#21 Conquer my biggest fear

My biggest irrational fear has always been deep water. I've swam in oceans and dark lakes but if I really dive (pun intended) into it; I think for me deep water in a greater sense is somewhat a literal representation of the unknown in my mind.  Not being able to see what's in front, below or around you. You have no real form of control as water stifles the speed and mobility of your body. The closest thing to actual monsters in this world are these giant creatures that lay claim to the underwater world. Then again, it could be a poster I had in my room as a kid. It showed all of the fish and sea life  in our state with a human size scale in the corner. In the other corner it had a picture of the ugliest sturgeon you could imagine well over any size of a regular person. Or it could be the giant skeletal structure my cousins and I pulled up out of Alki as kids. Maybe somewhere in the back of my head that's what I think of.

To conquer this fear I first had to get a better understanding of what I was afraid of. I decided to complete a two part shark cage/dive experience. What better way to face my fears than by getting up close and personal.

The first part of the lesson you're in the safety of the cage while they teach you how to breathe underwater. Once you've managed to get that right there is part two where they let you out of the cage. This all took place at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium so it was in a very controlled setting. I personally never felt like I was in any real danger but it was a very exciting and educational experience. They started us off with a safety video and suit you up in both wetsuits and full big heavy sweaters. Surprising enough the water is really cold. I love wandering through the backdoors of places people normally don't get to see. In this case it was being on top of the shark exhibit and seeing exactly how they made the whole thing work. It looked like a  James Bond villain's lair with pools of swirling water and industrial equipment on the walls. We were hooked up to a tethered air hose and then climbed down into the tank.

Probably the most scary part of this whole event was learning how to breathe underwater. Once my head was submerged and my life became dependent on a breathing apparatus in my mouth, things got real. I panicked a couple of times. Its a shock to get used to something we take for granted every second of the day. Breathing is so automatic you don't have to think about it. Until it's gone..then all of that realization comes rushing in as fear and nothing else matters. Once I caught my composure and relaxed I was able to get the hang of it. But I tell you, that seal between my teeth and lips was clamped down as hard as I could get it.

After being down there a while I started to get a different perspective of this underwater world I was in. All of a sudden I had this feeling of being reborn. I know that kind of sounds corny but it really was a whole different world. The cage made me feel like a baby in a crib. All of my worries and daily problems disappeared into this environment. This is the kind of experience I've been looking for. The ones that shut down the rest of the world. Here I am with needs and wants limited to the bare essentials. Just experiencing what I'm doing in this moment. Take a look around and realize that my fear is simply what I can't control. Once I gave into that nothing seemed as scary anymore. 

Once I had this realization I was ready for the next step. Let's open this cage, let's see what's out there! I want to touch these things. I want to meet Trevor the photo bombing fish. I want to absorb all there is to offer. They opened the gate and that was but a tiny taste of what's to come. The sharks all still stayed relatively away from the cage. They'd go under and around it but never really close. I could see mammoth nurse sharks resting a few feet below. Sand bar sharks circling around and a bunch of little fish here and there. I was ready of round two. 

I lined both of these dives up back to back to get the full shot the first time around. My first group left and I was back in the training room with a new crew of folks now doing their second dive weeks later. I stayed suited up and then it was the whole climb into the cage process again.
Only this time we got the cage opened up right away. We each got to sit at the edge of the cage and then drop down to the tank floor. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to really swim around. But we were outside of the cage. However we were limited to the bar a few feet in front of the cage. This was a much better view and more exciting. Now the sharks that were circling the bottom of the cage were now swimming around us. Even the one Japanese Gobo shark they had swam right over my left shoulder bumping into me.

What I learned is that these guys weren't scary at all. If anything they were just big clumsy dumb guys curious about what we were doing in the water. I got a couple really close and amazing touches from the sharks in this tank. It helped me understand that they're not monsters and actually are really important to our ecosystem and environment. But more importantly they helped me realize that my fear of deep water and the "monsters" underneath is nothing more than an irrational fear.

Things I learned today:

Sharks are dangerously overfished and products of bycatch. People usually think to save dolphins in this scenario but the reality is that sharks are a far more valuable creature that keeps the ocean's ecosystem in balance by controlling smaller fish population.

For every one fatal human shark attack there are 25 million shark deaths attributed by humans.

An average sand bar shark goes through 30,000 teeth in a lifetime!

