memphis over new orleans

I failed to mention that Memphis Hustlin Rollers beat out the Big Easy Roller Girls this past weekend. The final score was MHR- 119 to BERG- 61. my favorite trick of the night was jumping between two girls to take lead jammer.

i was told i did a fabulous job, but surprisingly i did not really think much about it. i just did it.

i do think i am getting better at juking. which i appreciate. :)

tulsa

this face i am making is scary and hilarious. but you better believe she did not knock me down!!

well it is summer and that means Hustlin' Rollers season.
we went to tulsa this weekend to face off with the Green County Rollergirls who stood 12th in the region. i say stood because we knocked them out of their spot. Memphis beat them 87 to 130. we maintained the lead the entire bout. i went out as second jammer and claimed 10 points for memphis.
i have to give these girls their props though. they are not exactly small and they hit like mac trucks. it was a hard fight but in the end, we just played well as a team and we played defensively. its a good thing that we had that atlanta experience to give us a better idea of how to keep an opposing jammer down while helping our own out.
we also got to do a bit of venturing through the city's mayfest while we were in town. they had a fabulous representation of artists along with rock climbing, and very nonvegan fair food that i stayed far away from. rock climbing at the festival was exciting because i have always wanted to do it but because i am a bit scared of heights, i have never had the nerve. i found it surprisingly easy. Jessie said i just scampered up the wall like a spider monkey.
look i am lead jammer!!! (love it when that happens!)

aw for crying out loud!

this is about to be a bit of a rant.















this was the end of my stinking weekend. after the fun that i had on friday night, saturday night reared its ugly head. the bout was a win for memphis roller derby, 170 something to 40 something. in case you can't tell, the captain had my number and she was not small. eeeeep! nonetheless, i was put in as jammer the two times there was a jammerless jam and i managed to score something like 6 points. not a lot but enough to keep the Tulsa girls behind.
late in the game, i put a hit on their jammer Sweet Sassy Mollassy that landed me in the box and her in the hospital. the hit was clean, though one of our skates was out of bounds so i did get a penalty for it. she fell wrong. i mean really wrong. her leg is broken through both bones just above the ankle. this was her first bout. i cannot tell you how much of a jerk i felt like while sitting in the box watching the ambulance take her away. i know that this is a tough sport and that people get hurt (especially people who have not been doing this for years) but i just did not intend to hurt her. i intended to knock her down.
here's the only vegan thing in this whole post and i dont even have a photo. i made butternut squash with black beans, mushrooms, green bell peppers and spices. i put the concoction in tortillas and baked them in the oven. apparently they were good (although i didn't even get one) because all ten of them were quickly eaten by derby girls at our after bout potluck...

at the after party which was downtown, someone busted in my window and ransacked my car. they stole my dad's radar detector, a cell phone charger, and ipod connector cable, and my watch. luckily for me, they did not find the ring that my mother in law gave me and they forgot to take my ipod. here is the glass that is now missing from my passenger side window. whoever did this sucks. gotta love Memphis. im not going to go downtown unless it is for some special occasion and next time Brandon is going with me. im thinking that after parties are a bad idea for me as well. my phone ended up in the toilet.


i went home crying to Brandon in hysterics as if i wasnt upset already. the icing on the cake- this whole daylight savings time switch thing has me so messed up that i slept twelve hours last night. i went to sleep at 8 and got up at 8. i guess i needed it. i don't know. it seems crazy but i've had kinda a crazy week!

more fun than a barrel of derby girls

so this saturday was the derbytante ball. it was held at dish and it was actually one of our only "classy" affairs. i mean derby girls are rowdy, that's just how it is so we tend to have rough and tumble or super campy events, not so much black tie affairs. anyway, in this photo you can see the dress that i reinvented. i yanked the bow off the front, cinched it, sewed back on the pink chiffon, and added a big sparkly brooch. seriously, everyone told me they loved that dress. i was the Bella of the Ball. heh.
of course i left with only half of my toenail on mah big toe (Chris kinda squished it with her chair and body weight), beer on my dress from a beastly new WMD who was having too much fun backing it up, and dirt and booze all over the bottom of my lovely pink chiffon. blasted derby girls, you can't take em anywhere. at least the PrissKillas were classy and stylish (i.e. not wearing sparkly animal print dresses.....)

