April 1, 2021

My friend who I wrote about a few days ago, assuming no one would ever read the post did read the post. WHOOPS. She was cool about it though, more bemused and interested than anything else. It's strange to operate in the world under certain rules -- what you can or can't say, do or not do, venture into or not -- and then to find out the rule was arbitrary. A line on a basketball floor rather than a fence. 

I helped someone on my basketball team submit an Individual Artist Fellowship application to the California Arts Council, yesterday. It made me feel good. I really hope she gets the money. 

The roller skating drama has continued. I had a better handle on what I wanted to say about it yesterday. But now it's the morning and I gave blood yesterday afternoon, not feeling up to snuff. But I will do my best anyway. 

I've been thinking maybe the movie there (or just episode of CSI, let's be honest) is a pretty blonde instagram skater is found dead in the rink. There are a lot of suspects. There's the local skaters who she's snubbed or scammed. There's the hockey players, sick of roller skaters taking over the rink. There's the rich neighborhood busybody who's upset about the music getting played in the rink. There's the skater's own Instagram-famous friends who are jealous because their skate pages aren't quite as popular. There's the skater who's signature move the dead skater stole and claimed as her own. 

The detectives would have to make inquiries on a number of lines. They'd try to understand the group dynamics. "Well, there's OG skaters, people who've been skating for a long time; there's the indoor skaters and the outdoor skaters." He puts up a photo representing the crowd for each. "There are the pandemic skaters." "Bandwagon?" "That's right." 

Then there's the breakdown along identity: race and ethnicity. Latinas passing for white and getting the same gigs as the white girls. Light skin vs dark. Gender and sexuality. And of course who you support vs not support. Who do you talk to on the rink. Who who you put in your videos. 

I admit my CSI episode is not the most sensitive way of handling this story line. It came to mind because there's so many possibilities for conflict, so many lines of division. So you could write it with a lot of suspects in frame, all coming from a different POV. Wanting the skater dead for a different reason. 

Man, I finished Louis Theroux's book Gotta Get Theroux This several days ago but still haven't written my Book Log (BLog) about it. Stuff's been coming up. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will dedicate the post to Louis Theroux. 

Happy April!