Best of the 2011-2012 Season
Because I feel like it's easy to forget all the nuances once the season is over, I thought it would be nice to at least have a list of the things I liked about this season, in the hope that it'll help me remember them as time goes on. So without further ado:
Starting off nice and easy with my favorite programs of the season, since I've already got that just about nailed.
Men
Short Program
1. Adam Rippon - Korobushko (b/c he is cute and dat Russian split and the step sequence and the way he stuck his tongue out that one time)
2. Daisuke Takahashi - In the Garden of Souls (#NINETYFUCKINGSIX)
3. Misha Ge - The Swan (for the most pronounced Johnny tribute that ever there was)
...tbh, there was not a whole lot that inspired me about the men's sp this year. I legit do not remember the vast majority of them, and so the ones I listed are kind of the best in a pretty weak field :/ I feel like the sp has been declining a bit in impact and I don't like it at all.
Free Program
1. Daisuke Takahashi - Blues for Klook (*______* I will admit to feeling a bit of smugness because I have loved this program since its debut at the Japan Open, when most everyone else was going around all "wtf is this wtf is the music wtf this sucks". And of course they all loved it later. So HA, I say. Ha.)
2. Yuzuru Hanyu - Romeo and Juliet (also *______*, also loved it since its debut over the summer. This program has my favorite step sequences of the season, hands down.)
3. Jeremy Abbott - Muse (although this entry is on the condition that he skates it well. At Nationals it was transcendent, at GPF it was just depressing.)
[Special Mention goes to Elladj Balde's Michael Jackson medley, Adam Rippon's Bach program for that Rippon lutz at the music change and the final step sequence, and Josh Farris' Rach No. 3 when he finally got it together at Junior Worlds :3]
Ladies
Short Program
1. Akiko Suzuki - Hungarian Rhapsody (just phenomenal, from start to finish)
2. Ashley Wagner - Music from Pollock (I really liked the choreo and it was great at Skate Canada)
...again, I'm struggling to think of good sps :/ I stand behind the two I listed, though, and Akiko's truly moved me, but I really can't come up with a third. The ladies field is kind of all over the damn place these days.
Free Program
1. Akiko Suzuki - Die Fledermaus (it makes me so happy :D)
...eaugh. Ok, to say that I found the ladies' programs this season a bit uninspiring would be a serious understatement. There were plenty that were ok, but really just the one that I wholeheartedly enjoyed and would watch more than once. Obviously Akiko was my favorite of the season. I'd list Ashley Wagner's Black Swan except I can't quite square with it. She gave some strong performances, and I liked the choreo (especially the swan arm spiral because I'm terribly easy), but there's just something so hokey about Swan Lake these days, unfortunately. (I feel the same way about V/T's crack swan, so this certainly has nothing to do with Ashley in particular.)
Pairs
Short Program
1. Volosozhar/Trankov - Bring Me to Life (speaking of hokey~ I have nothing to say for myself, really. It was just enjoyable. #dancebreak, #iiiiiiiiife, etc. were all vastly enjoyable, and their fabulous skating can make me accept basically anything.)
2. Iliushechkina/Maisuradze - Figaro (lulzy great fun)
3. Takahashi/Tran - Imagine (it was nice enough, but really I kept going back for the entrance into their death spiral *___*)
[Special Mention to Marley/Brubaker's Singing in the Rain because they really brought down the house at Nationals with that in a way that was wonderful to see.]
Free Program
1. Savchenko/Szolkowy - Pina (so cool. Soooooooooooooo cool. I don't even have words for how innovative and fresh the choreo was, and they did it wonderfully.)
2. Duhamel/Radford - Coldplay (don't look at me like that .___. I thought they were great, and I don't hate Coldplay like everyone else does, and DID YOU SEE THEIR PERFORMANCE AT CANADIAN NATS? DID YOU?? If you did, I rest my case :') )
3. Volosozhar/Trankov - Black Swan (as I said, their skating can sell me on anything. Also, #flyawayhomeMax and "I am aggressor in the program, I am aggressor in real life".)