This photo: Smackie loves me she is really just in denial about it.
heh.

as you can see, i won an award for most assists. i am guessing this was a first season award as most of the second season i played as jammer. (which reminds me, i wonder about the most lead jams award, but maybe that was for the first season and not the second.) this award was soon lost behind the bench that is bolted to the floor at Dish. i handed it, mine and Chris' awards to Betty Larceny for safe keeping behind the merch table and now they are lost forever :( oh well, at least i have a photo. (could that smile be any more ridiculous??!)



yesterday, the hubby and i went out to his parent's house where he went to look for animals (in camo clothing.... :( but far be it for me to try to indoctrinate him with my belief system. i refuse to be that type of vegetarian going vegan) and i sat and chatted with his mom and later his sister. Dona, his mom, plans on taking me with her on Saturday to "test." she and her sisters check various levels of vitamins and minerals in their bodies and make adjustments in their diet or supplements according to what the test finds. this diet by Challen W. Waychoff II is based on Ream's Biological Theory of Ionization and also on Levitican law. Although not vegan, it is kosher. So being a vegan in this eating system would simply take it a step further.





i would like to know if anything is missing in my system so that i can supplement should i need to. as most vegetarians/vegans know, people will constantly ask you "how do you get enough protein? are you sure that diet is healthy? are you getting everything you need (vitamins and minerals)?" so i feel like if i know for sure where i currently stand on the health front, then i can more easily defend my stance when necessary.

blegh. dont drink the water.

everyone around me seems to be getting pregnant! gasp!
i felt all kinda sick yesterday for some reason and it was a faint sick, just enough to be annoying. i had a headache when i woke up (which i am claiming is allergies) and later in the evening i developed this rather lovely "im gonna toss mah cookies" feeling. good clean fun that helped make studying, climbing aerial silk and learning a fast paced hip hop/ballet/jazz dance Sooooper fun! yay! so im having everyone else's sympathy pains.

also, and for the record, i am kinda jealous of people like vegan dad for having the motivation to cook some awesome vegan yumminess EVERY day. i mean, i guess kids have to eat so he and his wife cook out of necessity. kids are probably not as happy with a boring wrap the way i am on days when i feel too lazy to make something grand. this evening i'm going to make this sketti squash from happy herbivore. yum!

ok, here is my version of the squash with vegan cheese, chipolte peppers (cuz i like my food to BURN) and chips! right before i ate it all! yum! i know its not very pretty but it was yummy!


today, while not studying for my looming statistics exam, i am repairing a 1962 vintage red VELVET and pink chiffon dress to wear to the derbytante ball. good times. it was my aunt Leonora's high school graduation dress. fabulous. it had a GIANT red bow on the front that i snatched off and since i have a broader back than olympic swimmer michael phelps (i kid, i kid, but really i do have a broad back) im just not even going to use the zipper. instead i am going to create a lace up back. im going out in the blaze of vintage glory and i don't care what anyone else has to say about it! ha! there may even be eventual photographic proof of my madness.....

distract

Well Labor day weekend turned out to be interesting. Friday night started out with another one of those crazy punk rock shows. It was well done. Scott, the crazy singer, makes me laugh when he is on stage. Mostly because he will put down his guitar and come over and talk to me in the middle of his set. I was kinda suckered into staying out until 3:30 or something insane despite the fact that I had practice at 9 am OUTSIDE at the southaven rink in the morning. Fun. After that it was cake making time. We had a retirement party for DomeaFava who skated with the PrissKillas. I'm the designated cake maker. That was good clean fun. Kenny, our coach, was tossed in the pool by Malice and Licious. Poor GeoMattro was thrown in as well. He didn't even have a chance to take his wallet out of his pocket. It was a bit of drunken debauchery, but only a bit. that is a photo of Susan that i took that day and i love it.


