Life as a Hobbit

  I joined Vette City Roller Derby in 2009, when I still lived in the backwater of Bowling Green, KY.  Best thing that ever happened to me in BG was when some Corvettes fell into a sinkhole.  No, I mean, when I joined roller derby.  I did not learn that exercise or even sports could be fun until I was on roller skates. When I picked a place to live and work in New Zealand I created a map of the active roller derby leagues in the country, so that when I landed I would have a built-in group of humans I could count on to chat about at least this one super specific topic. DED, Christchurch's roller derby team welcomed me right away.  Yes their practice space is sometimes bitter cold, yes their officials crew has a long shared history, yes I'm the go-to person to ask questions about American political WTF-ery, but they're not clique-y, they value my ref skills, and they treat me as part of the team.  This is the antidote to some toxic and chilly-ass roller derby...

  Display text reads: "Pupurangi pride. These giant flesh eating snails are as unique to Aotearoa as kiwi, but with a perhaps understandably lower profile.  They feast on invertebrates like earthworms and grow huge - the largest specimens weigh as much as a tui.  In prehistoric Aotearoa their main predator was the weka, but now possums, rats, pigs, and even hedgehogs hunt them out for a protein-rich snack." Listen to this unexpectedly spicy narration from the Auckland Museum's wonderful Queerseum tour, where you get to know a lot about snail sex--you didn't even know what you didn't know about snail sex.  I strongly urge you to listen to this audio clip, because if you don't you will be missing the context for the phrase " emerging like a windsock from my well-lubed foot." From Te Papa in Wellington: Super-sucky snails. These giant meat eaters can suck up whole earthworms like spaghetti, using their rasping niho, teeth. Pupu rangi (tauira) - Giant l...

July 28-August 10 Timetable: Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Chi --> ChCh ChCh --> Wellington Wellington Wellington -> ChCh ChCh --> Greymouth Greymouth --> Arthur Arthu --> ChCh ChCh --> Stewart Island Stewart/Ulva Stewart --> ChCh ChCh ChCh ChCh --> Chi July 29th Mon  Recovery day B arrived. The traditional presentation of the local transit card was made. Six months was a long time too go without those really good hugs. Piwakawaka guards your transit funds. Sumner on a cloudy evening - The very steep Flower Trail (thus kicking off one theme of the trip "stairs." Only rained on a little. Spicy cold noodles made with love the day before in anticipation of Brennan's arrival. Brennan's notes: Excavator moving rocks one at a time onto the beach.  Exposition on the ubiquity of public restrooms in NZ. [I touted the ease of toileting in NZ, copious and often quite clean public restrooms.  This was demonstrated by toilets at Sumner's wee park, ...