No special mentions here, but I will say that while I didn't understand either of Zhang/Zhang's programs, I adored their skating and think it's so cool how tall (comparatively) she is.
Dance
Short Dance
1. Pechalat/Bourzat - Mas que Nada (I just really like this program. It felt very light, sunny, and fluid, which I appreciated. Plus, Fabian's watermelon pants.)
2. Weaver/Poje - Historia de un Amor (lol #tigerprint. Not a patch on Daisha, I'm afraid, but they really did werk it. The atmosphere was electric at GPF, and that's the kind of skating moment I live for.)
...siiigh, it's the freaking short dance, ok, I'm happy I could come up with two :/ Davis/White's JLo program was pretty fun, but I couldn't in good conscience call it a favorite, so that's gonna have to be that.
[Special Mention to Bobrova/Soloviev's sd, for as stupid as it was and as much as I hated it, something about the way she moves immediately after the starting pose just gets to me. In a carnal way. Um. Moving right along.]
The short dance continues to be a waste of space, imo, but some people can at least make it fun and semi-interesting, so there's that.
Free Dance
1. Weaver/Poje - Je Suis Malade (JE SUIS MALAAAAAAAAADDDDDDEEEEEEEEEE. #DRAMAHANDS. THE ACTING. THE DANCING. THE WONDER OF IT ALL~~)
2. Davis/White - Die Fledermaus (like Akiko's, it made me happy :D Also, Meryl had a gorrrrrgeous dress and I always loved the little sparkly hairpin in the shape of a mask :3 And that Charlie White in his tux when he does the death drop at the end, as Peter Carruthers' lady friends might put it.)
3. Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt - Walking in the Sand (fell completely in love at Nats)
Exhibitions
Not gonna list an order for these, just gonna write them up:
-Daisuke Takahashi - The Crisis (I was not sold on this at all with the first performance of it over the summer, but my god has it grown on me. I adore it now, utterly and completely. He is a master ♥ (As an additional note, I always inwardly flail a little bit during the final spin because at GPF he did that right in front of our section and we all FREAKED OUT over it, haha))
-Volosozhar/Trankov - Romeo et Juliett (lol idk, it's probably just because I like the music and it suits them and they're draped all over each other for a while, but whatevs)
-Cappellini/Lanotte - That's Amore (it was basically 3 minutes of LOL LUCA and was pretty wonderful to behold)
-Adam Rippon - Rach No. 2 (*___________________________________*)
-Ashley Wagner - On the Floor (ok, lemme make this clear - it's not really about the program itself. I hardly remember it. But it is her fault that the song now lives on my iPod, and I will never forget how at Nationals when she did the super seductive body rolling at the beginning or whatever these middle-aged Japanese ladies at the end of the row were like "ohhhhhhh! :O!" and it was so adorable and made me really happy :D So yeah.)
-Patrick Chan - Moondance (#CHANIJUSTHAVEONEMOREMOONDANCEWITHYOUMYMOP ETC. ETC. and also because of when we trolled him at Skate Canada :3 Although to my disappointment I found out from TEB that we didn't really troll him, it's just part of the choreo ;___; Le sob)
-Sui/Han - Terracotta Warriors of Love (because it is amazing)
All right, I think that about does it for my favorite programs of the season! :D The things I loved I really loved, and most other things I was generally indifferent to. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy plenty of the programs on display this year, just that they didn't particularly speak to me.
Next up is another ~thrilling category:
~*~Favorite Costumes~*~
-Carolina Kostner's original free skate dress. Too gorgeous to be real. I appreciate the sparklesuit or whatever, but my god, that dress *_____*
-Iliushechkina/Maisuradze's A Chorus Line costumes. DAMN THOSE TUXES WERE SNAZZY.
-Maia Shibutani's eventual short dance dress at Nationals. (You know, the lovely purple one.) AMAZING CHOICE IMO.
