This helps, though.

Yes ladies, you get to wear tutus. Tutus for everyone. <3<3<3

Cuts like a knife

Last night was the freshmeat draft, and also the final cut. As the "Freshmeat Mama," I both love the draft and hate it. I love seeing who goes where. As one of the mediators for the past two seasons, it's been a privilege to be present at the draft itself, keeping time and recording the picking order. Still, there was a new twist this season - I agreed to send some of the "we regret to inform you" emails. I did that clumsily, and while I'm glad it's over, I'd love to go back to the before time when everyone was still here with us.

I'm thrilled to have new teammates, and new opponents, and I can't wait to see what they'll all do on the track this season. Still, I'm seeing the cut freshies everywhere today, and I'll continue to see myself in them every season. I admit, this system is worlds better than the torturously slow version I went through when I was new. There's simply no "mega happy ending" in which Garth gets with Dream Woman.

I just made a Wayne's World reference. Oh my god I must be tired.

My job rocks

My students really get me.


-- Post From My iPhone

Oh Whip It....

I just had to buy it today, and I'm definitely enjoying all the wacky Hollywood shenanigans. However, there are two things that consistently make me scream at the television, much to the chagrin of my pug:

1. It's called A whip, not THE whip! Do you call an uppercut "the uppercut," or a home run "the home run?" Of course not, because it sounds stupid.

2. Does ANYONE watch the inside line in these bouts?

However, there is one thing that totally makes me tear up and get all sappy:

1. The scene in the alterna-hipster-shop where she first sees roller derby skaters. I remember that exact moment in my life - sitting on my couch, flipping through the channels, and catching a glimpse of a tattooed chick in a helmet smashing into another tattooed chick in a helmet.

I wonder how many other girls have already had that moment while watching this movie. I'd like to think a lot have, or will when they rent it or get it from Netflix. Maybe watching that absurdly open inside line will help them learn to guard it a bit more closely when they decide to be their own heroes.

Once again, I've managed to catch whatever bug is going around. I've always been "the kid who gets sick," so this isn't new to me. As a kid I was on a first name basis with all the nurses, and as an adult, I catch whatever the kids in my classes bring with them to class. This stinks enough for my off-skates life, but man, for derby, this is just plain awful.

I always have a tough time juggling the desire to skate with the need to rest and heal. It seems like we do ALL of my favorite drills on the practices I have to miss because of a cold or flu. Sunday was no exception. They did johnny crash drills, partner blood and thunder, and rat traps. Watching that was absolute murder - all I wanted to do was race home, grab my skates, and hit people. Sadly, that's usually the worst thing one can do for oneself and one's league mates, so I had some ginger ale and watched from the stands.

Thank goodness vet attendance isn't tracked until Sunday. Hopefully by then my body will chill out and get better so I can finally put on my skates and kick butt.

A girl can't have too many tutus.

I'm getting this tutu in pink and black for our upcoming season because I plan to retire my old tutu. Last season I just had the one, and this year I'd like a few for the sake of variety. Plus, my tutu was just too long last season and I'd like to have something that is less likely to get caught in my teammates' pads when we skate in a pack.

Etsy rocks for projects that I could probably learn to do myself, but only after about six failed attempts and $80 in materials. Thanks MTcoffinzUnderground for making the tutus I wish I had the mad sewing skillz to make.

End of the year derby musings

After filling out a livejournal (yes I still have one of those) meme about end-of-year reflections, I realized that most of them were derby related. I opted to refine them a bit and put them into three categories:

Triumphs:

1. Managing to finally pull off a decent attempt at a Sláy Ride. Granted, I didn't carry any of these people around in the impossibly awesome way that Beyonsláy did in that famous clip, but I did the basics of "hit, lift, drop" that had me going over the bout footage again and again in my parents' kitchen saying "look what I did, mom!"

2. Finally bouting after a whole year of waiting. I'll never forget that first bout for as long as I live. I've become a much better skater since then, but being able to put on a uniform and skate in front of my parents for the first time was such a milestone.

3. Not tearing my ACL after all. Man, that was a horrible week. I've never been more grateful for a visit to a specialist in my entire life. Thanks Dr. Troy for yanking and pulling on my leg and then letting me know that I was "going to be just fine."

4. Getting "Nuts' Best Team Player" at the awards ceremony this season. We voted on a few awards, and this was one of them. I never, ever saw that coming. Getting something people voted on almost made me lose it. For once, I was able to not sob like a goofball while doing something relating to my team, and I held it together while accepting it. I totally cried in the bathroom when I got home, though.

Regrets:

1. Wussing out at Speedy Dan practice. When I was overwhelmed by balancing off-skates tasks, I allowed myself to use that as an excuse to punk out on going to Speedy Dan practice and never got over my anxiety attacks. In retrospect, I wish I'd just sucked it up, cried through those speed drills, and eventually overcome my problems instead of letting the demons in my brain win.

2. Being down on myself more often than I probably deserved. More than one person has told me that I need to stop "looking at the ground" metaphorically speaking because I'll "just run into things." Sometimes I forget that I need to focus on the good things I do rather than on only the bad.

3. Never getting up the balls to try pivoting. Why does that role freak me out so much?

Hopes for next year:

1. I want to finally overcome my mental "speed barrier." When I'm playing a bout, speed is no problem. When I'm doing a drill and it involves racing, I'm screwed. I want to get over this stupid fear already because it's getting old.

2. I would kill to get an MVP award at a bout. Would I be the goofball who started crying while accepting the award? Oh hell yes, you bet.

3. I know I have it in me to be a better team player on the track. Getting best team player this season meant the world to me, and I want to live up to that as much as I can. The players I respect the most are the ones who can bring out the best in their teammates, and I want to be one of those some day.