So I surf over to the new Houston House of Blues because I hear Ghostland Observatory is playing in October. I’ve only seen them once and that was quite a while ago, so I would love to check them out again soon. Then…what tha…?!?!?! Rick Springfield is going to be at the House of Blues?!?!?! GLO will be around for a while longer, but Rick Springfield…I so need to jump on that. He has got to be second on my freebie list of 80’s rock stars. You know, the freebie list? Not to mention, that concert will be so much more appropriate for a retirement celebration.

When I think of all the sacrifices I have made for derby in the past three years, my stomach tends to trouble me. Currently, I’m making myself sick by conducting the league’s third annual Fan Favorites survey. This year’s survey is churning up the bile because I am paying for it out of my own pocket, I am seeing the responses on a daily basis, and I am fielding random complaints. I did all the same things last year, without the major derby burnout I am experiencing this year. I had no idea this silly little popularity contest would have the potential to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. To circumvent, allow me to vent…

To the people who showed up at Verizon at 7:00 pm on Sunday and were not let in: You should thank Verizon that they didn’t let you catch the anticlimactic end of a bout you are going to see again in September and you already saw last year (who would have thought that hitting the same girls over and over again would cause burnout?). May I suggest next time (September 14, 2008..hint, hint), you buy a ticket online through the Thursday before the bout?

To the person who dislikes obscene gestures: I did not enjoy the gesturing on Sunday either, although for an entirely different reason. Sometimes sports bring out the best in us; sometimes sports bring out the worst in us; sometimes a lot of things go on behind the scenes that affect us either way. I hope our fans (and our league) can focus on the good things. I’ll try to do the same (see, I’m already feeling better from venting).

To the survey takers who have cookies deactivated or deleted: You should make sure your first answers are the ones you truly want, because I delete any responses from duplicate IP addresses. If you are a derby girl, you should be ashamed of voting for yourself or your team as a favorite more than once.

I have so much more I could say, but for now, I’ve done my derby duty and advertised the survey as well as our next bout. I don’t know how much the venting helped, but it might tide me over enough to get through a HaRD Knocks workout in the morning without screaming or crying.

would have a car that astounds the Hyundai dealership with its mechanical issues. Only I could break a car so much that the service department admits to never having seen anything like it. Only I would pay almost as much to get it fixed as I owe on the car. Only I could still love that dinged-up, broken-down car.

or I Can Haz Lead Jammer? or whatever you want to call it…I make the best!

The original LOLCat, in more ways than one but with tons of derby style. Thanks to Kerry McClain for the prettiest derby pics ever and LolCat Builder for making it easy to be witty.

For the past two years, I have complained a bit about the job I am leaving today. I knew within two months of starting the job that this proprietary university mumbo-jumbo was a bad deal, but the pay was decent, the stress was low, and the commute was manageable. So I wasn’t in too big a rush to find something better, and I didn’t want to be back in the situation that forced me into this job. I worked three different permanent jobs in three weeks…yes, that’s a true story.

While I was complaining about my job on a weekly basis, I was also checking Houston-area, Fortune 500 company (preferably oil and gas) websites for open positions that matched my skill set and applying to anything that remotely resembled something I could do. Friends and family kept telling me to get a headhunter, but I knew my pickiness would eventually become an annoyance to anyone who didn’t really understand. In the task of finding a new job, I was able to practice a high degree of patience, and I had faith that it would pay off the way it has. I announced a couple of weeks ago that I was resigning from the second-longest job I have ever had (I stayed at a community college as a cataloger for over three years…I actually loved that place and those people, but it was too far away). What I didn’t say is that I’m going to work for the second-largest oil and gas company in the United States as a Business Analyst in their real estate division. I will be working downtown, but the pay raise, the benefits, the company, and just the overall “betterness” of this job surpass that one negative by miles. Most importantly, my daughter gets to go to “church school”, just like I did.

I plan on setting a record for the longest I have ever stayed at a job. I think it’s about time.

Nice pic, DeMentia!

Nice win, HaRD Knocks!

I just got the news that I will now be one of three captains on the A Team for my rodeo committee. Duties include, but are not limited to, being responsible for a small group of committeeman (making sure they pay their dues, know the team schedule, etc.), being present at all committee and team meetings, and being early on days our team works the rodeo. For the next three years, my gold badge will say “Captain” instead of “Committeeman.” Ooo, the prestige! Ooo, the time commitment…

I have plans to relinguish my other captain duties, so I should be able to handle this. Right? Let’s see…two derby teams, a new job downtown, a kindergartener, and rodeo. It’s a good thing I love everything on that list.

or if you are me, be careful what you talk about. Before the bout Saturday night, I talked about how I am prone to having accidents at home and how I wanted one of our pets to die. Both of those things happened on Sunday. I broke my right pinkie toe again, and I found the psycho hamster dead in her cage. Spooky.

I don’t remember talking about winning the bout, but we did anyway. Yay! Come watch HaRD Knocks win again this Saturday…same Cat time, same Cat channel.

I’m going to Philadelphia to kick some Yankee butt. But first, I’m going down the hall to turn in my resignation. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! Oh HELL YEAH!

I still may have overreacted, but still…

Oh, and it doesn’t stop there…

At that point, it looks like I warned her, but then on second thought, here comes those free lessons in destructive criticism…