Gather ’round, boys and girls, and listen closely. What I am about to tell you will help you immensely throughout the rest of your lives if you commit to practicing and living your Uncle Ted’s proven modus operandi for quality of life.

You won’t get this ironclad and loving advice in a classroom or from a textbook. Sadly, some of you will not have received this advice from even your parents. Here goes:

*Nobody owes you a thing. Nothing.
Everything you will get out of life will only be based on what you put into it. Period. The only free lunches are at the homeless shelter. If you want to dance, you have to pay the band. If you work real hard at your favorite craft, you ultimately will succeed. A work ethic is the path to a rewarding life. If you are paid a dollar, give your employer $10 worth of effort in return. Doing so will ensure you will always be gainfully employed. If you are lazy, expect to be fired over and over again, no matter how smart or gifted you are.

*Find your passion, something you crave.
Set a goal and never quit. Always push yourself harder. Walk through or over anyone who dares to tell you that you can’t do something.

*Avoid negative people.
Surround yourself with positive people who will mentor, help and guide you honestly.

*Never miss an opportunity to say thank you…
to the men and women in our military and law enforcement. They are the defenders of freedom and are putting their lives on the line for you to reach your American Dream.

*Don’t wait for someone else to motivate you.
The best person for that job is you. Do it often. You will be tested constantly. Life is going to knock you down over and over again. The only person who is ever defeated is the person who gets floored with one of life’s massive upper cuts and fails to get back up. Be tough and tenacious. It feels good.

*Never do anything just for money.
Do what you do exceedingly well and thoroughly enjoy, and money will come looking for you.

*If you want to know how others perceive you, look around at who you associate with.
In the end, all you have is your character and integrity. Do not ever compromise or sell them. No one trusts a liar, most of all other liars.

*Do not complain.
Any soulless whiner can do that. Instead, look for solutions to tough problems. This will earn you the respect of your boss.

*Do not be afraid to take chances and blaze new trails.
Get in the arena where the dust is swirling and blood, sweat and tears pour forth. That is where the action is. Do not miss out.

*Engage life with unbridled passion.
March to the beat of making your own statement. Those who follow trends and conform to peer pressure are mindless sheep and never happy.

*Be intelligently defiant.
Defiance is the very spirit that gave birth to this country when our forefathers declared independence and fired the “shot heard round the world.” Remember Rosa Parks. Be prepared to defy stupidity wherever you find it. It is your duty and responsibility as an American to let your voice be heard. Stand up against idiotic, illogical laws and restrictions. Raise hell. Vote smart.

If you have not made a few well deserving idiots angry by the time you are 25, get busy. We live in a target rich environment of liberal denial. Drive idiots loony. It is much fun, quite easy and is still legal in all 50 states.

Stand up for what you believe in. Remain polite and courteous, but never back down.
You have an obligation to leave America in better shape than when you arrived. Work to ensure that future generations have a better shot at the American Dream, more freedom, more liberty and more pursuits of happiness than what you did.

Trust your gut feelings. They will not steer you wrong.
Only trust people who have earned your trust. Never trust the French.

Take the time each day to show love and affection for your family and loved ones.
The smallest gesture goes straight to the heart. A good life is maximized when shared with the ones you love.

Don’t keep discomforting things and thoughts bunched up inside.
The only way to resolve conflicts is to tackle them right way without inhibitions. Don’t worry about hurting feelings. Everyone benefits from open, honest discussions. There are no stupid questions.

Aim small, miss small.

Have fun. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Feel like you need more info mofu?

There is a Yahoo Group called Rollergirls where skaters from across North America congregate, many of your questions can be answered and you’ll get a great insight into what is happening in the derby world outside of Toronto.

There are a few Google Calendars you should be aware of…. Rollergettes, Rollergettes-Approved Toronto Events and General Roller Derby. If you have an event in Toronto that you want to have us promote drop me an email and say the WORD. Please also share these calendars on your social networks and wherever possible!

Thanks -  and any questions, concerns, dirty jokes, please let me know!

If anyone is free on Friday night some of us are going to check out the proposed after party place, Shoxx at Dundas & Keele area around 7 pm onwards. We need to do a trial run

ALOHA!

Photo Courtesy of PJP Photography.

Yes, I am touching spray painted penis.

The Toronto Roller Derby league’s travel team, CN Power, has a bout coming up against Rideau Valley’s Vixens on Saturday, February 27!

More details can be found at TorontoRollerDerby.com

Everyone involved with Rollergettes is encouraged to attend as a group, please email me as soon as possible because we can get a group rate if we can wrangle at least ten peeps. I can grab at Junction Skate Shop on Roncesvalles as it’s close to my work space.

Just a reminder to Rollergettes that there is quite a bit of  skate time available this weekend so email, text or call for specific location details.

