Damn winter..

I know I've been bitching about the weather - a lot - but its been absolutely freezing! I haven't been able to take in my leather jacket to get a button repaired because I'm fearful not to have it. I wear a wool wrap in my office! I had to pull out a hat on Monday and am about to start looking for my gloves. In the paper yesterday, it was declared the coldest June since 1911! Today it snowed in Pullman and the DOT had to pull out the big trucks to plow Snoqualmie Pass! And they're getting more snow. Come on! It's the second week in June! Grrr.

Don’t Minimize Our Accomplishments, my new tattoo and a short bus

As another skater went on to explain when I was talking about our win this weekend, “You DID NOT play the 11th ranked team in the Nation Michelle”. OF COURSE NOT! But we did play the B team from the league that produced that team. (And that does mean something - even if just a little.) As my friend as work said “don’t minimize your accomplishments.” It was an awesome game and I’m thrilled to have played in it. Here’s a recap of it if you’re really interested.

Last week I got a new tattoo... It's a rare thing to have both money and inspiration. I had the inspiration - got a friend to design it and saved up the money. It's an octopus on roller skates - a derby octopus - wearing knee pads and a helmet that a starfish clung on to (we look similar - the octopus and I - just see the photo below.) The bubbles connect the fish on my shoulder (which all somehow work with the fossil on my ankle.) I went out with some friends right after I got it and she was like "I could never get a tattoo - I mean what I am going to do about with when I'm 65?" My only response was "I haven't even begun to think of 65." I mean that's forever away - right.

My express bus this morning was a short bus - literally. It was about half the size of the regular morning express bus. This stop is usually the last stop with seats (so I can sit and read the paper on my way to work.) We blew past a couple of stops because we were packed full. It was kind of ridiculous - with gas as expensive as it is - and for it to be an express morning bus - to be a short bus. I just hope it's not a sign of anything else. Just a short bus.

For the Love of Derby...

This weekend three leagues came together to play two Jet City Roller Girl teams. The Jet City B52s who had played the Bellingham Betties three weeks ago when we were in Spokane, hosted them for a grunge match. And the Jet City Bombers (travel team) played Portland's Axel of Annihilation - their "b team". (The Rose City Rollers are ranked 11th in the nation!) It was a nail biting game for both teams. The leads weren't easily established - and went back and forth between the teams. Everyone was playing so well but both Jet City Teams managed to pull away with wins! And it was so fantastic to be playing - three teams - not in a tournament - just for fun - for the love of DERBY! A game thrown together in three weeks. It was a great represention of the sisterhood.

We, as the Bombers, played really well together. It was an exciting game. I was a consistant jammer (not a superstar but getting points each time) and had some great assists from my teammates. The after party was a fun fest at a local dive bar where we took over the dancing/karaoke and ate fried bar food. It was all of the reasons I play derby.

Obstacle in my salad and winter weather

I was eating my salad (organic, homegrown, from my P-Patch) during lunch at one point this week and I found a twig. Actually two. And a little dirt (I cleaned it rather late at night). And a slug. I looked at the slug and it grossed everyone else out. I stopped eating the lettuce but finished the carrots and the tomatoes. For some reason it didn't bother me. I mean it was a small slug. It came from an organic garden. It was just another obstacle in my salad.

And there's something about 50 degrees and freezing cold rain that just makes it hard to believe it's summer... that it's June. Really already.

www.nataliedee.com

The new niece...

Beautiful picture of the new the niece and her sisters is to the side. I can't wait to visit!

Of course I had a million (or at least three) things to write about today but I'm pretty whooped - having gone to the gym, my P-Patch to pick more delicious lettuce and then to practice - I'm ready to call it a weekend and head into the work week...

My new niece...

Today, McKenna Alice Johnson joined her twin sisters Alexandre and Lucia in the world! I'm sure the twins are going to be thrilled to have a new baby sister - maybe. I hope. I just happy there's another Johnson girl in the world. I can't wait to visit them all at the end of June.

Salad anyone?

I got home early yesterday from Sasquatch and headed straight to my P-Patch to pull up my lettuce. (Everything is ready to be eaten!) I gave away a head to a woman who was walking thru the gardens with her daughter and I took 5 heads of organic red leaf lettuce, 2 heads of butter lettuce, and a bag of mesclun mix (and that's barely half that's ready to be eaten!) - which after washing and cleaning it - become 8 bags of lettuce - 3 of which I've already given away. My meals this week consist of salads for lunch and dinner - tasty, fresh, snail free! Yum! I'm so happy about my P-Patch.

Where was I in high school?

The headliner last night at Sasquatch Festival was The Cure. I was all excited to hear The Cure though I didn't recognize their first three songs and then like one of every three. Everyone around me was rocking out but I was kind of wondering what the hell was I doing in high school? What music was I listening to? Who was emoting my high school pain? I just don't remember but it clearly wasn't The Cure.

Yesterday was a much nicer day - cooler and less annoying. It was actually a good day for people watching. The musical acts were pretty good - of course my favorite being the ones who pulled in audience like Michael Franti and Spearhead (who were amazing)! Death Cab for Cutie was pretty good but he wasn't nearly as engaging as I thought he would be. We started the day off with Cold War Kids, saw Tegan & Sara (great), The Blakes (only for a minute, I didn't think they were that good), then Michael Franti & Spearheads, Death and ended it with The Cure - who went on to play a 2.5 hour show. Towards the end, they started playing more songs that I had actually head of but by that point I was in the car waiting for the rest of my party to join me... and reading a very good article about man-made diamonds in my Smithsonian.

(We end the night at a very nice Best Western in Ephrata, Washington. Ephrata is a small town north of I-90 that was called Station 11 at one point. And I swear, all of the mid-range hoteliers must have all gone to the same convention last year for they all have same rounded shower bar that give the impression of a bigger shower... and I stayed in 6 hotels last year and none of them had this...I digress.)

Today's lineup includes Flight of the Conchords (hilarious) and the Flaming Lips who I so badly want to see but there is a divide in the group and some of us are staying and some are leaving early. And I'm joining the ladder group. I've had a great time but I didn't take Tuesday off and I'm not interested in getting home at 2:30 a.m., working a full day, going to a meeting and then going to practice. I kind of want to relax a little. So I'm going to split early. This is the most music I've ever seen in my life (film is another story) and I'm pretty excited to have had the experience and it was worth EVERY PENNY. But two days is enough... and I'll get home in time to enjoy what little bit is left of my Memorial Day weekend.

Not my usual Memorial Day weekend...

I'm sitting in a Super 8 Hotel in Ellensburg (on the east side of the Cascades), having spent the first day of Memorial Day weekend, not at the Seattle International Film Festival, not hanging out in my P-Patch, not begging someone to have a BBQ (not before July 4th Michelle!) but figuring out where to have breakfast before heading back to Sasquatch Music Festival. Sasquatch is a 3 day festival of a variety of amazing groups (for the most part) that takes place in the Gorge - which is similar to Blossom Music venue near Cleveland, except the GORGE carved by the Columbia river - it's impressive and aw-inspiring and creates a experience for really good sound!

The beers are outrageously expensive and there are more frat boys (and you can recognize them by their t-shirts and token one tattoo) then I've seen since college but the music has been pretty damn good so far and the rain held yesterday until almost the end of the concert. Beirut and MIA were fantastic. MIA had such HUGE energy (for as tiny as she is) and invited people on stage - the response was 200 people jumping up there. It was amazing. She was worth the entire day of waiting. Beirut started our day off and MIA ended (we went over to hear the Breeders but I'm not a huge fan.) I'm off to breakfast in Ellensburg (36 miles from the venue) and then back for some more shows. It's suppose to rain - again - so we'll see how long with last. The Gorge is in the high desert... but it's Washington - I guess you can expect the rain anywhere.

I'm pretty excited about doing something completely different...

It's actually easier than you think ...

...

An evening full of talent...

Tonight the Law Center co-hosted a house party with Hedgebrook (a women's writers retreat) featuring Bishakha Datta, the 2008 Hochstadt winner (Hedgebrook award). Hot on the heels of our Gala, we invited a small number of donors and supporters out to this event. Though we had a relatively small turnout but Bishakha was incredible! She had spent the last 5 weeks at Hedgebrook working on a book about sex workers in India. She, as a feminist, had been forced to rethink her feelings of prostitution as she had learned and felt that it was the same as exploitation - it was exploitation, violent and wrong. Like many things in life, it wasn't always that black and white. Prostitution was all gray - like life. (She said, "Human beings are just messy things.") There are some women who are trafficked/sold into prostitution; there are few women who choose prostitution; but mostly there are women who end up there because of the opportunities life offers - which is to say very few... Stay home with an abusive husband who doesn't work - or go work and make money to support your family... Be sold into prostitution, get out after a year, go home, present the money you saved to your husband (who sold you into prostitution), get the money taken from you, and get thrown back out on the street, this time with your children. If your client pays you for agreed upon services, then it's a commercial transaction. If your client doesn't pay or abuses you, then it's exploitation. She has so many incredible stories about women. And she had a humble and non-judgement way of telling these stories.

