Cabin fever? A rainbow of remedies

"So when are you going to dance with me?" he asked before promising that he would take good care of me. Normally, such a question fires me up, like if I'm at ManRay listening to Bananarama's "Robert de Niro's Waiting." But contra dancing to a live band of upright bass, piano, and fiddle while a caller references "allemande left" and "right-hand star"? Hold up.

Contra dancing, which is similar to square dancing but with different formations and calls, takes some getting used to. If you're forged in the techno fires of Avalon Sundays, it might not be your bag. Still, there's something warm and inviting about sharing a potluck supper with strangers and then dancing with them afterward and eventually befriending them.

It's also nice to promenade with someone of the same gender, and because you normally dance in two facing lines, you get to meet nearly everyone. Most groups welcome beginners; just come early and get a quick lesson.

That's the point, says Liz Augustine, who comes dancing with her partner almost every two weeks. "It's a little geeky -- we know that, but it's so much fun," she says. "We've become a community here. We help each other move, we celebrate holidays together, all sorts of things."

Chris Ricciotta started the Boston Gay and Lesbian Contra Dancers in 1989 because, as he says, "I remembering going out to gay bars and thinking, `If this is all there is to gay life, then I'm just not coming out.' "

These dancing queens and kings, most between ages 30 and 60, were attitude-free and friendly, even when one particular neophyte -- ahem -- was supposed to switch partners and looked like a bewildered kid lost in a department store every time.

"No worries," Dean assured me. "You're doing just fine," and then he took my hand behind my back and twirled me.

The Boston Gay and Lesbian Contra Dancers meet every other Saturday from 7:30 to 11 p.m. at the First Church of Jamaica Plain, on the corner of Eliot and Centre streets. For a directory of local dance organizations, visit www.gaysforpatsy.org/local.html.

Got a thing for Star Wars, comic books, or horror? If so, the folks at the Gaylaxian Science Fiction Society want to know you. Since 1986, when the GSFS started in Boston before rippling across the rest of the country as the Gaylactic Network, members have been meeting the third Saturday of the month at one another's homes. Wayne Wilkening, a GSFS member who lives in Lynn, says, "Loosely organized is an accurate way to describe us. We're an organization by consensus." Recent activities have included movie nights and book swaps. The group, which attracts up to 15 regular members (mostly male), hosts a "Room Party" this weekend at the New England Science Fiction Association's Boskone 41 convention at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. For more information on GSFS activities, visit www.gaylaxians.org.

You were the star of the high school tuba section, weren't you? Even if you can write your name in the inch of dust collecting on that horn, haul it out for some tunes with the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Freedom Trail Band of Boston. The amateur marching and concert band accepts musicians without auditions and holds rehearsals most Mondays from 7 to 9 p.m. at Watertown High School. You can catch the band with the Mood Swings Orchestra this Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church in Cambridge. Just think: If you get started now, you'll be in fine shape for the summer, when the Freedom Trail Band plays a host of gay pride events. No doubt you'll be startled to hear how sassy that ole tuba sounds on your killer "I Will Survive" solo. For more information, visit www.geocities.com/freedomtrailband.

E-mail James Reed at jreed@globe.com.