Today I Learned...

Hobbyfest got slowed down a bit with my SEVERE GUM INFECTION, and will clearly be carried on into 2013. But I managed to get Trapeze in under the wire.

Overall: I'm glad I did it, I plan on doing it a few more times, but it is never going to be a regular hobby. First, it is expensive. s $48 for a two hour class, and for most of that class you're just sitting around, because there's only one trapeze. If you're going to do it, I highly recommend waiting for a groupon and going two days before Christmas, where you can work until your arms fall off.

The scariest part is not the actually flying, because at that point you're just sort of doing it. The ladder you climb is much, much scarier. They attach you to a line for it, and all I could think was "great, so I'm going to break my back instead of cracking my skull. That's much better." then you stand on this tiny, rickety platform, and there's a moment when you have the ladder harness off but don't have the flying harness on yet and all I can think is "YOU DESIGNED THIS WRONG". Then you catch the bar. You're leaning with your center of mass way over the platform, holding something shockingly heavy in your outstretched arms, and the only reason you don't fall is some idiot is holding on to your harness.* Then there is the jumping, which is done on their cues, not yours, which made the whole thing more nervewracking for me.


The good, I guess, is that I got some really cool pictures, and I have some really pleasant muscular exhaustion today. The first time I do anything is often the best, in terms of body response, because I haven't learned how o be lazy about it yet. I find ways to cheat efficiencies shockingly fast. There is something hugely symbolic and powerful about waiting and holding the bar, and I think I have to keep going under I've unwrapped that. Hopefully I can do that in two classes, because that's the discount pack they offered me and I'm not going to pay full price for it.

Trapeze either never gives you time to get in to a flow state or drops you in it immediately and then kicks you out just as fast. That is probably also a good thing to experience.

I was really reluctant to go to trapeze because I thought it was just going to be one long slide of hitting my limitations- I wouldn't be flexible enough or strong enough to do anything. I got talked into going by a friend, who lived up to her promise to relentlessly cheerlead everything I did. This gave me enough space to realize that if I'm angry about not being able to do all of the things in a set, refusing to do any of them is more likely to make me angrier than it is to make me feel good about myself. That lessen was totally worth the $30 the class cost.

*Surprisingly, this doesn't become less stressful if the holder is an attractive member of your gender of choice.

Parkour turns out to be another one of those things that would be fun to be good at but is no fun to suck at. Given that I make the guys at The Office look skilled, this is not good.

I can actually feel the places in specific muscles that are holding me back, and it's really frustrating. It might be worth another go round when I've further in the flexibility and strength training programs, but for now I'll just be making myself miserable.

I would be really interested in a woman only, or even woman taught, class. They do provide work arounds for everyone (including the children), but it was painfully obvious their frame included way more upper body strength than I will ever have. Yes, there were kids in the class, so it looks like they're accommodating different body types, but children have more leverage per pound of muscle force, so they're still better able to do moves requiring upper body strength. Those of you who know me: yes, you would think a room full of men with well developed arms + me would be the perfect day, but apparently my dislike of failure overrides even my bicepexuality.

Parkour definitely has something to do with that flow/commitment thing I was talking about earlier. Sometimes people would do the same move, and it wasn't any better technically, but I just knew that it was more fluid and more perfect. That was fun to watch, and the biggest incentive for me to try parkour again is to learn more about that.

In other hobbyfest news, I did keep up with juggling, and can do up to 10 catches with three balls. It is really relaxing, when I get into the double digits I feel a little bit like I'm flying. it is also great for flow.