saturday, 16 september, 2000

Reading: If I'd Killed Him When I Met Him.... A throwaway mystery by Sharyn McCrumb. This book is annoying me, though. There is a character in it, a female attorney, who does not want to be known as Amy, so her professional name is A.P. Hill. Except that every time she says anything, McCrumb refers to her as "A.P. Hill." Not just Hill, or A.P., or whatever, but her full name. So it's: "Hello," said Bill. "What?" asked A.P. Hill. It's annoying me. There's a note in the front of the book about the title. McCrumb thanks a friend for it, who said she over heard it in a battered women's shelter: If I'd killed him when I met him, I'd be out of prison by now. Watching: Women's water polo on MSNBC, because NBC is insisting on showing a college football game. I know that college football is important and all, but the Olympics should take precedent, IMHO. I want my Olympics, and I want them now, so I guess I have to take what I can get. I also took Headline News out of the channels on my VCR so that I won't scroll through it, because I already found out some swimming results that I didn't want to know. Killjoys. Anticipating: Deadline, the new NBC drama starring Oliver Platt. I'm sure Kate is right there with me; we kind of have a thing for the big guy. {--} And do as adversaries do in law; strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends. -- Shakespeare {--} Link of the Day: KissThisGuy.com: The Archive of Misheard Lyrics. My god, this is funny. Just go and click on Random Lyric a few times. The things people hear.

Okay, so here we go with the semi-new look. It's reworked from last summer's Gracefully design, because I really missed the sidebar action. But it is, like everything else here, a work in progress. I was just getting tired of looking at the words "bar exam" on the home page every time, so I made a new title image, and made some new links, but I haven't really tied everything together yet. I really am going to find some graphics and whatnot, but I get very easily overwhelmed when I go to those free graphic sites. Every link opens a new window and sometimes I swear they open themselves. Before I know it, I have a whole taskbar full of little windows and I can't remember where anything is and I find myself shutting the whole computer off in defiance and crawling in bed with a book. So. Once I get that under control, you'll see a background or a border or something. {--}     {--}     {--} It's official: I have me one baaaad case of Olympic Fever. I have been an Olympic geek as long as I can remember, which is rather odd for someone who has not one athletic bone in her body. While I have slight memories of the 1980 Winter Olympics, and the fact that we boycotted the summer games, the ones from 1984 are the ones that really drew me in. I remember the summer especially, what with Mary Lou Retton and Mitch Gaylord. I also remember eating at McDonald's all the freakin' time, because they had that scratch-off medal game, and the U.S. kept winning everything since all the Communists boycotted. Anyway, I watched every minute of the opening ceremonies last night, and enjoyed every minute, to tell you the truth. I know everyone is saying they were cheesy, but I thought it was great. That girl was adorable, seeming completely at home in front of 100,000 and a few billion watching on television. I sat here with this little book I have called "Cyclopedia", sort of a pocket-sized almanac, and looked up every country as the teams walked in. And I cry. I cry at everything. Not like sobbing, but my eyes definitely well up. I cried when Korea walked in with two people holding the flag, one from the North and one from the South. I cried when they pulled that screen over the athletes and shined the picture of the dove on it. I cried when Cathy Freeman took the torch, walked on the water, lit the ring. Boo hoo hoo. And it isn't over. I cry anytime anyone wins anything, so I'll have a box of Kleenex with me every night. Big Olympic geek, c'est moi. {--}     {--}     {--} Some Olympic thoughts and questions, for this opening weekend: How did the triathletes get their shoes on? I know they were barefoot when they got out of the water, and they looked barefoot as they hopped on the bikes, so where did the shoes come from? And if they were attached to the pedals, how did they get in them, and then unattach them, since I'm assuming they aren't strapped to their pedals the entire time? Speaking of which, why is it just triathlon and not the triathlon? Has anyone else noticed this? It's the decathlon, right? People compete in the decathlon, but other people compete in triathlon. I am puzzled. Frankly, the sport that gives me the most fear for the safety of the athletes is weightlifting. I am equally afraid of the crossbar falling on their necks as I am of them bursting an aneurysm or their eyes popping out of their heads or something. I can barely stand to watch it, it makes me so uncomfortable. Is it just me, or did anyone else think the governor of Australia was three sheets to the wind at the opening ceremonies? It is my understanding that he was supposed to officially declare the Games open, but I don't think he ever actually used the word "open." He slurred "Sydney," and then smacked the microphones over when he tried to clap. I think four hours of ale caught up with him.