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but thats alright because i love the way you lie
but thats alright because i love the way you lie
07 December 2010 @ 07:16 pm
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): According to some sources, the ancient Greek
philosopher Socrates practiced the art of sculpture as a young man. But
he abandoned it early on, deciding that he wanted to "carve his soul
rather than marble." Can I interest you in turning your attention to that
noble, gritty task, Leo? It would be a fine time to do some intensive soul-
carving. Soul-scouring, too, would be both fun and wise, as well as soul-
etching and soul-emblazoning and soul-accessorizing. I highly recommend
that you enjoy a prolonged phase of renovating and replenishing your
most precious work of art.
philosopher Socrates practiced the art of sculpture as a young man. But
he abandoned it early on, deciding that he wanted to "carve his soul
rather than marble." Can I interest you in turning your attention to that
noble, gritty task, Leo? It would be a fine time to do some intensive soul-
carving. Soul-scouring, too, would be both fun and wise, as well as soul-
etching and soul-emblazoning and soul-accessorizing. I highly recommend
that you enjoy a prolonged phase of renovating and replenishing your
most precious work of art.
optimistic12 August 2008 @ 05:13 pm
I'm on my way out the door to host a viewing party for the final team showdown of the quadrennium at a theater. Yes, I’m that obsessed with gymnastics. Shut up. Anyway, I wanted to get my predictions down before the competition starts. A lot of people are going to be very confused watching tonight's competition because the media has billed the US team as the favorites for gold. They're not. Not by a long shot. Silver? Yes. It is definitely theirs to lose. The gold? That's China's. China starts the competition with at least a 1.8 lead over the US. Throw in the home team bonus, the questionable US scoring on beam during prelims and you'll see that our girls have some ground to make up. Even if they hit cold they'll need a big mistake or two from China to overtake them.
I’m hoping thinking the bronze goes to Russia. They have the skills and the execution, but inconsistency could get in the way. After the heartbreaking way they lost bronze at last year's Worlds (one of their girls bailed on her vault but touched the table earning them a zero and dropping them from third to last in the final rotation) seeing them take back what should have been theirs from Romania would be very, very sweet.
Enjoy the show tonight! After this Olympics the gymnastics code of points will be shifting to reduce the amount of difficulty an athlete can perform during their routines. Thus, tonight is very likely to be the most difficult team final we’ll ever see. A USA upset would be epic.
Current Mood: 
hopeful
hopeful18 July 2008 @ 07:57 pm
Today the US gymnastics team held it's final AA competition. The US team will be named tomorrow night. Shayla Worley will not be among the gymnasts called to compete in Beijing. In warm-ups today she broke her right fibula on balance beam. Shay contributed on bars and floor on the way to a team gold at the last World Championships. She is one of our very best uneven bar workers, known for her artistry and unique routines. Shayla has been one of the USA's shining stars since her days in the junior ranks, her charisma on the floor set her apart from day one. And she deserved the storybook ending after nine years with Jeff Wood as her coach. She's battled with injuries for years, but always managed to fight back. And damn it Shay, it wasn't supposed to end like this. To break her leg at the last qualifier after working through a herniated disk in her back for four years chasing a dream, to have it end in a ranch in the middle of nowhere just blows. I hope she can come back and rock it out in the NCAA (with a good, smart coach).
gloomy21 June 2008 @ 04:40 am
As usual I've been MIA the last few weeks. Who's surprised? No takers, huh? What can I say, you guys are a smart bunch. In my defense it's been a madhouse around here. Two weeks ago I went up to Boston to watch the US Women's Gymnastics Nationals and had a blast. We were there five days and raced around like idiots to cram in as much competition time and sightseeing as possible. Managed to even take a day and skip over to Salem which I have wanted to see for what feels like forever now. We barely got to do half the stuff we wanted to but it really was incredible.
My first actual Nationals and we managed to...
- Walk out onto the competition floor. Yeah, I'm not even kidding. An elevator operator sent us off in search for a bathroom in the restricted event level. Maybe he too thought we looked like gymnasts because we were female and barely out of our teens? Idk, but it was an amazing experience.
