RollerCon 2012

Returning to reality after spending 5 days at a roller derby convention in Las Vegas is rough.  I literally only left the vicinity of the hotel once, on Friday night, to go to a fancy dinner at The Sugar Factory with my league mates and my derby wife.  The rest of the time, I only went outside to go to the pool or across the parking lot to The Peppermill.  Everything happened inside the Riviera.  You woke up in the morning, went downstairs, and could literally choose between 4 different training classes, open scrimmage or open skate, 4 different seminars, shopping in Vendor Village, or watching or participating in Challenge Bouts all day long.  Or of course, there was the pool which was open 24 hours a day, just for us!

RollerCon was fucking amazing.  I took classes and seminars from my favorite skaters, learned to Jam Skate, watched my heroes skate (Team USA!), got my ass kicked up and down the track by Razorslut of LADD, swam, drank, partied.  Oh boy did I party.  I don't really party.  Sometimes months will go by and I haven't had any alcohol, but RollerCon is an exception.  We rolled into Vegas at around 5:00 Wednesday morning, checked in, celebrated with some beers, and went to bed for about 4 hours before getting up and hitting registration. Then, we spent the rest of the day by the pool.  That night, we went to karaoke at the Top of the Riv.  Roller derby people take karaoke very seriously.  As evidenced in the video below:

There are parties every night.  Wednesday was karaoke.  Thursday was the Reidell luau (and then karaoke afterward).  Friday was Derby Wedding and Pants Off, Dance Off (and leg wrestling and derby divorce).  Saturday was the Black and Blue Ball.  One of my friends was also in Vegas for a hacker conference called DEFCON and he meandered over to the Black and Blue Ball and said they closed the pool down at 5 am.  I think I left somewhere around 3.  RollerCon was amazing.  I can't even explain it.  I'll let the pictures tell the story. :)

The road to Vegas at 2:45 am

 5:20 am beers!

 The registration line

 Mimosas at the Peppermill!

 Fireside lounge at the Peppermill.  What a time warp, right?  And that's INSIDE!

 MBDD watching the Team Sexy vs. Chupacabras Peligrosas bout!

Team Sexy vs. Chupacabras Peligrosas

The pool on Wednesday night.

 The karaoke crowd (and Eve L Twin)

 Vix and Eve slow dancing

 MBDD in line to get tickets to Quadzilla's jam skating class

 Luau!!!

 Vix and I about had a heart attach when the aliens from Sesame Street showed up at the luau.

Oh yeah, and Surge, Jem, Beans (not pictured), and I met Coolio by the pool and gave him a piggy back ride.  This is not a joke.  It really is him.  He's kind of a d-bag.

 Friday night: all dressed up for fancy dinner at The Sugar Factory (at the Paris)

 This was our 36 oz goblet of yummy goodness.  It tasted like gummy worms and had gummy worms in it.

 Sharing our drink.  We couldn't even finish it all.

Quadzilla and Demanda Riot ready to leg wrestle at Pants Off, Dance Off

 Fresh Step and I drinking our Coronaritas at the Peppermill on Saturday night.

 Black and blue ball!  I was actually wearing a dress.  That lasted about 15 minutes until it was just too hot and we decided to get in the pool.

 Sunday, mid day.  Team USA played Philly (and won by a lot).  This was the first time I'd gotten to see my hero, Suzy Hot Rod skate in person.  She plays for Gotham in New York, so it was probably a once in a life time opportunity.  And we were sitting right behind their bench.  To say I was excited is an understatement.

Monday: the road home.

If you want to read about what I learned at RollerCon, check out my Jux.  Does anyone else out there have one?  I like it a lot.  School starts on Wednesday, officially, but I had to go back to work for meetings and trainings and classroom work yesterday.  I really, really don't want summer to be over, but I saw a ton of my students from last year today when I was at school (they're group leaders for the new 6th graders coming in) and it was so good to see them.  Also, there's a slight chance I'll teach one section of 8th grade (if we hire this new guy who wants to teach ELD) and if that happens, I'll have some of my former students.  SO excited, but trying not to get my hopes up.  And now, I must blowdry my hair and get ready for bed.  I'm not used to getting up early anymore. :(