Living in Life as Me

My Mood

2007-09-22T10:15:00.001-07:00

2007-07-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

7 July 2007 – Diving, (Even More) Gymnastics, and Three Blue Ribbons

Hopefully I’ll update this blog more than once a week, so all the exciting activities in my life don’t pile up and I end up writing for a whole day and dying of heat exhaustion before having a chance to post the entry.

So… I promised to post another amusing story about what I did at camp if you commented enough, and it seems like you did, and I tend to keep my promises. So after bullriding (see previous entry) we all took the gondolas down from the amusement park (it was on the top of a mountain), and piled in a hot, stinky school bus to go to the hot springs. Fortunately it wasn’t a long drive, so we got there quickly. Now the hot springs pool in Glenwood Springs is the largest hot springs pool in the world. I’m not good with measurements of any sort, but it took me five minutes to walk to the slides at the other end of the pool, so it’s pretty big.

I’d changed into my bathing suit and went down the slides a couple of times with my friends just to get wet. They were pretty fun, I guess, and we all had fun seeing who could scream the loudest in the middle of the slides.

Once bored with the slides, we headed to the diving boards, where all the gymnasts tended to congregate. I suppose I should get a little into my background here. I used to dive quite a bit, taking classes at the rec centres until they were too easy, then competing for this place in Westminister or somewhere. I was pretty decent, and actually placed third in a meet once, but it wasn’t exactly anything to write home about. I eventually quit because (yes, this is a really pathetic reason) I got too cold. Getting in the water just enough to get soaked, then hopping out and standing freezing in line for five minutes made me pretty miserable, especially since I have issues getting and staying warm.

Back to the story, then. I still remember a lot of my diving skills, and since the other gymnasts were going off the diving boards, I decided to try my luck. It was fun. Apparently everyone thought I was really amazing because I could do a pike front 1 ½ (Jump off board. Do pike jump. Hold that position for one flip. Keep holding it for another ½ a flip. Open into dive when feet are up and head is down). So of course (being crazy gymnasts) they yelled at me to do a double (Jump in air. Pull into tuck position. Hold for one flip. Hold for another flip. Let go of tuck and fall feet-first into water), which I had never tried before in my life.

So of course I tried it (come on, audience screaming + possibility of injury + nice warm pool = me being amusingly stupid). I jumped up, pulled into a tuck position, and figured I’d hold it until I did a double. After, it’s only ½ more of a revolution than a 1½, which I can do easily. Stupid me. After about 1¾ revolutions I felt that I’d done a double. So I let out the tuck and gracefully pointed my toes to plunge effortlessly into the water.

But I didn’t. I was mistaken in where I was, so when I let g

o of the tuck, I was flat on my back. With the water headed toward me at high speed. SMACK! *benign audience laughter* Ouch. I’d flopped straight onto my back. Of course I had to try again to show that audience that I could really do a double. So I tried again.

And smacked again. And again. And again. Finally, I got the point. *shakes fist at double* My back was a lobster-licious shade of red by now. Heehee. I didn’t particularly care, because I knew that it would go away soon. But my “audience” was greatly amused. So there’s my diving story.

This summer I found out about this diving progam, and I decided to start diving again, since it was an outdoor pool and this summer is really really hot. So now on weekday mornings I can wake up and go diving for two hours in the morning. ‘Tis great fun. I’ll probably join my school’s swimming and diving team next year, and my coach said that if I worked hard, I could make it to state as a sophomore, which would be really cool. Right now I working back fulls (Do back layout. When feet are at 12 o’clock, pull in arms to twist all the way around. Land flip in water, feet first) and my coach said eventually I’ll do back double fulls (same thing, only twist 2 times around). W00t. So that’s my diving.

Now the title I wrote says I should write about gymnastics. After camp I realised that I had such a great time there, and I wanted to go back to my old gym, because the coaches and people at camp were so great (the camp is run by that gym). So after much persuading of the Inquisition (my parents), I managed to convince them to sign me up. At that gym I’ll be competing in the USAG league, which is a lot more competitive than the CARA league, which is what I competed in this spring. I quit that gym as a (pretty awful) compulsory level 6, and I’ll hopefully compete this fall as a (much improved) level 6. Since I’ve got so many new skills since I quit, I figure that I’ll be able to do well at level 6, which seems really easy right now. Level 6 is a compulsory level, which means some old people at the USAG office m

ade up all the routines for you. So everyone competes exactly the same thing, making it more a question of how you execute the tricks than how hard they are.

Now I’m doing gymnastics four days a week, with two different gyms. I’m having such a great time with both of them, and I can’t wait until this weekend is over so I can get in my leo and do some more! Yay!

