![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batskeetsHoly jeebus, I'm tired. I slept straight through for 7 hours and I'm *still* tired. I guess I have a lot of sleep to catch up on... and I also haven't eaten today. Oops. ;p I was all hyped to practice yesterday, but now I just feel completely drained.
Yeah, you knew it was coming... it's BERKELEY RECAP TAIMU! Here are some pictures!
The drive down was pretty quiet--I was sequestered in the very back seat again with Janet, so we spent like half the ride knitting and crocheting. I finished knitting my soft purple scarf, so she started teaching me how to crochet a hat with my leftover yarn. Right now, it looks more like a beret or something, probably because I don't know WTF I'm doing. :p We stopped for lunch at Mickey D's, and were playing "guess how many calories are in this burger" while we ate. Let's just say I'm glad I opted for the McNuggets, even if I *have* heard some scary things about them.
There was more driving after that, and when we got to SF, we had a huge-but-cheap dinner at Ranch 99, got some wonderfully tasty boba, ran around the little shops, and we *almost* did some karaoke!... until we found out that there was a mandatory food and drink minimum charge and all this other crap, and it wound up being $11 per person for 90 minutes. That was crap, so we just drove around for a while until it was time to go to Brandon's and crash.
Celia and I opted to sleep in the little side room again, which didn't work out so well for me, because I don't have a sleeping bag, and I couldn't bring my favorite blankie, because it had a tear in it that I hadn't mended. So I had to ball up on the floor, under my crappy brown blanket, freezing my butt off. :p That was... less than stellar. But, I've been known to do bizarre things in my sleep, so the privacy was ultimately a good thing.
We got up bright and early on Saturday and headed over to Berkeley. I got to borrow some (oversized) silks for the day, and *loved* them--they move a lot better than the various t-shirts and track pants that I wear when I train. When/if I compete again, I am definitely buying my own.
Beginner long fist was up first, so it was easy to get a little psyched out. Then, all of the Oregon girls were placed in the ass-end of the lineup! There is nothing worse than having to stand there waiting in line, and seeing a dozen or more girls do their forms, while you're sitting there trying *not* to think about every possible way that you can screw up your own form. :p But, I think we did okay, in the long run; it was just a stressful way to start things off.
After that, the tournament seemed to drag on forever. I and the other beginner ladies did our long fist at 9:30am or so, and straightsword didn't happen until probably 4 or 5pm. But, we did see some impressive wushu action while we waited, with the adult advanced events that were going on.
I think the most unexpected highlight for me was the age 7-12 events, though. Something about seeing little kids all done up in their silks and busting out wushu moves just made me want to take them all home with me! I nearly died from cuteness overload when a little girl came into the ring and started doing nanquan. Whenever I start having kids, they are *so* doing martial arts.
Straightsword was pretty brutal. The warmup area was *tiny* and packed with people, and it was pretty much impossible to use weapons in there without hitting something or someone else. I also hadn't eaten lunch yet, but we were kind of afraid to have a big lunch before an event, so my stomach was in knots thanks to nerves and lack of food. I felt pretty stiff when I got out there, but I ended up with a bronze medal, so I suppose it could have been worse. :)
The advanced straightsword that went after us was terrifying in its own way--Brenda was doing her form and landed wrong in a split, and they had to bring in the medical personnel. :( She did manage to get up and walk off the floor with a bit of assistance, though, so hopefully everything is okay.
After that, there was SO MUCH SITTING AROUND. Lorelei and I took off for a bit after we got done, to go around the corner to a local bar, have a couple beers, and vent. I was about ready to fall backwards off of my bar stool because I was so sleepy, but it was so good to unwind. :p After coming back to the tournament, the lot of us kept busy by watching some more events, and perusing the vendor area. I snagged a staff for $15 as they were closing up. Whee!
