Month: February 2006

That Shaun White on the medal stand. His face! He just looked like such a little boy to have achieved this thing — this extraordinary thing. There was one moment as the anthem played where his face went from awe to glee — complete, utter, this-is-the-best-Christmas-ever GLEE! Then seconds later, his face was in his hands, overcome, overwhelmed.

The moment was simply left alone, allowed to be BEAUTIFUL, and it was.

Congratulations, kid.

(He’s from my necka the woods. Can I please say I know him?)

Chad Hedrick, USA. He used to be an inline skater. He recently switched to speed skating and now hopes to win gold here. I’m only commenting on this because of the cheesy, manufactured drama injected into his “backstory” tonight:

He cried earlier today because, well, it’s the anniversary of the death of his best friend, his biggest supporter.

Yes, people, THIRTEEN years ago today, GAMMY died. HOW can he go on?? HOW will he even see the track through his red, Gammy-puffed eyes??

I swear. If he wins and says he felt Gammy’s presence, I will hurl all night and I will still not feel purged.

UPDATE: He won. And he said it: “I know she was looking down.” She died of “bane cancer,” according to Chad. And afterwards, he had to talk even more of how he cried, egged on by the reporter, of course.

I hate this kind of manipulation. Deeply. Can the event not be allowed to have DRAMA on its own?? Must everything turn into a wretched Hallmark Hall of Fame movie?? The very fiber of competition IS drama. But it’s not enough anymore. Any little maudlin bit that CAN be added, WILL be added, crammed into our hearts by whatever means necessary. And the more it shouts at us HOW to feel, the less we’re actually capable of feeling. Genuine, spontaneous emotion is stolen, replaced with showy, clanging fakery.

I remember my drama professor in college teaching me this very principle. I was in “The Fantasticks,” a show with a potentially tear-jerker ending. My leading man and I were prancing about, messily emoting — ACTING, dammit! — and my professor, from the dark at the back of the theatre, in a giant, you-will-NOT-question-me voice, boomed, “STOP THAT!! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!!” We stopped. We were scared. (Well, actually, I wasn’t that scared yet because I was sure it was my putzy leading man, screwing up somehow. It certainly wasn’t ME. I was brilliant. I mean, I was crying with the emotion of it all! It was sheer liquid poetry! SEE how REAL I am?? Wait. Hold on a sec. Here’s some even BIGGER tears!)

But my professor strode up the aisle — it seemed in one colossal step — and stood before both of us, eyes blazing: “When you cry and emote and ACT like that, you alienate the audience. You take their feelings away from them because they are too busy watching you SHOW yours. You rob them of something priceless — the right to decide how to feel. It’s not that you don’t emote,” he said, “but you don’t beat them about the head with it, for God’s sake!”

Then he said this: “Simplicity, kids. SIMPLICITY.”

See? The same thing is at work here. Let the event — skating, skiing, bobsledding, whatever — play itself out. It has dignity of its own; it has a DRAMA of its own. Don’t decide for the audience how they MUST feel. It’s condescending. It’s thievery, really. I hate it. And when you “beat them about the head with it,” they’ll end up feeling NOTHING.

DON’T — as my brilliant, now departed professor said — rob them of something priceless — the right to decide how to feel.

Skating to “Kashmir.” He’s wearing The Dreaded Onesie. Come ON, China!! This practically classifies as a human rights violation. Two words: PANTS. TOPS.

But the music almost makes up for it. For the jagged, sparkly awfulness of their costumes.

They’re just ehh.

….. just hear Dick Button say, “She didn’t stick her fanny out”???

I didn’t notice whether it was IN or OUT.

(And I call myself a figure skating fan.)

At one point during this day — this first day of Olympic competition with which I get a little carried away — My Beloved and I had a moment. You know what I mean, right? Those little moments? Moments, that if not handled deftly, can drag into longer and longer moments that stretch into a full-blown rowdydow??

I know this will SHOCK, but I was being annoying, vexing, even. But I am blessed with a husband with great — GREAT — reserves of patience and humour. And thankfully — oh! so thankfully! — most of our moments are short-circuited when one of us makes a crack and we’re too busy laughing to continue the squabbling. So today, I said the stupid thing I said and he paused for a moment.