Yesterday I competed in a CARA meet as an optional two, which means I get to make up my own routines. Now I shall give you a big description of all my events, because I have nothing better to do and I love making people read on and on! Muhahahaha!

So first we were on floor. I was last (hhmph) but it gave me lots of time to rest after warm-ups and collect myself, because I get SOOO nervous before competitions. Our team is HUGE, about 30 people, and each one has a 1 minute to 1.5 minute floor routine (I think. It might be longer), so it can take a while. I don’t really like floor, for several reasons. First: my routine sucks. I’ve never been really good at the whole dance thing, and although my tumbling is decent, I always feel really awkward waving my long gorril

la arms around in a pose that looks good on other people but never manages to for me. Secondly, I get tired. My routine is fairly fast paced, and by the time I get to my third tumbling pass, I’m pushing myself on and at the end I fall on the floor beside my team and pant for about 5 minutes. So when I’m finally on the floor, I’m sitting in my dorky pose, waiting for my music to start. It does, and whee! I’m off. My music is techno (somehow I always manage to pick a techno song that I end up hating by the end of the season) and bouncy, and I felt good that day, so I actually wasn’t that tired by the end of my routine. I thought I did fairly well, but somehow they never showed my score…. (I found out later it was a 7.5)

On to beam. I was last again, but that’s a very good thing. On beam, I do just fine in practice, and I enjoy beam, but in competition I always get very very nervous, and start shaking. Shaking on a 4 inch wide beam is bad, especially when you’re doing jumps. So I fall off, and then that’s half a point right there. Predictably, I never do very well on beam. For the half hour I waited and cheered on my teammates, I put my head between my knees, and tried to persuade myself that this was just another practice. I also thought about my happy island planet, and my mummy. It helped, and when I got on the beam I got through my leap pass (and took out the straddle jump, I didn’t feel like it was high enough that day) I started shaking. No! I told myself. I’m not going to fall today. So through all my jumps and my back-walkover and even through my wolf three-quarter I clung to that b

eam as hard as I could. By the time I did my dismount (cartwheel-backflip) I could hardly believe it. I actually stuck my beam routine!!! I don’t think I’d ever done that this season. Yes!!! I was so happy when my score was flashed: a 7.7 (good, an 8.0 at my level is uncommon, and I didn’t see a 9.0 the entire meet), infinitely better than the 5.5’s I’d get with 3 or 4 falls!

Happy from my beam routine, we went on to vault. My vault is a half-on, half-off (hit springboard. Do a half turn in the air so your hands hit

the vault facing the way you came from. Block off the vault. Coming down, do another half turn in the other direction. Land on the mat.). My coaches tell me that if I get my run right, I have a great vault. Otherwise… I suck. So I found 63 feet on the tape, presented to the judge, did my little hop-skip starting thing, and ran down the runway. I was about 10 feet from the springboard when the small steps of my run transformed into garguantuan ones—prompted by my mind telling me that my run wasn’t right. Ooops. I hit the springboard alright though, and did a fairly decent vault, getting a 7.9 from the judge. Ok, I thought, Let’s get an eight this time (You get two vaults, and they count the better one as your score). So I started at 63 feet again and vowed that I would take smaller steps the entire run.

So I did. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it right this time. My steps were inconsistent and I ended up taking off for the springboard off the wrong leg, which is pretty bad. Consequently, my vault was also pretty bad. I only managed a half-on, and a pretty ugly one at that. Still, the judge gave me a 7.4… I still can’t figure that one out!

On to bars. Bars is always my favourite event in competition, for unlike the other events, I never perform worse in competition than in prac

tice. See, on vault I mess up my run, on floor I get tired, and on beam I start shaking. But on bars I have tons of energy and somehow manage to pull of a great routine. That day was no different. My low bar was good, then I jumped to high bar and did my uprise, which is the hardest trick in my routine.

It worked out quite nicely, and I didn’t have any trouble getting back up to the bar. I got a bit stuck on the trick that came after it, but I quickly changed it so the judge didn’t notice that I substituted another trick instead (that’s perfectly fine, if you were wondering). I was quite happy with this routine, and got a 7.7 on it!

Overall, I had a really great meet. When it was time for awards, I got 1^st on bars and beam, which really made me happy because ususally I suck at beam, and 3^rd on vault and floor! In the all-around (add up your score, and see who’s the highest) I got another 1^st! I was ecstatic… I’d won the meet! This was my best meet in the season, because I would never do very well on beam, and get a 5, which would kill any chance of placing in the all-around. Needless to say, I was very, very happy.