Her organization had done much to create dialogue between feminist groups and the prostitutes who had organized themselves into an organization which translated into "unstoppable." She was a filmmaker, organizer, feminist and writer. And many of the guests tonight were also writers. It was amazing to be in a room full of so many writers. The ED of Hedgebrook (which I've known about since college) went to the University of Iowa and was part of the playwrights program - arriving the year I left. Her mentor was my mentor. There were a few people who were alumnae in the program. There was a woman who wanted to apply to the program. There were Law Center supporters and Hedgebrook supporters. It was a great gathering of impressive women.

Throughout the evening I was telling the story of how I was introduced to Hedgebrook as a playwright student at the University of Iowa. I kept thinking, why am I not the writer I was 10 years ago? And in the past it was a struggle to call myself a writer. But I found it easy tonight to say why I wasn't a writer. When I left from the Peace Corps, I was needing an agent. I had been produced at region theatres. I was ready for my next step in my writing career. On my last night in Cleveland, I helped tear down the set of my last play (both evenings were sold out), went home, finished packing up my apartment, drove back to my parent's house, packed my bags and woke up my dad to take me to the airport. Then I left for 2 years. I wrote nearly 1,000 letters (I kid you not) and wrote plays and short stories. But when I returned to the States, I became an activist - essentially. And that's the problem - is finding time to write. And that's what Hedgebrook does - is give you time to write - in a quiet place without the rest of the world pounding down on you. And it's great to be a part of it - even if it's just through house parties.

If only...

I called my doctor today to ask her if I needed to come in and get checked out because of my concussion. She was out but they would follow-up with the doctor on call. They called me back later - of course I should have come in right away but since it had been a few days and I hadn't felt "weird" since (nor had blacked out again, vomited, or been out for longer than 2 minutes) they were fine with me not coming in but to be careful and avoid (obviously) head injury. I told them about the muscle strain in my neck - whiplash from the hit and/or fall - and they recommended Advil three times a day and an icepack.

Of course, Weedy recommended that I get a massage. I wasn't sure I could find any time before this next weekend with my crazy schedule and called my favorite Ballard Massage Center (just 4 blocks down the street) and managed to get a late evening massage. My usual masseuse was out on Mondays - but this was the only time that I had even a tiny window of time. I was assigned to a guy who did great work on head and necks. And holy cow! After 30 minutes, I didn't even know that I had been injured! He worked my head, neck and muscles surrounding my vertebrae. Half of the time I wasn't even sure where my head was going or what he was doing but he worked out knots that were not from this recent injury and the strain for this weekends hit. It was amazing - when I stood up, the side of my neck was only slightly tender from being stretched, pulled, and worked on but not strained and sore. Massage was my lifesaver.

If only my doctor's office had said "let me write you prescription for a massage" instead of "take Advil 3 times a day..."

Ha. If only more people had health insurance...

Dreaming of Garbanzo beans at a Bomber's bout weekend in Worely, Idaho...

Friday afternoon, Arson Annie picked me up from work at 2 p.m. heading to the airport to pick up our rental car for the weekend. Three Jet City Roller Girls who played on the travel team the Bombers, (Arson Annie, Weed Wack-Her, myself) a JCRG ref, (Penalty Le Pew) and an Rat City friend (Maude Elletee) were all going to carpool out to Spokane for a travel team bout playing the Lilac City Roller Girls Saturday night. We returned to Arson's condo to pickup the rest of crew and I took the first shift driving on the warmest day yet this year "over the mountains" on I-90 to the east side of the state. It was a pretty uneventful drive - I got us there, with my characteristic lead foot, in four hours. (At one point, on a side road by our Econolodge, I saw some sand piper type birdies in the road and yelled, run birdies run! as opposed to slowing down.)

Meeting up with Audrey Headburn (another Bomber), TJ (our announcer) and Jason, a friend, we went out to dinner at Europa on the recommendation of a skater who use to live in Spokane. It was pretty dead (though the city was packed because the Lilac Festival, a golf tournament and a tattoo convention or something like that.) The food was great - the desserts were amazing and our server couldn't have been better! She was super friendly, fun, recommended a very tasty place for breakfast and actually knew the woman who started the Lilac City roller girls (who wouldn't be playing on Saturday as she suffered a compound fracture in her leg, skating at a parade!) The Econolodge was a great deal, clean, with energy efficient lights, and comfy beds.

Relevant note: I did have a very strange dream that we were playing Sacramento (instead of Spokane) and I was very afraid to play them. Having a rather poor reputation of being rather dirty players I was afraid we were going to get very seriously hurt.

Saturday morning we went to a lovely little "French" cafe for a very delicious breakfast (or in Weedy and my case, two breakfasts) and then headed downtown, without much purpose except to find the "Lilac Festival" before heading to Worely, Idaho where our Bombers bout was being hosted (at the Coeur d'Alene Casino). We found streets lined with chairs in anticiaption for the evening parade (at 7:45 p.m.) We got some directions from some people and headed down to the city park down by the river. There was a classic car show, shaved ice (yum), a goat statue/vacuum that sucked up garbage (hilarious), a giant Radio Flyer, and tons of people out along a riverfront park in downtown Spokane. It was an absolutely lovely hour before we packed back in the car and headed to Worely for our bout.

The Casino was in the middle of NOWHERE (thankfully we had stayed in Spokane where there was plenty to do.) We got checked into our rooms, rested a tiny bit, changed into our uniforms (or bout-fits) and headed down for the game. The venue held about 2,000 people (in a side showroom off lobbies full of slot machine, card games, and hundreds of other digital games, all whirling lights, mirrors, whistles and bells.) The bouting floor was laid out on carpet and though it wasn't like skating in quicksand, it was still rather difficult. (You have to lay the floor out on hard floor, to keep it even and smooth. Otherwise, every time you push off in a stride, your feet just sink and it's like skating in sand or as Weedy said, skating on a mattress. If you stop moving your feet you stop rolling). Other than the floor, it was a great venue, with very professional lights and sound. Since this was our first bout as the "visiting team", we didn't have anything to do with setup. Though it was relaxing, it was slightly boring considering I'm use to starting "bout" day at 12 noon with floor set up and don't end until there is a beer in my hand at 10 p.m.

We finally got started with our bout. I wasn't in many line-ups... The first one I played Pivot with Molly Python (a Bomber who also plays for the Pink Pistols) and we held the front like it was nobody's business, holding the jammer back and knocking her down for a couple of laps. I jammed twice, scoring 4 points each time (before they were called off by the other jammer). My third time up to jam (as the lineups were on their way to getting mixed up), I took off at the whistle and entered the pack, I scooted past the back blocker (B3), one of them totally whiffed trying to hit me but came back for her second attempt and hit me head on - helmet to helmet. There was a loud crack and I was suddenly outside picking garbanzo beans with my fellow skaters. We were all dressed in our bouting uniforms, in the bright sunshine, picking beans (that were already cooked and ready to eat - yum!) in the fields like those that lined I-90. We were having such a good time. I heard the whistles being blown and medics by my side trying to get me to turn over onto my back which seemed impossible at first. (I was actively trying to get up the whole time but couldn't.) She asked kept asking me if I was alright and I kept saying "where are the beans." (According to Gus, the jam ref - the one who keeps track of my penalties and points - I was crying when I finally sat up. Who knew?) I finally got up, seeing double, and went back to our team bench where I just looked at everyone (so confused that we weren't in the fields picking beans) and took off my helmet (convince my head was bleeding) and told everyone that I was fine - um though I was clearly wasn't as I had been knocked out and was suffering from a mild concussion. There was one more jam and then halftime. I thought I would be fine to play but in the end, Audrey took off my skates and I sat out for the rest of the game (which was rather anti-climatic).

The Bombers ended up winning! Our very first win! However, the game didn't end without a few more injuries including a broken collarbone and a sprained knee. They were all exhausted from the not-quite-but-almost-quicksand floor. There were plenty of issues with understanding how penalties were being scored and communication between refs. But it was a learning experience for all teams involved. We headed to the bar within the Casino for an after party and it was a great time hanging out the gals we just clobbered around. They were all very nice. I went to bed reluctantly (because being the social butterfly that I am, I still wanted to hang out, concussion and all), was awakened every two hours (just to make sure I didn't slip into a coma) but otherwise slept very well.

