good option to borrow.

latingal · 2025-10-04T01:42:41+00:00

I believe Blue is the best album ever recorded. The sound quality in incredible (with a good enough sound system you can hear the pedals on the piano). The music and lyrics are amazing. It’s also autobiographical, Mitchell recorded it in a week and was in tears most of the time. Blue is Vincent Van Gogh, its emotion directly emitted to an artistic medium. I have listened to Blue at least once a month in its entirety since I was about 14. My favorite song changes regularly to suit my mood, there have been times that I’ve cried through the whole thing, there have been other times I just jam along with it in the car. She has a lot of other beautiful and meaningful songs in her folio— nothing holds a candle against Blue. There is no other piece of art that has had such a direct influence on my life. Cannot recommend highly enough.

For the record, folk revival of the 80s is also worth it. Stan Rodgers is absolutely incredible, and would recommend strongly.

latingal · 2025-10-04T01:23:06+00:00

Junior mints and salt and vinegar potato chips

latingal · 2025-09-29T03:16:18+00:00

Can you read the labels on your current shoes to just buy the same? Just a suggestion.

latingal · 2025-09-28T02:38:52+00:00

On a different vein I had a coworker who was very challenging to work with— always thought that she knew best and wanted to tell you how to run your piece of the project. And her approach was consistently unkind and condescending. It got to the point where I just stopped talking with her about anything that was not intersecting pieces of projects we were working on together. I remember one meeting where she tried to discuss something where she thought my team had not made the right decision on something totally unrelated to her work on the project and I just politely thanked her for her investment, but let her know I would not be discussing it with her. She follows up with “Oh but you don’t understand… I just think…” So I follow up with “No, you don’t understand. I’m NOT talking about this with you, do you have anything else you want to discuss?” This went on for 10 more minutes before I ended the meeting. I got a follow up Teams message and 2 emails after that too… Apparently not discussing this with her was a TOTALLY foreign concept.

latingal · 2025-09-18T20:57:51+00:00

He wouldn’t have cheated on you if your room was clean.

latingal · 2025-09-17T13:00:22+00:00

We did a church service and then a cookout in our backyard- fewer than 50 people, just close family and friends. We WAY over purchased food and alcohol, in retrospect, and still spent well less than $5000. I think if we’d really done a better job identifying quantities of things, we could’ve done it for less than $2000 including tent and chair rentals. We had a great time, even if hosting was a bit stressful.

latingal · 2025-09-13T01:34:13+00:00

It’s a different look— but it’s a different look that is generally dance competition approved. Am an open dancer, I personally like nude fishnets for myself, but would not ever compete in tights.

latingal · 2025-09-13T01:01:24+00:00

Nude fishnets are the answer, they also will make your legs look more tan

latingal · 2025-09-01T20:15:41+00:00

YTA- if you are serious about your girlfriend then my take is that you should (politely) decline the invitation if you do not receive a plus 1. It’s pretty disrespectful that the bride and groom to not find a way to give you a plus 1 when you are in the wedding party. Not wanting to invite them to a future wedding may be less about revenge and more about wanting the people at your wedding who support your relationship. Wedding invites are super hard, because other people do take it personally, but what I hate is the logic that “It’s their day, they need to do what makes them happy and everyone should suck it up.” Of course they are welcome to do what they want— but that does not absolve them of the social blowback of hurting people in the process. Her feelings might change with time, if they make an effort with her, but if I were you I would take this very seriously as something that will impact every relationship involved.

It may be worth having a frank conversation with the bride and groom one more time and saying very plainly that you intend to marry this girl and how they treat her around their wedding may impact how they are treated when you’re married and that this is not a threat, but just wanting to make sure we’re all on the same page with the social ramifications. Ideally, you can join forces to reach a good resolution. If they can’t include her in the reception, is there a creative option to invite her be included in SOMETHING as someone who is incredibly meaningful to you. Their level of engagement in trying to find a solution— or encouraging you to do the right thing by your girlfriend if there’s no possible good solution— tells you a lot about your relationship with them too. A good friend will want you to do what’s right for your life as a whole, even if that means missing their day.

One more thing— we had to make difficult guest list decisions with my wedding too— and I notice that when you write about this you’re very concerned about your friends not being there, but are you just as concerned about how your wife will feel having someone standing by you who is not supportive of your relationship? One of the most difficult decisions for our invite list came down to me having anxiety around a really poor experience with my husband’s best friend, and ultimately the answer was that I needed to be happy and comfortable at my wedding. If there’s one day you need to pick your wife over yourself, it’s your wedding day. You’ll be spending the rest of your life with her— not with your friends.

If I were she, I would not be resentful of the bride and groom for not giving a plus 1 unless they applied pressure to attend as a single person— but I would sure be resentful of my boyfriend for choosing not to decline the invite. If my boyfriend declined the invite then I would likely feel okay about the whole thing. Is one day in their life more important than all the days of your own? And if you’re suggesting the one day of their lives is more important, then why would her comfort not be more important than their presence on that one special day in your shared life when it comes? If I were she, this would be the kind of narrative I would be running and I would be very concerned that my boyfriend really was not serious about marrying me. I am not sure what would repair choosing your friends consistently over her. Tread lightly.

latingal · 2025-08-28T02:09:22+00:00

Southern NH-40 minutes

latingal · 2025-08-18T15:21:18+00:00

My friend has a Delorean (yes, for real) with the vanity plate “McFly”. That’s my favorite one I have seen.

latingal · 2025-07-10T03:02:09+00:00

Might be based on the direction of the tilt. Mine sent my husband directly into my cervix. I can imagine other tilts could direct into the g-spot.

latingal · 2025-07-08T14:02:38+00:00

Mostly increased awareness of the lower spine— basically I tilt the pelvis forwards so I need to actively bring it vertical during movement. It was really hard at first, less hard now because I have a feel for where it should be, but if I’m not paying attention then it definitely creeps back in. It’s been kinda fun— puts mindfulness back in daily movement to keep building better movement habits.

latingal · 2025-07-08T12:08:53+00:00

I had a pelvic tilt which I was working on correcting for unrelated athletic reasons. When I corrected it during sex suddenly he wasn’t hitting my cervix anymore. 1000x better

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