Today I did not cruise the aisles of the bedazzled, oddly sacrilegious Nutcracker Market as I have in years past. Instead I went to my friends’ wedding and then hauled ass to College Station to make it just in time to perform a little taiko. I was sad to have to leave the reception minutes before the entrees came out (and long before the cake, *tear*), but the waiter was nice enough to pack my whole pork chop and mashed potatoes into a giant to-go bag. Yum.

I’ve had so much going on over the last few days that I haven’t even had time to read my Twitter feed, much less the rest of the internet. Whoa. I feel a little out of touch with the new memes and whatnot, but at the same time I am intrigued by this . . . what do you call it? . . . “real life.”

And I’ve missed three more days of posting. Not gonna lie—hanging out and drumming with taiko players from around the world was more awesome even than NaBlo, so no regrets here.

I found the experience of watching the other groups (San Fransisco Taiko Dojo, their Rising Stars, Sacramento Taiko Dan, and Osuwa Daiko) perform to be deeply inspirational. I’m proud of Kaminari for the spirit we brought to the show, and I hope we can keep our enthusiasm high and incorporate this experience into our future practices and performances. Now I sound like I’m writing a speech. Whatever, it’s all true. TAIKO 4 EVAR!!1!

Man, is this week dragging, or what? I don’t think I’ve spent a minute less in front of my computer than I would have otherwise, and if I did, it was because I was either playing taiko or sleeping. I probably did pay a little more attention in class, though, so that’s a plus. Still, I’m ready to be done with this exercise.

Some unconnected bits:

Last night I dreamt that John was being chased by an angry kangaroo. He escaped by running to his dad’s house and tricking the kangaroo into jumping into a frozen lake. Then I stole an airplane and turned it into a robot. I tried to sign my brother up for a locker at his new law school, but the roller skating rink was on lockdown. I did find my own locker, though, and it was full of old swimsuits.

Samson is sleeping with his eyes half-open. All I can see are the whites, and every now and then they’ll roll around a little. It’s creepy as all get-out.

Three showers later, I’m still wearing the same eyeliner I put on for the Galveston show Saturday evening. I’ll probably have to take it off tomorrow because it’s finally starting to get patchy, but it’s had a good run.

Yesterday I was in a crummy situation that was all my own fault, and the idea popped into my head that it would be an ideal time to give blood, since I was already crying. The worst part of crying, after all, is trying not to cry. Once you start, all the tension releases, and there’s relief in knowing that however much your situation sucks, you no longer have to put on a brave face.

John and I haven’t gotten to see each other much lately, and it makes me sad. This weekend we’ll miss each other again because I’ll be in Hidalgo the whole time. Then three weekends later I’ll be in Nashville. I want to spend more time with him before he leaves the country for six weeks at the start of his new job in June, but spring taiko season has other ideas.

One and a half more days until I can step back into my online life. Like I said yesterday, if I do this again, I’ll fine-tune it to where I can exercise my self-discipline without becoming an internet hermit.

I guess it’s a lesson in how hooked I am on the instant-gratification, continuously-updated constant flow of information from Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and all that. A minute ago, instead of opening tabs for Facebook and Twitter like I usually do when I turn on my computer, I opened up CNN.com. But the news hasn’t changed much since I last checked it this afternoon, so now I’m here. With nothing to say.

Yesterday I tried reading some of the featured articles on Wikipedia so that I could read SOMETHING online that wasn’t “prohibited.” I don’t remember what happened next, but I know I didn’t get very far, which is weird because you know how Wikipedia is. If you try to find one little thing for an assignment you’re working on, you’ll be there for hours. Apparently, though, if you set out TRYING to spend time on Wikipedia, nothing grabs your attention.

In other news, my foot still hurts about as much as it did yesterday. Looks like it’s sensible shoes for the rest of the week. Gotta keep this puppy fresh for Hidalgo: four shows in two days, for a total of five hours of performance time. Yowza.

Gah, I’m sure the rest of the world is talking about so many fun things in my absence. Thirty-eight more hours!

A little over halfway through, I’m feeling pretty blah about this exercise. It’s a success in the sense that I haven’t been on any of the sites I used to spend time on for the past four days, but I can’t say I’ve gotten much extra work done in the meantime. The main goal, though, is not to get more done during this week, but to strengthen my self-discipline in the future. A worthwhile goal, that, but hard to measure.

