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Category Archives: Series: My Cinematic Year

Series: My Cinematic Year

My Cinematic Year, Part 6: The romantic epiphany.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Let’s recap: online dating made me miserable. If I logged on to slog through my messages, that only made things worse—the “Now Online!” flag on my profile would send another deluge of messages from every godforsaken corner of humanity, including some along the rather creepy lines of I KNOW YOU’RE THERE. I didn’t feel excited […]

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My Cinematic Year, Part 5: Confessions of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Just a few weeks after announcing my availability to the world on OKCupid, I declared the endeavor a complete disaster and deactivated my account. What went wrong? Let’s review! THEY DIDN’T INTEREST ME This isn’t really anyone’s fault; it’s just the truth. Maybe they were clearly incapable of facing the fact that they were balding, […]

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My Cinematic Year, Part 4: In which the single, cynical protagonist takes a chance … at romance.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

When I decided to return to my hometown for a year to build a roller-derby league, I only really had one social rule: Absolutely No Dating. I had good reason to avoid the dating scene; I had big plans to move to the West Coast once I had gotten rid of almost everything I owned, […]

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My Cinematic Year: The end.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

It all happens so fast. When my derby league is nine months old, I realize my season here is almost over. They’ve grown up now; they can do this themselves. They look to me for reassurance once in a while, but their dependence on me is mostly in their heads. I realize I’m not doing […]

Also filed in Joy, Love. I guess. Hmph., Roller derby, The Journey | | Comments (0)

My Cinematic Year, Part 7: In which the protagonist gets her groove back with a little freakonomics.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

If you like, see also: Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. In dating, you’re considering candidates and choosing the best one you can. In job interviews, the exact same thing is happening. But only in the business world are the economics of this endeavor routinely considered. There’s an anecdote […]

Also filed in Autotrephination, The Journey | | Comments (0)

My cinematic year, part 2: The setting.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

A few days after my new roller-derby league’s first practice at the rink, I moved into my new apartment, a decrepit studio roosted atop the tiny row of shops on Main Street. My mother had been right: it was exactly the sort of outdated decor I’d find endearing, complete with hideous linoleum. (Floral and geometric? […]

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My Cinematic Year, Part 3: The obligatory montage.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

If I knew how we got from there to here, I think I really would write a book about it. But as time has passed, the nights at the rink, the hours of board meetings, the legal paperwork, the radio interviews, and the photo shoots have mushed into a frenetic blur interspersed with beeps from […]

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My Cinematic Year, Part 1: The exposition.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

So, this one time, in March of 2010, I decided to return to my hometown, after residing for years in a much bigger city, to start a roller-derby league. (Ed. note: While a technical grasp of the game isn’t required to read this post, if you’re curious, you can find a quick explanation video here. […]

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