Will Work for Swords

I really meant to write something after Derby Daze, but last week nearly killed me with stress. SO, in short:

• It was my first year doing Derby Daze, and that much derby in one weekend was exhausting, amazing fun.
• I learned a ton, and my little Moleskine notebook is full of notes that I scribbled down after each workshop.
• Working outside whiteboard at WOJ vs. Minnesota was challenging–mostly because Minnesota put up a hell of a fight in the first half. Good derby is distracting!
• Thanks to the good graces of my roommates, I hosted two ladies from BC at my place–from the Rink Minx Rollergirls–and also introduced them to the majesty of burgers and poutine at Kay’s.
• I learned a new Rinxter position at the AoA vs. Skatesaphrenics bout–one that’s easy enough, unless you screw it up. Fortunately, I didn’t screw up. Computer skillz!
• Derby Daze also gave me a newfound hatred for early mornings. 6:00am and I will never, ever be friends.
• Due to the above, and also not being able to fall asleep, I literally spent more time skating than sleeping that weekend. WOW.

ANYHOO, the dazed feeling continued, because part of the whole being-super-stressed thing last week was preparing to skip town for my annual pilgrimage to PAX, a.k.a. everyone's favorite glowy, flashy wonderland of gamestuff and bad network reception. I did a lot of nerd things, like demoing Star Trek Catan, buying pretty dice, playing new board games with my friends, and watching Wil Wheaton play D&D on stage with the Penny Arcade guys and Scott Kurtz. (which is hilarious, by the way)

This year was shorter than years past, for me, because I had derby practice on Thursday night, so I couldn’t leave until Friday morning. AND I also left early on Sunday to get back in time for Endurance practice, because skipping Endurance is always a bad decision. Well, and also because there was a Fresh Meat End-of-Summer BBQ after practice. But yes, this was the first time I’ve been to PAX and not stayed until the bitter end.

Fortunately, Joe didn’t disown me for making us arrive late and leave early from PAX. He might have been a little upset, though. WROUGHT WITH EMOTIONS, even:


…oh, and there might be a little thing called Draft happening later this week. But, you know, no big deal or anything. Yeah, it’ll be totally easy to forget about that. I almost forgot about it just now when I was writing that sentence. Wait, what were we talking about again?

HURHURHUR. That there was sarcasm, by the way. In all honesty, I'm not expecting a call this Thursday, and I'm choosing to be okay with that. There's another draft on November 15th, I'm starting a new cross-training regimen, and I'm just going to keep doing what I do. And that? Is KICKING ASS. August was not exactly kind to me on multiple levels, so I'm going to rest, recharge, and kick September square in the pants.

Seriously, though, send me all of your best lolcat pictures on Thursday. I’ll need them.

Most exhausting weekend EVAR. It was worth it, yes, but I want a nap.

• I covered a Friday Happy Hour event with a few contacts from the local shopping guide I shot for. It was fairly low-key, and it wasn't a packed event, but it was nice to chitchat/network with these folks in an environment that wasn't completely overwhelming. Also, the lady doing floral for *my* First Friday event in October is a bloody genius: she used pea shoots in an arrangement for the happy hour. Everything she makes is a surprise.
• Oh, yeah, and I'm hosting First Friday at my studio in October! I'll post more details in the none-too-distant future, but I'm interested to see how it pans out.
• Friday night was dinner, drinks, and late-night shenanigans with friends from out of town. It was eventful, but in that good way.
• Saturday morning scrimmage was fun. I love being able to say that. Getting compliments on my derby play still feels weird, and I think I'll continue to be skeptical of it until I hear it from people who aren't my skating peers. (i.e. non-Freshies)
• On a more positive note, I did juke around a team skater pretty awesomely while jamming, and had a much-better-than-me Freshie say that my jamming looked good. She may have even used the word, "exciting." So, hey, that's pretty excellent.
• There was a skater BBQ in the afternoon, which didn't exactly turn out very BBQ-y, given the rainy weather, but it was nice to hang out in a social context. We already see a lot of each other by virtue of the practice schedule, so it's easy to forget that part.
• Saturday night was a 30th birthday party for one of the aforementioned friends from out of town, so that meant a low-key but well-attended party. A smattering of conversation, a bit of impromptu booty-shaking, and good times were had.
• Sunday was brunch, with homemade breakfast burritos! Also, it feels funny to be out at brunch with visiting friends and tell them that you’re, “checking your scores,” when the closest you usually come to being a Sports Fan is going to the occasional baseball game with your dad. Thank you, WFTDA East Region Playoffs. ;p
• Endurance practice in the evening was surprisingly good. I felt like crap after drinking two nights in a row, so I expected it to be awful, but it was unusually easy to snap into really good skating form, so it felt easy. Then again, after the brutal endurance practice we had *last* week, I think just about anything would've felt easy. ;p
• After practice, some of us from the Birthday Party Squad reconvened to play board games, and I got to break out my copy of the Battlestar Galactica board game. It's a great game, but trying to teach it to a cluster of people who'd never played it before was, erm, difficult. Once you understand how it works, though, it's *awesome*. We also played a game called Quelf, which was pretty amusing and would probably be even moreso with a few drinks in you.
• Yes, I was also wearing the Not A Robot t-shirt while playing the BSG game. Yes, that was on purpose. XD