Saturday 5-8pm – Dundas West Village (@ Bloor)

Sunday 3-5pm – Parkdale (Lansdowne & Queen)

I’ll hitting Scooters on a regular basis on Tuesdays to get in the laps and workout a bit! See you there x

So last weekend was totally awesome! I am gonna have to post some more photos and film. In the meantime, you can see a slideshow of the bout on my YouTube Channel.

I have so many thoughts about the game and the weekend, I don’t know where to start. So I will have to come back on this and reflect at another time.

This coming weekend Rollergettes have an extra practice on Saturday, February 20 at 5-8pm near Bloor & Dundas West – email me for details. We will also have our regular practice in Parkdale from 3-5pm on Sunday, February 21. After practice, anyone who is available is welcome to meet up at mine to discuss the rules of roller derby, our upcoming bouts and other things on the radar.

LOCK ‘N’ LOAD!!!

GOOD MORNING!!

A “quick” update…

COMMUNICATIONS

Please email info@Rollergettes.com if you’d like to be on the mailing list to hear about upcoming events, are interested in volunteering, sponsoring and any of the crap that normally comes along with a massive killer event. We already have a cheerleading team, Champion Cheer Athletics Panthers for the half-time and singer-songwriter Kirsten Jones belting out the national anthem booked for our FIRST HOME GAME on Saturday, May 15 at George Bell Arena!

The official Rollergettes website will go through another growth spurt thanks to my good friend Sheesh from the Shwa. We’ll have an online forum to communicate publicly with our fans, friends and fellow skaters, it will also serve as an FAQ for anyone that gets involved with Rollergettes, as a Wayward or otherwise.

Let’s make this whole roller derby thing easy on one another! LOL

TONIGHT: THURSDAY

I *thought* I was going to be able to make it to Scooters tonight, but I forgot I booked a dinner date with Serial Jiller. She is our Head of Stats as well as team mediator from her experience and training in life coaching. She has done WONDERS for my self-motivation and I want to share her with all of you. We have some business to talk about, some sushi eating and giggling to do. She and R’effin AdoraBell are going to become as thick as thieves as their roles are integral to maintaining the credibility to this sport. I am looking forward to her meeting all of you as well. All the skaters that have been coming out to prack, some totally new (some totally “OLD” lol), have already inspired me so much, there are great things happening for all of us. Roller skates are AWESOME!!

THIS WEEKEND & SUNDAY PRACTICE

For those of you who hadn’t heard.. I was planning on getting a rental and driving out to Ottawa this weekend to go see how the new Rideau Valley Roller Girls (RVRG) team, Riot Squad, is doing. Rollergettes’ skaters that qualify for the playing roster will be bouting in a double header Saturday, May 29 against them for our FIRST EVER AWAY GAME!!!

VS.

Word went around that some of the Vermont girls weren’t going to be able to make it to play for their team the Green Mountain Derby Dames (GMDD) and were looking for subs against Ottawa. No doubt I put my name and waddya know, I am now PLAYING! Woo woo wooooooo!!

Either way, I was concerned about making it back in time on Sunday for prack in Parkdale as you never know what sort of weather you are going to get along that stretch of the 401 highway. LeeWay Wreck’Em from the Greater Toronto Area Rollergirls (GTAR) will be covering in case I get stuck, so regardless, there WILL be a prack and she is going to run through the WFTDA Minimum Skills Requirement. We managed to get through the individual skating part last Sunday and now we need to review the ‘Skating with Others’ part.

New skaters – YOU MUST MUST MUST TRY HARDER.

You tried hard last week, that is awesome, this week – try HARDER!!
Fall, fall, fall and fall again.
Get back up, get back up and get back up again.
It’s life, live it. x

Skaters coming back, push yourself, PERFECT your falls, PERFECT your stance, PERFECT the things you SUCK AT.
The more you do it, the more natural it is.

I’ll be pushing it on the highway, because I want to be there to PUSH you. AND myself.

In a good way

NEXT WEEK

Still working out the dates that we can skate with GTA Rollergirls on Wednesdays, I will have to talk to Splat Benetar and sort it out. I’ll make use of the ol’ handsfree while doing all this driving this weekend! The plan is that skaters who are gearing up to be on the bouting roster need to make these extra practices. I will blog more about this later once I work out the minutia of the details so that y’all can be clear how Rollergettes works on a commitment level – what you put in, is what you get back out.

GTA Rollergirls, the Rollergettes’ sister league will be playing an away game on their regularly scheduled practice night of Saturday, February 20. I have been asked to run the practice in their absence as they also have some fresh meat and some skaters that aren’t on their bouting roster. YAY EXTRA PRACTICE! The space is by Dundas West & Bloor from 5-8pm. If you want to be on the Rollergettes bouting roster, you really should make every effort to attend as well. No extra cost of money, just your time.

There will be a prack in Parkdale on Sunday as scheduled.

Spread the word, and the word is derby.

xo Goldz