We had the Casino breakfast buffet with a gaggle of skaters and hit the road. It was a nice drive back, stopping at the Gorge for some sightseeing and Ellensburg for some late lunch and ice-cream. I stopped by my P-Patch on the way home - thrilled that my lettuces enjoyed the 90 degree Seattle weather this weekend! Maude helped me out by watering them as I picked a few weeds. They're almost ready to be picked and eaten! Yum.

What a fantastic weekend - all around.

There was a shooting...

In my neighborhood, on my street to be exact, last night. I didn't find out about it until there I met Lara at the bus stop and she was talking to her bus buddy Justin (who lives across the street.) At about 6:20 p.m. when Lara was talking out the garbage, she said she heard a gun shot. Justin heard the same thing and went running to his window. They both thought it was a car backfiring from the auto repair place just at the corner. No, Justin corrected her. It was a crazy guy who lives in the apartment building kitty corner from us who walked down the street, shooting his gun at nothing in particular at 6:20 p.m. He almost hit a woman who was coming out of the dry cleaners. She dropped to the ground after the first bullet whizzed by. He ended up hitting her car.

It was the topic of conversation on my bus as it turned out there were 4 of us who lived right across from each other. Another guy had feedback and information about the evening to add: like the dude just surrendered to police and was the guy who was often standing in the street screaming at no one about everything. Justin, the bus buddy, use to shoot guns competitively in Florida and knew just what gun it was (and he was right). I wasn't around for the excitement (due to a board meeting)but found nothing in the local section of the paper about it (just about what I could contribute to the conversation) except that a man was arrested for shooting himself with a staple gun.

It was one of the better bus rides home.

I'm starting to conclude that everyone in Seattle could use a little (or any!) of that big orange ball in the sky and some happy pills.

And these are photos with my Planned Parenthood friends...

At Our Gala...

I had a table full of Planned Parenthood friends and Derby friends... here's some pictures from the photobooth of the derby friends...

A very long week...

After getting back from my derby junkie weekend, I jumped right into Monday - as it was Cinco de Mayo - which I celebrated at a local bar with my friends Dani and Derrika. Tuesda was Seis de Mayo (because why not), Wednesday was practice that was only ok. Thursday was the Northwest Women's Law Center Gala (with a splash of derby drama to make it more exciting). The Gala was great fun and mostly successful. We raised more money than expected. Friday was a Carnie Bachelorette party for Beelzababe and Foul Play. We jumped from bar to bar, getting them shots and daring them to do very bachelorette type things. (However, by that point in the week, I was whooped and my liver was forbidding me to drank another sip.) Saturday was shopping and running errands, a little napping and a fundraiser in the evening. Sunday was sincerely a day to relax. I ran more errands, cleaned, visited my P-Patch and ate meals with food from all the food groups. Monday starts it all over again... with a dinner party tomorrow, board meeting and practice on Tuesday. Practice on Wednesday and Thursday before heading out to Spokane Friday afternoon to play Lilac City Roller Girls.

phew.

Below is my New Year's Resolution at work! I love how well my P-Patch is doing this year! If you put your mouse over the picture, it will tell you what's going one.

Convertible Suntan, Sacramento, Derby Junkie

Saturday started off with our first "international" derby scrimmage, as the Terminal City gals came down from Vancouver, BC to bout with us first thing in the morning (ok, at like 10 a.m.) I excited, slightly wired from early morning coffee and thrilled to be playing with gals we didn't know but were comparable in skill. We played a super fun scrimmage and I took off with one jam left to "wash up" in the roller rink bathroom, took part in a group photo and ran out the door into the pouring rain - heading to the airport to catch a flight to Sacramento.

I arrived in Sacramento and Pia Mess picked me up on her way down from San Francisco. Both of us were down there to support the Socket Wenches (which Pia use to play on and I had friends on). We dropped off our bags at the hotel, I cracked open a beer and we headed to the bout with the Socket Wenches. It was very warm (and I was thrilled to actually be "hot".) The first bout was a blow out between the Sacred City Roller Girls "B" team and the Silicon Valley Roller Girls, which Pia was helping to coach. After this game finish, the Socket Wenches when up again the Sacred City Roller Girls, whom my travel team had played 7 months ago (we got creamed.) It was an very riveting and close game - a perfect game for 3 of Lara friends who had never seen derby. There were some serious reffing problems (like serious) and some dirty cheating but in the end, it was a damn good time.

We all headed to an after party (Pia headed back to the hotel with heat exhaustion), crashing to bed around 2 a.m. I got up early enough to catch the Continental breakfast and hang out by the pool (but not in it) until it was time to head to a scrimmage in Stockton with all kinds of gals from all over California. I've been to California 3 times - twice on the "outwest field trips" in high school where I only visited national parks like Yosemite and Lassen Peak and this weekend. We gathered up some skaters and Pia opened up the roof to her convertible and we took off for the 45 minute or so drive to Stockton. It was a a beautiful drive and I got a convertible sunburn on my face and shoulder (compete with a half sunburn on my front, because part of me was in some random shade.) We stopped by a delicious taco stand near Stockton where everyone was celebrating Cinco de Mayo! It was festive everywhere!

We arrived at the venue and I geared up to bout. I felt a lot like I did on Saturday - excited and slightly wired but this time is was from being slightly hungover. The floor was slippery as hell (painted cement) and I managed to take myself out 3 times jamming just trying to crossover. It was hilarious and though I love jamming, I just couldn't get use to the floor (my wheels are just grippy enough for wood) and I spent more time blocking. It was fun to play with gals from all over California and hear their stories, why they're there, what brought them there and what derby has done to change their lives - all fantastic stories and all the reasons I'm a junkie. I got a ride back to the airport with a skater's boyfriend who rented a convertible and we chatted about environmental design and trying to make the world a better place while getting some more sunshine driving along I-5 in the sunshine state.

And now I have my Sacramento convertible suntan to take me to the week...until I can get my next derby hit...

Snickerdoodle Mochi-Pie

"You know, they were all snickerdoodle mochi-pie." My friend Glitter was explaining how her friend Jen was, you know, making out, all in each others face, all snickerdoodle mochi-pie with her girlfriend and consequently missed the fact that they were playing a song for the wedding party and not for other guests to jump out on the floor. It was the bridal party dance and they were just guests. And consequently, in the snickerdoodling they missed the cue, ended up on the dance floor and in the way of the photograph. "I'm just not like that. I'm not a big PDA person." I'm the same way. And so are so many people I know. And so it this blog.

The thing is in the last few weeks, stuff has been happening to people and because they're not all snickerdoodle mochi-pie about it, I haven't known always what has been motivating their actions. And believe it or not, they don't have to tell me - though it has caused some confusion among other people. But here are some of the things they're not snickerdoodling about: A couple of friends have received their pink slip (one from a company she's been with for 8 years), one has a really sick kid, a few are having serious relationship problems, more are having health problems, some are having general family issues, another hates her job.

There are all of those things that simmer beneath the surface, and influence decisions people make. And sometimes we don't know that. And sometimes you have to start each day a little more gently or patiently because someone didn't snickerdoodle mochi-pie in your face to let you know what's going on.

This is why I play derby!

And I'll have to tell you about it when I have a chance... I'm spent, still slightly hungover and completely in love with my team!

Carrots and the Midwest

The weather lately has been very reminiscent of Aprils in the Midwest. Yesterday was sun, rain, hail, snowballs (I swear it was like some mini snow ball fight between the gods in the skies and those on earth) back to sun ending in freezing rain. In my two years, three winters of being in Seattle, this is the most peculiar weather ever. Luckily for me, my vegetables don't seem to mind. I actually have carrots sprouting! I tried to grow carrots three times last year to no avail but all of my veggies, lettuce, peas, carrots and beans are quite happy with the snow and sunshine mix.

Last night the Dairyland Dolls (Madison, WI) were in town to play the Rat City Roller Girls. I have such an affinity for "those things Midwest" (and not all things Midwest) but besides being so damn cute in white milk maid uniforms, I wanted them to win! And they did! (And really, everyone loves Madison. It's like Evergreen, WA or Oberlin, Oh - a great progressive, college town where good things happen in the heartland.) They fought for every point against Grave Danger. They did a bunch of things really well - one of them being their incredible communication. They were always talking to each other, letting each other know where they were, when they were called out for too many penalties, who was going where. They also worked really well together with their "friends" (or in pairs) - it was a delight to watch them play. And they played so cleanly. They were awesome. I love those Midwestern gals.

Snow...

I swear this is like a Midwest winter - late spring snows! As I walked from one happy hour to another, it started sleeting. I was only wearing my leather jacket and cloggs -trucking up a hill (on my to school both ways.) And I couldn't help think of my poor veggies in the cold snow! If I get some time tomorrow, I'm going to go to my P-Patch and build little tents for them or something. I'm not sure my lettuce can handle the cold.

