All I can say is....

As for shopping: Depending on the places, I typically have been know to go shopping and try out clothes. I note the place, the item that I want to get, what color, what size and the price. If I have a lower sales tax rate than the place I'm visiting, chances are good that I'll save by shopping online. And sometimes the online shops just go with whatever sales taxes rates they have (or do away with sales tax altogether...)

The other thing to note is the hassle factor. Me personally, I'd rather just have stuff shipped home rather than having to lug it around all that stuff in a suitcase. Spending about $20 on shipping is well worth whatever cost I pay and aggravation to go to my chiro or doctor and not sprain my back!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Thought I should let people know to bring plenty of change for tolls if you're renting a car......

I totally agree withour sentiment. There is a lot more to it for me than fun. Sure I am never going to the Olympics or even a high level Adult comp, and I will struggle to pass standard tests. But I am a serious skater, and I work as hard as any kid at our rink to improve.

When adults perform in public we are putting ourselves on the line, revealing ourselves in a way we wouldn't normally do. This is confronting in itself, quite aside from the judges' score.

Fun? Sure, but way more than that.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Hi SkatingOnClouds,

I'm so pleased to hear that someone finally feels the same way I do. Usually, when I say that on these threads, I really get slammed for it. I just feel that if your "write it off" as "oh, well, I just do this for fun anyway," then you miss a really good opportunity to improve your skating through some serious self reflection. I also find that taking a more serious look at what you are doing can, indeed, help you plan a very good strategy to deal with the nerves, ect. The problem with saying "oh, well...just for fun" is that you open the wide door for just anything to walk in and throw you off your game.

Watching "Amercian Idol" tryouts can really help with this whole thing, because you know how it feels so good to skate, and then you see yourself on video tape and you're totally devasted by what it looks like (in degrees, of course.) With the majority of people who audition for American Idol, there seems to be this huge gap between how they think they sound, and how they really sound (often off pitch, ect.) So, I've come up with this theory about it all, and am trying to really understand what the "Politics of Humiliation" is all about. My theory is that we are all born with desire; meaning a desire to do something well, achieve something, express ourselves...however, very very few of us are born with native talent, or what some call a "gift" with which to express this desire. I'm beginning to believe that there is something in the space in between (what if feels like, and what it looks like) where we can move what it looks like closer to what it feels like. I think this something in between is the power to replace delusion with self reflection. This is why I become some crazy when I hear people say "it's just for fun (the underlying centiment being that "don't take it too seriously, because it's really only for "fun.") I think if you write it off for "fun only" then you miss a really good opportunity to take a look at what you are doing and really improve. I also think that "competition time" really underscores the moment when delusion and reality sort of collide, which is why every one goes into a panic (to one degree, or another.) At this moment, slowing everything down, takinig a serious look at where you are at the moment with what you are doing, and having an emotional and mental plan for why, when, where, and how, you are putting it "out there" can really help control the nerves/panic.

Oh, Phoenix,

The George Bush Highway in Dallas, Tx. has tolls every 5 feet. Pairsman2 and I thought we were going to go to jail as we were running out of change trying to get to the practice rink last year at Nationals!

Doesn't it depend, though, on your definition of "fun". I wouldn't say I skate for fun - I skate because skating, and competing is fun. Sure, at my level, as the Husband says, "it's only a game", but we still train hard (and he is still impossibly competitive, far more than I am, he just pretends he isn't!) and get up much earlier than we need to go to the rink, and so on.

But that doesn't mean it isn't fun! We wouldn't do it if it weren't.

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

With all due respect, it's really not your call to judge how others assess their progress in skating. We should all do what works for us.

I wouldn't skate if it didn't bring me great joy, ie fun. Yeah, there are cheaper ways to have fun, but none like skating, IMO.

I'm not freaking out about AN... DBNAI on the other hand...

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Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!

Hannahclear You've got it!

Patty - your blue dress always looks great. I painted mine last night, and it's begining to look like the sketch.

I love Mr. Ed. I also have a dutch door!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Thanks flo! It's a good thing that I like it too

I'm glad your's is coming together as you envisioned it!


On the other topic, I think it's all about balance. We need to be serious enough to train properly, but if it's not fun in the end.....what's the point? So everyone is right!

Who's going to drink wine in the parking lot with me this year after the events??

Why doesn't that surprise me? LOL!

This topic of "fun" is very interesting. I like to say I skate for "pride." It is more than fun, because I spend a lot of time training to be the best I can be and it's frustrating when things go wrong, etc. But I hope not to cross the line where I take it soooo seriously that it comes off as just ridiculous. As someone pointed out upthread, none of us is going to the Olympics or getting endorsements. So if I have a bad skate, yeah, it's upsetting and frustrating, but have I really lost anything? No. I just try to do better the next time.

Patty,
If you are interested in trying another seamstress, I can recommend mine (although she's at Pickwick) and Michelle L. recently got a dress made by someone down in OC. But otherwise, I agree, that blue dress does look great on you, and it should be just fine with your new music, too.

Oh, just out of curiosity, what color and style were you thinking of for your new program?

