(no subject)

[aslant]

last thursday was our fifth anniversary. we did not get the chance to celebrate -- only a little dinner, since there is not yet a light at the end of the tunnel of exams and research papers.

11 days until i fly to oregon for a week of apartment-hunting and interviews. we are packing up all of our books to send ahead and put into storage. i am looking at bungalows & dreaming about backyards and real porches, little parks and portland cafes.

Comments

[mutable-earth.livejournal.com]

[ happy fifth anniversary, dearest. i love that bungalow. i can just imagine you living there. ]

xo.

[aslant.livejournal.com]

thank you! and sadly, some of the little houses are no-pets. so i'm still looking. but it's at least encouraging that some nice places are available for a decent rent. we pay $1200 here, and i think we can find a comparably-sized place in portland for closer to $1000? keep your fingers crossed for me :)

[brickred.livejournal.com]

those are all adorable. I am full of bungalow envy. I pay $575 plus utilities and parking for a 600+ sq ft apartment. I definitely think you can go closer to $1000. then again, I live in Clackamas. but even my place in NE was just $650, and that included free cable.

what kind of interviews? or rather, interviews at what kind of places?

[aslant.livejournal.com]

i'm hoping to get an informational interview at reed, and potentially also at pacific university (forest grove), psu, pcc, ccc, mhcc, lewis and clark, etc. pretty much anyone i can convince to meet with me!

[kleinekatze.livejournal.com]

isn't it awesome finding places so much bigger than your current for so little money? the housing market in boston compared to portland...i have a five bedroom in SE for $1000.

10 days...

[aslant.livejournal.com]

well, it's not that much cheaper. to get a nice place that's a house, we'll still pay close to what we're paying now. we could get a nice apartment for cheaper, but i'd really love to have a bungalow with a yard. i just refuse to have a crappy postwar construction job with vinyl and carpet flooring -- i want a house with good bones, hardwood floors, maybe a fireplace, and a dishwasher.

(belatedly)

[awayslow.livejournal.com]

happy anniversary! may you have many many more. i feel your pain about not celebrating..s. and i won't be able to (next month), either. &*&$@(879///school.

*sends lovely home vibes*

Re: (belatedly)

[aslant.livejournal.com]

thank you!! and we are both school-widows, i hope your upcoming anniversary is at least relaxing. we may not have been festive, but we at least didn't have to cook that night :)

Re: Roller Derby

[anomalee.livejournal.com]

Hi. My name is Hilary and I've been reading about your broken leg. I have been going to the skate clinincs this year and I was wondering what your overall lasting impression of Roller Derby is? Is it too dangerous? Are you down on the whole concept after all you've been through? I'm sorry to bring up painful memories for you, but it is a serious question for me since I am planning to try out for the team.

Re: Roller Derby

[aslant.livejournal.com]

hi hilary,

i'm so glad my broken leg story is getting out there! i have to say that from reading a few of your entries, it sounds like you are starting with a natural skating skill that i just did not have when i was fresh meat. i am not very athletically inclined, though i was having a TON of fun before i broke my leg. i think playing roller derby (or even just practicing it) is a calculated risk -- there is definitely a lot of injury, and i guess that's something you have to take into account. i don't think derby is too dangerous, i think it is dangerous enough :) i do have really fond memories of getting to know the team in the 2 months i spent with them, though i was really bitter and depressed about my injury -- it took much, much longer to recover than doctors projected, and it kind of fucked up my first semester in grad school.

i guess the biggest thing that i think contributed to my injury was skating on the cambridge rindge latin school gym floor, which is rubberized. it is not like a sport court and not like wooden floors at all -- lots more friction and i think if i had done the exact same suicide drill on a wooden gym floor my ankle would not have been broken, maybe just sprained. at the time i was a little mad that team leaders hadn't made it 100% clear that USARS did not extend to practice spaces other than the massart gym. i had insurance, but it was a bit shocking to think that we were practicing all over the city, on cement, etc, and only one practice space was insured. i think they've fixed that now, but if you only have partial health insurance, it might be worth inquiring.

the bottom line is that i think you'll do a much better job than i did, because i went in with very little skills...i was truly shocked that they picked me to join as fresh meat, and i was honestly the worst skater there! ha. also, i am kind of easily scared -- pushing myself to try derby was big, and i liked the risk, but in hindsight i can see that when i get nervous i have a really hard time remembering skating technique, and that's why my sloppy turn was such a bad idea. maybe that means that i just needed tons more practice before i should have been fresh meat, but really i think it just means i'm not quite enough of a risk taker to be a derby girl. it was a fun experiment, though :) if you feel comfortable on skates and know you have insurance to cover minor to major injuries, go for it! let me know if you have any more questions, i'd be happy to answer them.

best,
jesse.

ps -- how did you find out about my journal? was it from the yahoo group? or did you read about it on mybrokenleg.com first? just curious.

Re: Roller Derby

[anomalee.livejournal.com]

Hey Jesse, Thanks! I feel like it will be so much fun, that it is worth the risk, but I wonder if I'd feel that way after going through what you have. I will probably just go for it. I am always one to count on my luck, but it is sobering: you think, it'll never happen to me, but it did happen to you, so one never knows.

I looked on LJ for all the people who listed Boston Derby Dames as an interest. There are like three.

Re: Roller Derby

[aslant.livejournal.com]

it's definitely an invincibility thing -- nothing can happen to me, until it does! there was one other girl, in the fresh meat cohort before mine, who broke her leg during practice and had even worse surgery -- more pins, more plates, etc. i don't like to compare injuries, though, because as i found out, what seems like a simple broken ankle can be a really complex fracture, and i was lucky enough not to have much soft tissue damage -- that would have been much worse, according to the surgeons. i don't take anything for granted now :)

i hope you have a great time in bdd! i know you'll do great!

(i think most of bdd is on myspace, if you haven't found them already.)

Re: Roller Derby

[aslant.livejournal.com]

ps...it's funny how just as i was reminded of my derby time with your comments, i came across my skates buried in the closet, just yesterday while packing. i also found the laces that the paramedics cut in order to take off my skate, and the fishnets that they cut off in the emergency room...

Re: Roller Derby

[anomalee.livejournal.com]

Wow that must've been a bit traumatic. You're a trooper though. I really appreciate the whole broken leg journal. You've made it through to the other side.

Re: Roller Derby

[(Anonymous)]

ps...it's funny how just as i was reminded of my derby time with your comments, i came across my skates buried in the closet, just yesterday while packing. i also found the laces that the paramedics cut in order to take off my skate, and the fishnets that they cut off in the emergency room...