Pissah fo' now, and points too!

I never, ever jam. Ever. We hates it, precious.

Lately I've been trying to get over my hatred of that role so I can be a better blocker. Last night I jammed twice during a scrimmage and I even got lead. I scored ten points, too! I'm almost indecently excited about that. The high point: taking the outside corner despite my better judgement, doing it completely on one foot that was juuuust inside the line, and through some miracle actually making it through the pack. Epic.

In general, I just had an all around good time. I went to skate with my favorite league, NHRD, at their regular practice. I was going to head out before the scrimmage started because they were playing the Pissahs, who we're bouting in a few weeks. I figured the Pissahs would want their team practice to be free of soon-to-be opponents, but they were playing short and invited me to join them. I don't see many Pissahs off the track, and it felt good to skate with old friends instead of against them.

Normally we scrimmage in our teams, and of course we practice and bout as teams. I often miss our once-a-week league practice, so I've watched my connection with anyone who isn't a Nut weaken over time. That makes me sad. My skater sisters are all on other teams, I miss skating with people who joined the league when I did, and I miss all of the freshies I "mama'ed."

Working closely with my team has made been good for our playing, and I love that. Still, it makes it hard to see outside of that little bubble sometimes. It's too easy to forget that we're all one league.

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.