Day #9314 - Going for Goals

The Sochi Winter Olympics will soon be coming to a close, and what a ride it has been. I seem to be in the minority of people that absolutely loves the Olympics - especially the winter games - but I always have. When I was little, I probably could have named everyone on the 1992 US figure skating team. I wanted to be Kristi Yamaguchi so bad! I remember in 1996 when Keri Strug landed the vault that won the US's Magnificent Seven team gold in women's gymnastics. I watched Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan in awe in the '98 Nagano games. I became obsessed with curling in '02 Salt Lake, the Italian culture in '06 Turin, spent my 20th birthday watching Michael Phelps win gold in '08 Beijing, sat through a nail-biting USA-Canada hockey final in '10 Vancouver, and fell in love with London (again) in 2012.

For a non-athlete, my life has been influenced and touched by these grand Olympic moments. For these Sochi games, I was particularly struck right away how artistry meets insanity. Think about it. Skiing aerials, moguls, the half-pipe, skating, and plenty more of these events are all a blend of making something look beautiful, easy and pushing the absolute limits of the human body and gravity. I've lost track of the number of times over the past two weeks that I've asked "How can they do that? How is that even possible?"

The answer I've been hearing over and over is consistent: a lot of hard work, plus if there was ever a time to go big, it's the Olympics.

Being exposed to this kind of attitude so often for the last has been good for my writing. Since I only seem to post here once a month, I guess it's update time. The last WIP I mentioned has been set aside for the time being. It wasn't right. As I tried to push that idea, I found there wasn't enough there to make a full story of it right now. It's frustrating - I haven't finished a first draft in quite a while now - but sometimes it's just about timing. Rather than get upset about it, I combed through some of my old files and notes, wanting to write something just for me. I reread an idea I actually spent a few months on last year, still really liked it but now I could now recognize why it didn't work the first time I tried it.

So I've gutted it almost completely, but with some changes right from the start it's completely different. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun writing. I've been going slowly and taking my time but day dreaming a lot, having fun building this world, been putting together a secret Pinterest board, adding to this idea's notebook from last year, the whole works. But the biggest thing has been that I'm keeping this one to myself for now. I'm going big. My characters are doing and saying things I've never tried before. And I have no idea if it's good, but it's finally fun again.

Who knows how it will end up. Maybe I'll hit 10,000 words and freeze up again. But that's okay. Because the goal right now is to keep on writing, and if there was ever a time to do it, it's now.

Day #7292 - The Great 08-08-08

So even though this particular date was a few days ago (my 7,290th to be exact), I still feel as if I should document the occasion in some way.

The biggest deal for me was the fact that two days ago, the games of the 29th Olympiad started. Now for those of you who may not know this about me, I LOVE the Olympics. I love watching the opening ceremonies and seeing what the host country's culture is like and especially the march of nations when all the athletes come together in the spirit of competition. To me, it is progress toward a greater good, however small a step it may be. Plus, there are some really unique things to watch on tv now for the next two weeks, sports that no one ever really notices except for these once every 4 years. So good deal! I love the Olympics.

Earlier in the day I met with Amanda and Elissa about final detals for the apartment - fun times were had and the discussion was lively.

Last night was a mini-Verona reunion bbq. Again, fun times were had and it was nice to hang out with new friends and talk about old times. Plus everyone seems to have liked my lemon jello.

Other than that, I've just been gearing up for this last week before heading back down to school. Today I think I'm going to start tackling the decision of what clothes to bring (which for a girl can be quite a dilemma). I'm really hoping to start the year off on a positive note and stay that way for the semester. I'd really love to make Dean's List again and just remember to stay focused on the things that really matter. And if I'm able to have anything resembling a social or love life, that'd be nice too haha.