- Meet and spend some time talking with our favorite up and coming junior Samantha Shapiro. She was a total sweetheart who seems to enjoy every second of the sport whether it's mounting the floor exercise or chatting about seniors.
- Listen in on some interesting conversations between coaches, athletes, and parents. It was fascinating, all competitions should totally be held in arenas with subway stops directly in front of the building.
- Our last tourist-y stop at Prudential Tower after the meet brought the surreal when I nearly bumped into Marta Karolyi exiting the restroom. We had actually stumbled into the post-meet banquet. In an attempt to avoid feeling like creepy stalkers we decided to leave instead of lingering in front of the elevators. I'm ashamed to admit that I had a hard time convincing myself to do so but knowing that these kids had spent the entire week with people trailing their every step I managed. Although, when we ran into Sam Peszek waiting for someone in the lobby we stopped & chatted with her for a minute. She was totally approachable and personable, lots of charisma and zero shyness there which seems to be rare among elite gymnasts.
I have some pictures from the trip up here, if you are interested.
Also, can I just say that Boston has an incredible amount of gorgeous males? I seriously almost ran off with a mailman my first morning there. I bothered him to confirm some directions and when he turned a pair of golden eyes at me and started speaking with that Boston accent... Yeah. He walked us over to where we were having lunch and I swear if the competition hadn't been about to start I would have taken the offer to disappear with him, clichés be dammed.
( Olympic Trials TONIGHT - Gymnasts & skills to watch for. Also, wherein I predict who will make the Olympic team, possibly making an ass of myself.Collapse )
16 May 2008 @ 01:13 pm
JC texted Gabby yesterday to wish her a Happy B-Day after months of non-existence. When Gabby reminded him that her b-day was actually the 13th, he claimed he had been going through some rough shit that day. At this point Gabby's sitting at the foot of my bed and I'm reading through a recap at this point, mostly ignoring them assuming JC will as usual be an asshat ad get off the phone quickly. Instead Gabby freezes and starts to quiver. I look up intrigued and see that she is trying so hard not to laugh. I quirk an eyebrow in her direction and she gleefully mimes a pregnant belly. Why, yes JC got Brianna pregnant. JC broke up with Brianna and two weeks later took a trip to the doctor that ended with a baby confirmation. Go, JC. Poor child a mom who's barely old enough to vote and a Daddy who spent most of last year in jail.
It shouldn't be funny, it really shouldn't but after everything we've gone through with JC in the last nine years, it's hard not to. Especially bcause the conversation kept diving further into the world of absurd. I'm guessing JC claimed Gabby should know him better than _ (I didn't quite catch what), and Gabby tossed back that she hasn't been sure who he is in a long time. JC got offended and then tried to claim that he's the same guy he used to be with us, and Gabby who was in a call them as I see 'em mood threw back that our JC had gotten lost somewhere along the way, back when he decided drugs were a necessity. JC was not amused, but I was practically cheering since I'm typically the one who calls him on his bullshit.
We called him on the fact that the last time we saw him, he couldn't leave fast enough. It was X-Mas of 2007, we walked over to his place to introduce him to Lilly who was already a month old at that point. He pretty much said hello, stared at us for two minutes and then went inside got his keys and took off. He tried to imply that it was because the baby made things so weird. Well, congrats big boy now you'll have your very own to be frightened by. From that point on the conversation went everywhere and nowhere. From all the ways the friends he left us for betrayed him, where we helpfully pointed out that we tried to warn him, and that not only have we never turned our backs on him but that we'll still drop anything when we hear (typically from someone else) that he may needs us. I think he sort of begun to get it because he actually asked why we still loved him at which point I had to push the phone away and laugh to keep myself from crying. Boys: The Very Definition of Stupid.
