Let's Talk About Figure Skating!

Well, folks, I'm sorry to have to be the one to say this, but . . . men's figure skating is terrible these days. I didn't even want to watch it after a while, and I LOVE figure skating. Simply love it.

But the men's programs are bad. Apparently, there's more artistry now, but my question is, when did artistry become wrist flips, head tosses, and yes -- pelvic thrusts? In my mind, artistry in figure skating means some fancy footwork, long and graceful movements, and a nice spin. Part of the reason I loved men's skating is because the men had jumps that were just explosive. It used to be that when you watched men's figure skating, you were in for jump after jump!

And the music? And the costumes? What is with the gloves and the lace and the frills and the deep necklines? Oy.


On the other hand. There's apparently more artistry in pair skating, too, now, which I more than like. It's lovely to see the pairs actually skate together, and not just in sync with each other. I especially liked watching this Canadian couple this year.

I only hope that ladies' figure skating has changed for the better as well. We shall see . . .


Thing I'm thankful for: laughing.

Fortune Cookies Stink

My fortune did not come true. To add insult to injury, I had another fortune cookie this weekend that didn't even have a fortune inside, and my roommate had two!

Good riddance to bad rubbish.


Thing I'm thankful for: fresh produce!

My Fortune

Tonight while I was cleaning out my purse, I found a fortune I got in a Thai restaurant last month. Here is what it said:

Your dearest wish will come
true within the month!

Can you believe it?!? By my calculations, I got this fortune on January 13th! You know what that means . . . By Valentine's Day, I will love someone, and he will love me back! ;)

Note: The more important thing might be that my fortune cookie actually had a real fortune in it! When does that happen anymore???


Thing I'm thankful for: Quiet nights at home and rain falling softly on my windows at night. Methinks it's time to listen to a little Rupert Hine . . .

Growing Up

The good thing about being 28 and a half is that it reminds me how close I am to being 30.

For whatever reason, 30 seems to be a great demarcation in life. People are no longer excused from immaturity or bad behavior. "In your twenties," sounds a lot younger than "in your thirties." At 30, you're supposed to have done something with your life. Career-wise, you're supposed to know what you want to do, you're supposed to be married or dating somebody, and you're supposed to have things going on.

Perhaps that's just the way I see 30, but I don't think it's just me. I think it's everyone. In the United States, anyway. So I'm using this seemingly arbitrary age of adulthood as a way to get me moving this year. I'm a big believer in action, though I feel I haven't really done much since I was 24. But the next year and a half . . . It's gonna be different. I'm going to create habits now that I should've years ago, so that when I turn 30, I won't feel like saying, "Agh! I'm 30! What have I done with my life?!?"

Here's what I'm going to do to make that happen:

• Exercise regularly. I mean, really regularly, like training-for-a-marathon regularly.
• Wash my makeup off every night. It's amazing that I get away with this. Maybe it's because I don't wear much makeup.
• Eat meat sparingly.
• Get in control of my finances. The kind of control where my money is working for me.
• Minimize. Everything. Debt, clutter, fat, and things I have but don't need.
• Volunteer. I'm not okay with just giving a smile or a listening ear, anymore. Those are soft acts of service that honestly, I think I'm fairly good at. I need to start helping people in need of food, shelter, and education.

I think I'm doing good already, in fact. I signed up for a volunteer activity this week, and when I got home today, I wrote this reminder on my bathroom mirror with a dry-erase marker: "Don't idle away your time!"

Here's to an excellent year and a half!

Readers, what habits do YOU want to form?


Thing I'm thankful for: a job. A job, a job, a job. It can't be said enough.