This is me, swimming in Backstroke. It’s a strange drawing of mine, isn’t it?
Maybe I tend to influence people around me with my quirks and twists; maybe everybody is influencing everybody else with his or her quirks and twists. Last year, I started the “Do It” movement. Some colleague of mine told me that they have even started saying “do it” outside their work. This year, I am starting the “It’s So Strange” movement. I bumped onto my colleague this morning and he ended his comment with “it’s so strange”. Uh oh. What have I done?
“It’s So Strange” is a wonderful comment. It could mean I-don’t-like-it-but-hey-who-am-I-to-comment? Or it-is-crap-but-there-is-nothing-we-can-do. How about OK-we’ve-tried-our-best-and-it’s-beyond-us? Or simply, I-can’t-explain. By saying “it’s so strange”, I find that people become less defensive and more curious about what makes me think that way. Instead of hating me, they empathize or sympathize my puzzlement. And for those who truly understand why I say “it’s so strange”, we all laugh at the dark side of the humor.
Today is a strange day. I woke up this morning still having this backache. Maybe I spent too much time at Azeroth over the weekend; maybe I spent too much time hunting mouse at Facebook. I must have sat too straight, or stood too straight, I got a lousy backache. Usually the backache would go away with my morning stretching ritual, but it didn’t.
On my way home I said to Cynthia, “I should go for swimming or jogging”. Why did I say that? Maybe I am inspired by some new blogger friends who are into sport; maybe I am inspired by so many friends out there who are suddenly into all kinds of sports. Almost like a conspiracy. It’s so strange.
So Cynthia offered to cook dinner while I headed for a swim. Ah, the beautiful blue swimming pool. I dived slided into the pool, inspired by Michael Phelps, I tried to rotate my shoulders while doing Breaststroke. Breaststroke used to be a walk-in-the-park style for me but I was panting hard after one lap. That’s no good. Then I switched to Freestyle. Couldn’t last the entire lap (small pool at my condo some more). Uh oh. I couldn’t even got my arms completely off the water with my Butterfly style.
Damn.
What I could do though, was Backstroke – one of my weakest styles besides Butterfly. It was dark and I have to count my stroke in order to avoid hitting the wall. By the time I got out of the pool, water droplets all over my body, there were ladies siting around the pool, young girls walking around the condo, businesswomen returning from work. There I was hardly able to walk feeling all naked with my six …
Anyway, once I made it home, Cynthia greeted me and said, “So you feel like a rock star right?” She always feels great after the exercise. I was panting, my head was pounding. Duh!
Good thing is, my backache is gone, for now.
14 replies on “My New “It’s So Strange” Movement / And I Started Swimming Again”
Ha could be the olympics as well! i was frantically (yes! after watching china’s li dan playing in the finals) searching for badminton partners till I was told that normally we have to book badminton courts 2 weeks in advance. In the end, no court and couldnt find any partners too.
Si Ying – Could be, could be. Oh, you may wish to try playing squash. I love that sport. And if you can’t find a partner, you can always play against yourself. Not a bad way to train up the technique as well.
Ha! I am afraid of the ball. I was told if you dont control well it can hit u in the eyes and you can go blind. either that or it hits u and u get blue black. No? haha
Si Ying – Oh dear, not really. Once you get your posture correct and you know how to get into position, i.e. not too ahead of the landing of the ball or too far away from the landing of the ball, it shouldn’t fly anywhere.
In rare occasion you do get hit by your opponent’s serve or response (seldom by yourself). But that is usually to do with positioning (always run back to the T-position at the middle of the court). Again, if you pay attention to where the ball lands, you shouldn’t get hit by the ball at all.
Haha, I definitely sound too timid. It sounds like tennis, which I am bad at. The ball is heavier than shuttle cock, the racket is much much heavier too. I had tennis lessons in college and as our school tennis court is next to the road, there was once my tennis ball flew off the courts to the road (not sure if it hits any cars though). I sound like I need a coach before I can get it right
Si Ying – Oh, it is a whole world of difference with tennis. I attempt to play tennis too but I really suck at it. I spend lots of time picking up balls than hitting it.
A squash court is small. You don’t need to walk much before you can pick up a ball. I find that I spend more time playing than stopping. Also, a squash ball (especially the double yellow one – you can check out the dots on the ball with red being the fastest) can travel quite slowly. I love the sound of hitting the squash ball. Bang! And then another bang from the wall. And you don’t need much strength to do that.
Ya, you will need a coach to get you the basic so that your posture is correct. It is very dangerous for your opponent if your posture is wrong because he or she may get hit by your racket given how small the court is 🙂
For tennis I never quite get to hit the ball other than serving haha.
Ya I thought the sound of hitting the ball to the wall was rather de-stressing. It must be my misconception of the sports! I think I am keen/encourage to try pick up this when you say that I can play alone 🙂
There used to be a squash court in my community center but now no more (badminton court instead).
Si Ying – Yes! De-stress is the word. I think they are a lot more squash courts in where my birth town is (HK) compares to Singapore.
nice blog. will come back on weekend to read more…actually…to kpo on cynthia whom cooks for u..hmm. nice woman! need to read more.
Hhahaha…..it’s so strange. I started swimming again this week after not swimming for two+ years. It’s so strange – I could not finish one lap on Freestyle and switch to Froggie Style. It’s so strange – after six laps of Froggiestyle, was catching my breath too.
Strange or not ? 😛
Meme! Hahahah.
Jazzieeaa – Thanks for your kind words. I will check out your site too! I really should swim more often so that Cynthia will cook more often … ha ha ha.
Tigerfish – Very strange! It’s so strange!
Maybe there is a swimming bug somewhere and all of a sudden, everyone catches that bug and wanna swim!
Strange 🙂
CSC – You swim too?!