This conversation would feel like a huge step forward if not for the fact that I'm positive he was high out of his mind for most of it. Honestly, I wish I didn't remember how amazingly sweet and understanding he was before the drugs, so I could let him go but he truly was one of the best friends I've ever had. The three of us were once a real family and there's no forgetting that. Even just last night once we all got some of that burning resentment off our chests, we settled into us like we were still fifteen and draped all over each other like puppies on Gabby's bunkbed, instead of in our twenties and chatting on speakerphone over a crappy cell phone connection. Saddest part? It was a BLAST. Seriously, we hadn't laughed like that together in ages. Although, I'm so going to kick the bastard extra hard next time I see him for his little nerd comment.
To complete the night, he calls back at three in the morning when Gabby and i have finally gone into our separate rooms and are attempting to sleep. Gabby missed the call and he left a voice mail saying that the guy who partook in most of our teenage fantasies who we saw maybe once a year at church camp. (Yes, we were that cool. Church camp kicked off our summers every year. Shut it, it was a blast as long as you were stealthy enough to sneak out of service.) Gabby listens to it and runs into my room topless and phone-less to make me guess who the f is currently sitting in JC's back seat. I didn't guess it, but I totally screamed when she told me. I coerced her into bringing her cellphone back to my room, so we could call him by promising to ask him some... special questions. It took like seven tries but when I finally get JC on the line Jon Beach is gone. JC gleefully informs me that not only did the sexiest boy in Florida pop up out of nowhere looking to buy drugs (why yes JC, you sure have changed) but he was giving of fruity vibes as well. I'm an ex-cheerleader, I love gay men. They've taught me plenty over the years. But that was so not something I ever needed to hear. I hope he was hallucinating. I'm so going to pretend he was.
It shouldn't be funny, it really shouldn't but after everything we've gone through with JC in the last nine years, it's hard not to. Especially bcause the conversation kept diving further into the world of absurd. I'm guessing JC claimed Gabby should know him better than _ (I didn't quite catch what), and Gabby tossed back that she hasn't been sure who he is in a long time. JC got offended and then tried to claim that he's the same guy he used to be with us, and Gabby who was in a call them as I see 'em mood threw back that our JC had gotten lost somewhere along the way, back when he decided drugs were a necessity. JC was not amused, but I was practically cheering since I'm typically the one who calls him on his bullshit.
We called him on the fact that the last time we saw him, he couldn't leave fast enough. It was X-Mas of 2007, we walked over to his place to introduce him to Lilly who was already a month old at that point. He pretty much said hello, stared at us for two minutes and then went inside got his keys and took off. He tried to imply that it was because the baby made things so weird. Well, congrats big boy now you'll have your very own to be frightened by. From that point on the conversation went everywhere and nowhere. From all the ways the friends he left us for betrayed him, where we helpfully pointed out that we tried to warn him, and that not only have we never turned our backs on him but that we'll still drop anything when we hear (typically from someone else) that he may needs us. I think he sort of begun to get it because he actually asked why we still loved him at which point I had to push the phone away and laugh to keep myself from crying. Boys: The Very Definition of Stupid.
This conversation would feel like a huge step forward if not for the fact that I'm positive he was high out of his mind for most of it. Honestly, I wish I didn't remember how amazingly sweet and understanding he was before the drugs, so I could let him go but he truly was one of the best friends I've ever had. The three of us were once a real family and there's no forgetting that. Even just last night once we all got some of that burning resentment off our chests, we settled into us like we were still fifteen and draped all over each other like puppies on Gabby's bunkbed, instead of in our twenties and chatting on speakerphone over a crappy cell phone connection. Saddest part? It was a BLAST. Seriously, we hadn't laughed like that together in ages. Although, I'm so going to kick the bastard extra hard next time I see him for his little nerd comment.
