Pics from last bout

The Brindabelters



We focused heavily on swarming the opposition, so working really strongly as a pack to shut down the other team



One of my proudest moments - getting the opposition jammer out of bounds all by myself!



Some Surly Griffin elevator doors closing, with me in the middle - ouch!



Super happy FeMaelstrom!

(A big thank you to HeMaelstrom for taking the photos! xx)

A big week

This has been a pretty huge week for me.

On Saturday night my derby team, the Brindabelters, won our bout. It was the first win ever for the Belters, and it was an amazing feeling to be part of that victory. I was really pleased with the way I played. I think we have a very strong blocking team, as well as three pretty outstanding jammers, and ultimately it was our team work that helped to get us over the line. We worked as a very effective pack, swarming the opposition jammer together to shut them down. It’s a lesson I think VRDL taught us very well!

And, as it turns out, that was my last bout with the Brindabelters – because I got a job! I have been offered a permanent job in Fremantle, WA, as the Assistant Curator at Fremantle Prison, a convict-era jail.

This is pretty huge news. It means I’ll be packing up my life in Canberra and moving to WA for the foreseeable future. Luckily not only do they have two derby leagues in the area, but I have a very good friend living there, so at least I will know someone when I get there. C will take a little longer to head over, as he needs to find a decent job first.

And tonight our exhibition opens. I can’t believe how quickly the two years I’ve been working on it has passed, the last 12 months in particular. It feels like such an achievement, and in a way is reminiscent of our victory on Saturday night. Working together, as a team, we have made this happen. It’s not everyone who has the opportunity to work on a multi-million dollar permanent gallery in their career, and I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity.

Leaving Canberra will be sad, but I do feel ready to go. I’m excited about this next stage in my life and career, and feel very positive about how things are at the moment. So tonight, I’ll don a nice frock and stand in the crowds while the VIPs make their speeches and the higher-ups get the praise, but I’ll be holding a glass of champagne, and celebrating every one of my recent victories!

Much better now!

Ok, now I'm over the initial disappointment I am feeling much more positive about everything! This is the perfect excuse to get out of Canberra, which is an exciting prospect in itself. I actually quite like life-changing shifts (as long as nobody dies), though I do struggle to avoid knee-jerk reactions to changes in already established patterns - like C changing jobs, or me having to move desks or something. But I am quite an adaptable person, and I always manage to cope!

I have seen a few curatorial jobs advertised in the last month or so (all outside Canberra, too!), which definitely gives me a sense of hope about staying in the industry. I think the thing that made me feel the most sorry for myself was the idea that I'd invested all this time and energy in a career as a curator and it looked like I might need to quit the industry altogether due to a lack of jobs, but fingers crossed I manage to land something somewhere.

Obviously wherever I end up will have to have a roller derby league, though!

Well, this is fucked

It looks like after five years of on-again off-again romance, my relationaship with the National Museum of Australia is coming to a final and conclusive end.

Due to the wonderful Efficiency Dividend many of the contract staff are not being renewed. This includes me, and, as I learned yesterday, I was also spectacularly unsuccessful in the recent recruitment round, where a lot of us fought over the two jobs they now have available. Not only did I not land one of those two jobs, but my final ranking pretty much puts me out of the running of any additional jobs that might come up.

I feel kind of like I've been dumped. That might sound melodramatic, but let me tell you that for the past five years, ever since starting at the NMA, I have been beating myself against the curatorial door trying to get an in, and I have had absolutely no luck. It's like I only get hired when there's no alternative. Yes, I have worked there for the past 2 years as a curator, but that was a back door position, because they were desperate. But I have not ever actually won a position in Curatorial via recruitment channels.

It feels like perhaps the Universe is trying to send me a message, that I should just give up on this field. Five years is a long time to bust a gut and not be any further along than when you started. There are now people in higher positions than me who have less qualifications and less time in the industry under their belts. I think that, despite being qualified and relatively experienced, it's the luck that I'm lacking.