My first happy hour was to talk about my recent friend's trip to South Africa. She went with some other students from the University of Washington to work in a women's legal center center in Cape Town. And she had a horrible experience. The more we talked about it, the more it was about dealing with the other students, living in a house with 17 other American who thought they knew what they were talking about. She was frustrated, angry and didn't want to go to law school anymore even volunteer. I sympathized with trying to deal with Americans who thought they knew everything (though young, she's already had one career and spent 6 years as a stylist). Though the more we talked, we started laughing about public transportation, riding in the combi, fearing for her life, laughing about the drivers. We talked about how great her experiences were when she was just hanging out with other South Africans (away from the Americans), the Zimbabweans she met and how she wants to travel some more.

Americans can be a tough group to deal with sometimes. It's great to get out there, experiencing the world and different cultures... and we all have to start somewhere, but it's tough when you're hanging out with so many of them who are having that first experience together.

Mack Trucks, winter, the world

Yesterday I got a deep tissue massage to work out the back kink, muscle tweak, thing I did to my back at Greenlake on Sunday. I don't ever seem to get to get a massage to just relax and feel good, it's always to fix a problem. And my masseuse, who is also an athlete and works at Ballard Massage (which is awesome and two blocks away), worked the back spasm out. I was drunk happy and grateful for the spasm to become just a sore muscle. I drank lots of water, went to practice (only giving about 80%) and went to bed early. But I still felt like I had been hit back a Mack Truck today - all day today. I tried to avoid taking Advil but I felt awful, sore but happy. Oy.

And winter came back today - it was cold and rainy yesterday but was worse today. If it hadn't been for the teaser Saturday I would be at my wits end (though I'm happy that my garden is getting a good drink of water). One of the many tiring things about winter, is that I'm absolutely sick of my cloths. I'm sick of wearing the same things for the past 9 months. I can't wear open toed shoes or short skirts. And forget shopping (which I don't like to do anyway) - you get to the store and the clothes on the mannequins are for people who live in sunny south Florida - not rain soaked Seattle. I want to wear my cute and fun things. I want to wear my bright orange sandals that I love so much and not be cold.

And then there are people rioting over food all across the world... I really don't have much to complain about.

A lovely weekend....

The first 70 degree day occurred on Saturday and it might as well have been a national holiday the way everyone celebrated. Any excuse you could find to be outside got you there... I started the great weekend with Friday off of work - just for fun. (When I schedule the day off I needed it but as the week went on I didn't really need it.) Friday was running around outside, skating a Greenlake, a nap with my cats and a baseball game that evening - my first one at Safeco field. It was fun - I was hanging out with a bunch of Wenches. A guy in our section got a wave going (after many tries) that looped the stadium 4 times (so much fun).

Saturday was an early haircut, outside, outside, outside - a bunch of laps around Greenlake on my skates (and a pulled muscle in my back when I reach down to fix my toestopper.) Another cap nap. Running errands for an event that evening. A walk at Golden Gardens (the Pacific is so cold). Lunch. Dinner outside. Off to the event. Home not too late and waking up to rain.

I was under the impression that it was a "weekend" of sunshine and not just one day. But it was good enough. I'll take it.

All dressed in pink for a great weekend of burlesque!

All the trees are sporting bright pink spring jackets! Its like "Fashion Week" here in Seattle and green leaves (the "new black") are starting to appear. There are a couple of trees by my office that are ready to declare this winter done! Amen! I just wish it was.

This weekend I went the Moisture Festival's Burlesque in the Round at the ACT theater downtown and it was an amazing show! Simply incredible! There were only two "traditional" burlesque acts. There was a "neo-burlesque" act out of Portland that looked like a bunch of raver kids, eating their candy, texting on the phone and chasing after "bunnies" (whose coats they stole). There was a group called Duo Madrona - the only trapeze act invited ever invited to the circus competition in Paris. Their strength was astonishing and their act barely made the trapeze move at all. Amazing. Then there were my favorite The Aerialistas! They are an incredible group of women, who do these amazing acrobatics in the air - with huge drapes, hoops and other objects. They were dressed as the cutest cupcakes in the world! They wore cute blond wigs, with cupcakes, and did their act with smiles on their faces as they held each other by their ankles. Nanda was a group of male performers much in the vain of "Crouching Tiger". All of their movement was choreographed (with sound effects) and as they would bounce off a pole and rip off a shirt. It was fantastic. There was Chica Boom, a Latina burlesquer, who had this great "Mexican wrestler" story and ended up fisting a donkey penata (a long story for later.) There was this award winning cabaret very psychedelic show and a few "cute" burlesque act. Nothing could beat it - such super creative, high energy, live theater. I loved it. And I loved Seattle for giving me the opportunity to experience it.

Tonight, I raced the spring sunshine home hoping to beat the impending rainstorm that had come rolling in off the coast. The clouds were dark and low and I was sure it would start raining any minute (much like this weekend had been - rain, sun, rain, clouds, rain, rain, sun.) I popped on my outdoor wheels and headed to Greenlake to get some outdoor skating in before rain. And it was great - the stress of the work day rolled off like sweat and it seemed to only sprinkle at one end of the lake. It was a great was to end the work day... and start the week.

My other favorite photo...

Breakin' up a whip! Yeah!

All the things that make a (good) weekend...

There are those parts of the weekend that are worth writing about - like finally getting to spend some time in my P-Patch! Even with SNOW falling on the city of Seattle Friday afternoon (woot! Love the snow. Then sun. Then snow. Then rain. Then snow. oy!), the weather held long enough on Saturday afternoon for me to sneak away and actually work in my P-Patch. Of course it's one of the few growing dandelions as opposed to actual vegetables. I hoed it up and made a goal to plant half of it (the other half covered with mint that I needed to deal with) and I was thrilled to at least get half the plants in.

I went back home to head up to a pool tournament fundraiser for my team. The turn-out was pretty low (and that damn snow had returned! Covering my poor lettuce!) Most of us ended up playing and we made few bucks on the night. Early Sunday morning I found myself awake with a splitting headache at 2 a.m.. Maybe it was from the wine from Friday night when I had some friends over - though we had a great evening, the sulfurs in red wine will often give me killer headaches. Maybe it was from the stress of work and other things. Maybe I was just having a killer headache - at 2 a.m. I did what my mother use to do when I was a sophomore suffering from insufferable insomnia - she would suggest we sleep in another room. (I have no idea what her logic was on that at the time, now I think it was to get me to quit thinking of whatever it was that was keeping me awake and to get me focus on my new surroundings. Whenever I woke her up at 2 a.m. complaining that I couldn't sleep and what should I do, she would suggest we sleep in the den or another room. Whatever it was, it worked.) I got up and curled up on the couch with Monkey. It was freezing cold (snow) but felt better and somehow I managed to crawl past that headache and to sleep.

Today there was no time for P-Patches thought the weather did brighten up a bit (still very cold). I had a team meeting and practice which had it's own aggravating elements. A friend took me out for a beer after practice and sang the lyrics of a Gnarls Barkley song emphasising my own elements of frustration (and we weren't even drunk) and I couldn't stop cracking up. Plus my usual bar tender - Katia (not Katie because there are like a million of them) was there to keep me laughing. Because that's what good friends are for. And P-Patches. These are the things that make you happy some weekends.

Not quite the weekend I was hoping for....

And here it is Tuesday and I'm still wallowing in the fact that I didn't get to play in my P-Patch on Sunday. Saturday was a stellar, absolutely beautiful day where we laid out our new roller derby track, cleaned it all up and then loaded it back in. It was warm, sunny and a great turnout of skaters (which meant that it actually ended on time!) I went to the RCRG bout that evening, cheered on some friends, watched some good derby, when back home for snacks and generally could call it a productive, fabulous evening - cool, sunny, almost spring.

I woke up on Sunday ready to lay my garden out into 4 sections, plant "starts" of lettuce, and seeds of lettuce, corn, peas, carrots, beans and flowers. I couldn't wait to get started on my New Year's resolution but it was pouring down rain and about 40 degrees out. Pneumonia was about the only thing I would get if I went outside. The sun managed to break through about 4 p.m. as I was supposed to be heading to West Seattle for homemade salad and pizza for "Easter Dinner".

Damn.

Today in the sun, rain, sun, rain, sun, rain that has become characteristic of this spring, I did end up hanging out with a friend I know from my days in Cleveland. It had been nearly 8 months since we had last seen each other. He's one of those people that can tell a good story, has had amazing experiences, can tell you a good story about those amazing experiences, and you're convinced he'll have plenty more - you might have even been a part of them yourself. He's a law professor, he's traveled all around the world but some of his best stories are about watching films on the sides of houses in his small town where he grew up in Pakistan. He makes the world feel very small. He's one of those people you like to be around. And I'm glad we're still friends. Even across the county, in the same city.

