8 easy steps

Quinn suggested a way of getting me to talk about anything but Baseball
and Dragon boats.

8 secrets or just things you may not know. Let's see:

1. For a time in high school I wanted to be *gasp* on flag team. My mom
told me I was an idiot and after some aspirin and a nap the feeling went
away. But will the shame of it?

2. I won my 3rd grade class spelling bee. This is huge because I'm a
HORRIBLE speller. Dumb luck I suppose and a good guess at
"monocotyledon".

3. To conform with others' drama confessions, I was the back end of a
tap-dancing cow sophomore year. And people wonder why I'm a techie...

4. While I don't own Mambo #5 on CD I do have the Spice Girls. Whatever.
I don't see Lou Bega announcing his world tour.

5. I've seen They Might Be Giants 14 times. (This should make up for #4)

6. I am a level one Reiki practitioner in the Usui liniage. "Just for
today do not worry. Just for today do not anger. Earn your living
honestly. Honor your parents, teachers, and elders. Show gratitude to
every living thing"

7. In spite of my lack of dancing ability I have been known, in my time,
to attend a contra dance. I blame the Revels people.

8. I fear Google. I have a lot of things I would have shared with you
people in person but when I think about posting it on a searchable blog
I can't do it.

Back in the water...

Welcome to my new obsession... Here, I thought I was going to have a hard time finding a new team when actually I've been wooed by several. Last night a team captain said he'd already read my scouting report (presumably he spoke to my prior coach) and could promise me beer and cool t-shirts. How can one resist? I'll be down in Salem racing with them this weekend if any one cares to join me.

So, for the non-dragon people I shall explain. The Rose Festival races I took part in are unique. They are put on by the Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association. The boats used are made and shipped from Kaohsiung, Taiwan (Flora...feel free to jump in here since you've been there) and are used since this is a culture sharing event. They are pretty. But they are big and heavy and are powered by 16 paddlers. To the majority of the rest of the world dragon boats are smaller, lighter, lower to the water and powered by 20 paddlers. Festive dragon heads are placed on the boats for race days but the look rather boring to the untrained eye. These boats are used for races year round and all
over the world.

Today, dragon boat racing is the fastest growing team water sport. The International Dragon Boat Federation is currently petitioning the International Olympic Committee to have Dragon Boat recognized as an Olympic sport. I love it because it combines fitness, team building, WATER, travel and competition. What does this mean to you, dear friends and readers? I shall bore you all silly with my obsession until my next one comes along!!! And that could be awhile...

And give all of these people chocolate eclairs

Smack Talk Sunday (Loyal Damon edition)

Dragonboats: the season finale!

We ended up being seeded in Division E (5th out of 5 divisions of 12 teams each) which is what we wanted and expected after only 3 months of training, not to mention only 5 guys in a mixed team. We took to the river early and came in third with a time of 3:07. Only the 1st and 2nd place finishers go on to the semi-finals along with the fastest two 3rd place. So I stayed in the results tent to wait for the other times while our coach took off to prep for her race in the Women's Division. About 30 seconds after she left they posted the times and I read the third place times as 3:03, 3:06 and 3:07...we were out. I was alone and devastated! All that hard work and we had to go home this early!?!?!? I could NOT tell my team. I made my way back to our tent to drop off my gear and went back to confirm once they posted the team names in the semi-finals. There they were...and we were not among them. Time to face the music and tell the team. It was not yet 10 o'clock but we were done. I told them I was proud of them and we all felt bad but were still happy we had done it. Our coach stopped by and got the news and said that her next race was "for us". Only one person left and the rest decided to stay and cheer on the women's teams and then head home. One guy went to get us our souvenir programs and came running back to me...he heard there had been a reporting error and they needed our captain back a the tent. Off I ran.... Turns out 3rd place finishes were 3:03, 3:07 and 3:08....we had gone from losing by one second to winning by one second and there was our name in the Semi-Finals!!!! I ran flat-out back to our tent and almost killed myself in the process...still they got the message: we made it to the semis!!! We found our coach on her way to the docks and gave her the good news. We also called back our teammate (who had made it all the way to Forest Grove) and she was more than happy to return!

So after coming down from that high, having some lunch, and checking the previous times of the teams we were racing next we had a team huddle. We were just so happy we made it this far! Only the 1st and 2nd place finishers advance to the finals. Paddle for 2nd but be happy with 4th I told them...and off we marched to the dock as the skies opened up and poured on us. I don't know where it came from or where we found it but we powered our way to hands-down 2nd PLACE FINISH!!! The high was incredible but followed by two realizations. One, we had to do this AGAIN (?), and two, our coach would be in the race right before ours so she would be heading for the finish line in one boat while we were in another heading to the start. So, we went to the tents to recharge, relax, and find an alternative. Luckily, a short while later, another member of our coach's club agreed to call for us and we headed down for the FINALS!!

With the realization that we only needed to beat ONE boat to medal the team was much more subdued while waiting to be escorted to the docks. There was some heavy wind and current fighting us at the start line and we used a lot of energy just getting all four boats lined up. It was a hectic race...we were in lane 3, and while our tiller fought hard with the current to keep us in line the river got the best of the boat in lane 1 and they sort of sandwiched the team in lane 2, pushing them dangerously close to us. My bench mate actually hit one of their paddles. But we powered through and pulled off a THIRD PLACE FINISH!

Hardware time!

Of course we stuck around for the award ceremony!!!!!

I'm pleased to report that the trophy lust of my youth is alive and well.

Qualifying in the rain

Welcome to Rose Festival in Portland! What does that mean? RAIN! Serious rain...I have been drier in the shower!!

We had two races. Came in 4th in both but with very respectable times (3:03 and 3:08). They won't seed us tonight like we thought but we will know our time in the morning and we're thinking we will be between 8:20 - 9:40.

Here it comes!!!

Race weekend is fast approaching. Last practice was today. For those that are in town The opening ceremonies start Saturday at 8AM. The Splashdragons are racing Saturday in the 11:00 hour and 3:00 hour and then Sunday we'll have at least one race (more depends on how we place). I'd love for you to come down and join in the fun. If you can't, just wish us luck! I think you can actually say that for a sporting event...

Joel and Tyler already came down to cheer us on.

It was 40 years ago today...