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

#20 Try a Chicago Style Pizza

So I set out to attempt 30 new things in one year. The point of this whole exercise was to experience new things and chop up the rat race a little bit. To avoid being overwhelmed by my life and rather take a few moments to enjoy myself. Well, I'm running out of time and life has been catching up quite a bit the last few months. These last couple months I've been adulting pretty hard.

Near the end of 2015 my little brother had to break the news to me that he'd knocked up his girlfriend. He expressed to me that it was like an out of body experience when he told me. Wasn't sure where I'd land..excited, disappointed, angry. More than anything, I was the only thing I could be, which was supportive. For those of you who don't know my brother and live together. When he turned 18 I pulled him right out of his youth and dropped him directly into adulthood with half a mortgage, had him find a job and spend his "college" experience remodeling a house with me.

When he broke the news to me our priorities changed. We needed a bigger place and all of a sudden here I find myself searching for a new home, while tuning up the one I live in. I'd also found myself a new lady. All things and part of life that take up a lot of time and resources. Add in 50 hour work weeks and it's pretty easy to kiss a blog posting goodbye. When I get home at 10pm that's the last thing I want to do. Well, maybe not the last thing. I'd still rather do that than go grocery shopping, cook, change cat litter, laundry, wash dishes, pay bills or any other chore that adds to the headache of being an adult.

It becomes hard to find the time to have new experiences and it's all the compounded responsibilities that every one of us have to deal with. There are a ton of pressures in life. We, as American's spend too much of it wrapped up in work. Feeling stuck under the weight of our lives instead of being liberated to enjoy as much of it as you can. When I compare my life to some of my international friends you can easily see the difference. Posts with exotic sunsets, amazing dinners overlooking a gorgeous veranda, places most of us see once in a lifetime if we're lucky. Meanwhile stateside we post recipes of crap with two sticks of butter in it. Argue about bathrooms, healthcare, the homeless and who's candidate is worse. A bandaid, a blindfold, all keeping our heads in the sand.

I don't mean to come off preachy; but I just had a co-worker take his own life this week. It really has me thinking about life and how precious it is. I know we all have different levels of escapism. If I had it my way there would be a new comic book movie out every week. It's just so easy to turn that side of your brain off. To force yourself into something new and uncomfortable. To take a chance on something that might become your new favorite hobby. There's a feeling I get before every live event I've ever gone to. I have a feeling of doubt. That I don't really want to do this. I don't want to deal with that crowd. I'll catch them next time around. Maybe I'll just stay home tonight instead. I purchased those tickets so long ago it hardly feels like wasting money. To be completely honest, I still get that feeling and it's gotten worse as I've gotten older. I also think that people have gotten worse too, but that's a rant for another time. It only takes a little push to get past that feeling and out into a new adventure.

I suppose life is like trying a new pizza. Some of it has burnt crust. Some isn't always a circle. Some are worth traveling quite a ways to get and other times it's just shut up and eat pizza hut. About two years ago I lost my favorite pizza place, Piecora's. I'd been going there since I was three. So many amazing memories and in my opinion the best pizza in town. I suppose that's life though. We try to cling onto something great from our past even though it's never coming back.

The best we can do is move on and try to create new memories and experiences. Since they closed I've been on a hunt for my next great pizza place. Nothing, has matched quite as well. Hot Mama's on cap hill has a recipe that's very close. Zeek's has an atmosphere that's almost there. No place has parking the way Piecora's did. I tried to expand out and maybe it's not the most exciting 30 for 30 but I've never actually tried Chicago Style Pizza. Like most things in life we stack expectations too high. Set unreachable goals to be met in our heads. Delfino's in the U Village was never going to fill that void. My childhood is gone, my pizza place is gone. They're never coming back and all I can do is trudge on and help create new childhood memories for the next generation. Maybe this little chicken pot pie shaped pizza will be my nephew's Piecoras pizza. Maybe next week we'll wander into a new place that gets even closer to those memories. Maybe, we'll start a new tradition making our own pizza's. No matter what route we end up choosing it'll be done together.

Love each other, hold onto traditions, make new traditions, take vacations, try new things. Don't take the people in your life for granted. Call your mom, visit your grandparents. Find your pizza.

#19 Compete in a Poker Tournament

One thing I've always wanted to try my hands at was a poker tournament. I fancy myself as an excellent judge of character and a pretty difficult person to read. Most people who don't know me personally would tend to think I'm pretty cold and uninviting. Well for the most part that's true, but to my closest family and friends I'd like to think that I'm fiercely loyal, honest and would do anything for any of them.

