Ideas

Here's some rough sketches I did for a friend of mine who wants a "hillbilly hula gal" tattoo. This is the easiest drawing I've done in a while. She chose #3, so I'm in the process of cleaning up the linework. I'm not going to bother doing color for it. That's her tattoo artist's job as far as I'm concerned.

I'm still considering getting a coverup for the one measly tatt that I have. It looks horrible now despite the fact that I never go in the sun or anything. The things that are stopping me from getting it covered up is money considerations and what the coverup should be that won't cover a lot of real estate on my arm. There's also the option of removing the tatt. Hmmm, if I become gainfully employed anytime soon that might be the way to go.

Gearing Up

Last Saturday this photo to the left was taken. I'm wearing a stoopid headset because I was Game Executioner for the bout that was filmed by HDNet and so I was mic'd up for the full teevee effect.

All I could hear were the HDNet announcer guy and the San Diego Derby Dolls founder, Bonnie D Stroir thru the headset. Which didn't really add a thing to my job. In fact, because of the wiring from the headset, I was tethered more often than not. The only fun part was when the announcer asked Bonnie which skate name she liked best, so I got her attention and waved a lot. So she said that my skate name was her fave. Yay!

It was a good--nay, GREAT bout...the complete underdogs the Tough Cookies put the smackdown on the formerly undefeated Sirens. Lots o' violence, not much in the way of injuries. The crowd loved it, as did the HDNet guys.

Next month features the Tough Cookies going up against my team. Gosh, I guess that means I have to start training for realz and stuff. Good thing my concussion is for the most part gone.

I'm also working on a shirt design and some paintings. The shirt design is going well...got some cleanup to do, but it's over 50% there. The paintings...wellllll, let's just say I'm still experimenting to see what I'm capable of. I'd post WIP pix, but I think that would be an embarrassment. Maybe later in the week when I see how this crap is shaping up.

Up and Streaming

Hopefully this embed will work from YouTube of the KTLA segment where you can kinda see little ol' me! If not, the link is here.

Also, one of our biker friends' wives is a film maker. She's worked with Margaret Cho on all her concert films, and she did an Ipod type o' thing on the Dolls. It can be viewed here.

Check 'em out!

Enjoy!

Leave comments about how cool I look!

HA!

Fun in Hollywooooood

Yesterday I had to haul my carcass out of bed way early to get down to the KTLA studio for a feature that they did on the league. I met up with Tawdry Tempest who is now on my team and we put our skates on and skated around the hallways and studio parking lot as warmup. Most people were amused.

We got to hang out in the green room with celebrity-types. Dr. Drew was there and rather blase about our presence. Lisa Loeb is tiny as hell but nice. Hal Sparks seemed to dig us. A doctor lady was impressed. Dr. Drew was with some guy who acted like we were supposed to know who he was, but we didn't.

I found a good test to see who's famous...or thinks they're famous. Introduce yourself to them; if they introduce themselves back, they figure you don't know who they are. Or they're not victims of having an over-inflated ego. Dr. Drew didn't introduce himself. Neither did Hal Sparks or Lisa Loeb, but both of them were OK with acknowledging our presence. I had no idea who Hal Sparks was until I talked with some of the other derby girls at practice last night...they pretty much wet their pants on the spot. Wow. He's very...pretty.

The hosts of the KTLA Morning Show, Carlos Amezcua, Michaela Pereira, Mark Kriski(see photo above) and Sam Rubin were at least a known entity to me. Tawdry's smart and doesn't watch as much tv as I do. Carlos didn't seem to care about our existence. Sam was insulted when he mentioned that he used to skate on rollerblades and I called them "fruit boots". Michaela and Mark lovedlovedLOVED us. We met all of them on the set for our show segment, and we were skating around the host desk as dizzying speeds. Well, not that dizzying; it was a small space and the floor was slippery. Still, we didn't get to talk to them face-to-face most of the time we were there because we were skating.