-Daisuke Takahashi's original costumes for both the sp and fs. The fs one didn't change too much, just added a stupid vest thing that was unnecessary, but THE SP COSTUME ;___; WHY, DAISHA, WHYYYYYYY. ALSO WITH THE HAIR ;__________;
- #PASQUALEWANTEDMETOBENAKED. 'nuff said.
-Quite fond of Savchenko/Szolkowy's fs costumes. Mostly the color, but the rest was fine too.
-Akiko Suzuki's sp dress. LOVED IT, LOVED ALL OF IT, LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
-Yuzuru Hanyu's fs costume. Bondage!Romeo is a-ok with me~
-Javier Fernandez. #butteryellowsweater #snappinghissuspenders #crushedvelvet #tightstallion
There are probably lots more that I've already forgotten, but eh, the costume's never the most important thing, right?
Moving right along to:
Competitions Attended! :D
In chronological order, I went to:
1. Skate Canada International (Mississauga, Ontario)
2. Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final [hereafter known as the #whatprixfinal] (Quebec City, Quebec)
3. US National Championships (San Jose, California)
No point trying to rank these, honestly. Every competition has its good and its bad, both in terms of the skating as well as the other stuff.
Skate Canada was insane, seeing as there were 17 of us there, but I still think the good outweighed the bad there. I had a ton of fun, met even more awesome people, and hey, it's where Room Beautiful was born :') Things I won't ever forget: Ross thanking us for playing along and become part of Elladj's first (and likely only) cheering section, #notnecessarilycheeseburgers, the fucking amazing falafel place that I yearn for, that horrid, horrid usher and our bff Numbers123, getting love from Ross, Ashley, and Adam in the K&C, #teamoJavi, #vivaEspana, and #SuperJavi, PChan PChan'ing in front of us, asking van der Bacon if I could grab one of his chairs at the skater bar, Javi hugging us of his own accord at 1 in the morning, $70 worth of Chanadian candy, and god but that's already a ton and I find I could keep going. I won't, so I'll probably forget everything else over time, but that's still a pretty decent list, I feel. As regards the skating, I got to see soooooo many of my favorites there that it kind of blew me away, and I greatly enjoyed that so many of the SC entrants were later to be found at the GPF.
The GPF was much more sedate as there were only the 5 of us, so there was a very different feeling to the whole weekend. Still amazing, of course, and it was nice to be on good terms with so many of the event organizers. Quebec was cold but beautiful, and our hotel was lovely as it could be. The skating was certainly exceptional, and I'll always owe a debt of gratitude to the pink sweater ladies for planting the seed during SC. GPF will always make me think of our perilous road trip through New Hampshire with Talk That Talk and the #WHATPRIXFINAL mix keeping us company, of my incredibly paltry French, of that tiny crepe place by #thethe Chateau Frontenac that had the best spaghetti bolognese that I think I've ever had, of blasting Dirty Love early in the morning on the way to the arena after we'd raided the hotel's supply of fromage and little carrot muffins, of that Japanese lady who took a picture with us and thanked us for cheering on the Japanese skaters, of Mishin, of Pasquale, of Patrick fucking up his little ISU video several times before getting it right, of Max and Sasha being the lulziest during gala rehearsal...ah, again my reminiscences get the better of me! I think this is what happens when I don't write journal entries about anything /o\ Anyway, the point is that GPF was wonderful, and I am SO glad that we went through with it, no matter how crazy we felt that one magical afternoon of CoR.
