OMH vs MOB!!! OMG!!!!!

Because I am lame, I put the wrong side of the flier up. I will amend that tomorrow. But for now, here’s the basic info, for your information needs, should you need some information.

Providence Roller Derby Championship Bout!
Downtown Providence (Kennedy Plaza)
Friday, September 19th (Rain date, Sunday the 21st)
Doors are at 7pm
Bout starts at 8pm

As usual, let me know if you need me to get you tickets. $10 from me, $13 at the door. Or $11.50 from brown paper tickets. WOOOOO!!! Go, OMH!!!

THANKS!

Thank you all who came out to support Providence Roller Derby last night! It’s always so great to go out there and know that you’ve got people cheering you on! I’m not a star player, but I have the BEST fan club EVER!!! Thank you all for your support, not just for me, but for a sport I love! I know I’m not the only one who loves roller derby, and you don’t have to be on skates to show your love. Just coming out to watch us means so much. Not just because we get your money (which we really need) but because if no one came to watch, it wouldn’t be as much fun. So, a million times, thank you!

I didn’t feel like I had a very good game last night, what with taking myself out on several occasions. I kept tripping on myself and others, so that I didn’t get very many good hits in. BUT, I still had a blast, and really, I’m my own worst critic. I did better than I did the first time out, because I knew what the hell was going on. I’m a wee bit more experienced, so now that I know what’s going on, I can see what I have to do, I just can’t always get my body in position to actually do it. And I think that’s where my frustration comes in. I see what has to be done, but I’m neither strong enough, nor skilled enough to actually accomplish what I want.

And for a brainy person like me, that’s a bit hard to swallow. I see it, so why can’t I do it? You’d think my brains would be able to say “Um, dude? You’ve only been doing this less than 7 months. Lighten up!” But no, I’m lame and continue to beat myself up when I can’t perform at the level I think I should be at. Which is an arbitrary level anyway. Just because I work hard, doesn’t mean I’ll ever be at the top, and I just need to let that sink in a bit. Derby is not school. I’ve never played a sport before, so really I just need to cut myself some slack and just chill out about it. Dude, I hope the video crew didn’t catch me crying. That would be totally lame. But I’m not going to think about potentially embarrassing footage.

Because we won! And it was great fun at the after party! I’m not much of a kareoke person. I’d rather dance to a DJ, but that’s the nature of PRD, they love to sing! I’ll get over myself soon enough and step up to the microphone eventually. I almost sang last night, but they didn’t have the songs I wanted. I’ll be better prepared next time though.

Now I need to soak in a hot bath. My back is freaking killing me. I need to check for Kid Ace shaped bruises, because I’m pretty sure she was the one who landed on me when we had that (one of many) massive pileup, with me flattened to the cement.

Anyway, thanks again for being such awesome friends! You all ROCK!!!!!

And back to our regularly scheduled derby time:

Come see me skate with the Old Money Honeys as we battle the Sakonnet River Roller Rats in Providence Roller Derby’s last bout before the Championship. The Rats fought hard against the Mob Squad in July’s bout, though the Mob reigned supreme in the end; let’s see how they hold up against the Honeys, who dominated the Mob in the bout in May.

Due to my absences from practice (stupid dizziness), I have not been able to score many advanced tix. I may still be able to arrange to get you a discounted ticket if you give me a call by Thursday afternoon. Then you can phone Jesse when you get to the bout and he can hook you up with your ticket.

A free ticket to the championship bout for the Foxie fan who brings the best sign or slogan or Foxified t-shirt (etc) to the bout on Friday!!! Be creative!

FREE arts festival (FREE DERBY!)

Sorry for the last minute post about this, been meaning to post about it for ages, but summer has stolen my brain once again. Anyway, the IndieArts Festival is today in Downtown Providence. It is going to be pretty rad. And it is FREE!!! Providence Roller Derby’s Killah Bees are playing New Hamphire’s Skate Free or Die at 5:30, and I’m skating, so you don’t want to miss that. (It’s my first inter-league bout.)

Here’s the schedule for the day, as it’s a day-long event:
IndieArts Fest
Saturday, July 19th
1:00 PM – 11:00 PM
IndieArtsri.com
IndieArtsFest.com
Myspace.com/IndieArtsFest
FREE!!!