Unfortunately the clip online from the show doesn't show the segment that Tawdry and I were in. Ah well. It was funny...they'd cut between the location shot at the track and the studion in Hollywood. Tawdry and I couldn't hear the audio from the location shot, so we were only able to hear what the hosts in the studio were saying in response to what was being said at the track. We'd try to sneak a peek at the monitors to see what the location people were shooting, but that was tricky due to a lack of space for us. I almost smacked into one of the huge cameras a couple of times. But my name did get an honorable mention as one of location hosts Gayle Anderson's fave skate names.

Afterwards we loitered in the green room. Another thing I notice about famous or somewhat-famous people. They don't loiter. They have places to go, by gawd. As soon as their segment on the show was done, they quickly shook hands with the producers and skedaddled on out of the studio. Not us. We languidly removed our gear and ate bagels until the Morning Show was over. Then, as the hosts left the set and went to the makeup room, I followed and gave them Derby Doll stickers. Unfortunately I didn't have the presence of mind to bring the damn camera that I had in my bag. D'OH! Ah well, again.

I think we have some new fans!

Lookit What I Can Do!

I started this design a couple of weeks ago and went into total overdrive this morning to finish it.

It's simple and to the point. I like the fact that it's going to be just a one-color silkscreen. I learned more stuff on using Illustrator to do it in a reasonable amount of time.

I like it when things go rather well!


Today I went to the Harley dealer to get gaskets and such to change the oil in the primary. They're now using these really weird solid gaskets that cover the inside of the derby cover. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, it's OK. I didn't know any of this crap when I first started riding many moons ago. Just nod your head knowingly and humor me in the meantime. Anyway, it's going to be interesting to see how that goes. I have to change the primary oil this week...it's already 600 miles overdue.

It's weird that now when I do go into a Harley dealership, I really don't drool over the new bikes anymore. I like the bikes that I have just fine. The only exception to this is when I spot a used police bike on the showroom floor. They're my weakness. I don't know what it is about those bikes that makes me weak in the knees, but I want one soooooooooooo bad! Not like I can afford one, but a girl can dream, can't she?

I'm still concussed but I'm slowly getting better. I can still feel my brain sloshing around if I sit up too fast from lying down or something, but overall I'm much more stable than I was last week. Hooray for my brain! I'm enjoying riding the bike to practice (I still go even though I can't skate) so that I'm not sitting in traffic in the car...ahhhhh, the thrill of almost getting squashed by ignorant SUV drivers is indescribable and yet so delightful.

Tomorrow morning I have to haul my carcass out of bed early and go be on morning tv. That's right, the ol' derby league is going to be on a local morning news show. Supposedly they'll have highlights from it here after it airs, for you non-LA LA Land people. Watch it, it should be hilarious!

Prepping for the Ride

I tried to find a couple of good pix of Wildman.

Not a whole lotta luck, but here's a little somethin'-somethin' just for chuckles.

This photo was taken three years ago in Jackson, CA during a biker event called, "S.N.I.F.F.". Wildman is doing his infamous burnout in front of the National Hotel, where they expect such things. Everyone, including him, are probably drunk off their ass and cheering him on in this endeavor. Surprisingly, the neighbors didn't mind much.

The past couple of days have brought out a lot of stories about Wildman and his burnouts, raconteuring, and riding. They're being gathered up to be told at his funeral tomorrow morning. I'm glad to be missing the funeral. The wake is where I'd rather be...it's more his style, too.



This photo is of me and Wildman having a Very Deep Discussion. It probably had something to do with motorcycles, I'm guessing. I look mesmerized.

Again, not a good pic of him.

I remember him differently.

Better than this.

The top pic is more like him with the black leathers, etc.

Today I have to prep the bike to ride up to San Jose in the morning. The husband wanted to leave tonight, but I don't think that's the greatest idea.

