Olympic musings / catbird seat & magic pen / writing / family

[oiran]

That Michael Phelps looks like someone drawn by Shiuko Kano. Little, pointy-chinned head on a broad-shouldered, elongated (sexy) body. She's far from my favorite mangaka - one of the reasons being that I was under the impression that her renditions of the male form were particularly distanced from reality. Apparently, she's been watching a lot more swim meets than I have...

I have Olympic fever. Sort of. I especially love the summer Olympics, as the sports tend to be even more body-specific than the winter games. I am not necessarily cheering for the U.S., though. My choice of favorites is most definitely based on their attitude as well as their performance.

I love watching gymnastics, both male and female. The men are actually more interesting overall to me these days, since their routines are free of clumsy "dance" flourishes. Do they even use music with their floor routines? I don't recall hearing it in the recent telecasts. When I was very young, i.e., the 1970s, female gymnasts were much more graceful than the latest bunch--although their acrobatic/strength skills were nowhere near what you see now. I was good friends with a world-class gymnast and her twin sister (also a gymast) for a couple of years, and I was fascinated with their grace and strength. That godawful Mary Lou Retton with her fireplug figure and Hulk-like muscling through every routine as if it were a battle seemed to turn the tides of women's gymnastics such that it remains a fight instead of a flow.

Except for the Chinese team. Damn, those girls are cute! And talented! And graceful! Also, they are the only women smiling and having fun. The US and Roumanian teams are dour and tense. The Chinese are giggly and gleaming. So, yeah, I guess I'm kind of rooting for the Chinese here post-prelims. But I like the US men's gymnastics team, so I'm not totally unpatriotic.

I was happy the US men's basketball team lost. What a bunch of pouty thugs! And Puerto Rico kicked their not-really-entitled asses. It was beautiful to see.

Looking forward to women's track & field and seeing Amy Acuff in action. I'd never heard of her until a NYTimes article about all the Olympians posing for Playboy...and she has what I think is the perfect body. Long, lean, but still girl-shaped. I want to see her in motion now.

~~~

New toys [to keep my head expanding]: Mr. Glove decided we needed new stuff, and who am I to disagree? I now have a new desk chair, to replace the 12-year-old number with the foam-spitting seat cushion. This is a drafting chair, very tall, with a footrest, since my "desk" is of a non-standard height. Also, a special treat: digitizing tablet!!!! The pen is a bit strange to get used to, but I think it will be a hell of a lot of fun and, of course, a big help with actual drawing vs. "collage" work in Photoshop. Up until now, I've done all my digital artwork with a trackball (!!), so I'm expecting great things from myself.

~~~

I wrote! Only about four paragraphs, and only via a sort of stealth not-noticing-what-I'm-doing technique, but I wrote!

~~~

I spoke to my mother and father for the first time in...eight months. They are still exactly who they've always been, and they still have no understanding of why I am upset with the way they handle (or, rather, avoid handling) things. Mr. Glove thinks that I seem less depressed after talking to them, though I don't know that I'd agree that what I'm less of is depressed. I feel less of...something else. I can't quite identify the feeling, but it's not depression that seems lifted to me. Anyway. And now I finally know: my mother isn't dying. She just had several weird/gross health issues that she is blaming on "heat," though I'd blame them on smoking and malnutrition.

I am too old to care so much about the way my parents treat me, or so I try to convince myself. I mean, I'm old enough that I could theoretically have my own teenage child who hates me and thinks I've ruined their life. I need to stop being one, yes?

Comments

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

i have missed you. *hugs*

i usually love the olympic swimming too, but i am disheartened this year with all the full body-covering suit things going on. i mean, um, athleticism, yay! but i need my torso fix, guys.

and then there's the synchronized diving. guh.

i have always admired gymnasts. they do all that stuff under their own power, you know? it's like the ultimate independence. screw you, gravity! *triple twisting layout backflip* but i do miss the grace in the floor exercise. even the ribbons and hoops are too rehearsed. i mean of course they're rehearsed, but they don't have to look that way.

say hi to misterglove for me, please? and please tell us more about the new toy. i've always been curious about those tablet things.

i am blaming any incoherence in this comment on my cold, despite the fact that i have not taken any drugs. yet.

[angryhamster.livejournal.com]

those tablets are the bees knees. you wont have it a week before you'll be wondering how you ever managed without it. which one did you get?

[fleegull.livejournal.com]

Men do not use music in their floor exercises. My cousin used to date a world class gymnast - on the trampoline. The poor guy never got to compete in the Olympics because by the time it became an Olympic sport, he was too old. He did help coach some of the women that have competed.

I enjoy watching the gymnasts - to a point. I prefer watching the men because I think that their bodies recover better from all the traning after they retire than the women who seem to end up riddled with early arthritis and totally screwed up reproductive systems.

[miella]

I was just pondering the fact that my allegiance varies depending on the sport. I tend to root for Aussie swimmers, anyone-but-the-US in basketball, and a wide variety in gymnastics and diving. Of course, in the winter, I'm often all about the Canadians. A lot of it is attitude-based, I know. It's often shaped by root-against-that-one for lousy attitudes. I want them to be having fun and pleased to be there, you know? Mostly, I am sad that I have to be at work and therefore can't do a full-day marathon of Olympics. I must content myself with the evening hours. *g*

Oh, and, I'm also sad at the lack of gracefulness in women's gymnastics these days. It can be so *pretty* when given the opportunity.

[littlebad.livejournal.com]

'fraid to point this out but the teenage years don't stop at 19, they may go away for a while so you can pretend to be a grown-up but in my case came back in my 30s and now at 42 and a half are still there! My brothers are all in their 50s and are still pretty juvenile. But then a good side to this is that my 16 year old nephew thinks I'm really cool!

[fleegull.livejournal.com]

I know it's jingoistic, but I'm all about rooting for the USA, it's my country, I love it and I make no bones about it. I love the idea of all these countries agreeing to set aside their differences and just compete based on their love of the sport and I think that is a beautiful thing to witness on its own. But as for who I'm going to root for - it's the USA, no contest.

ALthough, the Dream Team getting it's ass handed to it by Puerto Rico is endlessly amusing, of course the fact that the USA team is made up of a lot of players from the Lakers and I HATE THE LAKERS, doesn't hurt one bit. Also, because I'm Puerto Rican, I can totally say this, getting beat by the PR's is like having your mentally retarded step brother beat you at checkers.

[oehel.livejournal.com]

Yay Olympics! I like watching swimming, because well, it's pretty. Like diving. Yes.
Tablets are great fun, aren't they? I love them so much. :)
Wait, trackball? Those little swirly ball things that come on laptops? Woah. That's amazing! I can't even use those as a regular mouse...