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rallamajoopAaand I’m back! To where the weather is colder, but the Internet more reliable (holidays are wonderful and all, but nothing makes you appreciate good ADSL like being stuck on a dodgy low speed modem for a week).
It’s been a weird year for skating in this country. Usually, the nationals wouldn’t happen until October, but they’re holding the International Championships in Queensland this year around then and everything else has been shuffled back to make room. In any other year we'd only be a week or two past the state finals now – and I’d be just through getting a basic hang on all my dances and maybe starting to think it was time to start training a little more seriously, so believe me when I say this has mucked up my internal clock quite a bit.
Just to confuse me even more, they also went and scheduled my events in the opposite order to usual this year. It probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I’m twitchy enough that stupid little things put me off, and it makes a difference. Usually I’d start with set dance, in which they pick two dances for us out of the book and everyone does the same steps. It’s not very exciting but it’s nearly always my stronger event, though I have a history of coming out of it on a bit of a downer because I so often miss out on getting one place higher by just one or two marks (prompting round umpteen of Let’s All Gripe About The Judging). In a lot of ways I look at it as a warmup for the important event - creative dance, which is where they pick a rhythm for us and we choose our own music and (within a few rules) make up our own steps. Needless to say, those steps are a hell of a lot more complicated than anything you’d get in set, and the dance moves are weirder and the costumes are louder, and despite the very true thing my last coach once said about me being introverted as hell, I’m getting to the stage where I can actually go out there and just enjoy performing in front of the crowd. Especially when they give us a fun dance like the samba to play with. It’s the kind of event I come out of on a high, so I like having it later on in the week.
Anyway, not too much to say about how I skated this year. Didn’t place in either event, but the standard was higher than it’s been for a while and I’m not too unhappy with how I performed. Something to aim for next year, I guess. Actually, considering the last two trips to nationals we took, the part I’m most proud of is not getting sick while we were over there – it was so nice to be well enough to go watch the other events for a change. ^^;
Other random: I could’ve sworn I saw someone in an Akatsuki coat just standing around at a bus stop the first night we were there. This is even weirder considering I would also swear I saw a Naruto cosplayer in Melbourne a few years back. Is random cosplay bigger in the eastern states than I realised or something? Even better, there was a girl in one of those skating events (which I got to see on account of NOT BEING SICK, DID I MENTION THIS? YAY!) in a Songstress Yuna costume. Wish I could’ve asked her about it, because I’m all curious now. Is she into cosplay outside of skating? Did she have a themed routine last year and decide to recycle the costume for another event? Did she just like the design? Dad’s got her on one of his videos if anyone wants proof – it’s a pretty simple costume as they go, but it’s far too distinctive to be coincidence.
Didn’t do a lot of sight-seeing this year. It’s my third time in the Gold Coast for skating, so we’ve pretty much done everything there already (and stuff like Movie World just isn’t so much fun when you’ve only got your parents there to keep you company). I did find a place in a practically deserted arcade selling all these gorgeous Chinese style clothes really cheap, though, so now I have this nice new outfit and no idea where I'll ever be able to wear it. ^^; Ah well, it’ll be sure to come in handy somewhere or other.
But one of the nicest things about these kinds of skating holidays these days is suddenly having all this extra time to write without the usual distractions. So, back to finishing all those xxxHOLiC AU's I started over there so I can get them posted. =D
It’s been a weird year for skating in this country. Usually, the nationals wouldn’t happen until October, but they’re holding the International Championships in Queensland this year around then and everything else has been shuffled back to make room. In any other year we'd only be a week or two past the state finals now – and I’d be just through getting a basic hang on all my dances and maybe starting to think it was time to start training a little more seriously, so believe me when I say this has mucked up my internal clock quite a bit.
Just to confuse me even more, they also went and scheduled my events in the opposite order to usual this year. It probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I’m twitchy enough that stupid little things put me off, and it makes a difference. Usually I’d start with set dance, in which they pick two dances for us out of the book and everyone does the same steps. It’s not very exciting but it’s nearly always my stronger event, though I have a history of coming out of it on a bit of a downer because I so often miss out on getting one place higher by just one or two marks (prompting round umpteen of Let’s All Gripe About The Judging). In a lot of ways I look at it as a warmup for the important event - creative dance, which is where they pick a rhythm for us and we choose our own music and (within a few rules) make up our own steps. Needless to say, those steps are a hell of a lot more complicated than anything you’d get in set, and the dance moves are weirder and the costumes are louder, and despite the very true thing my last coach once said about me being introverted as hell, I’m getting to the stage where I can actually go out there and just enjoy performing in front of the crowd. Especially when they give us a fun dance like the samba to play with. It’s the kind of event I come out of on a high, so I like having it later on in the week.
Anyway, not too much to say about how I skated this year. Didn’t place in either event, but the standard was higher than it’s been for a while and I’m not too unhappy with how I performed. Something to aim for next year, I guess. Actually, considering the last two trips to nationals we took, the part I’m most proud of is not getting sick while we were over there – it was so nice to be well enough to go watch the other events for a change. ^^;
Other random: I could’ve sworn I saw someone in an Akatsuki coat just standing around at a bus stop the first night we were there. This is even weirder considering I would also swear I saw a Naruto cosplayer in Melbourne a few years back. Is random cosplay bigger in the eastern states than I realised or something? Even better, there was a girl in one of those skating events (which I got to see on account of NOT BEING SICK, DID I MENTION THIS? YAY!) in a Songstress Yuna costume. Wish I could’ve asked her about it, because I’m all curious now. Is she into cosplay outside of skating? Did she have a themed routine last year and decide to recycle the costume for another event? Did she just like the design? Dad’s got her on one of his videos if anyone wants proof – it’s a pretty simple costume as they go, but it’s far too distinctive to be coincidence.
Didn’t do a lot of sight-seeing this year. It’s my third time in the Gold Coast for skating, so we’ve pretty much done everything there already (and stuff like Movie World just isn’t so much fun when you’ve only got your parents there to keep you company). I did find a place in a practically deserted arcade selling all these gorgeous Chinese style clothes really cheap, though, so now I have this nice new outfit and no idea where I'll ever be able to wear it. ^^; Ah well, it’ll be sure to come in handy somewhere or other.
But one of the nicest things about these kinds of skating holidays these days is suddenly having all this extra time to write without the usual distractions. So, back to finishing all those xxxHOLiC AU's I started over there so I can get them posted. =D
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no subject
Date: 2007-07-09 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-10 03:42 am (UTC)I've always kinda wanted to be able to recycle bits of my costumes for every day wear (and maybe see whether anyone recognises them), but they're just never quite normal (or robust) enough.
no subject
Date: 2007-07-10 03:49 am (UTC)I have abysmal sewing and craft skills, so nearly all of my costumes are assembled through thrift stores or my own closet. So I really do wear some of this stuff on normal days! (Except for my Cowboy Andy trench-coat. That's just too heavy for Texas weather.)