I'm officially concussed on top of all this. I should be fine to ride, but I'd better not try to stand up or lie down while on the bike, or else my equilibrium will get all screwed up and I'll crash and die. That wouldn't be good, especially for the poor fools behind me.

The more I think about how I had my spill at around the same time that Wildman passed on, the more I see it as a Disturbance in the Force. Geeky, I know. Hard to explain in anything resembling an eloquent manner, which makes me wary of posting this to begin with. Ah, f*** it. Like I care.

Wildman

This Saturday was going to be full of derby stuff, as usual. I was going to be at the upcoming bout for the flat-track league in LA. I was going to announce for it, even.

But that's not going to happen.

Instead, I shall be in San Jose at a wake.

A biker wake.

A biker who was one of the husband's and my favorite people.

On the surface he was a stereotypical "biker". You know...used to run with a club, rode his bikes outrageously, had very crass stories, used some legal and illegal substances before getting on said bikes, had a bike frame up and ready to rebuild in his garage at all times, did burnouts on his bike in front of all kinds of restaurants, hotels, dives, and other bikerscum establishments, a fantastic knife collection adorned his living room wall, a pool table was the first thing you saw when you walked in the front door, the type of guy that young mothers would yank their children away from whenever he walked by. His nickname was "Wildman", and he certainly earned it and lived up to it.

Talk to him for about five seconds and one would find him to be one of the nicest, most charismatic people ever. To those he liked, he'd give the shirt off his back(literally), the last dollar in his pocket, use of his tools, a place to stay if needed, and even a hit of nitrous.

We met Wildman around eight years ago up in northern California at one of the internet biker geek gatherings that we went to more often back then. Yeah, he was a hardcore biker on the outside, but a geek on the inside. A biker with internet access, by gawd. The first time I ever saw a crack pipe in person was when he took his out and asked the collective casually, "Anyone want a hit?" This was about twenty minutes after offering nitrous around. My little Pollyanna mind was blown away. Then he did some burnouts in front of the local bikerscum establishment while he was drunk and then sped off into the night. Dayum.

Every December he had a party at his place called the Winternationals. He was a Sagittarius himself, and this party was for those other Decemberists who also had the dubious luck of having a birthday so close to Xmas and other overshadowing holidays. We went for a few years, until global warming made it so that we couldn't depend on the weather not pouring down on us for the trip.

Wildman never got caught doing the bad things he did. Whenever we heard the latest story where Wildman would avoid disaster, the husband and I always commented that he didn't have just one guardian angel; he had a whole friggin' flock trying to keep up with him.

He slipped past the flock on Sunday night. The same night as my grand Flying Wallendas move off the track. At around the same time, apparently. Coincidence?

Probably.

But still.

He wasn't on the bike when he slipped through the flock of angels. He was at home. By himself. Apparently a heart attack or blood clot. Not a very impressive way to go, considering how large he lived his life.

No one who knows him was surprised to hear of his passing, but it's still incredibly sad. It's always sad when someone who was well-known and well-liked goes. And he certainly was both. In some ways it's amazing he was around for as long as he was...he kept those angels busy.

I'm gonna miss ya, Wildman.

Flying Lessons

I took an unintentional flying lesson last night.

My team was having some private track time and we were getting warmed up with some quick laps in a pace line. The track was getting slippery due to nighttime condensation. The first girl in line slipped and fell. The next girl fell. I decided to go around them by flying up to the rail and stopping there.

Except that I didn't stop.

Because of the track's moistness(heehee! I said "moist"!), my stop didn't stop and I flew out feet-first through the hole between the track and the rail. Um, wow.

I remember thinking, This wasn't supposed to happen!

Then I remember looking to one side thinking, This really doesn't look right.

Then I remember landing on my back with my head rapping against the cement. I thought, OWCH!

I flew off the highest point in the turn, which is about four feet off the ground. Add my own height of almost six feet to that, and you get an idea of how amazingly painful this move could be.