And then there was Nationals, marking the second time I've flown to goddamned California for skating. Just like the first time, though, it was totally worth it. Maybe the US has lost a lot of its presence internationally, but I still love a ton of the US skaters, and it was great being able to see people like Jonathan Cassar (*_____________________________________* UNF UNF GOTDAMN ETC. *___________*) and #KeeganFuckingMessing irl, as well as ofc my favorites among the higher ranked skaters. Nationals is quite a bit different from an international event, both because of the obvious and just because of the feel of things. It's a little more...idk, homey? There's always that knowledge that you're probably sitting behind someone's parents or school friends or something, and it really gives you a sense of that nebulous ~figure skating community~ that everyone's always talking about. I found it to be a quite friendly crowd, and we had some excellent conversations with various people we were sitting near. On the non-skating side, I got to hang out with the west coast bros that I don't ever get to see, and that was especially lovely. I also got to finally tell Johnny how much he meant to me, and his reaction pretty much made my entire fucking life :D (I'm not kidding, I was a #deaddyinganddeceased mess of flailing when that happened.) The sheer number of competitors there was also pretty cool, as you were always bound to walk past someone in the concourse. Trying to sum this up, I'd say Nationals was just nice. I was certainly stressed as hell at various times, and there were a lot of emotions going on, but it was still very nice. (I hesitate to say "laid back", but that's the kind of vibe I'm going for.) I'd suspend my reality for a competition like that any time.
Three competitions in a season. Not too bad, huh? :) I'd love to make it four next year but idt Worlds is going to pan out, somehow. Still, hopefully I'll like the people assigned to SkAm and SC so that I can go to those two, and Nationals is happening, so I am excited!! There is absolutely nothing like seeing a competition live, and I feel very fortunate that I've been able to go to so many already.
Hmm, what else to document about the season. Maybe some
INSIDE JOKES, _S-ISMS, AND SIMILAR?
God, where to even start? These things just run rampant. I mean, #WHAT #WHATWHATWHAT (#WHAT? #GOHOME!!!) #CATSFORKLOOK #WHATSHIFT (AND ITS IRL COUNTERPARTS :DDDDD) #CRABSHIFT #MARNISHIFT #NOTNECESSARILYCHEESEBURGERS (really was "they don't necessarily have to be cheeseburgers" BUT YOU KNOW HOW THESE THINGS GO) #ANGRYPOUTINE #EIGHTYFUCKINGFOUR #BORVIER #DANCEBREAK #FREDDY #UKRAINIANQUEENS #STRESSBEDAZZLING MADAME TANYA: LENGTHIEST STRIP TEASE IN TOWN #ONAMISHIN #SHIBSHOLMED #BREZINAHOLMED (DDDDD:) #LIKETHEBESTSHOESEVER #TAKAHASHIISAGOD #MOVESLIKENARUMI #GREATERLEGROOM #ANDASLIGHTLYPADDEDSEAT #PRAYERROW #GDISHEILA #DAIKIKO4EVA #ROOMDRUNK #FLAWFREEANDFUNCTIONAL #JUSTTHISONCEEVERYONELIVES! SCOTT DYER STUDIES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS #ONETWO2012 #NEXTYEARINWINDSOR
OK I'M DONE. That's actually a rather poor list but it's hard to recapture some of this stuff once it's done. For the sake of posterity, some purely Boston Bro ones were #LOVE #ANDLIFE #OHALEX and #EVANLYSACEKMAGNET~
If I were a bit more ambitious I think I'd try to write up a bit of the season arc at this point, but lol no way in hell is that ever gonna happen. That's the thing about seasons: you might be able to go back and watch the competitions again, but you can never get back into the feeling of whatever was going down at the time. What would CoR be without the breathless anticipation of finding out who'd go to GPF? Would knowing the outcome of TEB make #lessthanonepoint sting any less? Would Rachael's free skate at Nationals have any feeling whatsoever without knowing how terrible her season had been? And for me personally, could any recording do justice to the competitions that I was present for? No, of course not, but the sad truth is that the videos will last while my memory will not. Each season has a different feel, with all the ridiculous drama and injustice that surrounds the sport, and living through them is incredible. But at the same time, it's kind of futile trying to capture that mood again, because it simply won't be the same. I don't think this is a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind so that every season is enjoyed and experienced to the fullest.
