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Skating Tricks - Pandemic

So it's big a long while since I've posted here. It's just not as fun since I left LiveJournal. A lot of it has to do with the theme options on Blogger, which are next to none and pretty horrible. I simply don't enjoy looking at my own page.

It's been such a long time that a whole pandemic has happened. Once in a century there's a big pandemic, and 2020 is the year my generation got it. Everyone got it, technically, but economically, my generation has been hit the hardest. We graduated during the recession and then we lost all our jobs and businesses because of a super rare pandemic right as we were getting our feet on the ground and making roots. I luckily still have work, but it's with WSU and the Master Gardener program and not with Luci Creative, who I really wanted.

During the beginning of the pandemic, before I started work at WSU, I was really enjoying my free time and making the most out of it (I can't say the same for a lot of other people). I was poling a lot, taking a lot of virtual classes, made myself a whip... I was busy and having a good ole time given the circumstances. Now that I'm working, I'm not really enjoying my time. The best hours of the day are spent shoved up in my bedroom because Kingsley is usually over or my parents are doing some project (or I'm leading a meeting), so I don't get to see or experience any of the nice weather. By the time I'm done with work (which might be as late as 8pm because of the 2 hour time difference), the weather has usually turned south or I'm still wired from work. And since everything is closed and all the things to do are during the daytime hours, I've got nothing to do in the evenings. I feel like all I'm doing is working now and just for the sake of working. I can't even enjoy my introverted free time during this pandemic.

Anyway, one thing I've been working on a lot since this all went down is my inline skating. Ellen from Roll Train started doing Thursday night classes (sometimes Saturdays, too, but rarely), and I'm thoroughly enjoying those. I've also been doing a lot of exploring on YouTube, looking up tricks and tips for rollerblades. I still can't stop at fast speeds, but today I learned that you can do wide slalom skating downhill to decrease your speed both forwards and backwards; and that was really cool to learn.

Some other things I've taught myself how to do:

Forward and backward Gazelles (forward are my favorite, and my right turn is a little sloppy)


Compass spins


Boomerang with spin. In fact...


I made a tutorial on this move because I liked it so much!


I've also gotten better at jumping, going down small drops, regular slaloms, and balancing on both my toes and both heels. AND I took my brake off permanently (mostly because it was worn out), which is a big thing for me! So scary!

Other things I've been working on that I don't quite have yet:
  • Power slides
  • Lemons
  • Spins on both toes or both heels
  • Snake walk
  • One-legged 180s
    Cross-overs
  • Skating in a line/carving
I wish the skate park was open because I want to get better at some things but can't without the right space. I'd also like to try going in the bowl again.

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