Arts Fest Jam Write-Up
Friday:
Well, actually following into Friday, I had been making a lot of desserts. I suppose I was trying to figure out where everyone was going to be, so that stressed me out a bit. Desserts for Arts Fest Jam! I made sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, white chip cookies, and some sort of gone-wrong-yet-doesn’t-taste-bad angel food cake cupcakes filled with custard.
After I finished making the white chip cookies, which were the last thing I made, I sort of just *had* to get out of the house. I ended up going to Sheetz with Ben, after he was done kicking with Nathan Bonslaver, and we got food. They have good fries. This was the second time I had them because they don’t have Sheetz on the West Coast, or at least in San Diego. Then we decided to walk back to Ben’s place (aka what I call home now, since it’s with Ben
), and on the way back, we (Ben) stopped at the liquor store and picked up some amaretto and cheap wine-stuff.
We got back to Ben’s place and waited a while, as Nick Polini and Ryan Thomas would show up between 9 and 10 PM (more towards 10PM). Nick and Ryan arrived and settled in Ben’s place with their stuff, and then we all got ready to set out to shredhaus. Being Arts Fest, there were lots of drunk people (since it’s basically a reason for people to party at State College, I guess). We eventually got to shredhaus to see Ivan and Ryan, since Matt Kemmer and Dan Carey hadn’t arrived yet.
Apparently, Ryan Thomas hadn’t been to shredhaus before, so that was something. He ended up signing the wall with something other than his name, perhaps a picture will show up sometime in the future. Then, we went to Ivan and Ryan’s room, where a lot of us discussed stitching-related things, such as fabric and bags, as well as played with Kat’s rats that Ivan’s been taking care of, Simi and Roo. Then, Nick and Ryan Thomas decided to kick downstairs around 12AM, and the rest of us joined.
Soon after heading to the basement area of the place, Matt and Dan showed up. Ben politely asked Matt if he would help him with Toe op Butter>pdx Mirage rpt. Then, I found out that Matt’s racist because he made me feel very offended in under five minutes. One example: Somehow my last name was brought up (Tou), and he had said Towel. I replied saying that there was someone/people when I was in kindergarten who had “pronounced” it that way before. Then, Matt went on to say that maybe when my parents passed Ellis Island that they thought it was “too Asian” and decided to shorten it to “Tou.” Thanks Matt. I have never been so offended in my life. (By the way, this is sarcasm. I am not THAT offended.) I also realized that I was the only non-white person in the basement at this time, so thanks for that too.
Around 2-3AM, Ryan Thomas, Nick, Ben, and I went to see if any buses were running still. We waited for a bit, and figured that no buses were to come. Then, we tried calling many different taxi companies to find that many were busy (or something), and finally got a taxi to pick us up, and someone else who seemed to be heading to the same area as us.
When we got back to Ben’s place, we all kind of chatted for a bit, and slept (at around 4AM).
Saturday:
Saturday morning, I woke up at 9AM and began preparing home-made pancake (batter). It’s cool because they’re basically delicious and nutritious! I make them with bran, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and cornmeal as a base. For this morning, we had the options of adding white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, and bananas to our pancakes. Yum! (Ben cooked the pancakes. Thanks love!)
Then, the four of us got ready to head to campus/Old Main. We *just* missed the bus when we were about there, so we ended up walking.
Ben ended up taking a bus back to his place because he forgot his kicking lavers, but Nick, Ryan, and I got to Old Main. I called Matt to see where they are (him, Dan, and Ivan, since Ryan Morris worked all day). They were at Irving’s (a café downtown), and would be up in a half hour or so. Shortly after that, Cassy had found us (currently still only Nick, Ryan, and I). Yay! I was afraid she might not have found us, but I am very glad everything went swimmingly.
Other people who showed up throughout the day, in no particular order (since I don’t remember), were Chrissy Fryer, Aidan Reilly, Nathan Bonslaver, and Marc Peralta. Around 1:30 PM (not everyone just listed were here yet), most of us started kicking. For some part of the session, I ended up in a circle with Matt, Nick, and… Ryan Thomas, I believe. I had probably my best string thus far in that circle, which was cool, and also got props for it. Apparently, I improved, since Nick hadn’t expected me to be so consistent (I think is what he had said) in stringing tiltless back to back, since at Jamps (3 months ago) where I had a lot of toe stalls buffering my game.
Lots of kick happened, as did a lot of sweating, and the drinking of water. When Matt was taking a short break, he helped me with my Osis and Infinity. They were both very tiring and there was a LOT of sweating involved. I felt like a lot of progress was made, especially with my Infinities. Thank you very much, Matt!
After I cooled down for a bit from all the hard work with my Osis and Infinity, I was deciding if I wanted to kick still or not. I was very, very tired after all that. I might have done a little bit more kicking, but not as well as earlier, and then learned Symple Legover from Ryan Thomas. I ended up hitting it both sides, which was cool. Thanks Ryan!
Towards the end of the session, and also after the session was over, many people got ice cream and root beer floats. The first group who had gone to the Creamery was Marc, Chrissy, and Cassy. And at some point, Cassy gave Marc, Ben, and I awesome massages. Thanks Cassy! You’re very cool! Then, the second group of people who got floats was Ivan, Matt, and…? I’m sorry, I actually wasn’t paying too much attention at that point.
