Tracie's World

It seems that Roller Derby is coming back into vogue again.  According to both "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley", Roller Derby once held a prime spot in the hearts of factory girls everywhere, but then it faded.  Well, it now seems to be making a comeback.  And here in Salt Lake, we even have our own Roller Derby league. So Saturday night, a few of the girls and I decided to go and check it out.  And let's just say it was interesting.  The derby venue is a shipping warehouse in an industrial part of town.  They call it "The Derby Depot".  Despite the seedy location, the place was packed.  And let me tell you, the fans get into it!  They have cowbells, they chant cheers, and they wave their clappers like it's going out of style.  It was all very blue-collar.  Being from the mid-west, I felt mostly in my element. The roller girls are all pretty interesting, too.  They're all tough - throwing blocks and squeezing through na...

Last Sunday during choir practice, our director handed out invitations to a choir party.  This wasn't just any kind of party, either.  It was going to be at a new place in town called The Karaoke Cafe.  Well, let's just say they had me, right then and there.  I do love karaoke, and I don't even have to get drunk to participate.  Just hand me a microphone, and turn on a Karen Carpenter song, and I'm the superstar I always pretended to be. So Friday evening, my pal Marianne and I met up with everyone at the Karaoke Cafe.  And immediately, I was in karaoke heaven.  This is no amateur establishment.  They must have about 5,000 songs to choose from, and there's even a DJ who spins the tunes and calls out the singing order.  And it really is a cafe, so there are burgers and fries and drinks you can order.  I even knocked back a couple of raspberry lemonades. The place was pretty packed, and everyone was really enjoying themselves.  It's...

So I was watching a very old movie the other day (I know - SHOCKER!), and discovered this little gem of a musical number. The movie is called "Sunny Side Up", and this is a number based on a song of the same name. By today's standards, it's totally cheesy. But for 1929, it was a big hit. And the movie's star - Janet Gaynor - was an enormous celebrity, the first-ever Academy Award-winner for Best Actress. Anyway - However you look at it, it's a terrific message in any day and age. I hope you'll take the time to watch it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coiW6qXMQsU     Keep Your Sunny Side Up (Lyrics by Buddy DeSylva) There’s one thing to think of when you’re blue There are others much worse off than you. If a load of trouble should arise Just laugh and say it’s great to be alive! Keep your sunny side up, up Hide the side that gets blue. If you can’t buy lobster and cake You’re in luck, your tummy won’t ache!   So keep your funny side up, up ...

So there's a fitness craze that's been going on for awhile now, called Zumba.  It's based on latin dance moves, and I'm told is very fun and quite the workout.  My good friend Heather even teaches a class for the women in her neighborhood.  Well - it sounded interesting, so when my friend Rosann got it on DVD, I happened to mention that I'd like to try it sometime.  A few weeks ago, she brought it to me to borrow.  Finally this morning, I popped it into the DVD player to give it a shot. I only have a few words to say - what the he-- was I thinking?  First, my instructors were a trio of scantily-clad size 0 types.  And let's just say that size 0 I'm not.  Seriously, is an instructor dressed like a hoochie mama supposed to make me feel inspired?  At least in belly dancing, the whole point of it is that it's done by women with curves.  Then the hoochies went on about how easy it was, and anybody could get the hang of it in just a few simpl...

At work this last week, we've started working on our individual goals for the year.  You know, the ones that talk about what you're going to do to help the company make money this next year.  In a surprise move, this year we were also encouraged to also have a personal goal of some kind.  What to do?  I thought and thought about it.  I could say I'll lose 20 pounds, but since I keep gaining and losing the same six pounds, that seemed a little unrealistic.  I thought about maybe doing a 10K (and by that I mean walking a 10K), but that didn't seem like anything I'd have to work really hard at.  No - it needed to be something that was doable, but would make me stretch a bit. Well, this month's Ensign came along, and I was struck by a particular article that encouraged having a garden.  The article said that even people with limited space, or that live in cities can still have a garden.  Right then and there, I knew I had my goal.  Now, I k...

Recently back from a trip to Tucson to see my brother's family.  Although it was a very quick trip, we had a great time.  It was fun to play with the kids, and read books to them, and great to be able to talk to my brother and sister-in-law.   Knowing my love for old movies, they planned a trip to the Old Tucson Studios.  Many movies and several TV series were filmed there over the years, and it was neat to see the old movie sets, and the props and costumes.  I actually had to have a moment after seeing some dresses that Barbara Stanwyk wore in "The Big Valley".  The Studios have since been turned into a Western Town and Theme Park, and they put on various shows throughout the day.  We rode a steam train around the town, and there was even a gunfight in the street, which my nephew totally loved, especially when one of the actors fell off the roof after being shot by Billy the Kid. After that, we went to Saguaro (Suh-wah-ro) National Park....