Burying, Not Beating, Dead Horses

Some quick wrap-ups of old posts I always planned to write:

:: Olympics ::

Wow, so long ago. I never finished watching the Closing Ceremonies all the way through, so I kept putting this one off. Well, no more. I hope everyone was as happy as I that Arakawa won the ladies' gold—she skated beautifully, and I hope helped heal the wounds of the Japanese, since it was their only medal of the entire games. I am glad there is a new world player in figure skating, it sounds like—the very best Japanese skater was too young to attend, so I'm excited to see her in four years—and it won't be just the Russians and the Americans in women's skating all the time. I honestly don't think I could've handled it if Cohen won gold. I try to be a good person and think good things about everyone, but there are those people for whom your good thoughts fail, and for me if she is one of them. She's just never struck me the right way; maybe if I knew her in real life I would love her to death, but then again maybe not.) I would have been so angry if she had won gold and then smugishly declared it was just because she wanted it so bad, or something equally stupid, in reference to accomplishing what Michelle could not. Happily though she fell (oh wow, I am a horrible personfor saying that!), though how she got silver is beyond me; oh well I can handle that. I think it is very interesting that two of the greatest skaters and rivals of their generation, Kwan and Slutskaya, both got silver and bronze but never gold. It is fitting somehow. And, once again, PLEASE get rid of the judges; the way the lady judge simpered over Sasha's performance, flawed as it was, but dismissed the other routines—particularly those by the Japanese—was just sickening. Is she racist, nationalistic, or just very biased when it comes to Sasha? Either way she has to go.

And Apollo, I love you forever! I thought it a fitting end to his Olympic run and his Korean rivalry that he skated a clean race and got gold. I am so proud of him I could still Squee! Hmmm, being cloistered can have its benefits!

The closing ceremonies were okay. The morning deejays the day after had a field day with it, though. And I have to agree with them that the Toronto presentation was everything we were afraid the SLC games would be. Somehow we pullled those off and made them classy; I hope the designers, events planners, and even Mitt Romney got extra kudos for that.

It is always sad to see the olympics end; now we wait for Beijing in two years. Frankly, though, if the Chinese don't stop displacing historical dwellings and thousands of people in their building for the Olympics, it will be tinged very bitter for me. I realize we do it everyday in America, but it is still heartbreaking no matter where or how it happens.

:: Oscars ::

I didn't see it this year, which is sad as I really wanted to judge for myself whether John Stewart could pull it off; now I will never know. (No, I don't have Tivo or whatever, and yes, I realize that I am still living in the stone age. But maybe I like the stone age. Not really, actually.) I used to post a lot on IMDb's site, and I predicted there long ago that it would be down to Corpse Bride, Howl's Moving Castle, and Wallace and Grommet; I am so happy that I was right! Each was good in their own way, and I was proud to make the call on Were-Rabbit winning. I hope it makes up for the fact that they lost a lot of their old props in that horrible fire; if I lost as much of our work as they did, I would be comatose for a week, I think.

:: Laptop Theft ::

Speaking of losing work: my laptop was stolen from a friend's apartment in December. Have I mantioned this already? One of the most horrible things to ever happen to me. Not because of the expense to replace it, but because of the things contained within it that are irreplacable, since I was an idiot and never backed them up. Priceless photos, manga writings, some design work, private writings—I felt like half of my soul was ripped away. It's been a tough road, full of anguish and frustration, but I've learned a lot of tough lessons in the process. So a smalll sliver of a silver lining, but nonetheless one is there.

::

That's all—phew they are over! I can now bury these posts and move onward and upward, excellent.