Main Stage:
Bank of America City Center

Master of Ceremonies: Diamond Dan White
1:00 PM – Zebras
2:00 PM – Alec K. Redfern & The Eyesores
3:00 PM – Cold War
4:00 PM – The ‘Mericans
5:00 PM – The Danger Danger Birds
5:05 PM – General Burnside’s Best Facial Hair Contest
5:30 PM – Providence Roller Derby
7:00 PM – FreshKills
8:00 PM – The Chinese Stars
9:00 PM – Swiss Chemistry Club (Tim O’Keefe & Hoska)
10:00 PM – Mahi Mahi

Fringe Stage:
Burnside Park at Kennedy Plaza
1:00 PM – Spoken Word Showcase with Christopher Johnson
2:00 PM – Poorly Drawn People
3:00 PM – Area C
4:00 PM – Channel Zero
5:00 PM – Make-Up Break-Up
6:00 PM – Badman
7:00 PM – RI2PN Dance Showcase
With Bella Curva, Doubleshift Dance Theatre, Evolution Movement Co, Hortense Gerardo, Eostre, Jennifer/Kathryn, Bald Soul and 401 Rockerz
8:20 PM – Triangle Forest
9:05 PM – BellaMinx Burly-Q
9:15 PM – Joey Beats
10:00 PM – Ty Jesso

Tunnel of Lumina:
Directly behind Bank of America City Center
1:00 PM – Films with Live Soundtracks
2:00 PM – DJ Dublin
3:00 PM – Nick De Paris
4:00 PM – Joel
5:00 PM – Gregor
6:00 PM – Morgan Louis
7:00 PM – Ted James
8:00 PM – DJ Flack
9:00 PM – Gil Kuruneri
10:00 PM – DJ C

Grant’s Block Stage:
Across From Tazza Cafe
(the Corner of Westminster & Union Street)

4:00 PM – Anthony Loffredio of Barn Burning
4:55 PM – Chris Rosenquest
5:50 PM – Matt Everett
6:45 PM – Chris Monti
7:40 PM – Ben Pilgrim & Mary Bee
8:30 PM – ACME Video Animation & Film Showcase

Le Tour de Fleece: Day 6

This is the first ball of two-ply that I’ve finished in the TDF. I bought the roving from a woman at the Apple and Peach Festival in Acushnet last September. If I could remember the name of her business, I’d post that, but alas, I lost the receipt ages ago. I have a hank of handspun that I bought from her, too… if I can find that in my stash and if the tag is still attached, I may update with her info. Because really, her color sense is really great.

This yarn has way more yellow in it than you can tell here. because I wound into a ball instead of a hank. I need a niddy-noddy at some point, and soon. The next batch of yarn I’m spinning has way more lanolin in it than I expected, and I’d like to try to wash some of that out before I knit with it. It’s still coming out pretty good, though, despite my inexperience with sticky wool. It, too, is a two-ply. Behold:

The grey wool came from Rhinebeck last October, and again, I can’t remember the name of the seller. They’re the ones who sold their roving in cute nesty-like balls. I’m sure I have their name somewhere. You know, it probably wouldn’t take too much time to look all this stuff up, but if I put it off, I’m never going to update on the progress of this project.

I’ve decided that “spinning every day” means spinning for at least fifteen minutes. It’s a short enough time to commit to, and long enough to get a nice amount spun. Granted the two balls shown here were spun and plied on Sunday, when I spun all day, but still. The bit I have going on the bobbin right now gets added to each day, and I’ll have longer time on the weekends to get more done. Thus far I’m happy with my progress.

None of the channels we get show any coverage of the cyclists, but I check in each day to look at the standings of each stage of the race and what not. It’s the first year that I’ve actually paid attention and sought out information on the race as it progresses, so that’s a novelty. I’m not much of a cycling enthusiast, but it’s actually quite entertaining.

Old Money Honeys get their revenge! Foxie makes her debut!

