did you see what God just did to us?

A few weeks ago, I got it into my head that I was going to pursue learning the art of poi.

If you know me, then you probably are already aware of the fact that my fancy frequently flits from bad good idea to good idea, then my attention wanes and I grow bored (or not have the time to dedicate) of whatever I was formerly interested in.

Poi, however, has been something simmering in the back of my mind for ages. It started out with the first rave I ever attended, with Miss Stephanie and Justin, and saw glowsticks being spun. This was fabulous to my mind (before, after, and during the drugs) and I was always interested in learning, but never knew how to go about it.

Then I learned that people did it with fire and the interest grew ever stronger.

Being the simpleton that I can sometimes be, I never thought to look up more information on the internet until quite recently and that was when I discovered the website linked above.

Hah! Practice poi for sale, tips on the best ways to avoid being incinerated, videos showing you exactly how to do things, networking...the works. I knew I had a camping trip planned and thought that so much open space would be a fantastic time to start getting aquainted with this (sans fire, of course). However, I didn't have the time to order a practice set and have it arrive before I left for camping.

My solution was to use glow sticks.

The weight and balance were off and I made my cords a bit too long, not to mention the fact that the straps I constructed kept untying at inopportune moments (I had bought twine, which was covered in some kind of slick stuff). But, I actually did ok.

I've got down the basic forward and backward swings quite nicely. (although my backward swings were a little higher then they should be). Split swinging is a breeze, though I do this crazy hip sway as I do them, like I'm bellydancing in place. Butterfly swings I wasn't especially good at, but giant butterflies became easy once I figured out I needed to go slowly.

I also figured out a move that isn't on the webpage (don't know if it's actually even an 'official' move, it probably is), but got pretty good at. It starts out with both poi forward swinging, then you cross your arms in front of you so that the right and left side switch places, then back again. Hard to describe, but fairly easy to execute. I did it over and over again for about an hour.

(I'm also going to branch out into staff spinning at some point, which should be relatively easy since I was in colour guard for some time and can already do the basic moves).

Soon, I'm going to order a real practice set, so I can stop bonking myself with glowsticks.

Those fuckers hurt. Laugh all you like, but whack yourself in a sensitive area with a glowstick going some amount of miles an hour and then get back to me. The backs of my legs, my hips and my butt are aching from the abuse, not to mention the calluses I'm beginning to develop on my fingers and the lump I raised on my head when I cracked myself in the noggin during one ill-fated move. My shoulders are also sore from all the movement and odd directions I was going in that they aren't used to. I feel like I've been through the proverbial wringer.

At one point, I slammed the big toe on my left foot and dropped to the ground cursing up a storm. I was wearing shoes, my nifty purple and black platform sneakers with the skull and crossbones printed on the sides, but that pain travels like a bitch. Harder shoes on on the menu for the next time I practice, as well as not wearing a full and ankle length skirt. I had to kirtle it up around my waist to avoid getting tangled up, though that took a couple mishaps to actually get the idea through my bird-boned skull.

The Engineer's little brother took some photos of me as I was practicing, as it was pitch black outside and I was well away from the camp fire. We thought that the trails from the sticks would produce some interesting effects, but unfortunately only the green one showed up (my other was orange). He got some other shots of me holding them in my hands and dancing (I danced! In front of people!), which turned out much better.

All in all, a fairly decent first try and I'm quite looking forward to being able to do it again. Can't really practice at home, there's no one to do it when you live in an apartment (don't think it's such a hot idea to do this in the house), maybe I'll practice on my lunch hour in the parking lot at work.

Other then the poi experience, the camping trip was glorious. Well, minus the rain on Friday and the completely freezing weather conditions Friday night when we were trying to sleep. Much shit was talked, much bad food was consumed, much laughing was to be had and many fires were set. Rowan was startled out of a half-sleep in her tent by The Engineer and I throwing the liquid remains of a citronella candle on the fire and me shouting, "I AM THE GOD OF HELL-FIRE!" The resulting glow was enough to make her think the forest was burning down around us (I couldn't even look at it) and caused me to spend the rest of the night casting around for other good things to throw in the fire.

Can I throw the bag of marshmallows in the fire?
No.
How about these glowsticks?
No.
What about the lamp fuel from the tiki torches
No, Tara!
You never let me have any fun.