Anyway the whole situation is fucked. I'm stuck in Canberra, there's no jobs going in this field because the Efficiency Dividend is biting everyone's arses, and there's nothing I can do. This is a town where you're either a Public Servant or you work to serve the Public Servants. I don't think my pride could take stacking shelves at Woollies.

I was thinking I might start a phd, which you need to get anywhere further than entry level in this industry (or at least at the NMA), but if I can't even win an entry level position, it makes me wonder why I'd bother investing in a phd. I already have the Masters, and that doesn't seem to have done me much good. Do I really want to devote 3-4 years to another piece of paper?

But if I let go of the idea of working in this industry, I have no idea where else I'd go, or what other field I'd try to get into. I seem to have the misfortune of actually enjoying what I do, but finding myself unable to do it.

Another derby milestone

Okay, so it's been a while. A lot of shit has gone down since my last post. I'm losing my job in mid-July and frantically trying to find something to replace it with that will make use of my Masters in Museum Studies (rather than packing shelves at Woollies), but the cultural heritage sector in Canberra is looking pretty bleak at the moment, with all other museums and galleries in the same position as the NMA, so it's not looking good.

Plus I've been training my butt off for derby, with 3 training sessions a week. I do enjoy it, but jeez it eats up your life! Still, my attitude is that if this is what's required to be a good derby skater then it's what I'll do. There's a bit of whingeing about it out there, but I feel that if people don't like it they should either quit or switch to casual skater status, and not expect to skip training sessions but still be allowed to bout. Ok, here endeth the rant!

Speaking of derby - I had my first 'big girl' bout on Saturday night, playing to a packed out audience of 1,000 people at Tuggeranong Stadium. My team, the Brindabelters, lost by 3 points, but not before we had to go into overtime because the scores were tied at 98 apiece at full time! It was a nail-bitingly close finish. I thought I'd be gutted and downcast if we lost, but once I got over the initial disappointment I was just so stoked about having played a proper bout and how well we'd actually done as a team!

Can't wait for the next bout - May 28 here we come!

Blooded

It's over - I have made my derby debut! And not only did I not puke on the track as I feared, but I actually performed quite well. In the spirit of Carnival of Carnage, where you give everything a go, I jammed twice, and got lead jammer BOTH times - not to mention nailing a 15-point power jam the first time!




The Chiko Rollers played really well as a team. We were beaten by the Hot Jammer Donuts in our first bout (57-36), but beat the Candy Caners in the second bout 115-33, so were pretty pleased with our performance. I really liked my team, not only on the track but as individuals. I am sad that from now we pretty much all go our separate ways into the League Teams, and won't get to play together again. Boo!

Carnival of Carnage!

Holy crap it's roller derby debut time! On 26 February, after 50 weeks of skating, Fresh Meat 2010 will be making their debuts at the Carnival of Carnage!

This is a low-key, family and friends only event, not open to the general public. It's designed to give us a less intimidating introduction to public bouting.

Because there's so many of us, they've divided us into not the usual two teams (the Hot Jammer Donuts and the Candy Caners), but THREE teams! And I'm a Mexican Chola - I mean, a Chiko Roller! Stoked!

We'll be playing in a round robin-type tournament, so we'll effectively be playing two 30 minute bouts on the night. The winning team will be based on points. I am terrified, and the thought of doing this - especially jamming, whcih we're all going to have a crack at - scares the HELL outta me! But I'm also pumped because I've got a really great team, and hopefully we'll keep it in perspective and just go out there and have fun with it.

I've also been drafted to a proper CRDL league team - I'm a Brindabelter! Admittedly it wasn't my first choice of team, but the girls on the team are all a pretty good bunch, and I have the opportunity to learn from some pretty kick-ass skaters, so I'm actually quite happy about it. Our first public bout will be on April 30th. Not sure if I'll be on the player roster, as we have 16 on the team and you can only field a team of 14 on bout day, but we'll see. Benching would be a pretty good experience too.

Bring on the 2011 tournament!