Tag: women’s gymnastics

Someday Man

Work at home Friday!

I slept really well last night, and even slept a little later this morning than I was expecting to, but I am not going to berate myself over sleeping later than I want/”should”; the new Greg mentality is you slept late because your body needed the sleep and let myself off the hook. Being kinder to myself, along with the new medications, seems to be working. I am not anxious anymore, I don’t get angry–even when I’m driving–and I feel more centered than I have in a very long time. I’m sleeping soundly every night, and while I do tend to get tired in the afternoons at the office, I’m not groggy in the mornings anymore.

A quick look around the news this morning has let me know that the current system being watched by the Hurricane Center will most likely become a tropical depression in the Gulf this weekend, with the cone covering most of the northern Gulf Coast. It will feel like 115 today outside–the dog days of summer are truly upon us now. Football season is rapidly approaching (huzzah!), and soon after the weather will finally start to ease up here. Sha’carri Richardson competes today, and of course, last night the Women’s Gymnastics All Around was quite marvelous, with Simone Biles capturing gold and Suni Lee getting bronze; Rebeca Andrade of Brazil got silver, and the entire competition was exciting down to the last routine. I was also amazed by Andrade’s skills and abilities, and what a beautiful smile she has! Seeing the top three supporting each other and cheering each other one was also fantastic to see; the change in mentality in women’s gymnastics was long overdue. I was so happy and thrilled for them–and I also enjoyed Snoop’s private tour of the Louvre1.

Sigh. I love the Olympics, and become obsessed with them every four years.

I was also, oddly enough, thinking about how cool an Olympic gay rom-com would be last night as I watched, and it occurred to me that maybe I should try writing one? Because, of course, I don’t have a million other things to write when I get the chance, but it’s a fun idea. I really need to work on the book some more, or writing of some kind, any kind, really. I’m getting ideas again– my brain producing characters and stories and scenes and things without, apparently, any rhyme or reason to them. But it feels good to have creative thoughts again, and I need to start turning things into words on the page again. (Hilariously, now that I’ve relieved myself of pressure to write during the Olympics, all I want to do is write. Oy.)

I also need to start reading again. I think I’ll dip my way in again by reading short stories, and since I have some I want to write, perhaps that will inspire me to get back to work on the short stories again. I also need to get better organized (still have NOT made that to-do list). I have a doctor’s appointment after work today, and I might stop at the Fresh Market since I will be right there on the way back. Since it’s going to be so hot outside today, most likely I will not be doing a lot out of the house today. It’s also supposed to rain this afternoon (it’s literally rained every day for weeks), so hopefully I’m not going to get caught up in that, either. Lots of our regular shows have dropped new seasons, also, and we still haven’t finished Evil, and we’re behind on any number of shows airing currently, so once the Olympics are over our entertainment needs will be contained…although we’ll probably watch the games during the day this weekend and watch other stuff at night. We need to finish Evil, too.

Well, sorry for being so tedious this morning! But I am enjoying my coffee, I feel good and awake, and look forward to a productive day. Have a great Friday, I may be back later, and if not, till the morrow, Constant Reader!

Have been a fan of Rafa since he was a teenager. It’s going to be weird not seeing him on the tour anymore. Thanks and best wishes to you for the future, Rafa!
  1. It occurred to me this morning that of course the Right is trying to ruin the Olympics; every single sport shows that white supremacy is a fucking myth. How much do they hate that we have so many racialized athletes that are amongst the best in the world, if not the best? How much do they hate that Snoop and Flavor Flav have become not only national treasures but are winning hearts every time they appear on the television screen? Where are the right wing “celebrities” who are sponsoring athletes or teams? The Olympics rub their faces in their own mediocrity, so of course they have to politicize everything. ↩︎

A Man Without a Dream

Wednesday has rolled around yet again and here we are with Pay the Bills Day again. Woo-hoo! That was sarcasm, by the way; I feel pretty confident that I am not going to be thrilled once I finish paying them this time around. Yay. (It’s one of those times when almost everything is due out of one paycheck. I have a nice cushion from the last one but still.) But I feel good this morning, and even got up without the alarm, which I’d forgotten to set! The lack of alarm obviously surprised Sparky, too, because shortly after I opened my eyes before six, he got into bed with me. When I didn’t react to the paw to my face, he curled up in a cat puddle, sighed, and went to sleep. If I could be certain I’d wake up on my own every morning, I wouldn’t even set the alarm because I feel much more awake and better today than I usually do when the alarm goes off and I hit snooze three or four times. I even stayed up later than usual, to try to catch up on the news. I ran errands after work last night–nothing big, just the mail and a short grocery run–and Paul got home relatively early enough so we could watch the Olympics, but too late for me to make dinner.

And of course, the Olympics were marvelous; it was so great seeing Simone Biles at the top of her game yet again, and the USA with the team gold in Women’s Gymnastics again. When I remember how hopeless we were with both teams back in the 1970s–and any medal seemed like an impossible dream. Now, the silver in 2020 was a “disappointment” because the women are expected to take the team gold every Olympics. It was so great watching them, and I always enjoy the crowd shots of Simone’s NFL player husband, keeping track of the scores so he doesn’t have to wait for the updates! They have a very special relationship, which is great to see. The gymnastics teams really made me happy this year, and I am so proud of them all!

So glad I’m not a sad bitter Christian who wants to eliminate joy from everyone’s life. I love the Olympics, you know? I always have, and one of my favorite things is seeing someone whose been under the radar from public view for their entire athletic career, and then have a shining Olympic moment in the spotlight and become instant stars. We’ve seen that happen already with the men’s gymnastics team; they are all adorable and their joy in winning an Olympic medal will inevitably be one of my favorite moments of these games. And of course, everyone is in love with Stephen Nedoroczik, who’s definitely having a moment, and good for him. (I also remember some athlete saying once that it’s better to win bronze than silver; silver just reminds you that you didn’t win; whereas bronze you’re delighted to have a medal at all.)

After the Olympics, I stayed up longer to watch Pete Buttigieg on Monday’s The Daily Show and the Vice-President’s speech in Atlanta. I thought I was going to regret that this morning, but seriously, so far so good, you know. Paul and I were talking about this during the Olympics; the last week has been the first one in almost a decade in which we weren’t experiencing some kind of existential dread about the future, which is both tiring and tiresome. It’s so nice to have hope again, even if it’s just a quicksilver dream disappearing through my fingers. There’s a lot of work to do, there’s a lot of excitement and optimism, and while I love President Biden and what he has managed, he couldn’t get this kind of excitement going anymore. And I don’t mind being wrong about him stepping aside either–mainly because I was so terrified of what might happen if he did, and despite the fact that it turned out better than I could have ever hoped, the Fucked-up Four (MSNBC, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post) are still on my shit list, and I doubt even the impossible dream of winning control of Congress too could get me to go back to them.

I’ve not really done much writing lately, and I think it’s probably best not to pressure myself too much at this time and look at it as “I’m taking an Olympic sabbatical from writing.” I don’t have a deadline–there are some anthology calls I am thinking about writing something for, but we’ll see how that all works out in the long run. I wanted to submit something to the Malice anthology open call, but the deadline is today and I seriously doubt that anything I have on hand could be punched up, corrected and revised and sent in by midnight. If I didn’t have to go to work today, maybe I could get it done, but I do have to go in and I’m not going to kill myself to write a story for an anthology.I kind of don’t want to ever have to basically kill myself to finish anything on deadline ever again.

And on that note, I am heading into the spice mines. Have a lovely Wednesday, Constant Reader, and I may be back later; you never know!