Then, as if irritated by THE WORST CHORE EVER:

“HOW much longer do we have to live?? DAMN!!

He kills me.

Chinese pair 1:

Pang and Tong. They skate slowly. He appears to be sporting the dreaded skater onesie. At least it’s black, and NOT skater blue:

Dick Button sniffs at their efforts. Sandra Bezic condescends at the end, “That was the best they could do.”

So, of course, they move ahead of our pair — our throw-triple-axel-landing pair.

Chinese pair 2:

They were considered gold medal favorites — that is, until he tore his Achilles not too long ago. They skate. They bore. Me, at least. I think they end up in second. Luckily for him, Achilles does NOT dust the ice with his arse.

Did ya see that throw triple axel our skating pair landed tonight?? First one ever in Olympic history!!

Dick Button literally gushed: “Ohhhh!! What a special, SPECIAL moment!”

Then later: “A DELICIOUS moment!!”

That Dick Button is a manly fellow.

But yes, it was yummy. Just scrummy.

I woke up this morning ….. and my hair looked like David Lee Roth’s.

Might as well jump, Tracey.

Might as well JUMP.

My blog friend Lauren found this in her email this morning:

Lauren-
Over the past month, I have had many people email me about how your blog doesn’t fit in with one of a Christian nature and so I have removed your site from my main blog. I have continued to bookmark it for personal viewing.

The majority of the email noted that while you do post occasionally on Christian concerns, the majority of your blog is more about your own life and your past. You have such a talent that could be used to the real greater glory of God.

I also request that you remove mention of my blog on your site as well. My readers tell me that our sites are not compatible one to the other. I have been getting a lot of heat from my conservative base.

THIS ABSOLUTELY ENRAGES ME!! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY????

I commented — sputteringly — over on her blog with this:

Lauren — I’m sick, SICK about this.

This person shows more concern about his/her “conservative base” than extending GRACE. This person (also) displays an inability to think independently, basing decisions solely on what others think. There is no mention of a personal opinion here, just “heat” from readers. I’m sorry. I call that cowardice.

Oh, wait. Let’s not forget — you’re still bookmarked for “personal viewing.” How GENEROUS. So lemme get this straight. Publicly, you’ll be denied and rejected under pressures from others, but privately — what? You’ll still be the guilty little pleasure?? Privately, you’ll still be considered a friend?? WOW. Sounds vaguely familiar.

Why bother reading her at all, friend? You won’t stick up for her publicly — (*cough* Peter *cough) — but you’ll love her privately?!

You sicken me. I sound uncharitable, I know, but I AM PISSED FOR LAUREN! And yes, I used the word “pissed.”

Guess I’m going to hell. Or worse, I won’t be on YOUR blogroll.

BUT …. here are some portions of Lauren’s more charitable, thoughtful response (emphasis mine):

I believe that I am being used of God in this blog, to show love, grace, understanding, and non-judgmentalism. Most importantly I want the unsaved, my “non-conservative readers,” to spend time here at Created for HIS Glory and come away with the realization that God loves those He created. He does not require us to get our lives on the right track before he saves us. My past is proof that God is the One who pulls us from the muck and mire and sets us on His firm foundation where He cleanses us of our sin, removes our own self-righteousness which He calls filthy rags, and clothes us in His righteousness.

(…..)

Jesus is Lord, I am not ashamed of Him and He is not ashamed of me. In fact, if Jesus had a blogroll I’d be on it, and so would you. How appalled your conservative base would be over that fact.

If you had said that I write about blog design and do too many meme’s, I would have agreed with you and felt none the worse for your link removal request. But the words you wrote in this email actually question my Christianity and my use of my God-given gifts and abilities. I think you crossed a line you shouldn’t have.

I am making the words of the email, but not your name, public because I want to ask my readers to pray for you. You are in ministry and with an attitude like this you may be hindering the kingdom of God much more than you are building it.


GO, LAUREN!!!