Nihon Nerd

OMG! I’m writing another blog? I AM writing another blog. AHH!

Here we go. I feel like I’m in the groove. Like a groove in a record? Is that where that phrase comes from? I dunno. Lemme ask my friend Google. Hey, Google – WHAT THE HELL DOES IN THE GROOVE MEAN?

Apparently it means to “perform well.” Uh, duh! I knew that. I’m not stupid; I’m just an idiot. An idiot who is in a groove (possibly from a record?). So, basically, I perform well at idiocy. Yep, that sounds accurate. Like, dude, get this – the sound of a groove from a… RECORD. See! LOOK WHAT I’M DOING HERE! I’m tying things together like a pair of shoes that don’t have velcro, because if they had velcro, you’d prolly use the velcro, unless they were slip-ons, because those don’t have laces either, which would totally ruin my analogy, so, let’s just make this easy and say the figurate shoes I’m referring to are not slip-ons nor have velcro, but have TONS of laces that need so much goddamn tying it’d take at least 5-10 minutes to tie them all, not to say it would take you that long to tie laces on these shoes-that-don’t-exist because maybe you’re a goddamn prodigy at tying things, and if that’s the case, wow, good for you, no need to brag about it or anything, we get it, you’re REALLY good at tying laces, why don’t you go tie yourself a bow and wear that on your head to show the world how good you are at tying while us morons duct tape are shoes to our feet because we’re not as refined and skilled as you, you goddamn showoff.  See, I told you I’m not stupid! Idiot? The grooviest.

Speaking of grooves, whether from records or not, my blog this week deals with dancing. Yes, dancing. And how 2 Japanese pro-wrestlers inspired me to DANCE like a mofo when I’m walking around in public. Let’s get into it!

I’ve already talked about dancing in one of my early Becoming the Nihon Nerd blogs. The tl;dr: dance like no one is watching. Except for your stalker; he doesn’t count. Then, once you get comfortable, dance like EVERYONE is watching. Why? Uh, corgis, duh! That, and DANCING IS A HAPPINESS MAGENT. Don’t believe me? Click play on this song:

You hearing this shit? Now tell me you don’t wanna just SHAKE YOUR ASS right now. Go on, shake it! Shake that sexy ass of yours. Right now. Hell, I’m shaking mine as I type this. Which is really hard and uncomfortable; I never knew how hard it was to type and shake your ass at the same time. OK, enough of that. You get the idea: shaking your ass is fun, unless you try to do it while typing; then it’s harder than tying a lot of shoe laces in less 5- 10 minutes.

I bring this up, because I dance EVERY DAY, EVERY WHERE. And I 100% don’t give a FUCK what people think of me. And developing that skill has helped lift my spirits on days when my spirits are duct taped to my shoes.

Let me caveat this by saying I’m not a GOOD dancer. Oh, no no! I’m not even a BAD dancer. Much too kind! Truth is, I’m a DUMPSTER FIRE DANCER. The absolute worst. But y’know what? I 100% DO NOT care. At. All. That is the key to unlocking the rewards of DGAFD (Don’t Give a Fuck Dancing). Dance not because you’re talented (show off!). Dance not because you care about what people think about you (you shouldn’t!). Dance because it’s FUN TO BE ALIVE (yasssss!).

I started dancing out in public shortly before I moved here to Japan. Since I worked in the South Bay (and I lived in San Francisco), I was fortunate enough to get to work riding  one of them fancy work shuttles. And my shuttle stop was about a 10-12 minute walk from my apartment. So I’d listen to music and strut my way to and from my shuttle. I remember one day I was walking home and one of my co-workers stopped me on the street and asked what I was listening to. Which was basically a nice way of asking, “Dude, what the HELL are you doing?” Because it didn’t matter what I told him; nothing was going to convince this guy I wasn’t completely idiotic (not stupid!). But I didn’t care. Nor do I care now if someone wonders the same thing. ESPECIALLY here in Japan. Because they’ll just chalk it up to, “foolish foreigner.” And they’d be TOTALLY RIGHT.

In fact, I was actually inspired to express myself out and about by watching the entrances of 2 different Japanese pro-wrestlers: Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka. Both started in Japan, now wrestle in the WWE, and both are known for being super charismatic, which is impressive since both don’t rely on their English-speaking abilities to connect with the crowd. Instead, they do it by showing everyone how BADASS they are via the art of DANCING. Just watch:

 

Pretty cool, right? Actually, don’t answer that – I’m afraid what you’ll say. Point is, I think it’s cool, and it inspired my DGAFD movement. And it’s not unsurprising that 2 of my influences are Japanese; I’ve noticed that people here tend to be completely genuine and unironic with their passions. For example, when I go to Disney, I see ADULTS who are MORE EXCITED to meet Mickey than kids. Or I’ll see businessmen in suits reading manga on the subway (something you’d NEVER see in America). That’s just cool, man! Don’t be afraid to show the world what you like, whether it be Disney, comics, or DANCING.

Takeaway: Be yourself and have fun because it doesn’t matter what people think about you; what matters is what YOU think about YOURSELF!