VBA Post

Uzi Q of Derby + Diapers nominated (and thus awarded) me for a Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks again, Uzi! According to the rules of the VBA I now have to share 7 things about myself and nominate some blogs.

Seven things about me:

1. For exactly two months in high school, I went by “Annie” (my middle name is Ann.) Only one person called me that, though, so I switched back to my first name.
2. When I started watching Doctor Who last year, my friend Eric could not wait until I got to season six so I could be rechristened Mels and know what that nickname referenced
3. I played violin for a year or so as a kid before we moved somewhere that didn’t have a music program for elementary students. I constantly plot to get a cheap one off e-bay and reteach myself.
4. My second toes are longer than my big toes.
5. I spent a ridiculous amount of time in the seventh grade staring at myself in the bathroom mirror, on a quest to learn to raise a single eyebrow. (I succeeded. Can only raise lefty independently.)
6. Until I was 14 or 15, I was the only female cousin of my generation on my dad’s side; the other gazillions of cousins were boys.
7. I’m terrified of heights. I have both parasailed and done ropes courses to try and cure myself of it. Next step: jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

Some award-worthy bloggers:
I’m totally cheating. I’m just gonna point you to a couple of my favorite links in the sidebar to the left. Try Diary of a Rollergirl, Eenie Meanie Skates, Unofficial Derby Official, Epbot, Fit and Feminist, and the Bloggess.

If you’re in DC today, why not stop by Nellie’s Sports Bar between 5 and 8 and spend some quality time with the DC Rollergirls before the bout on Saturday?

I am ACCOMPLISHED

Except I need to have lunch, but I’m doing this first.

Today I:

• got up on time yaaaaaay
• cleaned up the other guest room so my brother will have a place to sleep
• vacuumed ALL THE FLOORS
• cleaned out my (atrociously gross and messy) car, including vacuuming
• while simultaneously changing the oil and topping off other fluids (except power steering, because I didn’t have any. but I need to do that, I’m at the minimum level.)
• finally took the monitor the ex gave me (which broke the second we broke up–coincidence? probably) to best buy for recycling. I also got some goop for my hair so when I blowdry it, it won’t be all dried up and full of fly-aways and dropped off the used motor oil while I was out.

My friend and alarm-clock-enforcer (who showed me a gross time lapse video of a spider molting when I overslept the other day–you try to oversleep knowing stuff like that is aimed at you!!) Kitty has decided to publish a serial on her blog, and the first installment is out today! Go. Read that. RIGHT NOW.

And don’t forget, there’s only 8 days left to submit your art for Art Crawl!

ART CRAWL! (contest!)

So, Marvel released these super sexist gross shirts side by side. While discussing it with DCDC BatCat, I said it made me feel like this is a prompt for a derby art contest using that infamous Whip It line, “Be your own hero.” So! CONTEST!

YOU submit your visual interpretation of roller derby and women heroes by May 3rd. (email lovelylikebeestings at gmail dot com)
I will post a poll to allow y’all to vote for your favorite design between the May 4th and May 10th.
THE WINNER will be the recipient of something delicious baked by me! (Probably cookies if you aren’t local to DC, but we can work that out when you win!) And maybe I’ll throw in some DCRG stickers or pins or something, too, I dunno, we’ll see, I’ll have to TALK TO PEOPLE about THINGS.

Linkedy link links!

Hey guys, I spent some time adding to the links in the sidebar. If you want to be added, please comment (and if you want to be removed, feel free to comment as well! I’ll take care of it as soon as I can.) I am pretty sure I missed people.

Additionally, if the league you skate with isn’t represented in the “league” section, leave a comment with a link to their page (volunteers, refs, and NSOs, please limit to the 3 leagues you work with most, if you don’t mind) and I’ll get them added, too. The ones there right now are the ones I’ve seen skate and/or been linked to, you know? But I’d love to link to more.

Now to actually be productive.

Trying to Float

So, I feel like I don’t have enough to talk about right now to post daily, even though when I posted daily before, it was largely roller derby focused, and now that I can skate and work out again, it can be again. But then I end up focusing on what to talk about here, instead of getting stuff done (i.e. actually working out/skating, running errands, showering, applying for jobs….) and then I feel like I am FAILING AT BEING UNEMPLOYED. What? I don’t even know! But anyway, I am trying to reduce the amount of time I spend online while not reducing social interaction (I barely read twitter, where many of my friends are! I can tweet easily, because phone, but reading it takes SO LONG to find the important convos and figure out the context and whathaveyou, I end up redditing instead :/ ) So on Friday, I didn’t post, because I just didn’t have a thing to say. Think I’m going to promise to deliver 3 posts a week, but not give specific timing for when they’ll be up. You cool with that?

Saturday I joined about 20 of the DC Rollergirls, fresh meat hopefuls, and volunteers at the Shamrockfest to pour and serve beer (and earn mad bank via tips, we hope! Last reported total before “final call” was “I think we passed $2000!” so yay! that’s going in the warehouse fund) which was INCREDIBLY FREEZING but also tons of fun, and most of the drunks were friendly and not creepy. I *did* see one woman, tottering on her extremely high heels, who either wet herself, sat in a puddle, or was the victim of a spill that was focused entirely down her buttcrack, which made me all judgey, but mostly no one was supercreepy or gross or anything like that. I went with my introvert instincts and stayed in back, filling pitchers with cider while we had kegs of that, then opening cans of miller lite when that was all that was left, but the ladies who opted to pour and serve were fantastic, interacting with the crowd like pros. Toward the end of the shift, we found that there was one keg of cider left, so we tapped that and then offered cider for tips, which helped out bottom line then they shut down service before the keg was empty, and we had a (very cold, very QUICK) mini-party behind the fridge-truck to celebrate a job well done before heading to our respective Saturday nights.

