Act 5: Roll On

Friday night I went to my first Roller Derby match.  Apparently the QCs have had a team since 2007 or so.  They clearly weren't doing much advertising before.  So far this year though, they've been in the newspaper, on my favorite morning show, and last year the movie Whip It was in theaters.  Let's face it, it probably increased interest.  I didn't even know what the sport really was before that.  And after watching it about 5 weeks ago, I was pretty sure I wasn't cut out for that kind of contact sport.  And I think I'm pretty tough!  Turns out I was wrong (about the first thing... I am obviously tough!), but more on that in a minute.

First off, pretty cute logo huh?  Sassy!

The Rollers play in a convention center downtown.  They use a flat track, not a banked track like in the movie.  Which means they don't really need a track at all.  They just taped off a track on the cement floor.  Clever.  The crowd sat in folding chairs surrounding the track.  I wish they would have had brought in bleachers as it was hard to sit down in anything but the front row and still see much.  It was impossible to get a front row seat though... the crowd was more substantial than I expected.  Very diverse and a little rowdy.  It was helped you get into it a bit.

The outfits the girl's wear are pretty crazy.  Mostly fishnets with fancy short shorts or frilly underwear underneath.  Heavy on the makeup too, particularly eyeliner.  They also have crazy nicknames like Bonezilla, Pink Taco, Busty Assault, and Lolli Gag.  This is at the top of my list for Halloween costumes this year!

The skating was kind of fun to watch.  It took me a while to catch on and understand the scoring.  Brief rundown for those of you who aren't familiar, but be warned I haven't read the actual rules or had them explained to me.  This is just what I was able to observe, so don't bet your life on them!  There are two 30 minute halves and there are 2 teams (I'm 100% on that one... go ahead and bet your life).  Maybe 4 or 5 players from each team are called blockers and the skate relatively slowly in a large mass, jostling for position.  Each team also has a jammer.  The jammer starts a ways behind and has to skate through the mass while the other team's blockers try to prevent them from getting through.  This is where the cutting people off, knocking people down, etc comes in.  The first jammer through and halfway-ish around the track is the lead jammer.  You know this because the referee points at them and makes an 'L' with his fingers.  Like the sign for Loser, but in this case it means Lead.  The lead jammer is the only person that can score.  She has to catch up to the blockers again and skate through.  I think she gets one point for each opposing team blocker she passes.  Make sense?  It's fuzzy for me too.

It was a much more tame game than I expected.  There were some falls but nothing crazy.  I personally thought they could have been more aggressive.  I'm sure the movies overdo it, which is my only basis, but I'd have pushed a couple of those girls around a bit more! 

It was a high scoring game (the other team scored over 100).  We ended up losing by quite a bit, but the team looked like they were having so much fun I hardly think it mattered to them or anyone else.


"It's not about how hard ya hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward."

Act 4: Sowing the Seeds of Hope

All winter I've been planning to have a vegetable garden.  For the first time in my life I really want to grow some of my own food.  Seems noble enough, but my track record with plants is pretty bad.  I'm probably a black thumb if there is such a thing.  Need proof?

Evidence #1 - A couple of years ago my sister gave me a Christmas cactus and everyone told me that it should go in a south facing window.  Six months later it was dead.  Lesson learned:  Don't keep a plant in a room you never go into.
Evidence #2 - My flower garden last summer was a disaster.  Apparently it's necessary to weed and water your flowers in order for them to grow.  Oh, and find a way to keep your dogs from eating them. 

I figure with all this knowledge in my pocket now, my chances of success this summer have gone way up!

This weekend I went to the garden center and got myself some seeds.  I also got Planting 101 from the friendly garden center worker.  Tomatoes and peppers need to be started inside and transplanted outdoors in early May when there's no chance for frost (though I've seen it snow in the Midwest on May 15th).  I went home armed with planters, seed starting soil, and seeds.  The directions on the back of the seed packets are pretty self-explanatory and I don't think I messed that part up.  Fill planter with soil, put a couple of seeds on top, cover with a little bit more soil.  Check!  I planted slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, and pepperoncinis.  Eight of each.  That's 36 plants!  I figure a few of those have to live... right?  Also, the little seed starting planters come in trays of eight :-P

They don't look like much now, but hopefully in a couple of weeks they'll have sprouted.

 

My roommate (and partner in crime in all this) and I also picked out a house plant while we were there.  It's a Charmed Wine Shamrock and the leaves are a deep red/purple.  Some day it should have white flowers too.  Did you know (at lease some) shamrocks fold their leaves down at night?  I actually thought we'd killed it in a matter of hours after getting it home!  It's so cheery though... I love it :)

"Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise."  ~Michael P. Garafalo

Act 3: Just Breathe... and Sweat.

