April 28
Thursday was the stage’s talent show. I heard that the great success of the prior stage’s show was a magic act. The teachers were floored by the card tricks. On learning this, I grew hopes of putting on a fire show. I figured swinging balls of fire, usually in my control but occasionally hitting me, and maybe a moment of eating fire, would make playing cards pale in comparison. The first matter was to rig myself a pair of practice poi. My friend Amy Lau insisted I bring shoe laces with me. She said they were useful for all sorts of surprising things, and as an example, she told me that if tied correctly to a dripping faucet that is keeping you awake, a shoe lace can silence the drip. I safety pinned shoe laces to balled up socks to make an extremely lightweight but functional pair of practice poi. For about a week after attaching the foot accessories, I was obsessed. Many times each evening I would sneak into my bedroom for five or ten minute practice sessions, and before bed and again in the morning I would swing my socks around until I could consistently perform a new trick. I went so far as to buy petrol, the only fire-friendly option around here, and look into ropes before I got word that this combination would most likely burn me. So, instead, I played violin at the talent show. Tom and I performed three blue-grass pieces that we’ve been working on for the past few weeks. This was my first time performing anything blue-grassy, including chords and fast improvisations, and as just before each song I had a moment of certainty that I had bluffed my way onto the stage and was about to squeak out only hideous noise. After the first, “Two Dollar Bill,” the audience of our stage-mates and teachers gave us a standing ovation. It was heaven. Through the comedians and fashion show, and through the dance party and bonfire, I floated high above the ground.