Skate Your Life

Hey Blogosphere! How is everyone enjoying their summer? I have been having so much fun on my eights! It’s been a gorgeous, hot summer in San Diego and there is nothing like rolling with the cool summer breeze washing over you.


I know I have been a terrible blogger and I have zero excuses. But I will update you on the relevant skating happenings and do my best and keep up in the coming months.

America’s Got Talent finally called and said thanks but no thanks. Sad face! BUT the silver lining was that they invited us to participate in the filming of the opening sequence for the show. While it may seem like a token compared to being on the show, it was still really nice to be included. They said they wanted colorful, lively acts which is why we were included. We filmed it up in January and let me tell you, THE BEST TIME EVER. We had an absolute ball! The shoot was funny – everyone participating was rejected by the judges either this year or last year. Some people had been called randomly after their YouTube videos were seen. There were showgirls, dancers, punk rockers, can-can girls and then of course us – a groovy disco roller skating couple. Our part of the video was so cool – Nick walks up, lip synching in the camera, and we come in right behind him. Along with everyone else. BUT since we were on wheels, it was no problem getting right ahead of everyone! Perfect! After the shoot, Nick was so gracious taking pictures with everyone. So without further ado, here is the video below. Check me out at the :37 mark on the left hand side of the screen. Yes I am the cutie with the red afro wig and I get about three solid seconds on screen, amazing!

http://www.nbc.com/americas-got-talent/video/nick-introduces-americas-got-talent-season-8/n37404/

So that is that. In other news, May was Back to Cali, my 4th year going! Such an incredibly rad time, every year it gets a little better. Since my accident in 2011, I keep a cautious distance from the super-fast lane, and at an event like this, it’s even faster than usual. Scary! But so exhilarating at the same time. I was able to skate two of the four nights. The second night was fun but somehow even more packed and of course someone got hurt and we had to wait a good 20 minutes for the ambulance and getting the floor cleaned. That definitely interrupted the flow. But all in all an awesome event and you know I’ll be there next year!

My street skating every Sunday continues. The beach has been getting so incredibly packed, I am parking further and further away. Those beach parking lots are treacherously dirty, full of little things that want to take this skater girl down. So far so good. I stumbled on a rock on the intersection a few weeks ago TERRIFYING. Let me fall on the sidewalk or parking lot please, don’t take me down in the middle of the crosswalk in front of a dozen cars.

So come out and see us do our thing every Sunday at Mission Beach. You won’t regret it. in fact you will probably want to buy a pair of skates and learn how to downtown. It’s what happened to me!

Rollergirl Rolls On

Hey skate peeps,

I know I haven't updated in forever but I have excuses.  My home PC has gone the way of the dinosaur and there are no repairs on the horizon.  Nonetheless, I have been skating up a storm as usual.  Let me give you an update.

Back to Cali came and went over the weekend of May 27, and was somehow even more incredible than last year.  I had simply the best time.  I truly felt like I got my groove back after all the rough times of 2011.  I jammed in the fast lane with the best of 'em.  The floor was crazy packed, I heard a rumor there were 900 people but I'm not sure the floor can hold that many people.  The only downside were the accidents.  I attended two nights of the four night event and the ambulance came out on three separate occasions for the injured.  Always sad and for me, brings back a lot of memories.  One of the accidents in particular; I heard the whistle blowing and saw the commotion ahead of me and everyone started slowing down.  It was a big guy, easily 300 pounds, lying on his back, out cold.  A small pool of blood gathered under his head.  I clapped my hand over my mouth and got off the floor quick.  We had to wait about 30 minutes for teh ambulance to take him away and then the floor had to be sanitized.  Prayers that he made a recovery.

Beyond the tragic stuff, it was a skate of epic proportions.  Definitely got me wanting to hit up Cerritos on Thursday nights again.  In March, i felt intimidated by the fast moving crowd.  But I have moved past that and am ready to roll as they only can at Skate Depot.

I have been performing all around town in the past few weeks, it's been great!  We performed at the Festival of Arts in North Park, and at the San Diego County Fair a few weeks ago.  We will be performing there again on July 1 at 3:00 pm.  Hit me up if you want details.  Show skating is great but definitely harder.  I know these routines like the back of my hand but I do freeze up a bit when it's show time.  Argh!  My defense against this is practice, practice, practice..and then practice some more.  :)

In backwards skating news, I am getting closer with the backwards rexing crossovers, it's a pretty amazing feeling.  Still scary and still really rely on my teacher when we go into the turn.  Now to master doing it alone.  More trips to Cerritos will help it along.  I wouldn't dare do it alone among the nuts that skate in San Diego.

It's summer, the perfect time to get out and skate to your heart's content.  The main thing to concern yourself with outdoors skating is being a strong skater on one foot.  That way you can step over the cracks and other debris.  There's no need to fear outdoor skating, just step over!

I Am Right Here, Skating Beside You

Ugh I am like the most remiss blogger ever!  I cannot believe I missed an entire month of posting for the first time since I started this blog in 2009.  Oh well, what can I do.  Hello blog world!  It's not that I haven't been writing because I haven't been skating, not at all.  I have been doing my thing.  I have been skating as much as possible.  Every Adult Night without fail, of course.  That would kill me to miss a Tuesday.  I've been having a pretty damn good time.