Anyone who has ever worked out with me knows that I don't ease into things (most of the time).  I like high intensity.  High impact.  I want to push myself.  The energy high afterward that makes you feel like you could take on the world.  That wonderful tightness the next day that makes you feel accomplished and makes you want to do it again.  I want to feel like I worked out.

This is the main reason I've never done yoga.  No impact.  Little movement.  Very quiet.  Make no mistake, I never thought it would be easy.  I thought it would be boring!  But I decided it was time.  Partially because I have the time and partially because I have friends who never fail to be surprised by how tense my shoulders are.  I don't feel tense.  Apparently it's my natural state.  Admittedly though, I get stressed easily.  Maybe yoga would de-stress me some?

So on Monday night I went to a yoga class at my Y.  I don't know much about different styles of yoga but this one was called Vinyasa Flow.  The instructor said that just means that one move flows smoothly into the next.  I kind of thought that all forms of yoga included smoothly flowing movements, but maybe there's a kind out there with jarring, jerky movements.  Who knows!

I don't remember all the moves we did, but for the first half hour there were a couple of solid progressions we went through multiple times.  They included things like mountain pose, low lunge, scorpion, warrior, down dog, up dog (fetch!  good boy :-P), and others whose names will remain anonymous because I can't remember them.  Most weren't too bad, but a couple had my muscles shaking like crazy. 

By the end of that first half hour I was wiped out.  At one point the instructor told us that if we needed to take a break we could just go into child's pose and all I could think was 'I'd love to but you haven't told me what that is!'  The second half hour was easier.  More long holds and deep stretches that were nice but also made me feel extremely inflexible.  The last 5 minutes was relaxation and I basically fell asleep.  Seemed pretty relaxed to me! 

When I left the class I felt like I was walking out of a massage.  I felt light and decidedly not tense, but that feeling only lasted in the range of 5-8 minutes.  A bit later I could feel a tightness in some muscles that I stretched farther than they would usually chose to go.  It's still not high impact and it didn't quite make me feel accomplished the way lifting or running does, but I do feel like I worked out.


"I do yoga so that I can stay flexible enough to kick my own arse if necessary." ~Betsy Cañas Garmon

Act 2: Coastal Confessions

I spent the last 5 days visiting a friend on the East Coast and touring around Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather... the first warm weekend of the year I think with temps in the 50's for a couple of days!  Rhode Island and Connecticut are both states I've never visited before so I got to check them off my "States to Visit" list.  32 down, 18 to go!

Visiting new states isn't the only new thing I did while I was there though.  Let's have a rundown, shall we?

1. Hugged a giant Mr. Potato Head (apparently Hasbro is very big in Providence, RI).
2. Saw elephants walk with trunk holding tail like they do in Dumbo.  I realize they are probably trained to do that, but it's cute anyway.  Also, saw one getting a bath.  And saw one stealing food from another one.  Very amusing animals :-)

3. Ate at Mystic Pizza (pretty good!) and watched the movie of the same name (one of Julia Robert's first films... a little corny, a lot 80's, but better than I expected to be.)

4. Went to Cape Cod... enough said.  I would highly recommend South Cape Beach State Park.  It's not as far out as others and has long sandy beaches, a dirt walking trail, and an estuary for added interest.  And while you're there, pretend you're rich and take in a few open houses... they're NICE.

5. Ate Stuffed Quahog.  Quahog is a popular type of clam in the New England area and also the namesake of the Family Guy town (which made the Drunken Clam and other show references make a lot more sense!).  It also meant I had to try it.  It's good!

6. Toured the Sam Adams Brewery in Boston.  Ate 3 different kinds of barley they use in their beers.  I could have taken a bag of the Caramel-60 home with me (pic below).  It was kind of like sunflower or other eating seeds and super tasty.  No wonder beer tastes good!  In the tasting room I tried 3 beers.  Boston Lager I'd had before.  Not terrible.  Noble Hops was fantastic and not overly hoppy as the name would suggest.  I hope I can find it at home.  Boston Brick Red is only served on draft in bars in Boston, so I'm told I should feel quite special for having had it.  Most people on Earth never will!

7. Saw Fenway Park.  The outside mostly... it's not open unless it's baseball season.  We did find the Bleacher Bar though, which has a window to the field.  Not pretty since they're in the process of tearing it all up before the season starts.  But hey, I saw it!

