Nicole & The Roller Derby

One of my closest girlfriends, Nicole, came out last month to visit us for the second time. She just finished her second year of physical therapy school at Northwestern and made a quick trip out to Cali before heading off to her first clinical (in Little Rock!).

Since we've been living in the same place for over 2 years now, we've gotten to know our neighbors relatively well; nevertheless, we were a bit surprised by their random offer to attend the roller derby with them. Yes, there are actual roller derby leagues around and hardcore fans haha

It was the championship match and we were cheering on the underdogs, the Berkeley Resistance. I only sort of understand how the derby is scored but I did learn a few things about how to best experience the event: (1) sit as close to the track as possible, (2) pick the team with the most tattoos and outrageous outfits, (3) grab a beer and (4) focus on the girl with the star on her helmet, she's the one who scores points for each team. Other than that, if you go to a roller derby, you're on your own ;)

We were all newbies but found the whole thing very entertaining.

(phone pic, sorry it's such bad quality) Nicole never knows what we're going to make her do when she comes to visit but she's always game for anything.

It's great having people come visit again - the first visit is always crammed with Berkeley touring and SF sightseeing. If you come out again you can see how we really live - hanging out at the park, eating at new restaurants, finding new and random events to attend, playing Wii (Nicole and I beat Andrew on a number of occasions! yay!) and generally just trying to enjoy each day.

I'm not sure if I'll make it to Little Rock but I can't wait to get back to Chicago - it's my turn to go see Nicole now!