Friday, October 28, 2011

Hrapy Birfday

So yesterday I turned 38.  Whee?  I feel pretty damned good though - I'm probably in the best shape I've been in the last 15-20 years.   We scrimmaged last night and when I went to the penalty box, I asked if I could only spend 30 seconds, as a birthday present.  (As it turned out, it was the last jam of the night, so I only spent 21 seconds or so.)  The penalty box also sang Happy Birthday to me ("Happy Birthday, White 691....")

Earlier in the week, I took apart my skates and cleaned them.  I ordered a whole bunch of hardware parts because they were getting all warped and bent.  When I went to skate last night, I was a mess - I took a really bad fall during tomahawk stops, which *never* happens.  I figured it was because my trucks were loose, so I cranked 'em down, but it kept happening, so I cranked 'em again, but it STILL kept happening, so I stopped and skated slowly around, trying to figure out what was wrong.

The edges of my wheels (Radar Diamonds, which I still love except that it's a bitch to get the bearings out and in) wear down over time, so I rotate them around when I clean them.  The one I put on my left inside back axle was worn down quite a bit.  I realized as I was doing crossovers that I push off on that edge, and when the edge was not there, I stumbled a little bit.  So I put a sharper edged wheel there and was fine.

Our team played awesomely last night - there was one point where three of us were holding their Best Jammer Ever back, and she was *pissed* about it.

Monday, October 24, 2011

picturez!

Babe Selling Raffle Tickets.
Zombie.    

weekend!

(we just had one!)

Friday evening was the league-sponsored Zombie Walk, which was an insane amount of fun, as usual.  (I really enjoy shambling around and moaning and chugging fake blood.)  The best part of the evening was when I started going towards this one chick in nightclub gear who said "OMG, GET AWAY! YOU ARE SO WEIRD!!!"

Because it was early in the evening this year (8pm, as opposed to the usual 11pm) Maverick also went, as a Conehead Zombie.  He had an absolute BLAST and really wants to do it again next year.

Saturday I had nothing going on.  NOTHING.  NOTHING.  This does not happen.  It was bizarre.

I *knew* I had to go to Sunday morning's practice to make sure I made attendance.  I did not want to go, for two reasons:

1. My usual "exercise is evil and must be destroyed with fire" attitude; and
2. My usual "getting up early in the morning is evil and must be destroyed with fire" attitude.

I ended up wearing my practice clothes to bed on Saturday night, so as to remove that step in the morning.

So yeah, I went. And y'know what?  It was horrible, it was miserable, it sucked - but it wasn't as horrible, as miserable, as sucky as I remember it being.  The starting out jog - I did it without stopping.  The "47 pushups, 47 situps and 47 air squats* at your own pace"?  I did 30 pushups, 47 situps and 47 air squats at my own pace.  The hopping and agility skills?  I did them as best I could.  The skating pacelines and sprint contests - I didn't wuss out.  So yay me?

Sunday evening was more training for the newbies. It's starting to be obvious who's going to make it and who's not.    We had them try their 25 in 5 - some of them made it with lots of time to spare; some are still doing T-stops in the turns to slow themselves down.

I hate doing the 25 in 5.  Even though I know I can do it easily - I did 56 in 10 minutes, for Pete's sake -  it still makes me nervous.  I wish we had a person skating with us, or a moving dot, or something, that was the "25 in 5" pace time, and you just have to keep in front of that person/dot. 

We had some skaters do their travel team assessments (which I did in May).  I'm kind of curious as to how I'd do on stuff like this now, that (a) I've lost almost 20 pounds and (b) I'd be doing it on our normal practice space on my awesome wheels, as opposed to the first time skating on a surface we don't skate on very often.

Tonight's team practice, should be fun. Hopefully I will not bang my head into the ground like I did last time (which I guess I didn't mention.  Yeah, I got stuck in a pileup that ended up with me getting my head knocked twice, and *then* I realized I hadn't been wearing my mouthguard at the time. Bullet = dodged.  I sat out the rest of practice nursing a headache [which is why I'm nervous about attendance]).

________________
It was Coach Anton Apolo OhHELLno's 47th birthday, so everything was done in groups of 47.

Friday, October 21, 2011

si teh Friday

Last night we had a league meeting, wherein we discussed what we felt the league's one real goal for the next season should be.  The general consensus was "exposure in our community".  (Second place went to "getting our own practice space".)

