What have I gotten myself into?

I started a gig dog sitting for a woman that has 4 large black labs. Last night was my first night and it was, ....interesting. I will post about that more later when I get some pictures of them.

But I wanted to post a few more derby pics. We had a scrimmage last Thursday and I was on the black team. It was a great game. My derby Mama England told me that I was doing awesome jamming which made me feel great. Here is me with a few of my mates, Mal, Manna, Scarlett O'Hairpulla, and Launchpad McCrash.

Derby Mamma Mannarama talking with me about strategy. Manna formerly played for the Salt City Derby Girls on the Leave it To Cleavers' team. She is an amazing player and funny as hell.

Anna, Mom and Nina came to watch. There are not many spectators at our games so they were quite obvious and ridiculous. They were all cheering me on every time I was in a jam. Even when I wasn't the jammer. My derby mates were getting the biggest kick out of it. Here is a pic of me and my little cheering section. Nina wanted to do a sign which was cute. It is now hanging on the wall in my bedroom.

We won with a score of 130 to 110.

I'm sure it was due to the positive mojo from the crowd.

Go Black!

Yorkshire Terror #K9

That is Cecilia's Derby name. She comes to lots of practices and loves the attention. I will have to get her a jersey and some fishnets. Here are some more pics from last Thursday. Lots of falling. Lots of laughing. A little vaudeville?

Skating turned into a little bit of dancing.

Drew Fairywhore, Mal and Launchpad McCrash.

Immediately after Launchpad and I had agreed that

we are extremely effective blockers.

Leaning drill with FairyWhore.

Attempting to push the other girl off the track.

We were practicing "Method Skating" to get into character for scrimmages.

(I was pretty much faking this drill.

I could have knocked her across the warehouse she's so small.)

This was entirely on purpose.....yeah... entirely.

Helmets are a great invention, otherwise I would have kicked

Lauchpad in the head with my skate.

Photos courtesy Jason Santti. A.K.A Mr. Ego

Make new friends. Knock them down.

So a few notable things to update since last years post.

1. I have a new nephew. His name is Emmett and he was begat of Allison. He's cute of course. Actually he is a much cuter newborn then I have ever seen. Newborns are generally ugly little creatures to me until they are at least a month old. Here he is over 1 month so you can't really compare, but he was cute fresh out of the womb too. Allison had him at home. She thinks she's bad ass. I agree.

2. I started Roller Derby. My name is Mal. For a few reasons, one of them french, and one of them Nathan Fillion. My number is 23th. Mainly because I find typos humorous. Also could have been 22rd or 24nd. But 23th was easier to say.

I heart Roller Derby. It has been an amazing experience that I am loving. I joined a rec league in Salt Lake called the Red Rockettes. It was a 12 week session in which you learn to skate and learn the skills needed to pass a minimum skills test which enables you to play in scrimmages. I learned. I passed. I play. We completed the first 12 week session and we started the second last week. Every Thursday I go to Derby with the Red Rockettes and every Tuesday I go to an endurance/strategy/hitting practice that the Wasatch Roller Derby league so graciously invited us to attend. I love these girls and it is odd for me to say that. I am generally an anti-social creature and I don't make friends quickly so it is odd for me to instantly have this huge support system of women that are so welcoming, so interesting and fun as hell. I gained 40 facebook friends in a month and I do not add facebook friends unless I have at least had several great interactions with someone. I am having a great time.

See...

I am in grey skirt in this one. Going for a block to Ruby Rocket.

Going to try to block Primrose Wrath. Bandita had already had it covered.

Hip whip drill with Sugarplum Scary.

Learning valuable nuggets of wisdom from Derby Mama England.

And my favorite derby photo so far. The epic fall. That's me, on the ground in the black helmet. Margie Ram went down with me. I got right back up, but you know it is a good one when all of the spectators and players let out a huge gasp. I love their faces.

That being said, I am having a bit of a dilemma figuring out how to reconcile my derby time and new friends with my family and old friends. They don't have much in common and wouldn't be in the same circles. I can't imagine putting my mom in the same room as "Drew Fairywhore" who I adore.

Anyway....

Today is Thursday. Thursday Derby Day.

Here are some of my mates. Some in the group include, Kick Sass, Launchpad McCrash, Gyro, England's Glory, Scarlett O'Hairpulla, Drew FairyWhore, Rubber Raw, D.D. Diamond, Bruiser Ego, Temper-Edict and Mannarama.