Eventually, I got the van keys from Phil and most of us left the tournament. Getting out of the parking garage was an adventure, because we had maybe an inch of vertical clearance, but the ride home was fun and filled with goofy sing-alongs to Disney songs. ::rotfl::
There was an after-party going on, but most of the team decided they were too tired to actually go. I was going to bow out, too, because it didn't look like anyone was going, but I was the only van-certified person there, so I had to drive Keith, Robert, and Thomas back out to Berkeley, presumably to pick up Phil, and then be dropped back off at Brandon's. Instead, I was fed directions that led to the after-party venue, and basically learned that I wasn't getting taken back, so I was stuck there.
So, what do you do when you're stuck at a party that you didn't plan on attending in the first place? My answer was apparently: keep drinking until you stop feeling bad about it! ::rotfl:: That took me a lot of drinks, though, so maybe it wasn't the best strategy. ^^;; Things turned out pretty good, though--the dance floor was packed, the drinks were colorful and tasty, and I wound up having an unexpectedly good time, in spite of the fact that I was wearing the same stinky team t-shirt I'd been wearing all day, and was stumbling around all sloppy-drunk like an idiot when we finally left.
The van ride afterwards was pretty surreal, or at least it was for me. Phil, Keith, and Thomas seemed relatively sober, but Greg and Robert were spouting off random crap in bad Scottish accents, Brandon was passed out in the back seat, and I was laughing at practically everything. (Phil thought that all my laughing and stumbling around was funny as hell, apparently. Greeeat :p) We were hungry, so we found a donut shop that was open, so we stopped and had some incredibly delicious pork buns, and we didn't get home until almost 5am.
The ride back on Sunday was pretty chill, but I don't feel like writing it out right now, and it wasn't too eventful, so I'll leave off.
In other news, Friday morning sucked. I worked until 5am, and then got pulled over by some jackass Springfield cop on my way home. He didn't actually give me a ticket, so I guess he wasn't *such* a jackass, but it still took a good 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there before he'd let me go, and all I wanted to do was go home and SLEEP for a lousy 2 or 3 hours.
It's amazing how cops decide to pull you over at the worst possible time. The one other time when I got pulled over, and *did* get a speeding ticket, a few years ago, I was doing 45 in a 30 zone, because I was running late to work. So, I was even later for my shift, of course. THANKS, GUY! :p
Okay, so I'm tired as hell, and I'm going to take a nap. Or chat with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
designer_fetus. Whichever. ^^;
Yeah, you knew it was coming... it's BERKELEY RECAP TAIMU! Here are some pictures!
The drive down was pretty quiet--I was sequestered in the very back seat again with Janet, so we spent like half the ride knitting and crocheting. I finished knitting my soft purple scarf, so she started teaching me how to crochet a hat with my leftover yarn. Right now, it looks more like a beret or something, probably because I don't know WTF I'm doing. :p We stopped for lunch at Mickey D's, and were playing "guess how many calories are in this burger" while we ate. Let's just say I'm glad I opted for the McNuggets, even if I *have* heard some scary things about them.
There was more driving after that, and when we got to SF, we had a huge-but-cheap dinner at Ranch 99, got some wonderfully tasty boba, ran around the little shops, and we *almost* did some karaoke!... until we found out that there was a mandatory food and drink minimum charge and all this other crap, and it wound up being $11 per person for 90 minutes. That was crap, so we just drove around for a while until it was time to go to Brandon's and crash.
Celia and I opted to sleep in the little side room again, which didn't work out so well for me, because I don't have a sleeping bag, and I couldn't bring my favorite blankie, because it had a tear in it that I hadn't mended. So I had to ball up on the floor, under my crappy brown blanket, freezing my butt off. :p That was... less than stellar. But, I've been known to do bizarre things in my sleep, so the privacy was ultimately a good thing.
We got up bright and early on Saturday and headed over to Berkeley. I got to borrow some (oversized) silks for the day, and *loved* them--they move a lot better than the various t-shirts and track pants that I wear when I train. When/if I compete again, I am definitely buying my own.
Beginner long fist was up first, so it was easy to get a little psyched out. Then, all of the Oregon girls were placed in the ass-end of the lineup! There is nothing worse than having to stand there waiting in line, and seeing a dozen or more girls do their forms, while you're sitting there trying *not* to think about every possible way that you can screw up your own form. :p But, I think we did okay, in the long run; it was just a stressful way to start things off.