But after that, we all parted for showers and food. Ben, Cassy, Ryan, Chrissy, and I took the bus back to Ben’s place. Chrissy and I first went to Giant (grocery store) to pick up dinner, while the others went to the liquor store first. When Chrissy and I got back to Ben’s place before the others, we both took showers. Then, Ben, Cassy, and Ryan arrived looking wet.
They had jumped in the pool beforehand, then they all took showers. Dinner was made, which was spaghetti, butter & herb pasta, and garlic bread. It was cheap and delicious for what it’s worth (rather than spending a lot of money on decent-yet-expensive food).
Before heading out to shredhaus, I had a (half) shot of Jägermeister with Ben and a friend of his roommates. I think it was my first time trying it, and I decided that I didn’t really like it because I don’t like black licorice, and it was a weird burning sensation (because alcohol, but weird in the sense that it came in bouts of burns rather than a continuous burn). Then, I had a shot of amaretto with his roommate who was excited because I don’t drink often and it was pretty much the first time I had cheers’d with him (I think is what he said) and I found the amaretto to be very tame (it was also my first time trying amaretto to my knowledge). Then, thanks to Cassy and Ryan (who had gotten it) I had a shot of tequila with lime.
We packed the desserts and got on a bus full of drunk people heading to probably, other parties. When we got to shredhaus, it was really warm. Lots of talking and laughing had occurred. I enjoyed it. At the beginning of hanging out, I pointed out to Nick that he sometimes made a sloth-like face.
I think there was a consensus that the best cookie was the white chip oatmeal one. That’s cool. At some point in the night, Ivan was teaching Dan to stitch. More shots of tequila with lime were had. Ben had to leave early since he worked early in the morning.
After Ben left, and more conversations were had, or at least just making fun of Marc, more tequila shots. I had one, then Marc agreed to have a shot if I would have one with him, so I had another one. Marc made a big deal about it because I don’t drink often, and I’ve never really drank with him before. Then, I got a buzz, which was cool.
While I was getting water from the kitchen, I saw Ryan just hanging there. Then, I was invited for the getting-smokes-because-Marc-ran-out adventure. It was a nice walk outside.
After we came back, it seemed that Matt and Ivan had gone to sleep early. The rest of us were just chilling and hanging out, which was fine with me. Nick was trying to sleep, but to no success for a while because Marc is SO loud.
At the end of the night, but before Ry-Mo (Ryan Morris) got off work, Ryan, Chrissy, Cassy, and I headed out by calling a taxi to pick us up at shredhaus. We got back to Ben’s place around 3AM, and I felt bad for Ben since he had to get up for work an hour or so after that. But then, we all went to sleep when we got back.
Sunday:
I woke up around 9:45AM on Sunday, and found out that everyone else was already awake. Ryan, Cassy, and Chrissy left early, taking Nick’s car to campus and checking out the booths for Arts Fest and having breakfast at The Corner Room (restaurant in downtown State College). I was still waking up and figuring out what to have for breakfast. As I was still in the process of waking up, Ben made me an egg scramble with cheese and sausage, that I ate with ketchup and it was very good. Thank you, Ben!
I got ready, dressed in my kick clothes, and Ben and I caught the bus and headed to Old Main. By the time we got there, Ryan, Chrissy, and Cassy were there. We all were waiting for the others, but no one picked up their phones.
While waiting, Ben led some yoga exercises/stretches with Cassy, Chrissy, and Ryan. During the stretching, it started sprinkling, then we took our stuff and took shelter under Old Main (more under the entrance of the building rather than outside of the building area, where we kicked yesterday). It started raining a bit harder, but only shortly. Finally, Ry-Mo replied to my Facebook message, as did Ivan, saying that they were leaving shredhaus soon to meet up with us, but we moved the session to IST instead.
When we got to the IST bridge, Cassy offered me a fruit bar, which was really good. I chose the wildberry flavor rather than the peach (though I bet peach is also good).
Thanks again, Cassy! You’re the best!
We waited, and eventually the first group of people arrived – Matt, Dan, and Ryan. Then, the second group came, Marc and Nick, who had stopped by the market to get water and stuff. Then, Ivan made his entrance.
So, everyone was here.
Kick. I was too tired from yesterday and wasn’t doing too well. I was very tired from the work done yesterday, but tried to kick a bit. I ended up mostly sitting out and watching others kick. But, at the end of the session, I tried stepping. I practiced with Ben off to the side, and got stepping op toe once. Yay for a new thing to practice! It’ll be nice for when I sort of get tired/bored of drilling. Thanks for the tips Ben and Nick!
Afterwards, we all split ways and said goodbyes. Ben and I ended up getting a ride from Nick and Ryan before they left, and it was also because Nick had left his toothpaste and toothbrush at Ben’s anyway. Then we officially said goodbye (for now).
That’s pretty much the end to my Arts Fest Jam (perspective). It was a bunch of fun, and I’m glad it happened. Thanks to everyone who came out!
All in all, cheers to improving! And cheers to bonding with friends and making new ones!
Legover x50 (25 bs)