So, yeah, good times, great skating, and I'm all out of extroversion. I'm taking tomorrow off, because it's going to be the last bit of calm before West Regionals this weekend. That probably sounds worse than it is, actually, but I do have to photograph part of it for that web site that pays me money to shoot for them, and I don't yet know what days I'll have tickets for. Hopefully, I'll get to sneak in an actually-restful weekend day.

I'll be relieved when Regionals is over after this weekend, and even moreso when Draft is done with 2 1/2 weeks from now. I feel like all I have to talk about lately is derby and work, and I know I've been doing other things, too, but those two things *do* have a way of taking over my entire consciousness.

Tomorrow is going to be awesome, though. Hot damn.

Remember when weekends were restful and rejuvenating? Yeah, me neither.

Anybody doing anything Friday night? Or possibly want to get together?  My Friday night is mysteriously empty, and I'd like to change that. Also, J will be returning from a trip that night and looking to decompress, so drinks or funtime would be awesome. Maybe some karaoke?

Anyhoo, weekend update on a Wednesday, because that's how I roll:

• As previously mentioned, I bounced around at the ComicsFest with J for a couple of hours, and it was lovely, and I also ran into a dark_knightly and a moonchylde !
• Did a bit of in-studio test shooting with theamazingjosh for a couple of hours. We started later than I expected, and I don't know that we got a lot accomplished, but it was good to hold a Nikon in my hands again. Soon, my pretties, very soon...
• Went to a speed skating clinic, which was open to all levels, so that sort of limited what we could go over, but I did learn a couple of things that I'm going to try and be mindful of in my form. Faster, faster!
• Closed out my Saturday at sarapada and monkeyhole 's housewarming, where there was a most excellent housespace, tasty snacks, lovely people, and Rock Band. I am also now less confused by Pro Keys mode, although I still think the interface is kind of stupid. I actually have piano-playing skills! IT SHOULDN'T BE THIS HARD. XD
• I had a lazy morning at the house on Sunday, ate breakfast and worked out, and then bounced over to the Bagdad for the WOJ vs. BAD bout viewing party. Due to some odd thing about a restricted number of event permits, there was a bout, but they weren't allowed to have spectators at the hangar. So, we watched a boutcast on the big screen, and it was a bit strange to be cheering for people who couldn't hear me, so I imagine it was even weirder for the players to be playing a national-level bout with nobody watching. But, it was good fun and we had a pretty packed house!
• Endurance practice was afterwards, and yeah, I love that. There's something that feels very zen-like about it, because it's all variations on a theme: namely, skating around and around the track. It's nice to just focus on working hard, rather than getting wigged out by confusing drills.
• After that was the Game of Thrones premiere hosted by phasmaphobic and veiravx , and OMJESUS IT WAS SO GREAT. So great that I even blogged about it a little. It's already been renewed for a second season, it's getting fantastic reviews, and if there was a way for them to have executed this better, I can't think of it. I'm even more excited for the next episode, if that's even possible.

Anyhoo, tonight, I'll be shilling derby tickets at Beulahland for Cheap Ticket Night. The week has been pretty nice, thus far, but I think I'd like to just fast-forward to Sunday, because if the last Coliseum bout is any indication, I'll be ready to fall over from exhaustion by the time Saturday is over.

Still, it could be worse. I'm making calzone for dinner tonight, and it's going to be delicious.

The weekend turned out pretty excellently. Friday night was game night, this time hosted by Kenna, and Wits and Wagers reaffirmed that I suck at trivia, but hey, it was all good fun. Saturday night involved sushi and Ground Kontrol, and then a farewell party for saofoir and the DoomCo house. I have to say, it was a little weird to be at the DoomCo house, yell out, "SHOTS!" and receive little-to-no response, heh. The times, they are a-changing, but if we're finding ourselves in good spirits, I'm not going to question it.