Today I’ve been prepping meals for the rest of the week–chicken is prepped for stir fry, (marinating!) gonna do baked chicken plus salad tonight, and tomorrow once I get some penne and provolone, ziti! leftovers to be portioned and frozen, mostly, except the ones stuck in the fridge for when I need a fast meal. Also, laundry needs to be done. So I’m gonna do that right after getting serious:

My friend wrote about the Steubenville rapes, ensuing trial, and the media reaction, and why society is focusing on the wrong things. Support Jane Doe, not rapists. Blame rapists, not victims. Teach children not to rape, not how to avoid being raped. Teach children about consent, and what rape is.

Quickie

Spending lunch applying to jobs. Didn’t exercise today because I overslept. Very vivid dreams, y’all. You can watch the CBB upset of SF1 on youtube, though!

It’s coming….

you guys! no really, you guys! I’ll be back to normal posting (though still m-w-f until I get the okay to do stuff) on the 7th! I have an appointment with the ortho on the 25th, after which I HOPEFULLY will start skating again. YOU GUYS!

No Scooter! Yes, crutches.

Just finished listening to the DC Allstars take on Boston Massacre 226-131 Boston, alas. That seems like a big point gap but jam for jam, that was a super-close game and DC was great. We’ve moved into the consolation bracket, but we’re not defeated! Those ladies left it all out on the track, they didn’t hold anything back, and they skated hard. Up next is the anticipated rematch of London versus Montreal, which last year was the last bout of the weekend and was a 1 point game. So I’ll listen to that, too. It actually makes working easier listening to the games, but I have bounced silently in my chair a few times.

Went to the doctor this morning. He was very nice. He said my breaks both look great and that I can definitely increase the amount of weight I’m putting on my leg. So no more scooter! But I can’t just walk on my own or with a cane yet, I’m still using crutches. He told me to put as much weight as I could without pain, and it seems like at least 80% to me. He predicted I’d be using one crutch next week, which I hope is true, and said that he won’t send me to do PT until I can bear all my weight on my leg, and that I might not need it at all. Once I am 100% weight bearing on my right leg, I’ll start doing the exercises I learned doing PT for my sprain anyway, because it seems stupid that I wouldn’t get any PT. The doctor was also surprised at my age because I look younger. That’s probably helped by the fact that I’m wearing jeans today.

After work I’m going to hear Neil Gaiman do a reading at my alma mater, along with some friends. SO EXCITED!

Betrayal Most Foul

The plan for this weekend was: Derby Level 2 Assessment, clean apartment, watch Charm City vs Philly today, and see Brave with the other Freshies tomorrow.

The reality of today was:
Get about halfway through the assessment, break leg, go to hospital.

Despite the fact that I definitely screamed a bit, Ms. Judgement and Chinese Cheker both assured me that I took it like a champ (though I think they’re just being nice, I appreciate it anyway!) I was frustrated with myself–I didn’t think about the fact that the floor at Temple Hills is sticky and my outdoor wheels would not be good on them, so my stops were not as smooth as they normally are, and I fell a few times when getting up from falls, but I was started to adjust, and I did some really good 180 falls (when you go down on one knee and spin on it, so you can get up and go in the opposite direction). When they set up for hops, I was excited, because they’re lots of fun. I watched Freshie K go, and then it was my turn. First hop was really a step, and I was determined to do better with my second. Instead, my right leg snapped near my ankle and I collapsed.

Library Friday!

First off: There was no post yesterday because I was busy spending time with my grandparents and then adoring my nephews, who, it should come as no surprise, are ADORABLE. (And are 1 and 3 years old, and who ran me RAGGED.) I regret nothing. NOTHING!

Secondly: Today is super-extra Library Friday, because I am stopping by my local branch to pick up 12 books on hold for VACATION! I will most likely not be blogging at all next week, and if I do, it will be short, because I’ll be composing on my phone. The posts will be something like this: “SO MUCH FUN! [Swam forever/skated the bike trail by the house/ate delicious things/my nephews are SO CUTE] byee!” If you’re really lucky, I’ll get to borrow someone’s laptop (mine is DEAD DEAD DEAD) and link to interesting things.

Speaking of linking to interesting things, here are point-counterpoint articles about a recent Doctor’s Report about Abraham Lincoln’s assassination coming to light. It seems to me that they’re basically arguing semantics, but the point in the first article, which the second does not dispute, is that archives are valuable resources that are much maligned by the press. Archives are not dusty basement rooms with bad lighting that no one ever goes in (and I love the Hitchhiker’s Guide reference!) They are well ordered, well-maintained, brightly lit and clean rooms with lots and lots of files, and though archivists occasionally miss big deal items when describing collections, we do our best.

and finally, in light of last week’s Library Friday, a response to the Forbes article which states that an MLS/MSLS/MLIS is the worst Masters degree you could get right now, by my former professor at CUA.

Everyone who is going to ECDX this weekend, HAVE FUN! Help DCRG win the afterparty! Bring back knowledge and cool stuff!