To complete the night, he calls back at three in the morning when Gabby and i have finally gone into our separate rooms and are attempting to sleep. Gabby missed the call and he left a voice mail saying that the guy who partook in most of our teenage fantasies who we saw maybe once a year at church camp. (Yes, we were that cool. Church camp kicked off our summers every year. Shut it, it was a blast as long as you were stealthy enough to sneak out of service.) Gabby listens to it and runs into my room topless and phone-less to make me guess who the f is currently sitting in JC's back seat. I didn't guess it, but I totally screamed when she told me. I coerced her into bringing her cellphone back to my room, so we could call him by promising to ask him some... special questions. It took like seven tries but when I finally get JC on the line Jon Beach is gone. JC gleefully informs me that not only did the sexiest boy in Florida pop up out of nowhere looking to buy drugs (why yes JC, you sure have changed) but he was giving of fruity vibes as well. I'm an ex-cheerleader, I love gay men. They've taught me plenty over the years. But that was so not something I ever needed to hear. I hope he was hallucinating. I'm so going to pretend he was.
Current Location: Walking w/ Ghosts
Current Mood: 
nostalgic
nostalgic26 April 2008 @ 05:32 pm
Yesterday was an unexpectedly awesome day. I got up early to go see an advisor at school to get my schedule for next semester double checked. Thankfully, everything checked out and provided I don't fail anything I will graduate in December and be a able to transfer elsewhere! Yay. It's such a relieve to see a light at the end of the tunnel even if it could be train depending on how the next school works out. One way or another I'll finally be done with HCC. I feel like I've been there for decades now since I went in as a sixteen year old for dual-enrollment. If you had told me then that those were the good innocent days I would have thought you were insane but four years later and well... just yes. I'm getting a bit ahead of myself though.
After I went to the school, I spent the afternoon running errands with my mom, Gabby, and Lilly. We planned to go to the pool but stuff like pet food, banking, etc. got in the way. By the time we got home it was five already and the NCAA Super Six began at six. Even though it was just a live radio feed I couldn't tear myself away. Gabby and I ended up listening to it outside while letting the kidlets run wild. Getting Ian to stay in out sight-line was a pain in the ass but they all had fun. The babies were adorable hanging out together in the yard. Although, Mariangelie didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as Lilly did. She kept trying to pull the fence over and when that didn't work decided to attempt scaling it. I'm really happy with the final results (Georgia, Utah, Stanford and Florida with the lead medals). I've been a Georgia fan ever since I startexd following college gymnastics but that Under the Lights episode made fall in love with their team so seeing them pull of the impossible was SWEET. "Hell YEAH we can repeat. Is that even a question?" Why yes, Courtney McCool you were 100% correct. And they did it with their biggest star sitting in the sidelines (Kupets sitting out post that tragic Achilles tear). Classy, kids very classy.
Once the meet ended I did some schoolwork I needed out of the way for the upcoming finals hell week. When I was done Gab and I ran up to Wal-mart for stuff we had forgotten on our last trip up there. (Shampoo for me, hair-holders and crib sheets for her.) After that we stopped at Starbucks where the staff tried hard to pretend no to hate us. We came home and sat outside cleaning out my car, to get it done before we head up to WORLDS on Sunday. Daniel and his current girlfriend pulled up behind us and sat in her car for hours. Gabby and I had a blast outside and probable REALLY annoyed them. First up we blared music while we cleaned my car, and then while I tried to clear out the trunk, Gab started trying to clean out Elsie. I thought the stuff that came out of my car was bad but wow Gab has so much in that car its borderline ridiculous. As we cleaned that cars we joked about what must Travis be doing behind his garage door because we could hear him and he never typically works in there with it shut. In other words it was a flood of bad, bad Naked!Travis jokes. You know your life has become a sitcom when your 40+ neighbor becomes an exibisionist. Ugly Naked Guy anyone?
Gabby and I were so hyper off of sugar and music and even togetherness probably that we ended up staging a sword fight with yardsticks all over the cul-de-sac. We were laughing so hard we could barely even fight but it was so much fun anyway. Talk about feeling twelve all over again. We eventually came inside after much more digging through Gabby's trunk where we found treasure. In the form of hundreds of pictures from when we were younger. They went almost as far back as out friendship. Hard to believe it all started in 1999. Puerto Rico really seems like a different life. It was wonderful but yeah, so very surreal to think about now.