After that, the tournament seemed to drag on forever. I and the other beginner ladies did our long fist at 9:30am or so, and straightsword didn't happen until probably 4 or 5pm. But, we did see some impressive wushu action while we waited, with the adult advanced events that were going on.
I think the most unexpected highlight for me was the age 7-12 events, though. Something about seeing little kids all done up in their silks and busting out wushu moves just made me want to take them all home with me! I nearly died from cuteness overload when a little girl came into the ring and started doing nanquan. Whenever I start having kids, they are *so* doing martial arts.
Straightsword was pretty brutal. The warmup area was *tiny* and packed with people, and it was pretty much impossible to use weapons in there without hitting something or someone else. I also hadn't eaten lunch yet, but we were kind of afraid to have a big lunch before an event, so my stomach was in knots thanks to nerves and lack of food. I felt pretty stiff when I got out there, but I ended up with a bronze medal, so I suppose it could have been worse. :)
The advanced straightsword that went after us was terrifying in its own way--Brenda was doing her form and landed wrong in a split, and they had to bring in the medical personnel. :( She did manage to get up and walk off the floor with a bit of assistance, though, so hopefully everything is okay.
After that, there was SO MUCH SITTING AROUND. Lorelei and I took off for a bit after we got done, to go around the corner to a local bar, have a couple beers, and vent. I was about ready to fall backwards off of my bar stool because I was so sleepy, but it was so good to unwind. :p After coming back to the tournament, the lot of us kept busy by watching some more events, and perusing the vendor area. I snagged a staff for $15 as they were closing up. Whee!
Eventually, I got the van keys from Phil and most of us left the tournament. Getting out of the parking garage was an adventure, because we had maybe an inch of vertical clearance, but the ride home was fun and filled with goofy sing-alongs to Disney songs. ::rotfl::
There was an after-party going on, but most of the team decided they were too tired to actually go. I was going to bow out, too, because it didn't look like anyone was going, but I was the only van-certified person there, so I had to drive Keith, Robert, and Thomas back out to Berkeley, presumably to pick up Phil, and then be dropped back off at Brandon's. Instead, I was fed directions that led to the after-party venue, and basically learned that I wasn't getting taken back, so I was stuck there.
So, what do you do when you're stuck at a party that you didn't plan on attending in the first place? My answer was apparently: keep drinking until you stop feeling bad about it! ::rotfl:: That took me a lot of drinks, though, so maybe it wasn't the best strategy. ^^;; Things turned out pretty good, though--the dance floor was packed, the drinks were colorful and tasty, and I wound up having an unexpectedly good time, in spite of the fact that I was wearing the same stinky team t-shirt I'd been wearing all day, and was stumbling around all sloppy-drunk like an idiot when we finally left.
The van ride afterwards was pretty surreal, or at least it was for me. Phil, Keith, and Thomas seemed relatively sober, but Greg and Robert were spouting off random crap in bad Scottish accents, Brandon was passed out in the back seat, and I was laughing at practically everything. (Phil thought that all my laughing and stumbling around was funny as hell, apparently. Greeeat :p) We were hungry, so we found a donut shop that was open, so we stopped and had some incredibly delicious pork buns, and we didn't get home until almost 5am.
The ride back on Sunday was pretty chill, but I don't feel like writing it out right now, and it wasn't too eventful, so I'll leave off.
In other news, Friday morning sucked. I worked until 5am, and then got pulled over by some jackass Springfield cop on my way home. He didn't actually give me a ticket, so I guess he wasn't *such* a jackass, but it still took a good 10 or 15 minutes of sitting there before he'd let me go, and all I wanted to do was go home and SLEEP for a lousy 2 or 3 hours.
It's amazing how cops decide to pull you over at the worst possible time. The one other time when I got pulled over, and *did* get a speeding ticket, a few years ago, I was doing 45 in a 30 zone, because I was running late to work. So, I was even later for my shift, of course. THANKS, GUY! :p
Okay, so I'm tired as hell, and I'm going to take a nap. Or chat with
designer_fetus. Whichever. ^^;
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-04-13 07:12 am (UTC)