Pictures of skatin'...

I've had this conversation with a few people - I'm just not a "pretty" roller girl. I mean I don't know how to be cute while racing around the track at top speed or hitting someone but others seem to manage it. I don't. I also don't get too bothered about it but when the photos of our bout come out the day after, I'm excited to see what great hits my teammates laid out, or what great jams they did sprinted - and of course, I look for my rainbow socks to see if I was doing anything interesting that was captured on film. And usually I'm not. It's usually my beak nose (or just plain nose), red lips covering a mouth guard and a determined look on my face. This time around that is a super funny shot where I am acting as both jammer and "referee", calling a skating who was about to clobber me for "20' rule violation". It's a hilarious shot and has been cracking me up all day. I didn't fall down from this hit but I can't really remember the outcome. Either way, it's pretty funny.



Plus I have this sushi bandaide on the finger I'm using to point, and it's very ET like.

I am amused.

Ham sandwiches, a "murder of crows", cabbage juice

All kinds of rollergirls have all different strategies about what to eat before a bout ranging from "power drinks" to bananas and nuts and a zillion other things in between. I'm a pretty light dinner eater on practice nights and I use to have a secret formula to eating the day of a bout but I found something better. At the last bout, because we spent the whole day setting up the floor, laying out the space, etc, nuts, bananas, and granola bars just didn't do it for me. Cia, one of my team skaters, brought some sandwiches from QFC and I easily ate half of a store made ham sandwich. It was my "ideal" prebout meal but honestly gave me me "energy" since I was rather tried out. So I requested another store bought ham sandwich, ate a few bites, and felt great again. It's not magical food to help you win (because it sure didn't last night) but truthfully, the fancy stuff isn't going to make you win the game.

Today, the day after my bout, (where we got lost pretty hardily), I went to the Best of the NorthWest Craft Fair. It was downtown at the "Qwest" events center and seemed pretty massive. Today was part of my secret (read: drunk) New Year's resolution to "do fun and crafty things with my friend Glitter" - who was also a rollergirl. And though we love rollerderby, we find that we need other things in our lives like more art and crafts. We're both crafty people with very limited time. Looking at the website, I thought everything was going to be too pricey and break my budget limit quickly (of $100). We ate some veggie burgers for lunch and headed downtown in the wintry Seattle weather .

It was like many other craft shows but because it was a juried show was seemingly a more "refined" level of craft. Many artists were frustrated though. They use to have this event at Hanger 27, also where Rat City Roller Girls use to host their bouts, and the city kicked everyone out of this affordable event space to allow it to be renovated into a sports complex - which has now fallen through. Anyway, it wasn't a lively festive arts fair that it once was but one that would fit more in a suburban mall. Not that there wasn't great art - there was so truly fantastic stuff. There was an artist, Don McMahon, who was just as funny as his pencil sketches were. And though I tend to think of birds as "flying dinosaurs" (and I mean really, they are) I was taken by a "murder of crows" - which is what a group of crows are called (like a gaggle of geese). It cracked me up and it was completely different my other art work which is comprised of mostly photography, art by women and a series of "f*ck you" pieces. So at the end, we went back and got a framed print. It's already found a home on the wall. http://www.birdsonthings.com/drawings.php?offset=8

The day after a bout I usually feel one of two things - a derby hangover (from getting the shit knocked out of me) or a general hangover (from drinking too many beers on a nearly empty stomach). Today I didn't feel either except an ulcer and a jaw ache. The jaw ache came from one of my own teammates who flung her arm back (while clearing space for me when I was jamming) and hit me square in the mouth - most knocking me over. (I have four teeth dents inside my lower lip.) And then there is an ucler - which upon doing all of this research is caused by bacteria but agitated by STRESS (read: roller derby, being team captain, my new job and not being able to get to the gym much in the last week) and taking things like millions of Advil last year for my knee injury, comes into play. It's self diagnosed but I'm 100% sure that is what it is and it's completely aggrivated. One of the most wonderful people I've met in derby is a second generation organic/natural foods family store owner and she recommended all kinds of things include Aloe Vera juice and DGL (licorice pills to help digestion) to help with the symptoms. But in doing all of this online research I've also found that I need cabbage juice. It actually seems to cure ulcers - which is what I need because anything that takes away my love of coffee, drinky drinks and spicy food must go. But cabbage juice? Gross. I mean cabbage isn't that fantastic anyway - it's a pretty bland vegetable that good as coldslaw and in peanut stew - oh with tons of vitamin C and "vitamin U". Who knew? Do does anyone have a juicer?

The people we admire most...

There are plenty of people I have looked up to in my life - who have been a pivotal influence, a great mentor, boss, a Samba dancer, roller derby skater or someone who amazes me - and I think it's a good thing that they keep changing as I grow in my own life. However, when it comes right down to it, the person I admired most is not a world leader, musician, artist, or writer but simply my Aunt Jane.

She was actually my mother's aunt (my grandfather's sister) - she owned cabins up on the South Platte River in Colorado near the town of Twin Cedars in the Rocky Mountains. She had a bar/restaurant and "general store" right near the state route that ran along the South Platte. We went up there for fishing tournaments. She always hung up all of the crazy things my brothers and I would draw and mail to her. She gave us gumballs. She let us tromp around the forest. She hired a gaggle of teens for the summer to help manage the cabins and all of the fishermen.

Her husband was a drunk. She had no children. She was a "blue blooded Democrat" (and the way the rest of my family said it you would think she was the devil.) Her oldest sister died of the Great Influenza of 1919 (which killed 20-40 million people.) Her other brother (not my grandfather) killed himself. She owned this property. She was the heart of that area. I don't think I knew what I loved about her when I was younger and I'm sure I'm romanticizing her life now, but I admired who she was. I admired her independence, as a woman up in the mountains, all the work that she did and all of the people she knew - her closeness to the land.

The US Gov bought her property though the power of eminent domain - the plan was to dam the South Platte consequently flooding Twin Cedars. She moved down the mountains to the town of Castle Rock. She was older, though she seemed to get even older out of the mountains. She died when I was in high school.

I admired her feisty spirit. I admired she had her own business and going against the grain.

And I still admire her now.

Accosted...

I have this very increased and heightened awareness of my surroundings since a Sierra Club organizer was stabbed to death on New Year's Eve. When it first happened, all of us who do any kind of organizing were convinced that it wasn't a coincidence. It has to have been someone who was on either side of the environmental issue - either a passionate radical environmentalist or someone completely opposed to everything the Sierra Club represents. It was a horrible tragedy and it turns out it was horribly random! Since then, I am just more aware than I was before.

Last night I was walking home from the gym, stopped by the grocery story for a snack and walking home I was just trying to be more aware when I was completely accosted by a tree filled with spring blooms! And there were two more in a row. That is one thing that I can't seem to get use to in Seattle - spring has sprung and it's the first week of May! The magnolia trees are in full bloom and there are random pink lollipop on the sides of the road letting us know that we just need to be a little more patient because summer is just around the corner... after a few more 30 degree mornings.

Ha! And to be so naive....

To think that people change... over night. Because you don't - usually - though sometimes it becomes obvious to the rest of the world over night. He voted for Hillary as a vote against McCain - which I should have known - because Mark voting for Hillary because he believed in her would be like me voting for McCain because I believed in him.

And I just don't see that happening.

Anytime soon.

Politics and Religion...

I have always been told by someone, like many people, you don't talk about politics and religion at the dinner table. When I was interviewing for an international scholarship to travel all around Europe, I got chastised when I said some important discussions were "around politics and religion." Didn't I know you weren't suppose to talk about that?! Of course I did, that's just not reality.

In reality you often talk about it. It does not mean you get into heated debates or impose your views on another person but you're bound to talk about it. The imam's children and I would often get in heated discussions about the role of Islam in modern culture. I have friends who have shared my love of holiday candy (easter, valentines and christmas) but maybe not the love of the holiday itself. I have tried to divorce myself of sibblings over politics at the same time volunteering 80 hours a month leading up to an election. Politics is what I talk about at work. The electric company guys and I, when I was in the Peace Corps, use to wage bets on when the country would be overthrow or go down in a coupe - these were serious conversations about what we saw going on in our community. I won the bet of when the coupe would happen... before the new year.

I am trying to steer clear of politics and religion on my blog because there are other blogs dedicated just for that and this isn't one of them. But I won't let my family off the hook (which should be another one of those thing you never talk about - politics, religion and family. All the same in some cases.) But when I came home from Happy Hour tonight my older brother (calls himself a neo-con but not cool-aid drinkin' one) left me a message saying that he and a bunch of his Republican friends had voted for Hillary that evening and what she had to say was amazing. I'm honestly baffled. Truly. And I called him to make sure I heard him right but he didn't answer (and it was super late). And even if I completely misunderstood him, people are allowed to change their minds and are allow to change their views in politics. Even if it's completely unexpected and unprecedented.