Thank you so much, everyone, for coming out to support me last night at Providence Roller Derby’s first bout of the season. Seriously, I had the biggest fan club there, and it’s because you are all so awesome!!! Thank you for even paying to get photos taken with me! Sorry to those of you who got blurry photos. 🙁 I hope you all enjoyed the game as much as we enjoyed skating for you! It was so much fun having you all there; you made it that much better. I cannot thank you all enough! And, holy merde! I even got to jam. TWICE! And I scored TWO points! I NEVER score points! I was concentrating so hard to just keep skating and avoid getting knocked down that I didn’t even know I scored! Yeah!

Last night is kind of a blur. Actually the last few days are a bit of a blur. I had a work event Thursday evening and had a few cups of tea because I knew it was going to be a long night. I went to practice for the last half hour or so just in time to practice our entrance and get a few last minute notes. I stayed up until 2am finishing last minute details and projects and getting my gear all together. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, so I just stayed up and kept myself busy. Staying up too late (and having a bit too much caffeine at the work event) did not make for a very pleasant morning. I was sick pretty much all day, which made me even more nervous, and therefore sicker. I got home with only one hour before we had to leave to go set up at the rink, and there was still so much to be done. I really only had one major freak out, when I got the dumb and could not brain to save my life (which therefore made me even more freaked out). But we got to the rink only a half hour after I wanted to be there, so it wasn’t all bad.

I didn’t have too much to do for set up, since there were a ton of people there to help out. I had more time to concentrate on not vomiting, so that was good. Before I knew it, we were in uniform, had our league photo taken, and were warming up and getting last minute advice from our awesome team captain (the illustrious Sass E. McNasty). The next thing I knew, the rink was filling up with spectators and we were being introduced. I did NOT fall during introductions, which was a HUGE relief. (He got my intro/motto a bit wrong, but what can you do… it was in French, after all.) Next thing I knew we were ready to start, and the weirdest thing happened… I stopped being nervous. It was just like at practice. But with more people around. (The nervousness came back in flashes throughout the night, though. Especially when I was handed the star helmet cover and our manager said “you’re jamming next, Foxie.” In my head I was all “What? That’s not the line-up we discussed!” Outside, I was cool and said “ROCK!”)

When it was my time to skate, I just stepped right in there and did what we’d been practicing all along. There are so many variables in roller derby; there’s never a clear answer to any question about strategy. All answers start with “it depends.” But once you begin to understand which variables to look for, making a decision on what to do at any one time becomes a bit more clear. Most of the time last night, I did what my team mates were telling me to do. But on a few occasions, I knew where I had to be, and got myself in a position to be useful, without anyone having to tell me what to do, so that was a huge improvement. I only managed to hit a few people here and there, and never did I knock anyone down, but I stayed alert, in position, and I was difficult to knock over for the most part. Granted, most of the time I got hit, it wasn’t really that hard. I think I did my job well enough for a rookie. It took two of the Mob’s best players to actually knock me down, so that was awesome. (And one of them had to hit me three times before I actually fell.)

I’m so happy to be on OMH, and not just because we kicked serious ass last night, but because we work really well together. We worked so hard in the weeks leading up to the bout, and I’m so glad it came together so well. I’m so proud of us! As Dukes would say, GO TEAM!

I am so happy so many people came out to see me skate last night! I seriously took a dozen photos with my fan club. You guys are awesome!!! And Sandra even brought me super cool present (which Dukes put in her car during clean up, thinking I had gone already, so I have to get that back from her.) I can’t wait to hang up my new “roller skate luncheonette” sign! I’ve got to find the perfect spot for it. After clean up, we went to Jerky’s for a super fun after party. It was so much fun to dance with my friends, both skater and non-skater alike. We got home around 2:30, quarter to three, and crashed.

I slept so well last night. I don’t even think I moved all night, because the ice pack I went to bed with was only an inch or so away from where it was when I fell asleep. I don’t think I did too much damage to my already damaged leg. I went down hard, though. When Lotta Pain hits you, you’re going to go down hard. (I gave her a big hug at the after party though!) The hematoma has a smaller, secondary bulge, and the area surrounding it is pretty tender and bruised. But those padded shorts did their job and protected me from more bruising and rink rash. (I think if I hadn’t already had the hematoma alien, it wouldn’t have been that bad with the shorts on.)