Naturally I figured my harsh exterior coupled with the ability to read people fairly quickly I could hold my own against a few poker players. For the most part I was right. I'm rather proud of making it half way through a tournament of 21 players. Reaching number 10 or 11 is an admirable feat.

Now I always imagined my first actual poker tournament with money would be in a casino. As many times as I've been to Vegas I figured it'd probably be there. If not in Sin City I figured it'd be in a smokey, seedy casino with a bunch of asians down on Interurban Blvd. But found myself in good company at one of my long time work buddies Craig's house. Craig has poker tournaments every few months or so and I've been trying to invite myself to one of those for years now. Once I gave him my spiel about the 30 for 30 he finally gave me the invite.

The cool thing about Craig's tournaments are that they go towards funding his wife's 3 day walk for breast cancer. Half of the buy in goes towards breast cancer awareness and the other half goes towards the pot. So I actually feel pretty good win or lose the money is doing something worthwhile. I figured for sure the place would be filled with co-workers and people I usually don't get to talk with at work. But was pleasantly surprised to find out that I only knew about 4 people (including Craig) there.

All of these people were good folks that were really easy to get along with. We broke off into 3 tables of 7 people each. This tournament, I figured would be kinda play nice everyone take it easy. Boy was I wrong, it was all business. They knew how to run the show and it was down to a timer which setup bigger blinds and buy ins helping eliminate the tables quickly. Our table was your typical northwest nice. Nobody placed very aggressive bets and I took the table on the very first hand. Why not right? That's when everyone has equal chips and it's easy to gauge who's willing to push.

To my right was Joe. Probably the best player at our table he ended up with a stack of high denomination chips and held them for most of the game. Next was a nice gal who stayed in for a while and seemed to be playing mostly for fun. Then Cass who made aggressive bets that didn't always pay off. Followed by Ray one of Craig's oldest buddies who turned a losing streak into a huge handful of chips. Joe's wife who was equally a good player and was stacking her own chips. Then Alex who didn't really know what he was doing. We all went round and round no one at our table really dropping.

It wasn't until the first chip up when things started to get interesting. A chip up is where you take your lowest denomination of chips and eliminate them from the table. Cashing them in for the next higher chip. First chip up I was lucky to make it to. I made a few stupid aggressive bets that cost me a handful of chips. But eventually won a couple to turn it around for me. I pushed Alex into a few dumb bets that caught up with him and wiped him out. Joe nearly got me a few times but I was smart enough to back down when it counted. Cass ended up cleaning herself out until there were five of us left. Another chip up and the tables turned. Now my chip count was shy and after intermission we had other tables switch up to the remaining players left.

About each table had four players left each. Craig and his dad came to ours. This was no bullshit time his dad kept that game moving and would bitch him out if things were going too slow. They came to our table with a mountain of chips. I'm talking 12 stacks at least 6 inches high each. Against my 4 stacks 3 inches high. Craig's first hand with us he wiped Joe clean off the table. Easily our strongest player gone in the first hand...one hand?!? He moved fast, dealt fast, talked fast, bet and pushed fast. It wasn't enough time. I didn't know what I'd gotten myself into and before I knew it I was wiped out on that very second hand Craig played. At least I got beaten by the host and at least I made it against half the others playing.

That was however, a one two punch I didn't even see coming. Then I was downstairs with all the other losers playing pool and watching Hotel Transylvania 2 with Craig's four daughters. Not much longer after that things started to get awkward.

Ray who held his own in the poker game down to the final 5 had not held his liquor quite as well.
He'd been slinging back whiskey shots and started to get obnoxious. Then he started getting belligerent. One of the last guys made a wise crack about him betting too slow and Ray got all bent out of shape about it. Practically throwing the table over and flipping shit over a slight sarcastic comment. It got to the point where Craig had to escort him outside. By escort I mean full on grab and throw this guy out. They tripped over each other but it looked like he tackled him full bore out onto the deck where they were scuffling. Imagine old style cartoons where there's a cloud of smoke with legs and fists coming out of it. Pretty much what happened. It got awkward really fast where Craig's dad just left. Super pissed off and inline to win money, he just took off. Shortly afterwards all four of his little girls left crying that dad and uncle Ray were fighting. It hit that level of awkward that instantly sobers you up. Me and a few others were looking for our opportunity to leave. We left shortly after Craig asked if we wanted to play another round.