And I'm allowed to blog about it.

Fall City...

Last night I went to Fall City (east of Seattle and slightly north) to hear a rollergirl friend of mine sing in an "idol-esk" competition at the Raging River Saloon. She has been invited to compete with a bunch of other contestants who had also been invited. There was a cash prize but she need a group of friends to cheer for her - like in American Idol. So about 5 of us rolled up to Fall City. It's was rural Washington - kind of like rural Ohio - I knew small town bars.

Well you would have thought we were 5 aliens coming to visit our 6th - instead of 5 cute and fun roller girls coming out to support their pal. A table of women stared at us from the corner. A crazy drunk wouldn't leave us alone, didn't understandwhy we wouldn't get him buy us drinks, or why him standing in front of us while we were playing pool was a problem. I became the "asshole", my other friend the "anti social cunt bag" and the other two, besides being "twins", and straight as the day is long, were "men hating dykes". We tried to defuse the situation but eventually ended up laughing at it (though the "anti-social cunt-bag" was afraid a gun would be pulled.) A waitress tried to make us feel at home adn another one of the contestents invited us to different party. We cheered on our alien and she ended up winning the Idol-esk event including the cash prize! (She had the best stage presence - never mind her fantastic voice!)

We stayed for a follow-up performance, walked each other out to the car and took an "over the river and thru the woods" drive back to I-90 to Seattle (the other way goest thru Cleveland to Boston). It was a super fun road trip and it's been a long time since I've been called anything close to "asshole, or anti socia...." Gosh, anyone who knows me knows I'm a completely social cunt bag.

My Pod...

I am not a technophobe - I am also not one who believes technology will solve all the worlds problems - so somewhere in between - lie people like me. And it has taken me years to decide to buy an MP3 player. The last portible music player I had was my cassette player in middle school where I shared one earphone with Kathy on our way to skiing on Fridays in 8th grade. We rocked out to George Michael. It was great times.

I hadn't gotten an MP3 player due in large part to the lack of my favorite tunes being available on things such as itunes or my friend's favorite Russian website where she got songs for cheaper. But I hadn't quite moved to the whole "ripping" in your favorite music and then putting it on your MP3 player.

While moving offices, I realized how much music I had stored at work and how I had listened to these CDs until I was nearly sick of them. It seem like the time, with the better technology and access to "world" music plus my whole love affair with KEXP, to get my very own ipod. And I did. It's an ipod touch - it couldn't be easier to use. And it's already made my life so much happier! (I love music and have blogged about my whole family's love of music eventhough we're not musicans). At this point it's the first thing I do when I get to work (plug it in, turn it on) and the last thing I pack up when I leave. For the last two days I have shuffled over MIA, Vampire Weekend, Cold Play, Jack Johnson, Gloria Estafan, Angelique Kidjo, Pink Martini, the Killers, Pancho Sanchez and about 56 other artists. It just makes the sun that much brighter and inspiring. Truly.

I haven't gotten to the point of listening to it on the bus because I kind of still like to listen to the crazy people....

My friends...

The other ones - the few non-derby ones - came down this weekend from Bellingham for a beautiful, vitamin D-filled day in Seattle. Christina, who I've know as long as I worked for Planned Parenthood and Jill, who was her assistant for a couple of years, came down for the day. I started my day breaking down a floor for my league but joined after they had soul food and King Fish in Capitol Hill. We strolled around Capitol Hill, in 50 degree sunshine, gossiping, telling funny stories about our past. We headed over to West Seattle where they both said they could live, like in Bellingham, in a little tight community - looked at art, bought a purse, talked about all of our crafty endeavors. We raced over to Ballard for drink but not before buying lottery tickets to help realized dreams of opening dessert bars that served limited pastries and small savory tapas. We had a few drinks and walked over to Madame K's (my favorite restaurant, La Carta - the BEST Mexican restaurant in Seattle was packed, as always.) At Madame K's, we drank some more, ate salads and pizza and ended the night with an orgasm (hot cookie with ice cream) before they headed back to Bellingham and I headed home... where I got sucked into the television series called Heroes.

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon - with my friends.

President's Day

I haven't had this holiday off in honestly, like 15 years - since high school. I was THRILLED to have a break, to catch up on some sleep, eat breakfast at a crowded Voula's, get some tasty vitamin D at Discovery park, go shopping for an i-pod touch (didn't find one, got groceries instead), take a nap like a cat, hang out with my killer trainer Jade and eat some Robin Eggs (my favorite Easter candy.) It was a beautiful, sunny day! Woot!

This weekend was Cupid's Cabaret - an annual JCRG event. This year it was at the Anchor in Everett. We had some great rockabilly bands, some derby girl burlesque and even a team performance. Yes, the Carnies put together a choreographied piece to Sweet Charity's "Big Spender". We had three rehearsals; worked on choreograph, memorized the lyrics and even coordinated costumes (derby allots for many firsts - first time I wore both a garder belt and corset - love it!). However, we didn't anticipate being squished on a tiny stage - we were planning on being spread out on the floor in two "pods" with some of us on stage but the audience was sitting on the floor watching... so it didn't look like what we had rehearsed (does it ever) and was over quickly. In the end, it was a great group effort - we had super fun performing it and are certainly a damn cute team.

Vitamin D

So when I was in Hawai'i for James and Heather's wedding, I made a point of saying, "I need to be in the sun - I'm so vitamin D deprived!" I need vitamin D! And boy did I! According to the Seattle Times today everyone over here needs more Vitamin D!

Hawai'i anyone? Key West? I'm planning a trip next fall, early winter, when our very precious summer sunlight starts to disappear.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2004179538_vitamind13m.html

Sick. Home. Fish

So many people are sick. I feel like every time I walk out of my house I risk running into this crazy "death plague" that is knocking out people for weeks, being spread among my derby league, turning into the flu, Strep, and other terrible nasty things. I've been, on the advice of a friend, taking Airborne for three weeks now... The funny thing is everytime you walk out of the house you take a risk. Yes?

I stumbled across a friend's myspace when I was posting some information about my performance this weekend in Cupid's Cabaret (no, I'm not doing burlesque but something great - I promise) and it's a great and funny song with a refrain of "I don't think I can see what anyone else can see in anyone else but you" and it's making me incredibly home sick. Because my friends are so special at home? I don't know... It's funny how it comes every once in a while like a wave washing over the ferry crossing the Sound.

A friend of mine and I have decided that we're going to take a New Year's resolution out a step further... I'm going to make a $5 donation every time I DON'T carpool to practice, an event, whatever. She's going to do the same thing. I want to make a donation to a fish organization. It's true. I love fish. I just care about fish. I worry about the cows pooping by the stream where the fish are swimming... so if you have a fish organization please recommend them. At the end of the month, each time I didn't find a carpool buddy when I could have carpooled (e.g. going to roller derby practice, meetings, ok it has mostly to do with derby) then I'm going to donate $5. To fish. I'm takin' recommendations. Now.

Roller derby + new job = tension headaches

...is what I wrote on my comments section when scheduling my half hour massage for Sunday. It was an excess of derby, (games, scrimmages, meetings, emails, meetings) and the stress that comes with a new job, (learning it's history, mission, important talking points, etc.) that lead to a headache about every six hours - plus the fact I haven't found a minute to get to my gym. So I made an appointment to get a massage - to work out that stress. And it did. I also made my upper body completely sore. It's funny how in the Pacific Northwest, specifically, massage isn't so much for relaxing as it is for healing...


And there are great things to talk about, including the Caucus, but after a hot epson salt bath, sleep is calling...

Though if you're really interested, here's the University of Washington's write up about the Rust Riot: http://thedaily.washington.edu/2008/2/7/derby-girls-dont-cry-aggressive-face-women-skate-t/

Derby Hangover, why I play this sport...

Until this past weekend, I can honestly say I've never experience a "derby hangover" - which means that you got knocked around so much and so hard that you felt like you got "hit by a Mac truck." It has nothing to do with alcohol (I've had plenty of those in relation to derby too.) I have had a headache about every 6 hours since Saturday. Saturday, Feb 2nd, was the "Rust Riot" - an invitational from Rat City to 7 surrounding leagues to come play in an expo tournament to show everyone who the North West is in the world of roller derby. We were slated to play Olympia weeks ago - a perfectly uneven match up if there ever was one - but we put our hearts into it - with some key players out with injuries and I kid you not - a few playing with the flu (the bio-hazard red puke bucket was in the middle of the floor for a reason). And we lost - as we expected - but not because we didn't play hard and fair (and you can read into this statement we're not a bunch of cheatin', sore sports). Someone had to be thrown to the lions and our team drew the short straw. Honestly, in the end, I was very proud of our team and proud to be part of such a fantastic league. But my clock got cleaned and now I'm paying for it... with three Advil every few hours.

