Reason #457 Why I Heart PDX: Roller Derby

Two years ago I hopped on a plane and flew out to Portland with my mom's credit card, a place to stay for the weekend, and a job interview. The stars were aligned in my favor. On Thursday, I was offered the job. On Saturday I found a place to live. On Sunday I moved in--and crashed the moving van into the neighbor's car, indebting myself to him for $700. On Monday I started my job (on the same day President Obama started his!). Two years later, I'm still paying off my Mom's credit card. Ugh.

I love living in this city. I had long suspected, since attending grad school in St. Louis, that Portland would be a good fit. The only downside is that my family is so far away. :( Otherwise, this city is simply wonderful--good food, great beer and wine, lively arts scene, lots of dancing, amazing natural scenery, quirkiness in abundance, and a "whatever floats your boat" attitude. There's always something whacky going on. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I came home from my West Coast Swing dance class and announced to Dylan, "Portland has a roller derby team, and this weekend they're playing Detroit!" Dylan immediately went online and bought tickets. I love him so much. :) And so we went to see the Rose City Rollers destroy the Detroit Derby Girls (sorry, D-town, Portland feels like home now. And it would have been so depressing to be rooting for you.) I only had my phone with me, so here's what I managed to capture:

 

The idea behind roller derby is that each team has one "jammer" whose goal is to pass the other team's players. The rest of the skaters play defense, trying to create pathways for their own jammer and to block the other team's jammer. 

What you end up seeing is tough women in spandex skating like demons, elbowing their way through packs of wide-hipped defenders. It was a riot to root for our favorite jammers and get caught up in the crowd's energy! Definitely planning on going again, but with a crowd of people so we can all drink PBR (j/k, j/k) and scream our heads off for "White Flight," Portland's baddest-ass jammer.