...and with that, I think I will sign off on this post. It's been a wonderful and crazy season, and I look forward to seeing what next year will have in store :D
Starting off nice and easy with my favorite programs of the season, since I've already got that just about nailed.
Men
Short Program
1. Adam Rippon - Korobushko (b/c he is cute and dat Russian split and the step sequence and the way he stuck his tongue out that one time)
2. Daisuke Takahashi - In the Garden of Souls (#NINETYFUCKINGSIX)
3. Misha Ge - The Swan (for the most pronounced Johnny tribute that ever there was)
...tbh, there was not a whole lot that inspired me about the men's sp this year. I legit do not remember the vast majority of them, and so the ones I listed are kind of the best in a pretty weak field :/ I feel like the sp has been declining a bit in impact and I don't like it at all.
Free Program
1. Daisuke Takahashi - Blues for Klook (*______* I will admit to feeling a bit of smugness because I have loved this program since its debut at the Japan Open, when most everyone else was going around all "wtf is this wtf is the music wtf this sucks". And of course they all loved it later. So HA, I say. Ha.)
2. Yuzuru Hanyu - Romeo and Juliet (also *______*, also loved it since its debut over the summer. This program has my favorite step sequences of the season, hands down.)
3. Jeremy Abbott - Muse (although this entry is on the condition that he skates it well. At Nationals it was transcendent, at GPF it was just depressing.)
[Special Mention goes to Elladj Balde's Michael Jackson medley, Adam Rippon's Bach program for that Rippon lutz at the music change and the final step sequence, and Josh Farris' Rach No. 3 when he finally got it together at Junior Worlds :3]
Ladies
Short Program
1. Akiko Suzuki - Hungarian Rhapsody (just phenomenal, from start to finish)
2. Ashley Wagner - Music from Pollock (I really liked the choreo and it was great at Skate Canada)
...again, I'm struggling to think of good sps :/ I stand behind the two I listed, though, and Akiko's truly moved me, but I really can't come up with a third. The ladies field is kind of all over the damn place these days.
Free Program
1. Akiko Suzuki - Die Fledermaus (it makes me so happy :D)
...eaugh. Ok, to say that I found the ladies' programs this season a bit uninspiring would be a serious understatement. There were plenty that were ok, but really just the one that I wholeheartedly enjoyed and would watch more than once. Obviously Akiko was my favorite of the season. I'd list Ashley Wagner's Black Swan except I can't quite square with it. She gave some strong performances, and I liked the choreo (especially the swan arm spiral because I'm terribly easy), but there's just something so hokey about Swan Lake these days, unfortunately. (I feel the same way about V/T's crack swan, so this certainly has nothing to do with Ashley in particular.)
Pairs
Short Program
1. Volosozhar/Trankov - Bring Me to Life (speaking of hokey~ I have nothing to say for myself, really. It was just enjoyable. #dancebreak, #iiiiiiiiife, etc. were all vastly enjoyable, and their fabulous skating can make me accept basically anything.)
2. Iliushechkina/Maisuradze - Figaro (lulzy great fun)
3. Takahashi/Tran - Imagine (it was nice enough, but really I kept going back for the entrance into their death spiral *___*)
[Special Mention to Marley/Brubaker's Singing in the Rain because they really brought down the house at Nationals with that in a way that was wonderful to see.]
Free Program
1. Savchenko/Szolkowy - Pina (so cool. Soooooooooooooo cool. I don't even have words for how innovative and fresh the choreo was, and they did it wonderfully.)
2. Duhamel/Radford - Coldplay (don't look at me like that .___. I thought they were great, and I don't hate Coldplay like everyone else does, and DID YOU SEE THEIR PERFORMANCE AT CANADIAN NATS? DID YOU?? If you did, I rest my case :') )
3. Volosozhar/Trankov - Black Swan (as I said, their skating can sell me on anything. Also, #flyawayhomeMax and "I am aggressor in the program, I am aggressor in real life".)
