Oh my — turns out it’s been awhile since I’ve written. I do have good reasons — mostly because the past two months have been a complete whirlwind with a ton of travel, way too many projects, and lots and lots of roller derby.
First of all, I went to New York. It was my first trip to the Big Apple, and you had better believe I made the most of it. We found a great Mario Batali restaurant called Lupa Osteria Romana (I highly recommend it), ate lots of New York style pizza, and just pigged out in general. We went to a Broadway show. We got to experience a New York Halloween. We nearly got arrested. Seriously.
I spent a lot of hours in Times Square, which I quickly realized wasn’t really my thing — the area is peppered with Planet Hollywood, Olive Garden, which is how I knew I belonged in other parts of the city. But the cool thing was we got to hang out in the VH1 studios to meet with an up-and-coming KU alumnus who works on VH1 Morning Buzz. You should start to follow Kameron, because that kid is destined for greatness.
Oh, and we might have met Paul-freaking-Rudd. While I would like to say it took everything in my power to not yell, “I wanna be on you,” at him, the actual truth is I was too nervous to say it, as well as to ask him to do Celery Man for me or to clean up after himself or pretty much say anything but “hi” to him. He was pretty awesome though, and he is absolutely worthy of all of those man-crushes folks have on him.
The day after we returned from New York, Sandy hit the city. We got out just in time, and days later, I headed to Atlanta with my fellow Kansas City Roller Warrior All Stars for the WFTDA National Championships.
Sadly, we were knocked out in our first bout of the weekend. But the experience was incredible. If you’ve never seen a roller derby bout, do yourself a favor and watch the Mile High Club vs. the Texecutioners. HOLY CRAP it was amazing!
The other incredible thing is that the WFTDA Championship tournament was held in the Georgia World Congress Center, which was home to the Centennial Olympic Park and is just across the street from the CNN Atlanta headquarters. The whole experience of being here as a rookie for the Kansas City Roller Warriors was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. I can’t wait for next season!
And speaking of next season… After Champs, we had our end of season awards banquet (I was named most improved All Star!), plus we had our 2013 tryouts and drafts, and since I am the captain of the Knockouts, I got to pick four new KOs for next season.
So tomorrow is December 1. This year flew by. I’ve experienced so many positive changes. I’ve grown. I’ve made a lot happen. Phew. Let’s hope we all survive this Mayan Apocalypse.
In the upcoming year, I’ll be talking a lot about my captaining efforts, so expect lots of entries about workouts and diet. More insights into my marketing and the work that I’ve been doing. And definitely a lot more entries about my fiction writing.
And expect lots more pictures of future adventures. Definitely more New York, because I have so much to share. Soon enough.
