hmmm..so you may have noticed that shit all has been happening here on the ol' wallfarmers site and though I could probably just move on without explaining the 3 month vortex that has stopped interviews, shows and reviews.  Well, it goes a little something like this....

Last February, a friend decided to form a roller derby team and with my roller skating + punk background, I was instantly interested. We went to Victoria to see the Eves of Destruction and I fell in love. I had seen derby before and thought it was pretty rad but there was nothing in my town even close to it and I had my hands full with the site and life already, I wasn't about to try and start a team on my own. We had our first skate in April and my days and nights have been consumed by watching bouts online on Derby News Network, reading countless rules and regulations set forth by the Woman's Flat Track Derby Association, studying every move in Bonnie D Stroir's YouTube tutorials and enjoying every second on my new Riedell's.

A few months in, I took a brief break (missed 2 practices) and helped out with an art show in Vancouver. The artists were amazing and their work was stunning but hours into the opening, certain events took the wind out of my sail. To put it lightly, it set me back.

I love what I do and consider myself so fortunate to have the opportunity to work behind the scenes on this site, meet incredible people and be a part of such a unique industry...but all peaches have their bruises and I found a nasty one. This bit really burned me out mentally and I was having a hard time putting energy into interviews and keeping the momentum when I hadn't yet recovered.

Derby continued and though the site was still busy with announcing upcoming shows, the momentum I had for over 2 years was slowing to a crawl. Thankfully, I had some really rad folks submitting articles to the site and that's pretty much the only content that kept it going for a couple months. I've also been stoked to be a part of another 100 Amigos show. The first time I hit a canvas in a really long time so I had a shit ton of fun with that!

I also haven't been completely void of art, in August we went to Seattle Art Museum and saw some really rad shit! Though the featured works were neat, the museum's collection was what really impressed me. The caliber of work that came from the era of wooden underwear to all these post-modern neon Johnsons, just blows my mind. Here's a few shitty cell phone shots...

In August, my site developer, awesome as he is, made some changes and updates that left things mostly paralyzed. I was unable to update images (90% of anything interesting on here comes from photos of art, duh), update shows, insert links and when posting an interview or show review, I was stuck with a blank page. The answer is that I should know more about the back office of the site, not just the updating and fun stuff but I trust my developer and things got worked out in time with some really cool upgrades that I don't really know how to use yet. The important thing is...here I am doing a post with images and with the power of the 'save' button, you'll get to see this in seconds.

Through these simple challenges, wallfarmers quietly turned 3 years old without a show or any hoopla and I am completely okay with it. In our 3rd year, I will be focusing on some of the artists that have continued to support and care for this site and will host 3 fantastic art shows in their honor. I will also be showcasing some of my much loved comic artists and a handful of new artists who continue to amuse me.

As for derby, we are the Dodge City Rollers and they've elected me captain. We start our full scrimmaging season next year and after recently passing the WFTDA skills test, I can't wait to get on the track with some of our newer BC teams.

I hope you continue to engage yourselves and give feedback as you have been over the years. Thank you all for checking in on me and keeping me so exceptionally excited about the boundaries pushed and colouring outside the lines.  You'll be happy to know that interviews have been arranged and good things are rollin'.

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