No special mentions here, but I will say that while I didn't understand either of Zhang/Zhang's programs, I adored their skating and think it's so cool how tall (comparatively) she is.
Dance
Short Dance
1. Pechalat/Bourzat - Mas que Nada (I just really like this program. It felt very light, sunny, and fluid, which I appreciated. Plus, Fabian's watermelon pants.)
2. Weaver/Poje - Historia de un Amor (lol #tigerprint. Not a patch on Daisha, I'm afraid, but they really did werk it. The atmosphere was electric at GPF, and that's the kind of skating moment I live for.)
...siiigh, it's the freaking short dance, ok, I'm happy I could come up with two :/ Davis/White's JLo program was pretty fun, but I couldn't in good conscience call it a favorite, so that's gonna have to be that.
[Special Mention to Bobrova/Soloviev's sd, for as stupid as it was and as much as I hated it, something about the way she moves immediately after the starting pose just gets to me. In a carnal way. Um. Moving right along.]
The short dance continues to be a waste of space, imo, but some people can at least make it fun and semi-interesting, so there's that.
Free Dance
1. Weaver/Poje - Je Suis Malade (JE SUIS MALAAAAAAAAADDDDDDEEEEEEEEEE. #DRAMAHANDS. THE ACTING. THE DANCING. THE WONDER OF IT ALL~~)
2. Davis/White - Die Fledermaus (like Akiko's, it made me happy :D Also, Meryl had a gorrrrrgeous dress and I always loved the little sparkly hairpin in the shape of a mask :3 And that Charlie White in his tux when he does the death drop at the end, as Peter Carruthers' lady friends might put it.)
3. Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Schmitt - Walking in the Sand (fell completely in love at Nats)
Exhibitions
Not gonna list an order for these, just gonna write them up:
-Daisuke Takahashi - The Crisis (I was not sold on this at all with the first performance of it over the summer, but my god has it grown on me. I adore it now, utterly and completely. He is a master ♥ (As an additional note, I always inwardly flail a little bit during the final spin because at GPF he did that right in front of our section and we all FREAKED OUT over it, haha))
-Volosozhar/Trankov - Romeo et Juliett (lol idk, it's probably just because I like the music and it suits them and they're draped all over each other for a while, but whatevs)
-Cappellini/Lanotte - That's Amore (it was basically 3 minutes of LOL LUCA and was pretty wonderful to behold)
-Adam Rippon - Rach No. 2 (*___________________________________*)
-Ashley Wagner - On the Floor (ok, lemme make this clear - it's not really about the program itself. I hardly remember it. But it is her fault that the song now lives on my iPod, and I will never forget how at Nationals when she did the super seductive body rolling at the beginning or whatever these middle-aged Japanese ladies at the end of the row were like "ohhhhhhh! :O!" and it was so adorable and made me really happy :D So yeah.)
-Patrick Chan - Moondance (#CHANIJUSTHAVEONEMOREMOONDANCEWITHYOUMYMOP ETC. ETC. and also because of when we trolled him at Skate Canada :3 Although to my disappointment I found out from TEB that we didn't really troll him, it's just part of the choreo ;___; Le sob)
-Sui/Han - Terracotta Warriors of Love (because it is amazing)
All right, I think that about does it for my favorite programs of the season! :D The things I loved I really loved, and most other things I was generally indifferent to. Which is not to say I didn't enjoy plenty of the programs on display this year, just that they didn't particularly speak to me.
Next up is another ~thrilling category:
~*~Favorite Costumes~*~
-Carolina Kostner's original free skate dress. Too gorgeous to be real. I appreciate the sparklesuit or whatever, but my god, that dress *_____*
-Iliushechkina/Maisuradze's A Chorus Line costumes. DAMN THOSE TUXES WERE SNAZZY.
-Maia Shibutani's eventual short dance dress at Nationals. (You know, the lovely purple one.) AMAZING CHOICE IMO.