All in all, not a bad weekend!


"The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." ~St Augustine

Act 1: To Eat or Not to Eat... the Meat

For my first new experience I chose to eat a completely vegan diet (no dairy or animal products) for 3 days.  Talk about jumping in with both feet!  I did have my reasons though…

I have a few friends/acquaintances that have moved to vegetarian and vegan diets recently and I was curious.  Over the last couple of months I’ve read a lot of articles, half a book, and lots of first person accounts on the benefits of a plant-based diet.  Most talk about going off medications for blood pressure, cholesterol, asthma, and allergies.  Clearer skin.  Losing Weight.  Living longer.  Reducing your risk of disease.  There was one study by Dr Dean Ornish that showed that you can reverse the effects of heart disease, even reduce artery blockages, through a vegan diet.  His findings were so conclusive that most major health insurance companies cover the cost of his program.  It’s impressive stuff from a health standpoint.

Then, a few weeks ago, my Uncle Joe passed away from a sudden heart attack.  He seemed so healthy.  He was so dedicated to his daily morning swims!  How do these things happen??  His death hit me hard.  It was two weeks later that I made it my first full day without crying.  And along with the grief and sadness came another emotion.  Fear.  I’m terrified of losing more people I care about!  No one I know is necessary on their deathbed, but neither was Uncle Joe.  My mom has had heart attacks in the past.  My Dad has had health problems too.  And suddenly everything I read about plant-based diets came back to me.  Reducing risk of disease.  Reversing heart disease.  Living longer.  Maybe there’s something to this. 

I know there are plenty of healthy people who eat meat and dairy.  I know there are other ways to reduce your risk of disease.  I know it’s a major lifestyle change and I don’t realistically expect my parents or anyone else I know to convert but in my mind, if it really meant I could have more time with the people I love, it would be worth it!

My experiment went from Friday through Sunday with no slip-ups.  The foods I ate were very common.  In addition to fruits and veggies I had PB&J, salad and dressing, pasta and sauce, veggies pizza (no cheese), a veggie wrap, hummus and pita, chips and salsa, french fries, cereal, toast, etc.  Not too bad!  Actually a much less scary menu than I had anticipated.  I felt like I was eating all the time too!  No deprivation there.  Apparently veggies aren’t very filling. 

I was surprised by how little I missed the meat and cheese.  You probably think that sounds crazy… how could you not miss it??  I thought the same thing, but it’s wasn't that bad.  Now, I knew I only had to do it for three days so that probably made it easier.  If I thought about giving up fried cheese curds from the fair forever and ever, I might have a panic attack.  The only craving I experienced was about 11 PM on Sunday night after watching my friends devour 48 chocolate chip cookies.  I wonder if the craving was just because I knew I was so close to being done, but either way I didn’t give in.  Willpower of steel, right here! 

A few things I learned:

-Read labels.  Apple crisp flavored instant oatmeal contains milk, but cinnamon roll and banana bread don’t.  Strange. 

-Plan ahead.  Meat and cheese are easy and convenient.  What do we always have in the house?  Canned tuna, deli meat, and frozen ground beef.  What if nothing looks good in the cafeteria at work?  Pizza is always a safe bet.  How can they screw that up?  So pack a lunch, go shopping, look at restaurant menus ahead of time, and be creative.  Or you’ll end up eating a lot of carrot sticks!

-Try the alternatives.  I tried non-dairy ice cream, butter, and almond milk.  The butter is basically margarine… no major taste difference.  The ice cream (Rice Dream brand) isn't as creamy but is passable as a frozen treat.  I got the mint chocolate chip and the only complaint I had was that the mint was peppermint as opposed to… well, whatever mint is in normal mint chip ice cream!  I don’t like peppermint, so that part was a bust.  Almond milk raised two big questions.  1) How do you get milk from an almond?  2) Why is it vanilla?  Why isn’t it just milk flavored??  Regardless, it’s surprisingly good!  It’s not quite the bright white color of regular milk, so that’s a little disconcerting.  And it doesn’t taste exactly the same, but it’s good in its own right and has a very similar consistency.  Spectacular on Cheerios I might add!

It’s Monday now and while I can have meat and dairy, I’m not starving for it.  Two months ago I would have told you that vegans are crazy and that I could never do it.  This experience showed me that I can.  And while I don’t plan to adopt a vegan diet fulltime, I’m much more open to trying meatless and vegan dishes and new alternatives.  I think that makes my first adventure a success :)

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” -Albert Einstein