Sunday was breakfast at Cup and Saucer--ginger buckwheat pancake? OH YES INDEED--and then a spontaneous run of CLEANING ALL THE THINGS. Then it was more derby practice, in which my overenthusiasm for skating on Saturday came back to bite me, and Demon game, in which I actually felt like my character was quasi-useful, even if the session was on the shorter side.

As for Saturday during the day? My horoscope knew where my brain was, when I got up for derby practice:

Although your common sense has returned today, your fantasies have not faded. In spite of your current down-to-earth perspective, you are holding on to your dreams with more determination than ever. There's little room for any kind of distractions, so keep your focus on your goals in spite of the temporary setbacks you encounter along the way. Don't let this chance to achieve success slip through your fingers.

I apparently finished the 50-Lap Killer that day, and even did a sprint lap! I fell on the first attempt, but did the sprint on the second. I'm still so, so slow, but I'm getting better. :) I'd assumed previously that the opposite-direction laps counted towards the 50 Laps, but they don't, so I'd actually finished the 50-Lap Killer at Thursday's practice, too, aside from stopping to re-tie my bootlace. I'm boggled at how quickly this has come together, but I guess form counts for everything. :)

And then, I stayed for over half of Wreckers practice, afterwards. Because I am crazy. XD It was nice, though, just to see some of the girls I haven't been seeing regularly since making FM. They're all progressing, and teaching a metric ton of newbies, and it's really exciting to see.

Also, one of the other Freshies was chatting with me during scrimmage at practice Saturday, and she mentioned that I'd come up in conversation, the other day. Apparently, she and the few other girls involved agreed that I had a really good attitude. As she put it, even though I'm not endurance cleared, I don't let the frustration get to me, I don't sit out, and I never complain.

I almost had to laugh when I heard that, because I've spent the past two months feeling as though the frustration was getting to me, and that it was, at times, so close to breaking me apart. Hell, it still could, for all I know. And perhaps it's just that nobody sees the uglier side of my attitude. I tend to hold in my negative feelings when I'm not with closer friends whom I trust, and I retreat into my hidey-hole when I'm feeling dispirited and down on myself. I definitely saw myself doing that just a week or two ago, putting less of myself into practice, and even being more solitary and less social with others on the squad.

There is some truth to it, though, I suppose. 99% of life is just showing up, and I certainly do that. And I seem to be learning how to spot my breaking point on the horizon, and ease off on myself before I break. And, well, I have too much pride to let the world see it when I'm hurting. That's been true ever since childhood.

Whatever the reason for the face I put forth, though, I really wasn't expecting to hear that. I spend most of my time at derby feeling like a face in the crowd, and it's strange to me that anyone's noticed. But, you know, in that good way. :)

I think my skates are inciting a revolt against me: at tonight's practice, the top shoelace hole on my left skate all but split clean through. This, of course, makes the fit even worse. Yeah, that's awesome. :p Fortunately, I've managed to accept that I'll get my endurance clearance when I get it, and that I'll get through this eventually, so my frustration was shorter-lived this time around.

Productivity, on the other hand, is currently my bitch! I mowed through a photo edit in record time last night, and actually had time left over to go to Ground Kontrol for Free Play Night. (note to self: make the GK staff turn up the volume on DDR, because it is damned near impossible to hit 7+-Foot songs when you can't hear the bloody music!) I was temporarily possessed by a pinball wizard, kicked ass and chewed bubblegum at various fighting games--Marvel vs. Capcom, sadly, *not* being one of them--and paid a visit to some old-school classics.

Today was a day of me flexing my web-based muscles, and throwing down some design work for not one, but two different sites. I'm seriously looking forward to sharing these projects, once they're nailed down in pixels and code. I also have a lot of ideas for updating my web site, including resurrecting my public blog, and actually updating my blasted design portfolio. It's been over three years since I made any real changes to my design portfolio, which is just not acceptable. I deserve to be doing exciting and inspiring design projects, not mind-numbing HTML formatting, damnit.

Anyhoo, the weekend is looking like good fun, and aside from derby practice and the wushu demo, my Saturday is startlingly open! I'm already daydreaming about the various things I might like to do with it. Ahhhh.

Okay. There's a post somewhere in this squishy mass of brain matter, I'm positive.

...okay, maybe not. I think all you're getting out of me is a list. Blame absinthe. Or Canada.

