Life in Vermont

Yes, I'm insanely running around finishing reports and packing, but, nevertheless, took off a few hours to attend a roller derby doubleheader. The Green Mountain Derby Dames, our new roller derby team that plays once a month, has been so popular - and has attracted so many women looking to play - that they actually split in half and now we have two teams: the GMDD Black Ice Brawlers and the GMDD Grade A Fancy! It was the first game for the Black Ice Brawlers and they were absolutely destroyed by the Ithaca Bluestockings (it was something like 140-15 at half-time, and eventually the Bluestockings scored so many points that it eventually broke the scoreboard - the final score was 250-50). The second game was very close and our beloved Grade A Fancy lost a heartbreaker to the visiting Rhode Island Killah Bees. It was a raucous crowd. The women all skate under assumed names - our best skater goes by Star Slayer, and her number is 3.14. She was a little off tonight, and most of the hard work was done by Basher Barbie (#1BFF is her number). My favorite was The Atomic Muffin, and her number is 8HER. And, if you haven't figured it out from the name alone, it is becoming sort of a lesbian phenomenon - although the crowd was very diverse. The best player on the Killah Bees was number 72, Rhoda Perdition. At one point, in regards to a bizarre event during the match, the announcer said, "It rubs the lotion on its skin" - I just about fell backward over the bleachers I was laughing so hard. Unlike the roller derby I grew up watching, this was actually real and the women really enjoyed themselves - and there was a tremendous amount of collegiality in between the two teams, when they weren't actively trying to beat the hell out of each other. I'll definitely be back for the 12 June match!!