YouTube, DVDs & HoopCity have really inspired me to hoop, but sometimes, the biggest challenge for me is actually hooping. Now there's all this South Florida hooping stuff going on that I have been unable to attend-schedule conflicts, money, etc. It's practically under my nose, yet so out of reach... I think group hooping would be just the thing to spice up my hoop life but the situation has not aligned itself so I continue to remain patient. I even paid for a hoop class in advance and missed it. =*(

Broken Hoop Dream: I have 15 half-made hoops hanging in my living room. I had intended to have them ready for SunFest 2010 & then I was unable to attach them... *sigh*

When I went to SunFest, I brought my LED hoop with me because I figured this is going to be a moment I have been waiting for... Several people wanted to borrow my LED hoop right away. One girl asked me if I had any more hoops & although I was supposed to arrive w/15 hoops to spread around, I just had my LED hoop; I told her she could try it. That girl was cool; she swung it around her neck & did a couple vortexes and thanked me super smily. It was a great vibe to the beginning of watching WE ARE SCIENTISTS perform their music set. Then this mom asked permission to let her daughter try my hoop and tell me if you think this is weird: I gave my hoop to the little girl and she tried to waist hoop for a while and then she randomly started to run away with it. She's little, like maybe, I don't know 7 or 8, so I followed along. And then this women told me to back off from her girl because I was following her. I told her, "Fine. Then I need my hoop back right now." And then this women said, "Oh. Sorry. I thought it belonged to her friend." Then to make matters worse, the little girl finally came up to me & gave me attitude; "I'm not going to steal it."

I started getting nervous because I didn't appreciate these strangers snapping at me, but as politely as I could, I told this little girl in front of this women, "I bought this hoop as a present to myself about 2 years ago & I paid $200 for it. I'm just looking after it while you use it." They didn't care. Anyway, after I got my hoop back, I was feeling so weird & embarrassed, but then I regrouped with my friends & did my best to spin away my building anxiety. I immediately felt a kink in my hoop; I'm thinking the girl stepped on it and bent the hoop. I'm not saying on purpose, but it sucks for me. Of course, I felt irritated because I regret letting them borrow it. All I can say to that is, I need to remember that I'm allowed not to let people borrow my stuff. I could have said something like, "As much as I would love to let you borrow it, this hoop in particular is super personal/special/expensive... whatever to me, so I don't want you to be responsible if something happens to it, (like this situation) but I can vouch for hooping & encourage you to get one; it will be an awesome investment." Now it's kind of a pointy-egg-shaped LED hoop but I rounded it out pretty okay.

Moving on, being the only LED hooper in sight was a pretty brand new experience for me. Right after the WE ARE SCIENTISTS set, we made our way to the Weezer stage & it was going to be impossible to hoop without accidentally smacking someone. Luckily, since I was determined to hoop during Weezer and get my nostalgic moment on, there was a little empty space by a vendor cart on the far left of the stage selling drinks set up along the fence. There was a huge inflatable beer can with a rope encasing it most likely to prevent people from walking into the wire that was grounding it; I smacked my hoop into it a few times.The best part was the fan blowing air into it, when I stood near it, I would get a blast of air, helping me to cool-down. =)

Anyway, I got my hoop-on during the whole Weezer set. My friend filmed me hooping right after during a Bad Religion song that was playing during the breakdown. Although I have hooped in public places before in front of people, I consider this my first actual attempt in performing because

1. I was the only hooper there

2. I was compelled to bring it

3. I was in a small space separated from the crowd

I really appreciate the video because I got to notice a lot of things I can focus on working on.

For example, I do my best to space out, and just watch my shadow as I hoop. I avoid eye contact; my free arm remains pretty stiff, and I don't really dance. I just to try to flow. Not to mention, I'm starting to understand the importance of putting forth effort into putting together hoop costumes for performing. It brings energy and mood into it and that's always a good thing.

That's about it for now. Thanks for tuning in for another dramatic memoir of my loop moments.