There were pictures of our year on Florida, and from camp, from the Angels. Heck, there were pictures from when Gabby was tiny. My favourite shot is probably us standing back-2-back in Jacksonville. I also loved one I had never seen before of Gabby and Cody on a Halloween years ago. They look adorable and happy and soooo young. Hell, really we look young in every shot. Silly, but it had been so many years since we went through those and looking through them know we actually seem so young and innocent and HAPPY. Yeah, we were screwed-up. Every one of our friends was dark and twisty and was hidding a lot more than most would have ever guessed but we really did have a blast together even with all the bullshit. I would love to get all those people in a room one day. God only knows where everyone has ended up though. Gabby also ran into an old diary and read from here and there and wow that was a blast from the past...
It went back to the days when Jason and I where flirting around with each other. She had written down things about the first time he and i kissed that I had long ago forgotten. She had written down all sorts of things actually and it was very cool to go back and remember it all actually. Those day when the youth group was a blast are so far gone that I don't even really remember until we have a day like this. Geez, now that I think about it I think I was only twelve when I was "with" Jason. Crazy.
I'm totally going to do my best to write what I remember before I forget but I have to get through these finals first. I've promised myself to do my best to make this summer count and this LJ is going to reflect that, I hope. Leaving it there for now cause NCAA EF are starting right now. I hope Tasha, Tabby, Ashley, and Katie get their due. I'm going to miss those seniors so much.
After I went to the school, I spent the afternoon running errands with my mom, Gabby, and Lilly. We planned to go to the pool but stuff like pet food, banking, etc. got in the way. By the time we got home it was five already and the NCAA Super Six began at six. Even though it was just a live radio feed I couldn't tear myself away. Gabby and I ended up listening to it outside while letting the kidlets run wild. Getting Ian to stay in out sight-line was a pain in the ass but they all had fun. The babies were adorable hanging out together in the yard. Although, Mariangelie didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as Lilly did. She kept trying to pull the fence over and when that didn't work decided to attempt scaling it. I'm really happy with the final results (Georgia, Utah, Stanford and Florida with the lead medals). I've been a Georgia fan ever since I startexd following college gymnastics but that Under the Lights episode made fall in love with their team so seeing them pull of the impossible was SWEET. "Hell YEAH we can repeat. Is that even a question?" Why yes, Courtney McCool you were 100% correct. And they did it with their biggest star sitting in the sidelines (Kupets sitting out post that tragic Achilles tear). Classy, kids very classy.
Once the meet ended I did some schoolwork I needed out of the way for the upcoming finals hell week. When I was done Gab and I ran up to Wal-mart for stuff we had forgotten on our last trip up there. (Shampoo for me, hair-holders and crib sheets for her.) After that we stopped at Starbucks where the staff tried hard to pretend no to hate us. We came home and sat outside cleaning out my car, to get it done before we head up to WORLDS on Sunday. Daniel and his current girlfriend pulled up behind us and sat in her car for hours. Gabby and I had a blast outside and probable REALLY annoyed them. First up we blared music while we cleaned my car, and then while I tried to clear out the trunk, Gab started trying to clean out Elsie. I thought the stuff that came out of my car was bad but wow Gab has so much in that car its borderline ridiculous. As we cleaned that cars we joked about what must Travis be doing behind his garage door because we could hear him and he never typically works in there with it shut. In other words it was a flood of bad, bad Naked!Travis jokes. You know your life has become a sitcom when your 40+ neighbor becomes an exibisionist. Ugly Naked Guy anyone?
Gabby and I were so hyper off of sugar and music and even togetherness probably that we ended up staging a sword fight with yardsticks all over the cul-de-sac. We were laughing so hard we could barely even fight but it was so much fun anyway. Talk about feeling twelve all over again. We eventually came inside after much more digging through Gabby's trunk where we found treasure. In the form of hundreds of pictures from when we were younger. They went almost as far back as out friendship. Hard to believe it all started in 1999. Puerto Rico really seems like a different life. It was wonderful but yeah, so very surreal to think about now.