2007-06-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

23 June 2007 – Flips, Soreness, & Bull Riding

Well, um, hi again. Whoever’s reading this. So I haven’t really posted anything in a really long time, so I decided I’ll share a bit of what’s been going on in my life right now.

This past week I’ve been at gymnastics camp, up in the mountains. Technically, it’s more of a trampoline camp than a gymnastics camp, but whatever.

Gymnastics is one of my favourite things to do right now. I started it when I was 2.5 years old and have continued it through now, stopping only in middle school for a year or two because I was loser-ful back then or something. I resumed in high school after remembering how much fun I always had. Now I compete with my high school and do optionals in the CARA leagues. I’m a decent gymnast, I guess. Recently I won bars at a meet, and I generally place fairly well.

So this camp was with my old gym, which I was a bit doubtful about, as I didn’t really like it that much, which was why I quit for a while. My sister still goes there, and last year I got dragged up to camp anyway with my parents and was forced to watch my sister have fun while I wasn’t, so I decided to go this year.

At first I was really nervous – “What if they remember me?” “What if they yell at me for leaving?” my paranoid mind said. But the people there were actually really great! I made loads of new friends who are on the same level as me, and the coaching was excellent.

What? Skills? Fine, I’ll give you skills. On floor I got my standing backflip (stand still. Swing arms. Do a backflip), and worked a bit on my back handspring on beam (stand on 4-inch wide beam. Swing arms. Jump backwards. Land on hands. Spring to feet). On the trampolines I was working double-backflips (these should be self-explanatory. Look it up.) in a harness, and fulls (do a layout [backflip with a straight body the entire way]. Twist all the way around when you’re upside down) on regular trampoline. I actually did a couple of decent fulls on the last day, which I’m very proud of, as I came into camp with a pretty crappy layout.

Alas, all was not “Boing boing boing WHEE!!!” Around the third morning of camp I woke up. Yes. And I was SORE. If you aren’t a gymnast or any sort of athlete, sore is bad.

*/ And good, at the same time. Sore means you’ve been working your muscles a lot so they go into anaerobic respiration, which produces lactic acid and can cause micro-tears in the muscles if you work them enough. I get more muscles, but some pain too. Nerd me.*/

So all up and down my legs (calves, thighs, feet, etc) hurt incredibly when I used those muscles at all. Which, unfortunately, meant walking. Yup. Ouch. I still had several more days of camp, so I stretched a lot and basically ignored them. No big deal, it happens all the time (and I was looking forward to actually having muscly legs in a week or so :P) Of course, it got worse over the next couple of days, so now, I’m sitting in bed wishing I was doing fulls but my legs hurt to much. 

Oh well. In the afternoons we always went on some fun activity. (Did I mention it’s a trampoline and adventure camp?) One day we went up to an amusement park, and it was majorly fun. There was an alpine slide and a big swing and stuff. There was also a fake bull that you could ride.

Now this is where things get interesting.

After seeing my fellow gymnasts ride it, I was amused and intrigued. It would buck up and down and spin quite violently. Most of us managed to hold on for quite a while in this stage, so the operator would ask “Ready for the 8 seconds?” The 8 seconds was the full fury of the bull machine thing, and from what I know it was a pretty good simulation of the 8 seconds a real bullrider undergoes. All my friends fell off after two or three seconds, flying off onto the surrounding mats and shrieking. One of my coaches managed to stay on the entire time, and it was amazing (he’s really strong).

Now this fat kid gets on. He was about 11 or 12 years old, and had a mohawk. Except, he hadn’t bothered to gel it, so it was all floppy and gross. (Ew. If you have a mohawk, please never, ever do that). As soon as the bull got going on the gentle up and down beginning part, the kid shrieks and hugs the bull around the neck with his fat arms. It was all us gymnasts could do not to explode with laughter at the kid. (Keep in mind, this was the tamest part of the ride, and we were into the 8 seconds). It was hilarious. I wish I had had my camera so I could’ve shown it to you.

It’s my turn now. I got on, put my right hand under the leather strap thing and my left hand in the air, just like all my friends (and the real bullriders) did. The machine went on, and I went up and down and up again, using my arm for balance. It gradually went faster and began to spin, and I used my thighs (which weren’t sore yet) to hold on as well.

I guess I did pretty well in that part, as the operator asked if I was “ready for the 8 seconds.” “BOO YAH!” I replied (not really. Come on, artistic license), and off we went! It was really hard. The bull would spin really fast, shake side to side, and then stop really suddenly, then start again and switch directions. It was great! I wish that I could’ve videoed that, because I’m sure you don’t believe me…

By now my right hand was starting to slip, so I was holding on like crazy with my thighs and counting the bull’s bucks, hoping that the 8 seconds would end and I would get fame and glory. Alas, I kept slipping and slipping, and a particularly vicious kick threw me into the air. I landed 10 feet away from the bull, and got up smiling. The buzzer announcing my completion of the 8 seconds had rung while I was in midair.