Things I learned today:
Don't get in the middle of a fight between two best buddies. They'll work it out in the end

How not to get worked by the host

The more angry the drunk the more difficult it is to give them a ride

#18 Drive a Dune Buggy

Most of my 30 for 30 I wouldn't consider bucket list items. It's mostly an excuse to push myself to try something new or share a new experience. Not the case here. I've been wanting to drive a dune buggy for years! I finally got to complete this actual bucket list item over the weekend. 

My buddy Chuck and I took a weekend trip to Vegas. I'm no stranger when it comes to Las Vegas. This being my 7th trip to Sin City; I knew a lot of the ins and outs. Where to find good deals and which tourist traps to stay away from. But mostly I knew there was a place that ran dune buggies out in the desert. The last couple of times I've been out here I just couldn't make it happen. Usually the group consensus is that it's too expensive or too far off the strip. 

When the opportunity for this trip presented itself I made sure that dune buggies was on the itinerary. All of my Vegas trips end with me collecting new experiences and this one was no different. I'm a planner and I like to have an idea of what I'm doing when I go on vacation. I don't do idle very well and I don't understand it when people go on vacation to sit somewhere else. I just sat on a plane for 3 hours! Why would I want to sit by a pool, or at a slot machine, or even at a beach! The first thing I usually do is grab one of those Vegas life magazines in the room once I've established home base. I flip through, building my ideas of what to see and where to go. Towards the end of the magazine I spy a small coupon for $40 bucks off my dune buggy experience and their contact info. Bam! Done. Called them up and they gave us each the discount off of our rides. I also found out that they'll pick you up from your hotel and that you don't even have to drive a half hour into the desert! So I scheduled the time for mid day Saturday.

Saturday rolls around and we get picked up from the MGM. They drive us out about a half hour from the strip to HQ and we get fitted for helmets & goggles. My nerves start to rattle as I read through the waivers. A dozen pages of lawyer jargon sprinkled with a few clauses of death and dismemberment. 

Not to mention a few things about 80 foot drop offs and getting lost from your group. A little bit of you'll be financially responsible here and there. Then top it all off with watch out for the endangered tortoises that look like rocks. The employees are as nonchalant as possible putting us in late and pulling us out early of the safety video. The guy tells me to forget out that waiver BS and to drive the thing like I stole it.

Another short bus ride to a group of buggies all in a row and we're introduced to our group leader of "purple team" Keith. I set up my GoPro and take second in our line up. Buckled into my three point harness with some crazy straps attached to my wrists. preventing my arms from going outside the roll bars in case the thing flips over it won't break your arm. A rough shell, a kill switch, hard bucket seat with an inch of foam padding, go cart motors blasting behind my head. We're ready to roll; besides Chuck our group had a dad and daughter rounding up the team.

Keith starts off as point and has a large purple flag coming from his buggy to keep tabs on him as he breaches the horizon. Maddie chases behind him keeping a slow and steady pace. These things are slower than I thought. The girl in front of me isn't being aggressive enough. Before I know it I'm on her bumper and trying to make room. Up hills slow afraid we're not going to make it because we don't have enough momentum. Then braking downhill in a wide open desert.

I need a little more excitement than this. I pass her up driving over brush and rocks to take the lead of our team. Keith moves fast he's up and over dunes then down and around to the point where I can only hope to catch a glimpse of his purple flag. He gets too far ahead and I do what I do best in these situations. Don't listen and try my own methods.

Side story - two years earlier my brother, dad and I went on a turtle watching snorkel tour in Maui. Number one rule was stay put and keep an eye on your partner. Bound and determined to see a sea turtle the first thing I do is go swimming off in some unknown direction. I get caught in an undertow and pushed out 50 yards from dad and Nick. I get lost for about 40 minutes and eventually make my way back to the boat. They were pissed, & rightfully so. Worried I'd drowned or something. Worst part of all I didn't even see any turtles.

Same stubborn flight path here. Why stay on the tracks? I'll just plow up these jumps and over these rocks and debris. Sure enough I hit a dune the wrong way and get stuck. Now I'm that guy, the person everyone was following and is holding up the whole group. I turn the wheels, nothing. I rock it back and forth, nope. Hit the kill switch, listen to the rules..wait to be rescued. Keith ends up coming back to dig me out. I get scolded; we haven't even been out 10 minutes yet. I unbuckle and help dig out. Start her up and then hang out in the back. I took last place to avoid that embarrassing display again.