I’m pretty drained today, but I keep getting flashes of awesome every time I think about last night. Everyone on the league has been super supportive and wonderful to all of us newbies, and I’m so grateful to have finally joined this sport. The grueling practices, the expensive gas to get to three (sometimes four or five) practices a week, the pain of falling on concrete, the time it sucks away from the rest of my life… it’s all worth it. Every little bit of it. All of the inconvenience, drama, and pain is overpowered by the awesome at a bout: The lights. The music. The fans. Getting to show everyone that we’re not just a bunch of girls on wheels in hot outfits (though our outfits are seriously hot), but that we work hard to be the best athletes we can be in a sport that seriously kicks ass.

Thank you all again, from the bottom of my skater heart. I cannot possibly thank my friends, family, and coworkers enough for making my first bout so wonderful and memorable. Thanks to my team mates: you ladies rock so hard. Thanks to the Mob Squad for hitting hard and never letting up. Thanks to the Rats for running a wonderful bout. Thanks to JeT (aka Jean-Luc Renard) for picking up the slack around the house and keeping me fed and for being super awesome and supportive in every way.

Now, back to reality. Today’s mission: excavate the house from all of my piles of crap. I could have sworn I had a dining table. I’m sure it’s under there somewhere.

Edit to add: photo above provided courtesy of Eric Pascar (Living Art Studio); for more photos from Eric, click through the photo above or here. No photos of me doing anything wicked awesome, but nothing embarrassing, either, so woo!

Editing again to add: here are some photos by Ara Ghajanian.

Editing yet again to add: here are some photos by Mama’s Boy Media.

Ever so slightly more confident…

Tonight was our last scrimmage before the first bout of the season. I was a nervous wreck today. I have a hematoma the size of a baseball on my left upper thigh/butt (alright, thass) and I was petrified of playing tonight for fear of falling on it and having it, you know, explode or something (though I don’t think that’s what they do, but whatever). I bought some protective shorts things but the padding was really just for hip and tail bones. I don’t fall on my hips, I fall on my bum, so I ripped the hip padding out and put it where it belongs. Voila! Thass protection! (I left the tailbone protection in place, ’cause you know, that bit made sense.)

These aren’t the shorts I’ll have for the bout, those are even more serious. But these were just fine for an indoor scrimmage. Soft to moderate hits and leans were just fine. Stronger hits made me wince, but the pain didn’t linger. I fell on it once (though only falling in general three times total) and had to ice it every couple of jams, but I think the pads I have for Friday are going to work just fine.

I saw the doc Friday and he said that it’s just a humongous hematoma and there’s nothing they can really do for it. Just ice and massage, and eventually the body will eat up all the dead blood (yuck) that’s hanging out under there. (The massage is to prevent the blob from developing a calcified shell, which would make the thing harden up like a golf ball, whee!) He also said to not get freaked out if my entire left side of my leg gets black and blue, because gravity is going to eventually work to pull it down as the body’s digesting it (yum!). The doc said that I don’t have any vascular or orthopedic problems from it, so it’s cool to skate and what not. I just have to wear the padded shorts for a while. So that’s what I’ve got to look forward to: months of alien butt.

I’ve decided to give it a name. I think we’ve come up with “Tomie.” Or “The Tomester.” Or “El Tomerino,” if you’re not into the whole brevity thing.

Right, so the scrimmage: I managed to stay vertical most of the time I was out there. I fell three times total: once when I was fouled, once when I fell to avoid squishing my own jammer, and once because I tripped on my own feet (yeah, that one was awesome). All in all not too bad, I think. I managed to get in the other jammer’s way a couple of times, and I think I did better at staying aware of what was going on. It’s just so chaotic that you can easily lose focus. At one point I stood up too tall (you have to stay squatted the whole time) to get a better look behind me, and an opposing blocker took the opportunity to knock me out of the way. Rookie mistake. I’m 5 foot 10. I shouldn’t make it any easier for them to knock me down. I learned though. I wasn’t giving it my all during a couple of jams, because I was nervous about landing on my bum again. But for the most part I pushed myself as much as I could.

It’s just a matter of my brain knowing what to do, and then my body getting to the right place in the pack to be effective. I also think I did a decent job at not letting the other team get in my head too much. It’s going to be worse on Friday, but I think tonight was a good warm up to that event.