These ideas were suggested by people randomly yelling out ideas, and I noticed that a lot of the suggestions were things like "get into lots of tournaments!" and "get our WFTDA rankings up!" and "more travel to further-away venues!", all of which read to me like "do stuff for the A team and the B team can sit there and cheer us on from the sidelines!"

Which I would really like to avoid.  We're undefeated too (and even more than the A team, as they've lost in tournament play).

Are there any tournaments for B level teams anywhere?

Monday, October 17, 2011

Back to Monday

no drunken mashup dancing, but the reunion was still fun.  some of my friends hope to come to the last bout.

Didn't go to Sunday practice (in other news, fire hot and water wet), but went to Fresh Meat, where they did a modified Sunday practice with jogging and planks and whatnot.  Whee?

Friday, October 14, 2011

WEEKEND WEEKEND WEEKEND WAHOO

Last night we divided up into whites and blacks and scrimmaged.  The only requirements for the night were that everyone had to have fun and everyone had to jam.

It sucked, as per usual.

Tomorrow night is my 20th high school reunion.  It should be pretty fun.  High school was not a pit of vipers for me (that was junior high); I went to an all-female Catholic high school with a graduating class of 76 girls and was voted "most unique" or "most unusual" or something like that.  (I would wear pillbox hats to class.)  There's been talk of doing something afterwards (since it ends at 8pm), all I can think is that it probably will not be like a derby afterparty.

Unless we all end up drunk off our asses, dancing to Girl Talk at 3am. 

Thursday, October 13, 2011

oh yes it's scrimmage night and the feeling's right

YAY IT'S THURSDAY

I've been rostered for the November 5 bout in Canada.  Road trip yay!  My enhanced license showed up about a week ago so I am SET.

Not much else is new in the land of Derby Chalk Drawings.  It's hard to believe that the season will be over in a little over a month.  I forget when next season starts - it's either January or February.  I should probably be more aware of stuff like that.

Fresh Meat is going well - we're past Boot Camp now and we're heading into the actual training.  I'll be in charge of a new group of skaters now; I'm really looking forward to it.  I'd like to start going to Wednesday night Adult Skate at the rink where we practice (since the Fresh Meat only have one practice a week, on Sunday nights, a lot of them also go to this), but Maverick has fencing lessons then and I have to take him to those.  Plus, it'd be *another* night out of the house and I *do* like seeing my husband and kid every once in a while.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

in which I kinda toot my own horn-ish

so Saturday was a bout night.  Our team wasn't officially playing, but we were able to scrimmage a team from Olean in the afternoon.  We won, which was cool.  We were far enough ahead that we decided to try a star pass, and I was pivot, so I got the star and then promptly got my fourth minor and had to sit. :(  But then when I came back in, I got lead jam and I think I got full points before the other jammer made it to the pack again.

Because our team wasn't playing the bout, we all had to sign up for bout production positions.  After picking where I wanted to work, I was asked if I could move to doing the 50/50 raffle, since it was a position that involved handling money and they wanted a league member to do that (and they had a Fresh Meat person available to do the position I'd signed up for).  So, I said "okay, I can do that" and signed up.

I decided that the best way to garner raffle ticket sales was if I went for the Hot Babe Selling Tickets look.  I wore my team t-shirt, my new DerbySkinz*, my cool Target clearance rack fishnets, the one pair of high heels I own.  I shook my hair out and did my best to work it.

The general reaction from my leaguemates was "wow, where did this side of you come from?"  I was told that during the bout, on the bench, I was getting commented on.   I am still waiting to see pictures, so I can see if I actually looked as good as I thought I did.  (I also don't know if the amount of tickets I sold was high, low or average.  I like to think it was high.)

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*The very first bout I skated, I wore knee-length sweat-pants material shorts.  I never in a million years thought I'd wear booty shorts, but...here I am!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

um, wow

So for one brief, shining moment when I got up this AM, for the first time in over nine years....

.....my BMI was in the normal range.

woot

Monday, October 3, 2011

LA DEE DA DEE DA, I SAY

Last night was the last day of Boot Camp.  Not much really changes now - the newbies will go through more training and the like for the next umpteen squillion weeks.  I think they do a WFTDA assessment in....mid-December? Maybe? I dunno.  I'm not in charge, I just show up and do what I'm told.

Practice tonight.  We've got a scrimmage set up on Saturday, before the A team's bout, which is kinda cool.  I don't remember the team we're playing, but it should be heapin' handfuls of fun.