-Daisuke Takahashi's original costumes for both the sp and fs. The fs one didn't change too much, just added a stupid vest thing that was unnecessary, but THE SP COSTUME ;___; WHY, DAISHA, WHYYYYYYY. ALSO WITH THE HAIR ;__________;
- #PASQUALEWANTEDMETOBENAKED. 'nuff said.
-Quite fond of Savchenko/Szolkowy's fs costumes. Mostly the color, but the rest was fine too.
-Akiko Suzuki's sp dress. LOVED IT, LOVED ALL OF IT, LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
-Yuzuru Hanyu's fs costume. Bondage!Romeo is a-ok with me~
-Javier Fernandez. #butteryellowsweater #snappinghissuspenders #crushedvelvet #tightstallion
There are probably lots more that I've already forgotten, but eh, the costume's never the most important thing, right?
Moving right along to:
Competitions Attended! :D
In chronological order, I went to:
1. Skate Canada International (Mississauga, Ontario)
2. Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final [hereafter known as the #whatprixfinal] (Quebec City, Quebec)
3. US National Championships (San Jose, California)
No point trying to rank these, honestly. Every competition has its good and its bad, both in terms of the skating as well as the other stuff.
Skate Canada was insane, seeing as there were 17 of us there, but I still think the good outweighed the bad there. I had a ton of fun, met even more awesome people, and hey, it's where Room Beautiful was born :') Things I won't ever forget: Ross thanking us for playing along and become part of Elladj's first (and likely only) cheering section, #notnecessarilycheeseburgers, the fucking amazing falafel place that I yearn for, that horrid, horrid usher and our bff Numbers123, getting love from Ross, Ashley, and Adam in the K&C, #teamoJavi, #vivaEspana, and #SuperJavi, PChan PChan'ing in front of us, asking van der Bacon if I could grab one of his chairs at the skater bar, Javi hugging us of his own accord at 1 in the morning, $70 worth of Chanadian candy, and god but that's already a ton and I find I could keep going. I won't, so I'll probably forget everything else over time, but that's still a pretty decent list, I feel. As regards the skating, I got to see soooooo many of my favorites there that it kind of blew me away, and I greatly enjoyed that so many of the SC entrants were later to be found at the GPF.
The GPF was much more sedate as there were only the 5 of us, so there was a very different feeling to the whole weekend. Still amazing, of course, and it was nice to be on good terms with so many of the event organizers. Quebec was cold but beautiful, and our hotel was lovely as it could be. The skating was certainly exceptional, and I'll always owe a debt of gratitude to the pink sweater ladies for planting the seed during SC. GPF will always make me think of our perilous road trip through New Hampshire with Talk That Talk and the #WHATPRIXFINAL mix keeping us company, of my incredibly paltry French, of that tiny crepe place by #thethe Chateau Frontenac that had the best spaghetti bolognese that I think I've ever had, of blasting Dirty Love early in the morning on the way to the arena after we'd raided the hotel's supply of fromage and little carrot muffins, of that Japanese lady who took a picture with us and thanked us for cheering on the Japanese skaters, of Mishin, of Pasquale, of Patrick fucking up his little ISU video several times before getting it right, of Max and Sasha being the lulziest during gala rehearsal...ah, again my reminiscences get the better of me! I think this is what happens when I don't write journal entries about anything /o\ Anyway, the point is that GPF was wonderful, and I am SO glad that we went through with it, no matter how crazy we felt that one magical afternoon of CoR.