There were pictures of our year on Florida, and from camp, from the Angels. Heck, there were pictures from when Gabby was tiny. My favourite shot is probably us standing back-2-back in Jacksonville. I also loved one I had never seen before of Gabby and Cody on a Halloween years ago. They look adorable and happy and soooo young. Hell, really we look young in every shot. Silly, but it had been so many years since we went through those and looking through them know we actually seem so young and innocent and HAPPY. Yeah, we were screwed-up. Every one of our friends was dark and twisty and was hidding a lot more than most would have ever guessed but we really did have a blast together even with all the bullshit. I would love to get all those people in a room one day. God only knows where everyone has ended up though. Gabby also ran into an old diary and read from here and there and wow that was a blast from the past...
It went back to the days when Jason and I where flirting around with each other. She had written down things about the first time he and i kissed that I had long ago forgotten. She had written down all sorts of things actually and it was very cool to go back and remember it all actually. Those day when the youth group was a blast are so far gone that I don't even really remember until we have a day like this. Geez, now that I think about it I think I was only twelve when I was "with" Jason. Crazy.
I'm totally going to do my best to write what I remember before I forget but I have to get through these finals first. I've promised myself to do my best to make this summer count and this LJ is going to reflect that, I hope. Leaving it there for now cause NCAA EF are starting right now. I hope Tasha, Tabby, Ashley, and Katie get their due. I'm going to miss those seniors so much.
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Mia Chirping and Talking
19 April 2008 @ 06:33 pm
A few months back a 101 things to do in 1,001 days meme did the rounds on LJ. I was tempted to play along but I'm the kind of person who does better with short term deadlines. I know that if I give myself 1,001 days I'm likely to forget about it or lose interest eventually. I was considering making a 21 things to do before I turn twenty-one at the end of the summer list. Once I started pulling things from a list of things I want to do before I settle down (that I put together back in 2006 after my trip to Europe that I never posted pictures from) it was hard to stop and I ended up with around eighty entries on my list. I really don't want to cut it back so now my goal is to be able to cross off at least half of these by August 13th. In order to force myself to be more open on LJ, part of the challenge is going to taking the time to sit down and write about my experience for each thing I cross off. I love going back and reading old entries, but I'm typically too lazy/reserved to post regularly and I'd like to change that. My list is after the jump...
Current Mood: 
awake
awakeCurrent Music: Wish You Were Here - MC
19 April 2008 @ 05:58 pm
I went into the movie with reservations because I found both Knocked Up and Superbad lacking. FSM has been getting glowing reviews but the critics were pretty generous with the other two, so that wasn't particularly encouraging either. I'd have skipped the movie altogether with different casting but my love for KB and Mila demanded I see it. It demanded it so loudly, that it's the first movie I have actually seen during opening weekend since god only knows when.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall was surprisingly awesome. The movie was not just funny but also charming and honest. It didn't feel like it was pandering to bring the laughs like Knocked Up often did. I actually missed some lines here and there because I couldn't hear over the laughter (I went to an early showing and the theater was unusually full). What truly made the movie a favorite for me was how refreshingly honest it was. It was easy to identify with all of the major players because not only have we all been there but the movie takes the time to let us see where all of the characters are coming from. We get to see their relationship from both sides which is rare in movies. It's very real in that no one is portrayed as all good or all bad, just as people trying to cope and find their own slice of happiness. The cinematography wasn't outstanding but the cast and the (heavily improvised) script are both so sharp you barely notice.
FSM completely won me over, it's hilarious but it's also genuine. You laugh but you also walk out feeling like you really got to know these people. Knocked Up for me was hilarious but lacked the heart the cast and the writers delivered here.I really don't want to spoil it for anyone so this is all pretty vague but the movie is 100% worth checking out.
Current Mood: 
happy
happyCurrent Music: Bohemian Rhapsody
10 April 2008 @ 08:45 pm
sparklexdreams and elliptica.Current Mood: 
giddy
giddyCurrent Music: Bubbly
