no clever heading
This is not going to be a momentous post. I can feel that already. Why am I even bothering? Well, perhaps just to say that I'm still here. This was a busy week. A week of some deep change on the inside. A week of pursuing concrete change on the outside.
& after all of that seriousness, I have the perfect antidote: I'm going to All-girl Roller Derby tomorrow night. I'm psyched.
This is the first ever real bout on Long Island since 1973 when the men's leagues had their last bouts. This nation-wide and local roller derby renaissance is all female, and infused by the punk and riot grrl attitude and aesthetics so it's a different world even than the 70's rollergirls who were more often than not sexy disco dollies in satin hot pants. These girls are punk bruisers. They are bad ass and take no prisoners.
I have recently begun daydreaming about becoming a rollergirl. I used to roller skate at least once a week (usually more) when I was growing up. I started in elementary school, and continued into junior high and part of high school. I can't even say why I ever stopped, just one of those things that faded away as I got older. When I was actively skating though, I was so into it that after a time I no longer rented skates at the rink. I bought my own pair, they were white (I was pissed that the girls skates didn't come in black) then, as was the fashion, I added these pink and white snoball looking fuzzy pom poms that had a bell in the center to the laces. I even knew how to skate backward. Those were the days. The DJ would play, and I'd skate round and round the track, and then after a while, go to the snackbar for a break. The hardest part was using the girls room while on my skates. Then I'd skate some more, till the session was over. Taking off the skates was always kinda sad. I'd step down on the ground for the first time wearing shoes and feel like I'd just touched down from orbit.
I think at some point, I just have to get back on skates and try it. It's gonna happen after I start losing weight though. One encouraging factor, there are some big girls who do it, and they are actually prized as blockers. So, I wouldn't have to be thin, I'd just have to be fit enough and skate well. Right now it's just a dream, but hey, I can dream. Of course, basic health and fitness will come before that, but it's fun to think about. For now I can be a fan and get inspired. I saw these girls on the Rollergirl TV show on Bravo who stand on the sidelines and shake black pom-poms, Rollergirl Cheerleaders -- I could do that! :-D
In the non-dreamworld AKA reality, the only thing that would be a drawback is that I'm already concerned that spending time on art, knitting and crafts will cause my writing to suffer. I have to be be really careful with the "Jill of all trades, Mistress of none" syndrome that I am all too prone to. I am interested in so many things that I can spread myself too thin, and never excel at any of my dabblings. For example, mixed media has a strong draw for me, but my writing is my vocation. I have to see writing as my destiny, and art as a hobby if I'm gonna make it. I have to strike the crucial balance. Hard to know where to draw the lines, and how to reign myself in and be creatively disciplined. I'll figure it out though, because I have to. Sometimes I wish I had one life for each thing I'd love to be. I suppose I'll just have to do the best I can with the one I've got.
& after all of that seriousness, I have the perfect antidote: I'm going to All-girl Roller Derby tomorrow night. I'm psyched.
This is the first ever real bout on Long Island since 1973 when the men's leagues had their last bouts. This nation-wide and local roller derby renaissance is all female, and infused by the punk and riot grrl attitude and aesthetics so it's a different world even than the 70's rollergirls who were more often than not sexy disco dollies in satin hot pants. These girls are punk bruisers. They are bad ass and take no prisoners.
I have recently begun daydreaming about becoming a rollergirl. I used to roller skate at least once a week (usually more) when I was growing up. I started in elementary school, and continued into junior high and part of high school. I can't even say why I ever stopped, just one of those things that faded away as I got older. When I was actively skating though, I was so into it that after a time I no longer rented skates at the rink. I bought my own pair, they were white (I was pissed that the girls skates didn't come in black) then, as was the fashion, I added these pink and white snoball looking fuzzy pom poms that had a bell in the center to the laces. I even knew how to skate backward. Those were the days. The DJ would play, and I'd skate round and round the track, and then after a while, go to the snackbar for a break. The hardest part was using the girls room while on my skates. Then I'd skate some more, till the session was over. Taking off the skates was always kinda sad. I'd step down on the ground for the first time wearing shoes and feel like I'd just touched down from orbit.
I think at some point, I just have to get back on skates and try it. It's gonna happen after I start losing weight though. One encouraging factor, there are some big girls who do it, and they are actually prized as blockers. So, I wouldn't have to be thin, I'd just have to be fit enough and skate well. Right now it's just a dream, but hey, I can dream. Of course, basic health and fitness will come before that, but it's fun to think about. For now I can be a fan and get inspired. I saw these girls on the Rollergirl TV show on Bravo who stand on the sidelines and shake black pom-poms, Rollergirl Cheerleaders -- I could do that! :-D
In the non-dreamworld AKA reality, the only thing that would be a drawback is that I'm already concerned that spending time on art, knitting and crafts will cause my writing to suffer. I have to be be really careful with the "Jill of all trades, Mistress of none" syndrome that I am all too prone to. I am interested in so many things that I can spread myself too thin, and never excel at any of my dabblings. For example, mixed media has a strong draw for me, but my writing is my vocation. I have to see writing as my destiny, and art as a hobby if I'm gonna make it. I have to strike the crucial balance. Hard to know where to draw the lines, and how to reign myself in and be creatively disciplined. I'll figure it out though, because I have to. Sometimes I wish I had one life for each thing I'd love to be. I suppose I'll just have to do the best I can with the one I've got.
posted by scribe at 2/18/2006
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