And then there was Nationals, marking the second time I've flown to goddamned California for skating. Just like the first time, though, it was totally worth it. Maybe the US has lost a lot of its presence internationally, but I still love a ton of the US skaters, and it was great being able to see people like Jonathan Cassar (*_____________________________________* UNF UNF GOTDAMN ETC. *___________*) and #KeeganFuckingMessing irl, as well as ofc my favorites among the higher ranked skaters. Nationals is quite a bit different from an international event, both because of the obvious and just because of the feel of things. It's a little more...idk, homey? There's always that knowledge that you're probably sitting behind someone's parents or school friends or something, and it really gives you a sense of that nebulous ~figure skating community~ that everyone's always talking about. I found it to be a quite friendly crowd, and we had some excellent conversations with various people we were sitting near. On the non-skating side, I got to hang out with the west coast bros that I don't ever get to see, and that was especially lovely. I also got to finally tell Johnny how much he meant to me, and his reaction pretty much made my entire fucking life :D (I'm not kidding, I was a #deaddyinganddeceased mess of flailing when that happened.) The sheer number of competitors there was also pretty cool, as you were always bound to walk past someone in the concourse. Trying to sum this up, I'd say Nationals was just nice. I was certainly stressed as hell at various times, and there were a lot of emotions going on, but it was still very nice. (I hesitate to say "laid back", but that's the kind of vibe I'm going for.) I'd suspend my reality for a competition like that any time.
Three competitions in a season. Not too bad, huh? :) I'd love to make it four next year but idt Worlds is going to pan out, somehow. Still, hopefully I'll like the people assigned to SkAm and SC so that I can go to those two, and Nationals is happening, so I am excited!! There is absolutely nothing like seeing a competition live, and I feel very fortunate that I've been able to go to so many already.
Hmm, what else to document about the season. Maybe some
INSIDE JOKES, _S-ISMS, AND SIMILAR?
God, where to even start? These things just run rampant. I mean, #WHAT #WHATWHATWHAT (#WHAT? #GOHOME!!!) #CATSFORKLOOK #WHATSHIFT (AND ITS IRL COUNTERPARTS :DDDDD) #CRABSHIFT #MARNISHIFT #NOTNECESSARILYCHEESEBURGERS (really was "they don't necessarily have to be cheeseburgers" BUT YOU KNOW HOW THESE THINGS GO) #ANGRYPOUTINE #EIGHTYFUCKINGFOUR #BORVIER #DANCEBREAK #FREDDY #UKRAINIANQUEENS #STRESSBEDAZZLING MADAME TANYA: LENGTHIEST STRIP TEASE IN TOWN #ONAMISHIN #SHIBSHOLMED #BREZINAHOLMED (DDDDD:) #LIKETHEBESTSHOESEVER #TAKAHASHIISAGOD #MOVESLIKENARUMI #GREATERLEGROOM #ANDASLIGHTLYPADDEDSEAT #PRAYERROW #GDISHEILA #DAIKIKO4EVA #ROOMDRUNK #FLAWFREEANDFUNCTIONAL #JUSTTHISONCEEVERYONELIVES! SCOTT DYER STUDIES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS #ONETWO2012 #NEXTYEARINWINDSOR
OK I'M DONE. That's actually a rather poor list but it's hard to recapture some of this stuff once it's done. For the sake of posterity, some purely Boston Bro ones were #LOVE #ANDLIFE #OHALEX and #EVANLYSACEKMAGNET~
If I were a bit more ambitious I think I'd try to write up a bit of the season arc at this point, but lol no way in hell is that ever gonna happen. That's the thing about seasons: you might be able to go back and watch the competitions again, but you can never get back into the feeling of whatever was going down at the time. What would CoR be without the breathless anticipation of finding out who'd go to GPF? Would knowing the outcome of TEB make #lessthanonepoint sting any less? Would Rachael's free skate at Nationals have any feeling whatsoever without knowing how terrible her season had been? And for me personally, could any recording do justice to the competitions that I was present for? No, of course not, but the sad truth is that the videos will last while my memory will not. Each season has a different feel, with all the ridiculous drama and injustice that surrounds the sport, and living through them is incredible. But at the same time, it's kind of futile trying to capture that mood again, because it simply won't be the same. I don't think this is a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind so that every season is enjoyed and experienced to the fullest.
...and with that, I think I will sign off on this post. It's been a wonderful and crazy season, and I look forward to seeing what next year will have in store :D