Blasting around rocks and dirt I start to figure out my place a little better. Instantly I'm right up on the person in front of me again. To avoid this problem I started to drift all of my corners. I was flooring it most of the time and if we hit a turn I could whip the back end of the buggy out to give me some much needed distance between the next driver. A couple more minutes in and we lose Keith again. He's really hard to keep up with. The four of us manage to stick together just as Chucks buggy breaks down. We wait up for our leader and do doughnuts around Chuck. It seems like 20 minutes have gone by as I keep doing the same boring circles around trying not to get lost from the group. Eventually Keith makes his way back to us and calls for a replacement buggy for Chuck. A few minutes later a big truck shows up and drops off a huge 2 seater buggy. They load Chuck up and we're off again. The bigger buggy was much slower and it wasn't far afterwards we stopped off at our half way point.

We get out and stretch our legs for a moment. I drink too much water and end up with it sloshing around my stomach for the rest of the ride. They bring Chuck another one seater replacement so he can keep up. The crew starts up again. I can't get my rig started. Click click click, nothing. Click click click, nothing. I lose sight of my group then finally I gas it just right and the engine kicks to life. They're not far away from me but there is an 80 foot drop in between us. I can't tell how steep it is but take the dive and roll out after them. It's like riding the roller coaster at New York New York earlier that morning. But I have control over this ride. I turn past a couple big rocks make my way through the sand after them.

A dirt bike rider pulls up along side me then kicks it up a notch getting in front of me and crossing over across my path. He takes a few jumps then is off out of sight. I catch up to my crew twisting and turning sweeping my big drift turns to keep from running into people's back ends. More sand, rocks and desert garbage chasing trails then seeing other teams of ATV's, dirt bikes and other dune buggies. A couple more straight aways and another broken down buggy for Chuck pretty much called for the end of our baha adventure.

Overall, it was a great time worth the few extra bucks to try something new and exciting. I think we did get hosed a bit because we didn't get our full hour. They took us back early and we never did get any time comped for the three rides Chuck went through. I would do it again in a heartbeat and for how convenient they made it to get there and back it was well worth it.

Things I learned today:

Listen to the rules and what your instructor says

Pay the extra couple bucks for more time

Drive it like you stole it

Don't leave your friends behind

There's a time to relax and a time to hit it hard 

#17 Polar Bear Dive at Night

This adventure started at the Knittle brothers annual ugly sweater party. These guys have a sweet corner apartment right on Alki directly across the street from the water. The party was great, as always and reunited me with a bunch of old friends I haven't seen in ages. During the last 5 years I've really noticed myself grow personally and socially. A party like this 8 yeas ago I would have made it 30 maybe 40 minutes..

I can remember leaving the house for the weekend when my old roommates would throw a party. Now it's the complete opposite. I'm watching people come and go in that 40 minute timespan and I'm closing the place out with the hosts. One, two, three deep you start to get to that point where you've settled in. We're past the point of no return. I'm not driving anywhere but I'm also not leaving my car. It's always good to have the blessing from your host that its cool to crash at their place. 

I meet tons of new friends, we debate the new Star Wars and compare horror dating stories while getting a few new ideas for my 30 during 30. New friends come and go. Old friends make the rounds and reconnect. The night grows longer...four, five, six. The house is getting warm. Why'd I wear this damn scarf? One of my new buddies stuffs it in the freezer; genius. Pull it out and it's good for about 10 minutes of relief. Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas plays again for the third time. People laughing and having a good time. They all start to fade away a stuffed apartment becomes empty and then there were six. 

Someone passed out on the sectional. The brothers with a couple of gals. My new friend and I creating commentary for them hitting on these girls. Suddenly! Dave gets a crazy idea! He shouts Polar Bear! Come on we're jumping in the water. Being fueled with alcohol it doesn't sound like the worst idea in the world. It's only the middle of December and 3 in the morning. Dave tosses me a pair of swim trunks and I meet him outside. 

I've never done this so let's chalk it up to a new experience. We run across the street barefoot and Dave plunges into the black water just past the concrete steps. The show's on for our audience of one and I splash right in after him. It's cold, but not nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. The booze helps, I'm not freezing nor did I feel myself scrape my knuckles on the concrete or my toes on barnacles. These are injuries I find over the next couple of days. My body's in the water, I get a taste of salt across my lips. We swim out a bit but it's short lived. The excitement wore off and the challenge has been completed. We get back inside towel off and that caps off our night. 