I fell about three weeks ago.  Of course since I have such a major fall under my belt, everything else just pales in comparison.  I was skating in a tight pack and when we went into the turn, this guy kicked my wheel and I went straight down.  It was so fast.  I somehow managed to beat up the side of my hip/leg, maybe I was in the middle of a crossover.  Anyway, it was instant all-consuming take-your-breath-away pain.  The guy was fine and wanted to skate off but I made him walk me to the bench.  Wtf man, where is the chivalry.  My poor leg was hurting so bad.  I took a few minutes to shake it off and then got back on the floor cautiously.  But after 30 minutes, my leg was just throbbing and I had to go.  I had an epic bruise lol, I felt very derby.  Now three weeks later it looks much better than the gray/purple/green/blue/pink loveliness I had going on there for a minute.

I have been making some tiny inroads with my backwards.  Up in Cerritos, I have skated the all ladies backwards a couple times.  I'm more confident up there, plus it's not many people when it's only the women on the floor.  I am very cautious though, I keep my speed way down and focus on staying in the moment of what exactly I am doing with my feet.  It's very easy to zone out because the steps feel so natural.  I have also been learning backwards crossovers, something I have never really known how to do.  It's hard and challenging but exciting when I see improvement.

Carey Grant and the lovely Marilyn Monroe get their couple skate on

Been skating at the Bay on Sundays; it's still considered winter right now in San Diego so the weather has been difficult.  Sun but icy cold wind.  I brave it for the most part, unless it's too gray out.  Hoping for blue skies this weekend.

In other news, Back to Cali is coming up Memorial Day weekend at Skate Depot in Cerritos.  As you know since you have been reading my blog since the very beginning, it is the premier skating event in Southern California.  This year I am aiming to attend all three nights so I can soak up every little bit.

You Ain't Ready for Cali

Hi friends! How is the beginning of summer treating you? Couldn't be better over here.  I have many skating adventures to report on so let's get down to brass tacks.  Last week was the awesome, incredible and impossible to forget Back to Cali Skate Jam at Skate Depot.  Where do I start to describe an event like this one?  Although I went last year, since then my skating has grown in leaps and bounds so it was a completely different experience.

I had heard that there were supposed to be 300-400 skaters in attendance for each night of the four night event, but STILL! Being out there is so different from reading about it.  This year I went on Thursday and Saturday.  Thursday being the kick off, it was quite crowded.  The music was off the hook.  Once I got out in the crowd and started grooving with them, I felt like a million bucks.  Correction: a million petrified bucks.  No matter how many times I have skated in Cerritos, doing Back to Cali is on another level all to itself.  The floor is just so packed, but everyone is respectful of everyone else's space.  But when a fall happens, it truly is scary because three or four skaters inevitably end up tripping on the fallen ones.  I had a guy bump into me from behind and felt myself begin falling back.  OH MY GOD! There were some terrifying seconds there, and then he grabbed me and I got my balance back.  Phew.

My blood was pumping so hard after that near miss.  I was shaking all over!  And although I perfected getting off the floor last year, it was like being a beginner all over again up there.  I was too scared to get off the floor!  Haven't felt that in a long time.  So no choice but to hang in until they call for a special and the floor clears.  Back to skating with my heart in my throat.  This guy runs into me and it looks so grim - I'm flailing all over the place, falling forward.  I really thought I was going down, but he (rightfully) grabbed me and I managed to not fall.  I grabbed on to his arm and sweater so hard that I partially bent one of my fingernails back.  Ouch!  But not too bad if that's the only injury you take home from Cerritos.

They called for Trios (I described these on my very first trip to Cerritos back in February 2010 awwwww) and this is my cue to get off the floor, but a couple of my buddies talked me into doing it with them.  Wow.  I thought I was terrified before.  For a special event like this, there are dozens of skaters that can skate trios, so it wasn't like the floor was empty or anything.  There has to be 15 groups on the floor, and some had as many as seven skaters.  We mostly did this thing where we linked our arms together, and I was in the middle getting pulled back and forth like crazy.  We also tried holding hands and going in circles, which involves a lot of a backwards/forwards skating.  Much scarier.  Plus I felt like one of them was going to break my wrist.  So we went back to the other way.  I was so frightened but I felt like I grew as a skater in those moments.  I'm proud of myself for conquering trios. 

Thursday was so incredible that I decided to go back up for Saturday as well.  Also crazy packed, with people pouring in by the minute.  I felt empowered from my successful Thursday night, and hit the wood hard.  Feels so good to roll with folks like that, true skaters getting their roll on.  Man I would love to go every week!  There were many different times where a skater would put their arm around me to let me know they were passing me, or take my  hand to pass in front of me.  So natural.  I wasn't able to escape unscathed, however.  I ended up falling on my ass a few hours in.  Really don't know what happened, these falls tend to happen so quickly.  I found myself on the ground, that much I knew.  In the fast lane.  I got up in a crouch position in about two seconds and a friend helped me away.  But man my butt is still sore 10 days later. [Side note: my subject line is taken from one of the comments the DJ would often make as we were skating around "Ya'll can't handle Cali" "You ain't ready for Cali" it was hilarious!)

Simply cannot wait until my next Cerritos trip.  Unfortunately I don't have one on the books right now as my birthday is coming up next month.  I'll be heading to Vegas to skate at Crystal Palace, woo  hoo!  Looking forward to that.  Should be able to hit a rink or two on the way over as well.  Yeah baby, skating road trip!!!