Sunday was more of the same. Licious and i volunteered for the Memphis Music Heritage festival in conjunction with derby. Then i went to Otherlands with Scott. Then the deli, then murphy's. Seems like i don't stop moving for long.

i need to go to yoga cuz i feel like crap! my body got used to all that sweating out the yuck and now it's unhappy.

on a food note- this weekend i baked banana bran muffins that are yummy and i came up with a burrito (both are vegan). it is red and green bell peppers cooked with onions- fajita style. then i threw in a block of tofu and cooked it all until my veggies were a little soft. i stacked my burrito with fat free vegan refried beans and chipolte peppers in adobo then my tofu/veggie mix. yum and spicy!!

bruised knees

I forgot to mention yesterday that the Memphis Hustlin Rollers took on the Blue Ridge Rollergirls this past weekend. I jammed (with the same ailment as last bout occuring right in the middle of the game). We won but only by a few points. Shots to the ribs and/or flying through the air results in some sore muscles. I thought for a second that i had cracked ribs.



That was probably a dramatic assumption as i feel ok today (two days later). Shaky legs that had not seen skates in two weeks but that jammed like crazy Saturday night had a bit of a difficult time holding me up in Bikram yoga last night. Of course those are the days when you need to drag yourself, into that sweltering room, the most. As usual, i feel better.






Christina had the fabulous idea of going to see Ray Lamontagne in Nashville in October so that is something fun to look forward to. This weekend, we plan on going to the farmers market and cooking some yummy vegan fare. Hopefully photos will follow.

i also wanna make this from happy herbivore:
Zucchini Bread - yields 1 loaf
1 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour or spelt (or other flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 flax egg (or other substitute)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
5 heaping tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
up to 4 tbsp water
2 small zucchinis shreaded (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup unsweetened dried fruit - optional (such as raisins, wild blueberries, cranberries)
1/2 cup chopped nuts - optional
rolled oats - optional topping

Directions:
1. Preheat 350 F
2. sift flour, baking powder, spices and salt together
3. make “egg”
4. add sugar, applesauce, lemon juice, vanilla and 2 tbsp water; whisk until combined
5. pour wet into dry but do not mix
6. add zucchini and optional dried fruit and/or nuts
7. stir until just combined
8. (if it’s still dry, add another 2 tbsp of water)
9. transfer mixture to a greased bread pan
10. sprinkle oats on top if desired (a little extra sugar too if desired)
11. bake 40-50 minutes, until a tooth pick comes out clean

Note: you can also do 3/4 cup shredded carrots and 3/4 shredded zucchini
You can also make muffins using this recipe, but the bake time will be much less, approx. 12-17 minutes.


On Top of that!
Oh, crap- i want this.
Anyone who knows me knows that when i say that i usually own the item within the week..... oh dear.

start

ok. so i do play roller derby in memphis. i feel like i am fairly active just as a rule. on days when i don't have derby practice or a bout (game in derbyspeak), i go to Bikram Yoga Memphis.
So it's not as if i am simply sitting around my house drinking beer and watching tv. However, i could stand to lose a few pounds. we will say 15. no one else would agree with me.

This morning i took Pandora (my medium sized, spotted boston terrier/dalmation mix) for a run. I plan to continue this every morning (oh, how i hate mornings). The Honky Tonk Stomp (Tennessee roller derby state championships) is in two weeks in Knoxville and i will be jamming (i.e. running like hell on skates from girls intent on pummeling me). May as well prepare now. Running and yoga certainly can't hurt.

i also think i might have a bit of a food obsession. i want to cook and look at foodie blogs. mostly i want to eat. all the time. and not gain weight, ha! i have been a vegetarian for 14 years and i have purchased some new cookbooks with the intent to try some new things. i got Vegan with a Vengeance and the Veganomicon. this week will be test week. Bikram yoga along with cutting out dairy has seemed to help any tummy issues i was experiencing before so the idea of making more vegan food seems like the obvious choice. we shall see.