• Killer Burger was pretty killer, all right. It was a peanut butter, bacon, and pickle burger, and I think the peanut sauce was a bit too sweet to make the experience perfect, but I ate the whole damned thing and I'm not the least bit sorry. The PB and pickle flavors actually came together nicely, but there were times when I nearly forgot there was bacon on the burger. Something seems a bit wrong with that.
• I'm not sure what got into me before derby practice on Saturday, but I went in with my proverbial guns ablaze. It was exhausting from an endurance standpoint, and I fell down more than a few times, but I was on the attack, mentally. I'm tempted to say it was the best practice in ages, but there've been quite a few good ones, as of late. And! I may have the opportunity to skate with the flat track league in LA, while I'm there. This is happy-making.
• Yes, absinthe is serious business. I'm making a point of noting this, on the off chance that I might actually remember it in the future. You know, as opposed to finding myself shaking my fist at the heavens again several months from now, when another absinthe-related hangover cracks me upside the head.
• That said, it *was* a pretty excellent party, so even though my recollections are somewhat fuzzy, I dare say? WORTH IT. :)
• Last night kicked off my first foray into the WoD, through a game of Demon: The Fallen. I always seem to fall back on making useful characters--yeah, I've spent too much time around deliciously creative D20 min/maxers--so playing in a game where there's a stronger storytelling aspect is going to be a nice change of pace. I was also hideously unprepared for the session, so figuring out who my character is via flailing around senselessly was pretty damned amusing.
• Work-wise, editing has been grueling, but it's going more quickly than expected, thank jeebus.

There are other things worth noting, too, but I'm reserving comment on those until I actually figure out what in god's name is going on. XD

Okay, I think my next post is required to A) contain actual paragraphs, and B) not contain bullet points. I can handle that, right?

Yes, in spite of everyone and their mother's attempt to derail me with Things I Have To Do yesterday, I successfully found time to make friends with the ol' XBox again. I'm finally out of freakin' Lothering! Yes, I'm the slowest gamer on the planet. Morrigan disapproves. But, I intend to have more free evenings at my disposal in the near future, so I *will* get through this freakin' game. I have others I need to play!

Also, I don't think I've mentioned it here, but should you want to be friends on XBox Live, leave me your screen name, and I'll add you! (probably better that way, given my sporadic console gaming endeavors)

I also had a sort-of-date via Skype, earlier this evening. It was stunningly awkward for the first couple of minutes, just by virtue of the fact that it was on Skype, and you can thusly see each other, but not completely. My wild gesticulations went outside of the webcam's view more than once, and we had a couple instances of one of us pointing at something in the background, and then realizing that the other couldn't see what was being pointed at.

Other than that, however, I wound up having a great time, and I didn't want it to end, when it came time for me to log off and leave for the evening's activities. And just, wow. I had what was, more or less, an extended, face-to-face interaction with a person in another city. Realizing that blows my mind a little.

It's official: I live in the gorram future, people. And I think I may be spending a fair bit more time on Skype in the coming weeks.

Because I'm lazy, here's a taste of PAX, with photos.

I'm sure I'll write more later, but my head hurts right now. And dude, TOO MANY PICTURES I want to post. Here are the rest of them, and they're also on Facebook with captions, if that's how you roll.

Gah, so much life-altering (or at least, potentially-life-altering) madness going on right now. I can't even TELL you guys.

No, seriously, I can't. I have too much work to do. :p

So, instead, I will give you this pretty picture from Sunday to look at:


Also, StarCraft II came out yesterday, and I couldn't resist stopping at Best Buy to get me some of that action. So far... the intro was very pretty. Unfortunately, I don't know more than that, because the game is refusing to play nicely with my Mac Pro, so I haven't yet gotten past the BNet login without the whole blasted thing crashing. I spent half an hour or so trying to find the problem, but by then it was midnight, so I gave up and went to bed. ANGRYPANTS.

I wish I had something silly to share with you all, but... man, I've got nothing. The writing bug has clearly left the building. (for now)

So, what's happening?
--As of yesterday, I have new hair. It is darker and has purple in it.
--Board games yesterday, hosted by amberleigh and cherie910! Finally got to try out Zombie Fluxx, and for once, I was the one teaching the game being played. This was kind of bad, because I'd never played the Zombie version, but we figured it out!
--Tonight: Wushu practice, Laptop Party with Alyson and Alicia for a short while, party that veiravx invited me to, later in the evening
--Tomorrow: Yoga class, making yummy snackage, going to knitting BBQ at _dilate_'s, wushu demo, then back to the BBQ to get my drink on.
--Sunday: TWO GENTS! Maybe book club after, or Avatar episodes, or lazing around at home.

I need to make lists soon, for a number of things. There are thoughts that I desperately need to organize. And I like lists.