June 5 - self-portrait

I dyed my hair red for a play when I was a senior in high school. In the almost 30 years since then, my hair has been its natural color SOMETIMES, but for the most part, at least some portion of it has been treated. My mom's theory was always, psh, it'll grow out. So I've gotten to play with my hair a LOT. It's been neon banana, flat black, red, blue, green, pink, purple ...

And I've learned to love the curls that were the bane of my existence in pre-internet times. Thank goodness for the internet's treasure trove of info regarding curly hair.

I mean, I still can't style it for shit, but at least it's not the weirdo picked-out and hair-sprayed coif I rocked (well, Muzaked) in high school.

June 4 - childhood self-portrait

I was in the 4th decade of my life when I discovered roller derby.

Of course, I'd SKATED before. Growing up in Kansas City, I'd attended enough roller skating parties -- for birthdays, church, and school -- that I could even tell you precisely where the blisters would form on my feet.

Eventually, though, people stopped having roller skating parties, and I stopped roller skating. Once I became a grown-up, I'd go skating about once a year, but it got to be too weird being the only childless adult on the floor with a bunch of kids. (Or so it seemed. I realize now that there HAD to have been other adults on the floor with me, but I spent a lot of my life being overly concerned with what other people thought. I wasted a lot of my life being ruled by that. It makes me have regrets, but since all of that brought me to here, I can't be TOO angry.)

In 2012, a co-worker invited a bunch of us to watch her skate in a roller derby bout. Long story short: I went and it changed my life.

Anyway, on Sunday, a group of roller derby skaters (both Fountain City Roller Derby and Kansas City Roller Derby) in Kansas City had an open skate fundraiser to send a team to a national competition.

It was a lot of fun and a perfect place for today's self-portrait, especially since I took it with an instant camera. Modern take on vintage stuff? Yep. Yep yep yep.

June 3 - two self-portraits

I've broken both legs, the left in 2001, the right in 2013, yet these crazy appendages haven't given up on me. They're short and squat and muscular, and they take me all sorts of neat places.

June 2 self-portait

June 1, 2017 - Trying something new

This year, I'm going to take a self-portrait a day.

Not a selfie, but a SELF-PORTRAIT. These are different. IMHO, a selfie shows a time or a place, but a self-portrait conveys emotion.

So, here goes ...

Effing 2017, aka, why the hell not

Look at the history of this blog. There it is the start of every stupid June. I start with the best of intentions. I'm going to try so hard to not hate myself over this.

My first indie

Way back, a long time ago, I was working at the newspaper in Emporia, Kan.
One of my managers there was a movie buff, as was I. I don't know the genesis of his love of movies, but mine was borne of years of watching movies with my dad. When we first got a video cassette recorder, my dad would spend weekends taping old movies and musicals off the local UHF station, so I knew a lot about old movies, and this manager and I bonded quite handily over the escapist entertainment.
However, most of my knowledge and likes were circled around blockbuster movies. Sure, I'd rent the odd movie here and there, if I needed to fill out a "rent three for the price of two" deal or whatever, but mostly, I stuck to blockbusters, even if they were older movies.
One day, though, this manager recommended to me a movie that would change my life: "Strictly Ballroom."
I don't know precisely what it is about this movie that drew me in: the idea that the "ugly duckling" becomes the swan, the thought that the unconventional bucks the system and wins, the dancing, the costumes, the whimsy!
It's one of my guaranteed mood-changing movies. If I'm in a foul mood, I watch it. If I'm in a great mood, this enhances it. I love it!