So that was great, great fun. I got a scrape on my knee from the bull: its faux hair had grabbed the top layer of skin on the side and ripped it right off. But I was too proud and happy to care. I’d done the 8 seconds. Hmmm…. Maybe I should become a bullrider instead of a molecular biologist (my current aspiration). It started to hurt lots over the next few hours (especially in that sulfurous hot springs), so the next day I put a butterfly Band-Aid on it. I kept a Band-Aid in that same place for the week, so it wouldn’t get stuck to stuff (it’s oozing, gross). My thighs also cramped up bunches because I was squeezing the bull so hard, lol. :D

Now, I have the most magnificent… ready… BAND-AID TAN!!!!!!!!!! Yup. I’ll post a picture of it in its full glory. A butterfly-Band-Aid shaped white spot with a beautiful red accent in the middle. W00t. It’s pretty hilarious.

So, that’s basically my trampoline camp. Loads more fun things happened, but I want to get back to my RPG now. So, if you’re reading this, please pretty please please PWEESE post a comment to show you’ve read it. You don’t have to say anything profound, even a “I read this. It sucked.” will suffice! I just want to know that I’m not pounding my keyboard into oblivion. If I get enough comments I might even post my story about the hot springs, too!!! (The story has plenty of laughs and I even get injured!) So, HugsKisses, bye!

-

The End of School

2007-05-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, now that my first year of high school is coming to an end, I can look back and see all the things that I learned this year.-- wait a second-- *scribbles frantically* I can look back and see all the stupid things that I did this year. /*That's better!*/
So, I've almost completed this year. But I don't get to sit back, relax, and put my heels up. I'm totally freaking out. Right now, I have a B in two of my classes, and as anyone who knows me can say, I'm a total freak about my GPA. So I should be paraphrasing this thing, but I'd much rather sit in the hot sun under a wooly blanket typing on my laptop. Yup. That wasn't sarcasm.
Thinking majority-wise, most of my classes are rather easy. There's Chem/Phys, which I have to take because my school has a thing about people skipping classes (even though I already took it last year), and there's french, in which we're doing some literature thing that's extremely boring. But before my readers write me off as some sort of stuck-up smart person, there are classes I enjoy! Yes! There are! (I can tell you don't belive me).
I like Biology, in which we do loads of fun stuff. I like math, because my teacher is awesome and math is fun. I like Java, because I already know it and jst get to surf the web all day. I also like.... lunch. Food is always good.
The rest of my classes are just fine, I guess, nothing particularly exciting. Except government. I could go on and on about government, like how we learned about the "three branches" in third grade, and how much I want to jump up and run away screaming when the stupid popular people won't shut up. /*What's with that, anyway?*/
So, more about me. I'm not really that pessimistic, I'm just a bit of a control freak. I'm working on my ego. I love gymnastics, it's so much fun. I program things in C++ and Java. I have a thing for genetic algorithms. I only date smart boys, and not surprisingly, haven't got a boyfriend yet. I love to sing, even though I'm awful at it. I mod games, like Morrowind, and the Sims 2. I'm fluent in 1337. I love math and science. I want to go to MIT, and study either molecular biology or particle physics. I think running is fun, except when you get tired. I love all my friends, they're great. I have a nice family whom I love and trust. I won a laptop at the science fair. I'm not into Microsoft. I like plants, and work in my garden often. I geocache (brebiselectrique on geocaching.com). I'm obsessed with RPGs, and consequently roleplay pretty much everything. I like to know things about people, like their secrets, but I don't tell them to anyone. I have little patience (especially for little kids and populars). I'm really a girl (yes, you awful suspicious people, girls can be smart, too). I hate group projects. I look up to all my teachers, knowing I could never teach, myself. I can't stand the cold. I like sheep, for no reason in particular. I'm good at wasting time. I'm allergic to pollen. I speak French. I can talk on the phone for hours. I don't have a boyfriend, but want one. I wear 4 bracelets everyday. I don't sunburn easily. I love the ocean. I think vacations are nice, as long as they aren't road trips. I'm amused by hummingbirds. I'm generally a nice person. I think DNA is amazing. I'm still figuring out my religion. I love to climb trees. I love my life!!!!!
Well, yup that's me. Now I'd better go inside and do my homework, before I roast. Yes, I am sitting out here, in 85 degree weather, in two chairs facing each other with a wool blanket over my head. It's very warm. Fine, hot. I'd better leave now before I start blackening at the edges.