Quick weekend recap:

Friday - Rio’s Tae Kwon Do class did a demonstration at the mall, and I took the 2 neighbor kids along to watch and hang out. At the mall. It was surprisingly fun:) Rio spent the night at the brothers’ house. Hurray for cool neighbors with kids!

Saturday - Took 5 of our kids and the 2 neighbor kids to the Arts Festival and hung out at the kids’ area. We all tried walking on stilts, and after that the boys happily chased bubbles for a while. We watched the juggler for a bit and a couple of our kids got to go on stage so that was a bonus.

Then I went to derby practice and ROCKED MY SKILLS TEST. Yep, it was awesome and I’m so glad it’s over. Now I can skate with the big kids! I can’t wait! And yet, I must. Because I fell on my swollen bruise again - just a little fall, not even a full impact, but it hurts like it was fresh all over again and the swelling got a lot worse. Now I need to stay off my skates and let this heal, at least until the swelling is gone. Hopefully that won’t take too long.

The good news is that I invested in some really good gear, what I like to call body armor, and it’s on its way. I got all new pads, including an especially robust set of wrist guards and best of all, Bumsavers! With all that protection I will be invincible!

Or at least I’ll be able to get through my learning phase on skates without getting injured on a weekly basis, eh?

[See this photo on the flickr map]

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve earned my first big badass derby bruise. It doesn’t have any color yet but as soon as it does I’ll be sure to post a photo of it. It’s gonna be a beauty;)

Here’s how it went down:
I was skating with the big girls last night in the endurance skate because beginner’s practice was canceled on Saturday due to the float trip. As luck would have it, it also happened to be the first 3-hour practice session, now that they’re doing warm-ups for an hour in the parking lot, so they can skate for a full 2 hours during their rink time.

It was a tough practice but I was hanging in there and feeling pretty good about it, considering it was my first time skating with the advanced group, but by the end of the night I was definitely starting to wear out. Naturally, in the last 15 minutes of practice, during a whips drill (which I really need to work on!), Addie whipped me into the inside track and I somehow managed to wipe out hard. It happened so fast that I’m really not sure what went wrong, I just know that I hit that floor like a ton of bricks. It’s a good thing I was wearing my helmet because my head bounced off the floor, too, when I hit. I’ve got a nice ding on my helmet now:)

I got right back on my feet and I was all ready to keep skating but as soon as I stood up my right hip protested loudly. Ow! I mean, damn that hurts! Now I’ve got a big fat lump which is actually on the back and side of my upper thigh. It mostly hurts to sit down. It’s still wicked tender.

I really need to take my skills test this Saturday, though, so I hope the pain subsides. If I were to take another fall on that spot right now I wouldn’t be able to walk! And since I tend to fall quite a bit, well, let’s hope that this thing looks worse than it feels by this weekend. But hey, this is Roller Derby, so I guess I’d better just deal with it:)

In other news, Festival of the Arts is this weekend and once again I’ve entered 2 photos in the Visions exhibition. I chose this one and this one, neither of which I’m terribly enthusiastic about. I really don’t feel that excited about any of my photos from the last year, unfortunately. I certainly don’t expect to get first place again - that was a big shock - in fact I don’t hope to place at all, but I’d be pretty happy if someone buys a print. That would help me get some new derby gear. I need better padding!

This is not the best version of this song, and this is not the best song by The Bastard Fairies, but I love it anyway:)

Saturday’s derby bout was BIG fun! The turnout was excellent and from what I could see the bout was awesome. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see much of the action, though. The other junior skaters and I had volunteered to mingle in the crowd selling beer, and when I wasn’t peddling my wares I was on tiptoe behind the crowd, craning my neck to catch a glimpse of the girls whizzing by on the track. It was one of those times where being short was a serious disadvantage.

The Blarney Banshees edged out a narrow win over the Yo Ho Ho’s. It was a very close game all night, which made it even more exciting. It was lots of fun but all I could think about was how much MORE fun it will be when I’m out there on the track, throwing blocks and racing with the pack! I can’t wait:)

I also didn’t get to take a single photo, since I had such a lousy view. I had my camera on me all night, just in case, but no luck. Oh well, them’s the breaks.

[See this photo on the Flickr map]

It’s been a busy week! But we’ve been doing a lot of fun stuff: roller skating, live music, and a derby dinner gathering. Tonight is Destruction Junction Derby Dames’ first public bout and it should be a blast! I’ll be there helping out and hanging out and I’m looking forward to it. Steve’s got a gig but hopefully he’ll be able to make it over to the rink afterward. I’m going to try to take some photos but since my equipment is ill-suited to indoor action shots, I can’t guarantee that I’ll have anything worth sharing. We’ll see!

In other news, Rio had an excellent week at school this week. Go RIO! He has come so far in the last year and I’m wicked proud of him:)

[See this photo on the Flickr map]

Rocheport, MO

[See this photo on the Flickr map]

I’ve got some catching up to do for my Camera Gallery. I’ve acquired a few old cameras recently and I’ve been getting them cleaned up so I can photograph them for the gallery. I found one called the Lavec that looks like the 35mm version of the Holga, and since it was only 50 cents I figured I’d give it a try. I ran a roll of film through it and it came out blank. It’s the junkiest camera I’ve ever used. It’s all creaky and twangy springs and low-grade plastic. Makes the Holga look like a Hassy! Sheesh!

But I also picked up a Polaroid Land Camera that I can’t wait to play around with. Unfortunately the cost of the battery and film packs is a bit prohibitive at the moment, so I’ll have to wait whether I like it or not. And Steve brought home a filthy old Yashica Electro 35 GS the other day and I was thrilled. However, it’s going to take some minor surgery to get it in working order, and I’m pretty intimidated by DIY camera repairs. But hell, I’ve got nothing to lose since it was a freebie, and I’d love to be able to use that one.

[Find this photo on the Flickr map]

Behind the bar at the Rocheport General Store. Steve’s new band, The Sand Fleas, made their debut appearance there a few weeks back. It’s a fun spot and whenever he plays a gig there I always come along. The locals are a great bunch and they don’t mind if I shake my ass when the groove grabs me;)

I survived another roller derby practice on Saturday! It was a struggle, though, because I went to the public skate first to get warmed up and as luck would have it I pulled a muscle in my thigh while practicing my mohawk turns. Doh! But I toughed it out and managed pretty well, considering. I’m already looking forward to getting back on my skates on Wednesday. I’m determined to make it to public skate that night. I know I really just need to spend more time on my skates, so pretty soon maneuvering on 8 wheels will feel as natural as breathing. That’s my goal. I’ve got a ways to go yet!

There were some girls taking their skills test Saturday so I had a chance to see what’s expected of me. It looks pretty manageable, but there’s lots of stuff I need to work on. The part where they were hopping over short little cones looked the most challenging to me. If I were to attempt that now I’d end up on my ass HARD.

[Find this photo on the Flickr map]

This is an old roll I just finished from Kansas in the XA. This roll also suffered a drop, so part of it was ruined when the back popped open. The XA seems to be okay overall - the shutter’s working fine and that’s the important thing. But the latch on the camera back is a little loose and I noticed that I really need to replace the foam around the edges.

That’s a project that’ll have to wait. I’m getting ready to send out a roll of 127 film that was in the Brownie Starflash I picked up at a yard sale recently. I shot 2 or 3 frames to finish it off, but I’m curious to see what was on the rest of the roll. Found film is fun:)

[ See this photo on the Flickr Map ]