Quitting social media for a week has left me feeling disconnected and out of the loop. I’m completely cut off from my internet friends and people-I-follow, and I miss the casual chit-chat with my real-life friends, even the ones I see regularly in person.

Facebook and Twitter, for me at least, are all about being brief, witty, and shallow, and instead I find myself here on my blog, writing long, boring sentences analyzing the meaning of social media in my life. Gross.

If I do something like this again, I’m going to make it more like “only check Facebook once a day for a week.” It’s not actually interacting with people online that’s a waste of time, it’s keeping the site open and flipping over to check on it every time a new post appears.

Anyway, here are some of the things I considered posting to Facebook or Twitter today:

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More than three days in, and I’m still on track. It helps that I’ve been keeping busy: last night we did a short interactive taiko show before Tao‘s performance in Galveston, and today we had an extra long practice to prepare for our trip to Hidalgo next weekend.

As a result, I hurt. All over really, but mostly in my back, shoulders, and arms. And I’m exhausted. I might skip dinner and go straight to bed. I know, poor me, getting to spend so much time doing something I love.

In the near future I’ll have hours and hours of newly-freed-up time to spend on taiko because at the end of last week I resigned from journal. My paper was so far behind that things were getting ridiculous, and my best option was to make a clean break of it. No hard feelings on either side, I don’t think. After I finish up a few assignments next week, I’ll be done.

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Is it cheating if I use the time I would have spent listening to podcasts and spend it reading my own blog archives instead? Speaking of narcissism . . .

A fun thing I found: In one of my favorite posts from 2006, I managed to work in the phrase “Heaven forfend.” Ironically, of course. I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

And another fun thing: I’ve thought a couple times of looking through my old blog posts to see when we first got Facebook at the Claremont Colleges (remember when they rolled it out school by school?), and just now I stumbled across the smoking post. It was mid-October 2004. Back then it was called “The Facebook,” and you had to have a .edu email address to join.

In unrelated news, tonight’s taiko practice: two and half hours of awkward turtle.

GAH I CAN’T STOP. These fleeting thoughts belong other places on the internet or NOWHERE AT ALL. And yet. I post and post. You’d think the “Publish” button sent a jolt of heroin straight into my brain.

The Alexandria concert was tons of fun. The cold rain that tracked us all the way there didn’t promise a great experience, but our hosts found us an indoor location, and the show was a smashing success. Alexandria turned out IN FORCE, let me tell you.

We weren’t sure what to expect from a small-ish city, but the crowd packed City Hall so thoroughly that the organizers had to delay the start of the show for ten minutes while they brought in extra chairs. Every number got an enthusiastic response, and this audience wasn’t shy about cheering us on while we played. I can’t tell you how much easier it is to play for an audience that actually seems to be enjoying themselves.

In related news, I woke up this morning with a sore throat. I thought it was from all the yelling I did during the show, but over the course of the day the unpleasantness crept into my ears and nose. Sometimes I cough so hard that I gag.

I don’t have a fever, so I’m thinking it’s not swine flu. Goodness knows what was floating around in that crowded hall, or what lingered on the door handles of all the gas stations we stopped at. I’m hoping a good night’s sleep tonight and a day off tomorrow will vanquish these teeny intruders, whoever they are.

So yeah, my level of fail at NaBlo 2009 is reaching epic proportions. I’ve come to accept it. November’s been busy, and it’s flying by. Ten pages of my journal paper, complete with footnotes, due in two days? Criminy.

Today was my third day in a row of taiko performances—two at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, and one in College Station. Next weekend we’re on the road again to Alexandria, and it’s a 90-minute show, so we’ve got two practices (maybe three) this week to prepare for that.

But right now, if I can deny the existence of my paper deadline for a little longer, life is good. I just took a hot shower, and now I’m sitting on John’s balcony with a beer and my laptop, enjoying the November weather. What’s that? It’s snowing where you live? You can’t go outside with wet hair and bare feet? Suck it. This is our reward for making it through the summer.

Also, I just got to watch a guy throw up over the side of his balcony at an apartment across the street. So that’s nice.