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Today's subject line is from the emcee of the drummers' dance-off during today's dragon boat festival, when the Coca-Cola team mascot got down. Supergirl (a gorgeous African American woman in red stiletto knee-high boots, who was later seen catching footballs in them) and Animal also showed up.
My team finished first in its first heat (1:21.571), which put us at 12th overall. I ended up pinch-paddling for another team (Nashville Veterinary Specialists), sitting in the last row on the left side (exactly opposite to my position in the TSRA boat) ... and ended up sliding off my seat halfway through the race when I leaned forward an notch too far. Despite that mishap, and the team being a hodgepodge to begin with (at least 6 of us were from other teams), that boat finished in 1:21.995, putting it in 13th overall even though it was 4th (= last) in its heat.
Vanderbilt failed to show up, hence their time of 5:55 (assigned to 3 teams out of the 35).
During the second round, TSRA finished 3rd out of 4, with a time of 1:23.494, which had us in 6th place after 4 heats. (The app has failed to update since then, and some of the more competitive teams were in later heats.) Most of the team members had hoped and assumed that we would finish no better than 13th (apparently the top 12 and worst 4 still on site compete in a final round; something something football, and how Southern is that?), and they were gone by the time I returned from the marshaling area. (I had planned on helping the vets again, but they didn't show up for their scheduled heat, so I shrugged at the volunteers, who shrugged back; one loped off to inform the announcer, and I ambled over to the spectators' area. Apparently the vets sorted themselves out in time to compete 2 or 3 heats later, and there wasn't another call for help, so I bid farewell to the two other TSRA rowers still there and headed to Bates Nursery (today was the last day to use a 50% discount, so my own "if I end up leaving by 3" plan was to go look at their hellebores and ferns. But it would've been nice to spend more time on the water, and if I do this again I will plan on staying closer to the staging area so that I can answer more calls for help. The neuroscientist in a tutu who bought lunch for me -- I'd given her a ride last night -- also did an extra race as well; it's apparently a recurring thing.)
Also enjoyed at the festival: matcha bubble tea and some fine tunes (I can't Umbrella like Tom Holland, but I was happy to hear it anyway. And also a nicely roughed-up mix of "Someone that I Used To Know"). I resisted the temptation of $5 t-shirts (hello, hellebore!). It was good to be outside. And now it's time to put in more time at the piano.
My team finished first in its first heat (1:21.571), which put us at 12th overall. I ended up pinch-paddling for another team (Nashville Veterinary Specialists), sitting in the last row on the left side (exactly opposite to my position in the TSRA boat) ... and ended up sliding off my seat halfway through the race when I leaned forward an notch too far. Despite that mishap, and the team being a hodgepodge to begin with (at least 6 of us were from other teams), that boat finished in 1:21.995, putting it in 13th overall even though it was 4th (= last) in its heat.
Vanderbilt failed to show up, hence their time of 5:55 (assigned to 3 teams out of the 35).
During the second round, TSRA finished 3rd out of 4, with a time of 1:23.494, which had us in 6th place after 4 heats. (The app has failed to update since then, and some of the more competitive teams were in later heats.) Most of the team members had hoped and assumed that we would finish no better than 13th (apparently the top 12 and worst 4 still on site compete in a final round; something something football, and how Southern is that?), and they were gone by the time I returned from the marshaling area. (I had planned on helping the vets again, but they didn't show up for their scheduled heat, so I shrugged at the volunteers, who shrugged back; one loped off to inform the announcer, and I ambled over to the spectators' area. Apparently the vets sorted themselves out in time to compete 2 or 3 heats later, and there wasn't another call for help, so I bid farewell to the two other TSRA rowers still there and headed to Bates Nursery (today was the last day to use a 50% discount, so my own "if I end up leaving by 3" plan was to go look at their hellebores and ferns. But it would've been nice to spend more time on the water, and if I do this again I will plan on staying closer to the staging area so that I can answer more calls for help. The neuroscientist in a tutu who bought lunch for me -- I'd given her a ride last night -- also did an extra race as well; it's apparently a recurring thing.)
Also enjoyed at the festival: matcha bubble tea and some fine tunes (I can't Umbrella like Tom Holland, but I was happy to hear it anyway. And also a nicely roughed-up mix of "Someone that I Used To Know"). I resisted the temptation of $5 t-shirts (hello, hellebore!). It was good to be outside. And now it's time to put in more time at the piano.
