London Olympics 2012

I love the Olympics.  It's full of stories about people reaching for impossible dreams.  I eat that stuff up for breakfast (along with my Olympic-themed Wheaties*).

A few thoughts, in the order in which I watched events:

Opening Ceremonies

Very nice.  I like how they transformed the idyllic agrarian Middle Earth into the Age of Orcs and then forged the One Ring.  Somewhat disappointed that the torch was not lit by Ents.

Also disappointed that Katniss didn't ride out during the Parade of Nations.

And I don't understand why the Opening Ceremonies has commentators.  It's like watching TV with an overly talkative friend that you didn't invite.  I kept expecting to hear Bob Costas munching on chips.

Archery

Never watched Olympics archery before.  Surprisingly satisfying, even though Merida didn't appear and no one split an arrow down the middle (which the movies have taught me happens in all archery tournaments). 

I do wish the event had taken place in Sherwood Forest.

Beach Volleyball

I love that it was someone's job to create a massive sandbox in London.  Hope they let kids play in it when they're done.  Also hope they don't have too many cats around.  Wonder if it's someone's job to clean out that oversized litterbox every morning.

Water Polo

Always disappoints me that water polo doesn't involve swimming horses.  Or (as my Twitter friends suggested) giant seahorses or hippocampi.  Or for an extra dose of danger: kelpies**. 

Skeet Shooting

After hitting 99 out of 100 skeets (best score for any Olympics), gold medal skeet shooter Kim Rhodes said, "Sometimes you just miss."

I kind of want that on a mug.


* Full disclosure: I've never tried Wheaties.
** I mean the murderous water horses of Celtic mythology, not the fluffy puppies.

Olympics

Are you watching the Olympics?

I've developed a real fondness for curling. My husband read me the rules the other night, and I've stayed up until 1am several nights in a row shouting, "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" at the TV.

Considering my aversion to cleaning the house, this isn't a cry commonly heard around here.

I also rather like the biathlon because it's such a random pairing of skills. Kind of like, "Look! I'm good at crocheting and cartwheels! Let's link them together and score it!"

And I love ski cross because it's just crazy: four people flying down the mountain, barely in control, and oh, yes, let's give them poles because clearly, what they were lacking in the snowboarding version of this is weapons.

But what I love most of all is the ice skating.

I think Olympic-level ice skating is one of the primary things that separates humans from other animals. You might find a polar bear sledding down a slope or a penguin practicing a dive, but where in nature do you find a creature strapping a blade of metal to the bottom of his or her paws and then competing to see who twizzles better?

It is such a tremendously unnatural thing to do that I think it is absolutely awesome. Seriously, it's taking something that people aren't designed to be able to do and transforming those unlikely skills into moments of breathtaking beauty.

Really, I find all of the Olympics to be inspiring. Night after night, my TV is filled with images of people who have worked hard to achieve an impossible dream. I love that. I love the reminder that if you work hard and if you believe in yourself (and if you don't break your ankle in a horrific fashion) that you can do what you love on the world stage and create moments of beauty and excitement and joy.

So to everyone out there with an impossible dream... sweep! Sweep! SWEEP!