I crawled out of bed early the next morning to assist with the reason I loved this sport - scrimmages with other teams. Skaters signed up from all across the North West with Arson Annie who arranged us into fun scrimmaging groups such as: diapers (under 30) v. depends (over thirty - yes we spanked them); veggies v. carnivores, smokers v. non, moms v. non-moms, etc. It was a great and super fun opportunity to play with skaters you don't ever get to play WITH but usually AGAINST. In the Diapers v. Depends match-up I got to skate with a lot of my pals from PFM days - Mo YaDown, Sassy Chassis, Sara Problem? and Maude Elletee. Libby Raider (RCRG) and I worked together great both as blockers and her assisting me as jammer. Rhea (Rose City – Portland OR) and Roxie Hardknox (Terminal City-Vancouver BC), Petty Rage (Lava City -Bend OR) and I all had blast playing together - assisting and blocking for skaters you just met 10 minutes ago. I got to skate again some of my own teammates - which was funny - because you know them so well. I helped out by "checking in" specific teams and making sure the groups each had enough players. I played in two scrimmages (Diapers v. Depends, and Jammers v. Blockers) and the end-of-the-day pickup game - which was full of crazy diehards - just enough to make up two teams.

And this is why I play this sport. I play it not only for my team and my league but also for the opportunity to play with amazing and dynamic women from other teams, everywhere.

Some photos from the weekend:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smaira/sets/72157603843196161/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8505592@N05/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/type2b/sets/72157603849837381/

Just perfectly weird....

This afternoon, my friend Weedy and I were walking back to our respective jobs from having sandwiches at the Honey Hole today when we passed by Le Frock - a vintage clothing store on Pine. I stopped dead in my tracks - dressed on the mannequin in the window was the perfect outfit for a cabaret performance my team is doing later this month. She was wearing a red corset, a long vintage, multi-colored striped skirt (very carnival like but with much taste) and a purple tulle skirt peaking out from beneath. It was perfect! Absolutely perfect!

I grabbed Weedy and went into the store and trying to contain my excitement "I love the outfit on the mannequin! It's perfect! I would really like to try it on please. Do you know the sizes of what she's wearing?" The sales clerk, paused, a medium skirt and a 34 corset. Perfect! Just the right sizes! "Could I try them on?" She looked at the owner who looked back at me. When do you need them by? "February 10th." We're not taking them off the mannequin until March. "Excuse me?" Weedy and I both looked completely perplexed. We're not taking them off. We have other corsets in that size. "What about the skirts?" No. We don't have another one of those (it is a vintage store after all.) If you want to stop by later, I'll try and find something else for you. "But it's perfect for what I need." I couldn't believe it. Not that I felt outraged as a consumer, but why in God's name would you dress up a mannequin in a fantastic outfit if you had NO INTENTION of selling it?

We left. I swung by after work, thinking she would change her mind (plus I said I would). "Hi! I'm the lady to whom you won't sell the outfit on your mannequin... your sales clerk said she would find something else for me." And she did. But it wasn't even close and the whole thing was just hugely disappointing.

And weird.

Brrrrrrrrr....

It's been super chilly in Seattle these last few days - and not Midwest bone biting cold but cold just the same (and considering my apartment wasn't made for bone chilling Midwest winters, it's very cold.) With the windchill, it's hovering in the high twenties. The city, being right on Puget Sound, makes for fantastic wind tunnels as you're walking to work.

This cold evening made for a second night of my curled up on my futon, with my kitty friend Monkey, under covers, fast asleep after dinner. All plans to go the gym became visions of sugar plums in my head - pretty much all plans vanished as Extra! relayed very important stories about Britney Spears.

I completely forgot to write about one of the best things that happened this past weekend - at Derby Prom I was voted "best attitude" by my sister skaters. What a great honor! I was surprised and humbled! And some of my skater friends, a couple of drinks into the night, told me what a inspiration I was to them. What a great way to end a weekend. (I also got an award for "best socks for 2007" - they speak for themselves.)

Just plain tired...

I think the euphoria from the last bout, along with a week of practices, my last day at Planned Parenthood, Pyglet's first birthday and Jet City's Derby Prom has worn me out. I was planning on going to the gym tonight after my first day at my new job - to prep a little before this weekend's Rust Riot (NW roller derby invitational) - when the futon in the living room called my name and I just had to take a nap in the chilly living room with some of the kitty friends.

But there are plenty of glimpses from my past week...

A very flattering review of our first derby bout this year:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=107162553&blogID=350814234

Pyglet's Birthday (Lucie)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749380@N00/sets/72157603812176792

JCRG Prom:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/67749380@N00/sets/72157603815974067

Phew.

Goodbyes...

And so it's time to say goodbye... after 6 years (almost to the month) of being with the Planned Parenthood family, I'm packing my bag (clearing my desk) and moving to another part of the women's movement. I'm literally and metaphorically just moving to another part of the neighborhood and I'm taking plenty of friends with me.

Though, my real loss is going to be all of the development officers from all over the country whom I've gotten to know over the years. I was a part of committees, headed a conference and worked on mentoring new development officers. Not everyone will miss me - that's for sure. I've been a pain-in-the-ass for some people. But I've also been really great friends with others.

Tonight will be drinks (but not too many) and tomorrow will be just another weekend before I start a new job.

It's been a great 6 years! I can't wait for my next adventures!

Some highlights:
*Organizing 5,000+ for the March for Women's Lives
*The Power of Women photography auction
*Chic for Choice
*increasing donations by 25% in one of our toughest fundraising years.
*Lobbying
*Counter protesting, raising tons of $$ of protesters - yeah!
*my SUPERvisor Nanci & my pal Teri
*being part of such a fantastic movement and learning more about social justice in general
*Choice
*my friends across the nation
*understanding the role we can all play in a movement
*better understanding for empathy, compassion and social justice
*making a difference
*change


some comments from some of my pals across the country...

Best wishes and hugs – you will be missed! Connie (her real name)

Congratulations, Michelle! Looks like I’m losing my development buddies north and south today… weird. Hope you transition smoothly and successfully into your new digs. Lemme know if I can be of any help here in Pdx.
Liz

Congratulations, Michelle! Thanks for all you have contributed to PP! Best,Sherry

Michelle,Good luck with your new venture! They are lucky to have you.Christie

Michelle,Congratulations! It sounds like a terrific opportunity, but we will miss you -- DOC conferences just won't be the same...All the very best,Debbie

Michelle, You will be missed! Best of luck with your new position. Anne

Hi Michelle,
Wishing you every success in your new job. The Women’s Law Center is lucky to have you – I know you’ll be doing great things for them, just as you’ve done for Planned Parenthood.
All the best,
Mar


Congratulations Michelle!!! that is so exciting, Ms. Director. Good luck - I will miss seeing you at DOC (if I get to go this year...). -Amy


SOOOO delighted to hear you are moving on up!I will miss your creativity, dedication and enthusiasm. Take that with you and nothing can stop you!I wish you the best and hope you can keep in touch.Is your new group from 5 contiguous states and will you have to travel to all?

I got to the NW over the Thanksgiving holiday and was so very impressed! Lovely territory.I went through Seattle and spent time with my brother in Bend OR.Hugs and cheers right back to you!Suzie - And thanks for all your efforts for PP in Ohio and WW!

Michelle –
You will be missed! It’s been a pleasure to work with you. Best of luck on your new endeavors!
John

A clear, bright, chilly... a perfect day for a national holiday.

I ran across an ad for an organization that has caught my attention before - http://www.forbetterlife.org/. I looked it up online, completely skeptical that it was religiously affiliated or trying to do something besides promote positive things. (How sad that one of the most optimistic people I know feels that way.) But it turns out they weren't religiously affiliated, and though I'm not 100% sure how I feel about their message (it's quite good) and I ran across some billboards that they've produced that I've really liked - such as this one about Kermit. And I thought this was the perfect thing to write about today - on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Dreams. Live your dreams. And because of such a great man willing to go out on a limb for so many people, more people can live theirs.

Below are some photos from the bout:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/narra99/

EVIL! EVIL! EVIL!