Things I learned today:

Never would I ever go into Alki at anytime of the year sober. 

Drunken night swimming is probably a bad idea.

Living an interesting life leads to good stories which make social interactions very easy.

#16 Learn How to Fight with a Sword

Most of the things I've done so far were semi random experiences that presented themselves. This one however was something that was on my list. Something that I craved to search out. I've said it before but it ceases to amaze me at all the things my hometown has to offer. Seriously pick your poison. You want to go to a witchcraft book store? Seattle has it. You want to record music in the basement studio of some weirdos house? Seattle has it. Last weekend I ended up at some sketchy karaoke bar in Chinatown at 3am...because Seattle has it. So it wasn't a big surprise when I found a club that trains in broadsword fighting techniques. 

After my experience in the sensory deprivation tank I had a moment of clarity that I need to make a better effort to maintain friendships and repair those that have dwindled. I figured this would be a good one to invite one of my oldest and best friends Beau out to. Beau and I have had tons of adventures and have a plethora of stories about getting into shenanigans in high school. Of course he was down for some sword fighting.

Like most of my 30 for 30 it starts with an awkward moment of where the Hell am I? 

I find Beau waiting for me so I know I've got the right address or at least we're both in the wrong place. Nowhere around is there anything resembling a sword fighting class. 

If I was going to a children's tumbling and circus class maybe I'd be in the right place. Kids bouncing on trampolines. People juggling and practicing jumping and catching routines. Balancing acts and acrobats but no swords..we eventually found someone to direct us to the right area. 

This club basically doubles as a gym or workout class that you happen to be swinging blunt edges at each other. 

We met Eric the owner/operator of the club and he gave us the run down of what we'd be getting into. But before we could have any fun we had to take a moment to read the fine details. I sign my life away from being bludgeoned or decapitated. Standard, please don't be a dick and sue us forms that have to be a part of the society we live in. 

Eric starts to give us the run down and safety requirements to not get hurt or hurt anyone else. As he's explaining he grabs my sword which I already had pointed probably too close to his face and sticks it towards the ground.

Not long after more members start showing up. It's your basic group of white male nerds who've actually pushed themselves away from their computer screens to get a little exercise. We run around in circles getting warmed up and then separate far enough to practice some long swipes. Ground up, ground up - up down, up down. Lunges, squats and then reverse. 

After everyone is all warmed up we separate into partners and are taught a basic defense move without our swords. In this lesson you're being attacked with a "pretend" knife. 

You deflect the arm with the knife and counter with your own knife attack in the neck. Back and forth 10 to 12 times then reverse. Now your attacking and getting stabbed. Lots of moving and switching. Until it's time to switch partners then we practice a reversal and shove. 

In this exercise the attacker dodges your block and you have to switch your footing to shove them away. I totally ended up with the teacher on this one. I could tell he was getting frustrated with my uncoordinated ass. Because when it was his turn to shove he progressively shoved me harder and harder. Back and forth a couple dozen times.

Finally, we get our swords back and switch partners again. Standard strike and block technique taking turns. At no point do the swords strike. If you're hitting; you're too close for comfort. Then they bring a little movement into the mix. You strike as your partner backs up. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

The most advanced thing we got to do was a swipe down, strike forward, reverse up. Over and over.

If you read my post about the salsa dancing lessons you'll notice a trend about me. Anything that requires my full body moving in any sequence of motion is usually an uncoordinated mess. Except this time I didn't have music or alcohol to help out.

During one of my partner switches I'd made a joke about it being a lot like dancing. That guy did not find my quip amusing. Sorry dude, but it totally is. Four steps then repeat four steps then reverse. Same thing but instead of dancing with hot girls I'm reversing with sweaty nerds. I can't be too hard on myself after all no one is perfect their first time out. 

They wouldn't let Beau and I try the second half of the class. I guess it was too advanced? They all pulled out plastic one handed sabers. That was our cue to leave.

Things I learned today:

Keep in touch with your good buddies. It's easier than you think.

Watch your mouth when talking about someone's passion. People tend to be touchy when it comes to their hobbies

Fighting is a lot like dancing. A repetition of moves until it's fluid and muscle memory. 

Exercise doesn't have to be a boring treadmill. 

I found a good place to go if you ever want to run away and join the circus.