Another thing of mild interest is that now I'm the third person on my team to fly off the track in similiar circumstances. The other two instances happened two years ago with two of my jammers at different times on different nights. One was blocked out of bounds during a jam, and when she flew off she landed on huge pieces of styrofoam that were set up around the track for just such an emergency. She shook it off and kept skating the jam.

The other was also blocked out during a jam, but she didn't have the luxury of anything to land on except cement...and broken glass. She was done for the rest of the night, but she was unharmed. Neither of them landed on their heads quite like I did.

I have a concussion at least, 'cos I'm a little bit dizzy.

My lower back hurts. My left wrist is painful. My right shoulder got tweaked again.

However, my head and back where I landed are pain-free so far.

Weird.

WIP

This-here is the skateboard deck that I'm working on for a Missoula skate park art auction thingy. They're raising money to continue to build a kick-ass skatepark:













































This has been fun to do...I think all I have left is to sign it and clearcoat it.

Clearcoating has been my nemesis lately. I've been screwing up the toilet seats due to clearcoating issues. I'm doing it when the day is at its hottest, which may be a problem. So I'm switching to mid- to late- afternoon to see if my results are better.

Steady as She Goes...

People amuse and boggle me at the same time.

It's interesting how an individual can realize their shortcomings and will even mention it as a personal pitfall. But if someone else dares agree with them or point out such a flaw at a different time, well, the audacity of mentioning the obvious!

I know someone who will freely admit to not "playing well with others". They have a lot of life struggle going on in everything from their job to their living arrangements to their kids, but insist on taking on secondary obligations and responsibilities that they possibly can't do effectively. They'll flake on these secondary obligations consistently (the only instance where they are consistent in their lives), apologize, give a sob story as to why they couldn't come through, promise to improve, mention that personal pitfall about knowing that they're not doing what they need to do, but then the cycle starts all over again. All the time. For years.

It's not that this person is bad or stupid. In fact, they're scarily intelligent. But sometimes they're not very smart. I've seen genius people who can barely function in the real world and I've seen high school dropouts become rather successful. This person is definitely more of the former than the latter. I think some Better Living Through Chemistry in their past plays a part in the flake factor, too. Sad, because this person's talents are absolutely wasted on them. Even sadder when they know what to do to maintain their responsibilities but they don't/won't do it.

Yeah, I'm not part of the clique they'll casually say when they're called on their track record. No mention of their own petard-hoisting that leads to everyone around them eventually demanding that they sh!t or get off the pot. It's never their own fault when they flake, there's never any payback for having others cover their spot when needed. No follow-through on anything, but it's everyone else that is acting like they're still in high school in the eyes of this person when they can't wiggle out anymore and push finally comes to shove.

I dared this person to follow through on their requirements...they couldn't do it. Yet I get hated for their failure. Such a shame, such a waste of energy. My time was wasted then, their energy in hating me and using silly name-calling is wasted now.

It'll be interesting to see what their next distraction will end up being.

The Safe Place strikes again

I started getting ready for Rollercon this week.

Good thing I started a day earlier than anticipated, because I can't find stuff that I need for the trip. Such as the purty dress that I was going to wear to the Black & Blue Ball Friday night. Apparently when I last wore the dress a year and a half ago, I decided to put it in a Safe Place.

A real Safe Place, as I can't remember for the life of me where the hell that Safe Place is.

Crap.

I have a backup dress that's in need of a quick wash but is useable, but it's not as cool as the dress I wanted to wear.

Dammit.

I hate it when this happens. I know that next Monday I'll find the damn dress while I'm searching for some other totally non-related object.

This has been happening with increasing frequency to me. I thought I was a little young to be so scatter-brained, but that's not the case, apparently. I'm also missing about ten CD's that I had in constant rotation in my car the last time I worked in Tejas. Wherethehellcouldthosedamnthingsbe?! My house isn't that big. It's been over a year since I've seen those CD's.

Fooey.

btw, the above image was done by a guy named Daniel Steeves. It came up when I googled "Safe Place".