"Torture, where in your life have you heard hundreds of people shouting 'Evil! Evil! Evil!' and stomping their feet for a bunch of gals on wheels? Isn't that awesome?'" And it was! CarnEvil won in 'final death' yesterday night at our first official bout of the season! It was amazing, close, fun, fun, fun. We were convinced that we had come together as a team and would win against the Hula Honeys but at halftime we were down by 21 points. The second jam of the second half, I scored 15 points as jammer and slowly, we started champing at the score... And the belief in our team became palatable - not only from ourselves but from the fans! Cia raced out of the penalty box and took out the opposing jammer with such malice in her eyes I thought she was going to spit on her, Luna held the front line like it was nobody's business, Suzi took people out with solid, clean hits (we were in the penalty box so much less), Mona Agony, new to our team, jammed like a champ...soon we were down by 7, then 6, then 1 point and time ran out! I was thrilled at our comeback - but then Honeys lost a point and we found ourselves tied!

The crowd was going nuts, people were lined up around the edges and I got back to the line to jam in "sudden death" to break the tied score (my teammates and I were dancing on the line waiting for it to start) - and we knew we had it. The whistle blew for the jam to start - me and the opposing jammer jostled for the line but CarnEvil held her as a got thru the pack. I got around to the pack again (where two Honeys who were in the penalty box) joined the jam - I managed to get around them and score 4 points - hulling ass - I looked up at the score board and finally slowed down with 3 seconds left. We had it! We won! And it was so fantastic! The crowd was going nuts! We hadn't won a single exposition bout last year; we had had our share of drama and we needed this win so badly. And it was fantastic.

The whole day was great: from setting up during the day, to skating your heart out, to the beer drinking with your teammates and others you just played. It's been a long year in the making - our first season! We finally had a venue (though we still can't serve alcohol) and our second time there we've nearly mastered our set up and tear down. Though we still don't have a floor (we're borrowing Rat City's), we're close to owning one of our very own. All of our teams have uniforms, logos, identities and we have a "booty camp" for new skaters that's full of potential. We do community work and sponsor non-profits. We'll most likely sell out our whole season and we have a whole host of opportunities to do some really fun and great things.

And I love it. Even with all of the headaches and frustrations, the high blood pressure, the long days and nights and nearly wanting to pull out your hair - I love what it's done for me and I love what's its done for so many other women - and communities! What a truly wonderful movement to be a part of...and at times completely overwhelming especially if you can get a whole crowd of people to cheer "Evil! Evil! Evil!"

Gentle Chaos, Unable to read music

This is how Heidi described my commute this morning - actually all of Seattle was spinning in gentle chaos on ice covered streets in a city that doesn't invest in salt. My first bus was late and my second bus never came. I waited 30 minutes and then took another bus - along with a hundred other people. The bus diverted it's route, I hopped off 10 icy, hilly blocks away and started walking to work... on the ice. There were school buses suck at intersections and other cars unable to turn. A biker rode by with absolute terror in her eyes. I crossed streets sideways. That's when Heidi called and we laughed at the ridiculousness of the city's reaction to the weather - both being Midwesterners and use to tons of ice, cold and snow. (I flung my phone trice trying to catch my balance.) It made for interesting conversation at the Starbucks next to work (I was already an hour and half late, what was five more minutes), as people had spent a half an hour going a mile or had given up getting to the top of some of the iciest hills.

The commute home was much better and I took a nap (fighting, fighting, fighting a cold) before settling down for an evening of sewing helmet panties, again, for my team and the Hula Honeys (whom we play on Saturday) and I ran into a plethora of problems stitching. My fabric was puckering, the bottom stitch was loose. And because I learned to sew by sewing together 7' penguin puppets for my samba troupe 5 years, I didn't really "learn". I was like a singer or musician who could play music but couldn't read notes. I knew HOW to sew but not why everything worked. I look on the Internet for the solution and found it in the 1970 Kenmore sewing book that came with the machine - I decided I needed a new needle (after realizing that I actually had the right size in the machine, thus surely this one was super dull after sewing all that nylon) and to adjust the bobbin (who knew you could do that?!) and it all came back together - just in time to work on the other team's helmet panties....

Rain, rain, rain...



I heard some rumor yesterday that it was going to be a beautiful week - cool and sunny like it was yesterday. I took advantage of the light and dry weather and did work on my car (changed a newly outed headlight and "tightened" the battery.) I managed to fit in a walk but would have easily spent the day like a cat, on the sofa, sleeping in the bright sun (like they all were.)


Today, there was no sunshine. It rained all day. All evening. And eventually it turned to snow (which was fun for all three minutes of it.) Winters are tough here. It's dark (sometimes all day), rainy (totally living up to it's reputation) and just generally a gloomy time. And the only glimmer of hope in all of this is that spring comes early - the trees start to bloom as early as February and tulips come up in March. And luckily... they're just right around the corner.

Right in front of me...

There is a famous Buddhist saying that goes, "If you can't find happiness where you're at, where do you expect to find it?" which is to say that happiness has to come from within and you can't seek external things to create that. Well there should be something like, "If you're looking too hard for a New Year's Resolution, it's most likely right in front of your nose." And there was. I found it.

My desire to do something better for the Earth - besides ride the bus more (I wish it would stop raining), carpool (do it already), become a vegetarian (not ready to again but now only eat "happy chickens") lead me in circles this last week. I also was trying to find something for my personal growth beside incorporate more art in my life (trying!), write more (I will, I promise) and generally diversify my life. I started to panic about my P-Patch - which I love and which I want to do a better job with this year (I only got one season out of three in last year), when it dawned on me that my P-Patch is the perfect resolution. I will be growing my own food (not all of it of course, but a lot) and doing much for personal growth - like learning how to organic garden better in the Pacific Northwest. I'll get more exercise walking to and from the P-Patch and I'm sure I'll have many tasty dinner parties with all of the food I grow and eat.

I'm so excited! I can't wait until spring! I have so much planning to do in the meantime...

Oh and my other resolution was to spend more time with my friend Glitter Chicken - at least one day a month sewing fun crafty things... and of course I have all of these derby goals... ok. One. I'm sticking to the P-Patch. Reasonable, achievable, good for the Earth. Yeah!

Winds...

Hurricane like winds are sweeping up from California tonight - dumping snow in the mountains and knocking out power lines and trees in the cities. 60-80 mph winds - for all of the things the Pacific Northwest is known for, like rain and serial killer, these insane windstorms are one of those things people don't tell you about. Sitting on the couch, having had dinner at my friends' house, the Christmas lights on the balcony swing but not nearly as violently as the trees.

Of change, is what the Obama campaign is riding on. My father, who was Goldwater Republican in his youth (according to his cousin but I never verified it with my Dad), though these days doesn't tell anyone who he votes for, called me to ask me my opinion about Obama's victory speech. I had been an early supporter (like in 2004-2005) but had backed off all politics recently. I called him back in the morning and said I had been at practice and had not heard his speech. He said "He is such an orator. He's like Reagan. He made my face muscles do things a politician hadn't invoked in ages." He wasn't the only one who was so excited about the hope and optimism Obama elicited. He's a windmill and the people are the wind - to many he's the wind of change.

Look what the cat blew in... after 6 years, half of my working career in development, I'm leaving Planned Parenthood for a Director of Development job with a the Northwest Women's Law Center. I said I wouldn't leave Planned Parenthood for just any job or any organization. (It's been too much of a part of my identity!) And it turns out I'm not leaving the movement but just moving down the street to another house in the neighborhood. I'll still be working to make sure that women have a better place at the table because we're fooling ourselves to think that it's equal. I can't wait!

Exhilaration...

...is what I felt when I left a multi-league scrimmage on Sunday where I got to skate with gals I knew, complete strangers and those I admired all in the name of the "derby sisterhood." It was so much fun and just reminded me of all the reasons I love this sport.

Last night I went out to Chinese New Year's Dinner with some friends. It was a pretty typical Chinese restaurant found in a strip mall in the suburbs complete with it's very American-Chinese dinner menu, much like the one I worked in all throughout high school and parts of college. I loved it! It also reminded me of how many New Years I worked in that restaurant, until 10 p.m., only to have to be back the next day - usually a bitterly cold day. We headed back to Ballard to be "close to home" for the celebrations - walking to Danni's party. Of course, it was a great time, as it always is. I drink organic wine (yum) but it still managed to give me a headache (which was probably the champagne). We were part of a while elephant gift exchange, I hid some one's prize (because it was so damn cute and I had drank nearly a bottle of wine) and we got home around 3 a.m. Some friends stayed over and all started the new year with a big breakfast and chats about our resolutions... I haven't figured them out just yet.

Resolutions are hard because they have to be reasonable, achievable and hopefully do something to make your life or the lives of people around you better. Last year, my resolution was to not procure another plastic bag. I managed to procure about 15 throughout the course of the year and have completely changed my habits. I always have canvas bags with me, in the car, for groceries or even mall shopping. I've gotten a few other people to try this too. It was a great resolution. I need another one... just like it.