Thanks to everyone who has bought tickets so far. Those of you who still want tickets but have not yet received them from me can either arrange for a Boston area pick up (JeT has offered to pull off this rendezvous) or we can try to figure out a day-of thing. I think it’s a bit too late to try and post them now, but we’ll work something out. (I’m not sure if we have a “will call” kind of thing or what. I’ll find out.)

Anyway, I hope to see you Friday!!! (I’ll be helping with set up and tear down, but I want to see you all and thank you in person for coming to my skaterly debut!)

Sea Shanty Shakedown!!!

The first bout of the season is approaching! And, yes, I WILL be skating! So come out and support your local roller girls! If you buy your tickets from me, they only cost $10. (They’re $11.50 online, and $13 at the door, FYI.)

Honey!

Let it be known: Foxie is now an Old Money Honey!

I was notified of my team at the meeting on Tuesday. So, woo hoo! I’m a honey! Yay! I’m so excited to be on a team. For serious.

I didn’t get to do much at practice tonight, though. I keep falling on the same spot and now my thass (thigh/arse) is all jacked up. Seriously, it looks like I have a third cheek. Or maybe an alien growing out of my leg. Either way, it’s really nasty looking. It was thought to be hoovey of me to not do contact this evening. So I just skated around and did squats and what not. I fell pretty hard last week, right on my thass/hip region and it swelled up almost immediately. Then I fell on it again on Sunday. And then again tonight. During warm ups, no less. I’ve been icing it, but I think I need an ace bandage to 1) hold the ice pack on, and 2) keep that weird alien in check.

Purchasing padded shorts is on the agenda, indeed. I didn’t see any at the shop that I thought would be good; they were way too bulky and I thought would just get in the way. The ones I want are a bit sleeker and fit better under clothes.

Thanks to the Bohninator, MK, and RRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr who came out to the dance party this evening. It was pretty fun. JeT wasn’t feeling well, so we left early (but really only a half hour earlier than we had intended to leave). Thanks so much for coming out and supporting your local roller girls! And MK? I think Trophy did a good job trying to recruit you. Are you going to wuss out? Like I’ve been telling everyone: I seriously think anyone who wants to can do this, it’s just a matter of working really hard and trying your best. Start going to a local rink and skating during an open skate time or something. You can totally do it! That goes for you, too, MO! The off season is the best time to join, so if you start working out now, you’ll definitely be ready sooner than later.

Ok, getting off recruiting soap box now. I need to get to bed. I think Hahvahd would like me to at least be marginally coherent tomorrow.

very short update

I do not have a fractured rib. Just inflamed cartilage. Whenever I try to tell people about it, I invariably say “inflamed cleavage” which is not quite the same thing.

Saw the Yarn Harlot at WEBS on the 27th of April, and it was way fun. Not really many fun stories, though. (I should clarify: Stephanie had plenty of great things to say; I just don’t have any good stories about the day.) It was just a really good day out with friends. I met up with Andrea and Bill for the talk, and Blake joined us for food and beer at the Northampton Brewing Company. I barely bought anything, and had to scrounge to find a project to bring with me. I may have to relinquish my knitter status if my yarny dry spell doesn’t improve.

JeT and I went out to western MA Friday night to celebrate the arrival of May and springtime fun with our morris dancing fiends, Blake and Sarah. We came home Saturday evening. It was cold and rainy, but super fun times. Besides, with umbrellas like ours, rainy times are still fun. And it didn’t rain steadily all day, just sprinkly but cold and damp. Bells and hankies and garlands and flowy skirts and the maypole and Green Man and lots of awesome. We took some photos, but I still have to weed through them, and our camera ran out of batteries, so we didn’t get too many good shots. Will update with a link soon. Click through photo above for crappy photos of the dancers. Damn, we need a better camera.

After spending much time watching our friends dance around a may pole and hail the coming of spring and just generally being happy little heathens, we went to see Kristen sing about eating, drinking, and being merry! (And praising Jesus, apparently.) It was a pretty fun show, and I’m glad we went.

Today, practice is canceled because the rink is flooded. I love skating at the outdoor rink, but man, this is our second canceled practice so far. I need to get motivated to work out at home during these situations. Even if I don’t get to that tonight, I’m still going to make myself useful by doing up a couple more cover letters today, so that process is going slowly but surely. Let’s hope I get a few bites.