you're too afraid, much too afraid. to fall

i've decided that one of the greatest things about living in california is how it's always first on the list of "c" states. thus every time one of those annoying "choose your state from the list" type things pop up on the computer (ei. shipping info, registering college apps...very annoying), you can just go owhat is this? no prob. i will just click in the box and type "c" on my keyboard and voila! california baby.

um. that was random. i guess i just keep realizing how inconvenient it is when i can't do that (ei. when "the united states" is not the default country on a list).

anyways. what else. ohyes. first lion dance performance was on..er...last thursday night. took place at some banquet thingy which was great for my first performance since half the crowd consisted of old white people who were very easily impressed by all things oriental.

began very satisfied because i got my uniform. which consists of big hobo pants and a really long silk sash which ...i can't believe i'm saying this cause i rarely do...is very pretty and makes me pleased. of course that feeling wore off quite soon as they threw open the backstage doors and i proceeded to tire out in the first 2 min or so.

which was surprising because i'd totally forgotten about the effects of adrenaline (which were pleasantly absent during all those practices before) since high school sportz/music. thus my mouth dried out amazingly fast within the first 30 sec as my parasympathetic nervous system shut down to make way for my instincts to take over.

...ohwow. that sounded really nerdy at the end. whatev. it's the only thing i've ever gotten outta highschool bio.

moving on. yes. with all the excitement and anxiety going on, my frigging heart almost killed me, i was in desperate need of some ingestible liquids, my arms went numb, and my legs shook painfully under the weight that it normally would have been able to hold.

in addition, people have this strange obsession with backsides. of course, being the tail of a more experienced lion dancer, my job was to bounce and look as happy as i could...which only provoked more. shall i say, assgrabbing.

actually it wasn't that simple, there was a range of touching from playful slapping and caressing to full on attempts at grabbing my tail away from me (in which case i would panic at the thought of being revealed and pull my tail back in a very indignant fashion).

but god. put a thin layer of cloth over someone and then slapping a total stranger's ass is totally acceptable. the human mind is amusing.

then there was pushing at my sides cause people tend to forget the lion is actually made up of two people and thus think that if they push me in the side hard enough, the head will get their attention. well. okay, so i hadn't learned how to direct my head person to go where i wanted yet so my fault there. i'm just glad i wasn't the head person cause there were way too many red envelopes thrust into our faces that night. too much yelling and pushing for your attention as well. probably would've panicked and knocked someone out on accident.

don't get me wrong. it's actually a LOT of fun being the tail...even if the most exciting part is having the crowd squeal in excitement at how "cute" you are. actually so they think your ass is cute but. same thing right? (then you can play with people's heads and that's also really funny) plus. you get to relax slightly more than the head >:)

hm. i forgot something. ohyes. also, halfway through the performance i hear a loud, ugly man-scream followed by lots of laughter. a few moments later, i hear the same thing again. damn it was so loud eachtime, that i pretty much jumped back in terror (give me a little credit here, i can't see anything under the lion...besides a bit of my partner's shoes and half my arm). of course eachtime it happened, i didn't jump back enough, thus causing my head to collide with my partner's backside as she backed up in horror as well. lovely.

apparently i find out later that there was this dumbass of a man who thought it was really funny to stick his whole arm into the lion's mouth intentionally to make it look like we were trying to "eat" him...and then pulling his arm out to run away in "horror." and repeat.

and yes. when i say whole arm, i mean it. this guy managed to jut his frigging arm so far into the mouth that he actually hit my partner on the chest...causing her to feel very violated indeed...as well as very winded.

lesson of the day, kiddies: lion dance is a very dangerous sport.

actually no lie. but only when you get to the stuff like stacking stunts and shiz :D
so we went to sawtelle after, ate at curry house, went to boba (while i got a crepe instead, yum.), got back lateish. woke up the next day even more tired than before. barely made it alive through classes, slept whole afternoon, went to taiko class at night, and then HOME FREE.

anyways, all in all, a good start. am excited for future. hopefully my endurance will improve some more. if not then.. ohshiz.