Gosh, it’s been an awful long time, eh? Here’s the lowdown:

• We went to Kansas, as usual, for the 4th of July. This photo was taken on the road. More to come!
• I tore a ligament in my knee and had to sit out the last home bout. My team was also missing our star jammer - Whiskey broke her ankle and will be out for the rest of the season and that’s going to hurt the travel team as well. In any case, my team lost but it was a much closer score than our last bout. Our rookies performed magnificently, especially our newest jammer, Biohazard Betty, who received MVP!
• My knee is healing well and I should be back in action before too long. I’m forcing myself to follow the doctor’s orders and avoid straining it. It was torture watching my team skate from the sidelines on Saturday night, but I have to think about the big picture. It will be worth missing 1 or 2 bouts if it means my knee can recover fully without surgery and I can enjoy a long and spectacular derby career;) So really, 1 or 2 bouts isn’t much in the grand scheme of things. I can do it!
• Steve just took a job as a sexton. Get your mind out of the gutter!
• Life is pretty damn great all around. Being too busy to blog isn’t really a bad thing.

Rio played in a chess tournament on Saturday and he befriended the boy shown here, who brought a Pirates of the Caribbean set. They played in between rounds for fun. Rio didn’t win any of his matches, but he was a really good sport about it and that was a relief. We had a discussion about sportsmanship before the tournament, because this has been a problem area for him lately. I told him that I would be proud of him if he won, but I would be even more proud if he lost graciously. And he did!

It was a humbling experience for him. My dear Rio is one cocky little dude and I tried to warn him that he would be playing against chess fanatics who eat, sleep, and breathe chess. Sure enough, he was beaten in the first round by some kindergarten prodigy. But he took it all in stride and I honestly think that it was an excellent experience for him. He needs to learn to cope with disappointment because it’s a big part of life, like it or not.

Rio’s no slouch, and he can play a decent game of chess. But he doesn’t take the time to plot out a strategy. He’s impulsive so planning isn’t one of his strong points. The kids in that tournament were mostly all chess club regulars and devote quite a bit of their free time to playing and thinking about chess. Rio was a bit of their league but he played well enough. And like I told him, the only way to get better is to play against people who are better than you.

I can’t be sure but judging by the subdued atmosphere, I’d bet that Rio was the only ADHD kid there. I’d also bet that he’s the first kid at a chess tournament to have his Harry Potter book confiscated because he was being “too rambunctious” with it.

That’s MY boy! I sure am proud of him:)

I finally got to try out this old Polaroid and it works! I’m quite tickled with it.

I’ve been intermittently sick for the last week and instead of getting better I’m feeling worse and I’m pissed. I had my heart set on skating tonight and I really NEED to, dammit. What I’d really like to do is crawl into bed and knock myself out with some heavy meds. I haven’t been sleeping well because I’ve been waking up with my head all full of phlegm and a nasty cough. I would so love to sleep for a very long time. I really just want to feel NORMAL again so I can get on with my life.

I finished a roll of film! It was unseasonably warm last weekend so we all went to the skate park and I took a bunch of shots of Tyle skating. After that I tried out my new outdoor wheels in the Roller Hockey rink and that was lots of fun.

I haven’t skated since then, though, because I had surgery on Wednesday: Operation Lump Exorcism. I guess it went well, although it remains to be seen whether or not they got all of it. Right now it’s still tender and sore but hopefully the swelling will go down and everything will be back to normal.

I underestimated my recovery time drastically. I expected the incision to be sore of course, but I wasn’t prepared for the more general after effects. I was feverish and woozy the last couple of nights but I’m feeling better now, just tired. I didn’t even take any pain meds, thank goodness.

So I will try to be patient and give my body time to recover before I start beating up on it again. Meanwhile, I will post more pictures for you. Hasta luego!

This is a well-known catfish restaurant in Sedalia, MO.

[Find it on the Flickr map]

Instead of camping this weekend, I ended up flying to NH for my grandfather’s funeral. He was 95 years old and it was time. It was nice to be with family, many of whom I hadn’t seen in over 15 years, and reminisce together. He was my paternal grandfather, Grampa Maxwell, and he was a remarkable person. He will be dearly missed.

The Maxwell clan is a truly pleasant and easy-going crowd to hang with, if I do say so myself. It made me a little sad to be so far away from that whole side of my family. I don’t see them nearly enough.

The Missouri Massacre derby bout on Saturday was truly a wild night. I feel sorry for everyone who was watching Mizzou football because there was way more action on the rink that night.

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 photo didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped, but it’s still kinda cool, if only because Jerry is an interesting subject.

Today is our third anniversary:) Isn’t he irresistible?

You don’t often see breakdancers at Bait Shop Boys shows, so this was a treat:)

The Bait Shop Boys at the Walt Theater in New Haven, MO.

Igor Otxoa and Harkaitz Martínez treat the audience to a surprise performance on the txalaparta after the screening of Nomadak Tx. I absolutely loved this film, and I highly recommend it. Watch the trailer here.

Missouri Theater, True/False Closing Night Reception.

At the March March Parade my Holga was the only camera with color film in it, so I determined that it would be my primary parade camera. I discovered quickly that it was poorly suited for the event. The parade was moving faster that I could wind the film! Rapid shooting and moving targets proved a challenge. Luckily, this guy here wasn’t moving:)

More on Mucca Pazza at the True/False blog.

Well, True/False is over now and it’s back to everyday reality. This film festival was an all around fabulous experience and really made me proud to live in Columbia. Documentary films seldom get the attention they deserve, so it was encouraging to see our community come out to support this event. Every single film was shown to a packed house! I saw some incredible films. Some made me laugh, some made me cry, but they all made me think and in the end these are the hallmarks of great film-making. In addition to the films, there were many other events and performances to take in as well. It was impossible to see and do everything the festival had to offer, and I would have especially liked to have seen more of the bands, but we still caught some great acts. Pictured here is a shot of members of Mucca Pazza, a punk rock marching band who were featured in the March March parade. They also played at the Blue Note another night but we weren’t able to make it to their performance. These guys are amazing!

Gotta run, it’s trick or treat time for Rio, oops! I mean Harry Potter!

Matt onstage at the Missouri Theater, before the show. I had a great chance to wander around the Missouri Theatre with my camera recently and it was pretty fun. The only problem was that I only had my digital camera with me. I’m just not as enamored with it anymore. But it does the job in a pinch.

Steve and Big Sandy, of Big Sandy and the Flyrite Boys. And look - they were wearing the same shirt.

A dancing girl dressed up as Dorothy, in honor of The Ditty Bops.

Those are our boys in the far seats, having a blast.

Sorry for the lack of updates. It’s taken me a long time to finish off some film. I just picked up a Holga roll today, so I’ll be scanning those and then I’ll have some new stuff to post. But tonight I’m going downtown for Summerfest and I’m going to get wild with The Ditty Bops, Big Sandy, and Big Smith. Big fun!!