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I think it's impossible to give one reason for skating that applies to every skater because we are all motivated by such different things. For me (and I would venture to say this also sounds true for LovesPairs), the motivation is that sense of achievement and pride we feel when we conquer a difficult challenge. For others, it is the energy they get when performing for an appreciative audience. And there could be 100 other reasons as well.
I didn't realize how true this was until a fellow adult skater and I were teaching a 5-year old how to skate, and we were both telling her to look up instead of looking down at the ice. I said, "You need to look up so that you don't run into anyone." But my friend got dreamy-eyed and said with a big grin, "No, you look up because that's where the AUDIENCE is!"
For me, the best way to conquer the thought of doing poorly at a competition is to remind myself that skating progress is just like the stock market. You can't look at a snapshot of where it is on any single day and really understand if it's going up or down; you need to look at the trend over a few years to see that value is steadily increasing. A competition doesn't determine whether you're a good skater or a lousy skater; it's just your closing price on one day, or if you prefer, a single snapshot at one point in time. And the more competitions you do, the more likely you'll end up with a few "snapshots" that look really good!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Me, me, me! I'll even BYOB this time

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

We'll find an outlet for the blender!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

My competition outfit is on its way to me for a trial run, I have my entry filled out. Tomorrow I'll have my coach check my entry (to be sure it is complete and correct) and then send it off tomorrow after skating. Then I am ENTITLED to start freaking out officially!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

LOL! There you are! I figured I would draw you out with that comment.


flo, someone needs to rent a car with a built in generator for that blender...or maybe we can find one that runs on 12V!

I did find someone near me, Pickwick is too far with LA traffic.

I can't tell you that...I would give it away! My interp needs to be a suprise..haha. You'll probably see it on Sunday.

If someone has a converter, you can use my SUV to run the blender. But only if I get one...

Clearly, a few of you out there know what I'm talking about and can appreciate what it means to have a serious pursuit of something whether it be needlepoint, writing, music, singing, skating ect..., even if the end product is not going to the Olympics, or showing your artwork at the Metropolitan, or singing at the Carnegie.

For those of you who just think it's just for "fun," then there is no need to feel nerveous before a competition, because after all it's just for "fun," and we're not going to the Olympics, so nothing means anything, so why have a nervous feeling about it. Okay, it's just for "fun" no need to feel nervous=problem solved!

I don't think it's that black and white. Just because something is "for fun" doesn't mean you don't want to do well, and that's where the nerves usually come in. Or maybe you have friends there to watch you, and that makes you nervous. Or maybe you just have anxiety performing in front of people, and that makes you nervous.

I wouldn't say, though, that just because someone does it "for fun" that "nothing means anything."

I don't know about anyone else, but I have seen some people at AN take things way too seriously for my taste. Throwing things when they have a bad skate, being rude on the ice on practices.... To me, that is over the top and unwarranted given the circumstances. When I see that behavior, I am sad for that person because I don't think that person is having any fun and, quite frankly, I think that person needs a reality check. But, hey, who am I to judge? If that person is OK with it, right on.

Right on, Daisies.

I think the key here is how we define "fun." Not everyone defines it the same way. And there are varying degrees of funness. You can't corner the market on defining fun.

Skating just for the fun of it doesn't make me any less of a skater. I think I'm a decent skater. Heck, I've kicked the butts of people who take it far more seriously. In fact, I think if some people lightened up a little, they'd actually be happier on the ice.

I'm one of the "do it for fun" people. Skating is a hobby. I'm never going to get paid for it; I'm never going to be famous for it; I'm never going to be on TV. But I enjoy the challenge, so I put a little effort into it. I'll get up and go to the rink when my husband is still sleeping, and I'll spend $500 for a new pair of boots. And yet ... I'm doing it just for fun. Because that's what it is to me ... fun. Plain and simple. I enjoy the activity and the exercise, and I love to perform. I don't define myself by my skating, and I'm not going to throw a hissy fit if I have a bad competition. I'm not looking for some deep motivation for why I skate or what it means to my soul, and I'm not trying to analyze the connection between me and my partner. I'm just having fun learning new things and trying to pull off a program without looking like a baby moose on the ice!

But, lovepairs - if it's not fun, why do it? This may be a different nuance in our respective uses of the English language, but for me, when you are doing something you enjoy, you have fun. This doesn't necessarily mean that you don't take it seriously.

I'm a preacher - I really enjoy preaching and putting services together and finding the appropriate prayers to use. That's fun - but that doesn't for one second mean I don't take it seriously! And it can be very hard work indeed writing my sermons, just as training for a skating competition can be very hard work. That part sometimes isn't fun. But overall, I enjoy it enormously.

Which is one reason why I do it, and certainly why I skate! I enjoy it. It's fun. But I still take it seriously.

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Ok, enough talk of "taking it seriously"! Sent my (Canadian) Nationals entry in this morning so now I am officially entitled to FREAK OUT! The best thing that could happen for my skating in the next six weeks is for me to relax into my program, ham it up, and START HAVING FUN! Forget about the fact that I have been bustin' my britches for the past year to get here and just live in the moment . . . well, ok, the 2:34 moments!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

That's right!! If you're not here to Freak Out, take the discussion elsewhere!!

Coach asked to see my program for the first time today (he didn't choreograph it)....I'd been hoping for a little more time to work on it--oh well. So on went the music, for the first time , and I managed to stumble through it. At least he could see what it will become eventually. I got the comment in Russian "not bad", which is better than the new word I learned Wed, which means "awful but still a little nice".