1, 2, 1, 2 ...

I was put in the right front of the dragon boat during practice tonight, and the coach emphasized that those of us in the first two rows needed to stay zen no matter what was being shouted at us, and that what might feel slow to us in the front would be impossible to keep up with in the back if we went too fast, because of how water works.

Oh, the metaphors to be expanded from that.

Last night, in a dream, I saw myself effortlessly doing splits in front of two co-workers. I've never successfully executed a split in my life. One doesn't need a psychology degree to unpack that one.

Work is providing solid entertainment on top of the crushing load. (I was at the office past 9 p.m. yesterday to meet today's deadlines.) During today's lunch break, a colleague plaintively asked what "Mercury in retrograde" meant, and twenty minutes later everyone at the table was discussing Chinese zodiac breakdowns (precipitated by me mentioning the anticolonial heft to a presentation about Eastern vs. Western zodiacs at a Philadelphia Museum of Art party last year, and then noting that I'm a metal dog).

More important, I am filled with glee at how our tug-of-war team for this Wednesday's tournament is coming together.

Last night, I could not settle down or focus after getting home, so I dove into Jackie Lau's Ultimate Pi Day Party and Ice Cream Lover. Props to whomever on Twitter recommended them to me, and props to my library for stocking them. Asian heroes! Bisexual and biracial heroine! Six-year-old foodies! Snark from sisters! Grandmas digging durian! (Can't stand the stuff myself, but the commentary is fab.)

Surprise gift from a friend. Notes from other friends. Scandalizing the BYM because I went grocery-shopping in a bikini. (I could not be arsed to put my work dress back on after practice, so to speak.) Doing laundry after midnight because of the leggings I want to wear tomorrow (keeping my right hip glued to the side of the boat = chafing). Getting one inbox below 500 unread. Plotting pies . . .

"I have not seen a polar bear twerk before."

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.