Figure skaters dominate the Dazzlers of the Day this week as Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin earn their first crowning thanks to a powerful and practically perfect performance for their short program. Representing Germany, this figure skating pair has been on an arc of momentum, and cresting during the Olympic Games is the very best timing.
US figure skating pair Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea turned in a lovely short program yesterday and will skate for a place on the podium in their long program today. Figure skating has been mired in muck of late, so when a pair of skaters performs without drama, bringing beauty and grace to the proceedings, they more than earn this Olympic Spotlight.
A couple of pesky facts, the kind that are true, on this particular President’s Day:
But Republicans would have MAGA believe there’s nothing wrong with this – and MAGA seems so stupid that they will listen to any lie as long as it supports their cult leader. If you’re still supporting this President, you either need a pardon or are a special kind of stupid.
On with the weekly recap amid all this madness…
Simple charms amid snowy splendor.
If you don’t like my peaches, don’t shake my tree.
The next FAFO Award went to Jill Zarin.
Shirtless Zac Efron portraying a frat bro for this post.
To all the girls I’ve loved before.
A lesson found in the French Pigwich.
The Olympic Spotlight shone on Shun Sato and Marco Odermatt.
Dazzlers of the Day included Kevin Aymoz, Breezy Johnson, Surya Bonaly, Mikhail Shaidorov, and Willie Nelson.
The Catholics are kicking off Lent with their annual Ash Wednesday tradition this week, that dusty Dirty Sanchez to the forehead that starts the pre-Easter period of penance.
I’ll do my guilt-ridden part by trying not to eat meat on Fridays, but being that I love fish there’s no Elton John sacrifice. How long will it be before this entire blog slips into obscure song lyrics and inside jokes? IYKYK & WWJD & WWD.
From a couple who’s been doing this for twenty five years, buy your Valentine’s chocolate and flowers the day after Valentine’s Day.
All hail the French Pigwich!
This glorious concoction of eggs, ham, bacon, cheese and mayonnaise on a toasted croissant is my occasional breakfast indulgence on a weekend or holiday (or both as happened yesterday morning for Valentine’s Day). It’s one of the delectable edibles on offer at my favorite cafe – Professor Java’s.
One of the integral tenets in finding and curating happiness is regularly indulging in the savoring of things you enjoy. Not just treating yourself, but taking the time to mindfully make the most of each moment of the experience. Too often we rush and hurry to get to dessert or the weekend or a vacation, and our momentum then propels us through that goal at the same relentless pace.
It should come as no surprise that I try to find moments and little sweet treats in every day to practice savoring and slowing down, such as in this delicious French Pigwich. Far more than just a serviceable breakfast to sustain the body’s basic needs, it is an opportunity to savor the care and deliciousness that went into its creation – from the kindness of the person taking the order to the skilled culinary work of the person who made it, to the great fortune of being alive and healthy and able to sit and enjoy a leisurely breakfast on a Saturday morning.
The act and the art of savoring builds upon happiness and contentment. Little annoyances fall by the wayside. Light is always more powerful than darkness.
He once penned a song about gay cowboys, and for that alone Willie Nelson more than earns this Dazzler of the Day crowning. Add in all the albums, all the activism, all the songs, all the performances, and all the years (he’s 92 and will turn 93 in April) and you have a dazzler who has achieved icon status.
A true legend.
Once upon a Valentine’s Day, I wrote valentine cards to all the girls I loved before.
I channeled Willie Nelson for this one.
Having never had a problem with socks staying up, or stockings for that matter, or anything now that I think about it, the only purpose for these little garter belts is purely aesthetic. A pose and a mood – not unlike today’s faux-holiday.
Rather than go all out on this Valentine’s Day post, I’m keeping it simple and obscure, in line with this Winter Obscura theme. The truth is most of us aren’t really sure about anything anymore, and who the hell am I to try to figure out anyone other than myself? There’s enough work and trauma in that.
If you’re on the hunt for something more, check out the previous decade of V-Day posts – when cheesy pop songs were enough to change the world. It was a more quaint time, a sillier time, a more innocent time…
This sort of upset is the stuff of Olympic legend, and because most of us were counting on Ilia Malinin to bring home the gold, it felt more stunning to see him falter. Perhaps no one was more shocked with this outcome than Mikhail Shaidorov, who turned in a technically marvelous skate that earned him the gold medal and this Dazzler of the Day. It’s often said that no one can predict what happens at the Olympics, and that proved true with the men’s free skate. Congratulations to Mikhail Shaidorov for rising to the moment.
Nearing Valentine’s Day has some of us reminiscing about this antiquated day of love, and while I’ve now spent more Valentine’s Days with Andy than without him, I still recall the holidays of my youth, long before I had any inkling of what real romance was – when the notion of love was accessed through pop songs, hinted at in lyrics, and felt only in an approximation of want and yearning.
The way I started to understand love was through the radio, in the music of the woman who would be with me on all my romantic journeys ~ Madonna. She sang early on from a swaying room, when the music started and strangers moved in shadows that seemed mysterious and filled with secrets – the stuff of romance, of desire, of love. I was around ten years old, and I knew nothing of any of that, but something in her voice resonated with me, speaking to the undeniable romantic I was torturously destined to become.
Back then, I just wanted to belong, to be part of something, to be accepted with open hearts and open arms. The feeling of being an outsider in so many ways – ways I couldn’t even put into words at such a young age, but that always kept me slightly apart, and forever different. As much as I wanted to open my heart to someone – anyone – my trepidations kept me quiet.
The secret to love, true love, was elusive and ever out of reach. Whenever I felt like I was approaching it, it shifted and changed and disappeared. Such secrets were cloaked in delicious darkness – I could only sense them, not solve them, and the closer I got, the more slippery they became.
Throughout the 90’s, Madonna grew and evolved, her music changing as much as her images, and love, in all its many facets and problematic notions, was a constant theme. She kept me company as various people entered and exited my romantic stages, reminding me that if Madonna found romance a rocky road, maybe none of us would find it easy.
For all the hellos and goodbyes, some part of my heart was holding tight to the idea that love waited somewhere for me, and when Madonna’s music brought the people together, I knew there was hope.
We had a phone like this in our kitchen when I was growing up. It wasn’t red, it was white, well, off-white and dirty by the time my memory serves. Its cord was long and winding, often twisted around itself but still allowing my Mom to cook while talking all the way across the kitchen. Managing such a cord was a rite of passage for those of us raised in the 80’s; it kept us tethered to our kitchens, physically bound and grounded to our homes in a way that the current generation can never quite understand.
The world feels like it’s missing that sort of stability, and that people no longer have a stalwart foundation the way some of us had with a single home for the duration of our childhoods. Another example of gratitude and luck, and ideal for a Virgo like myself who sometimes finds change to be a challenge.
Alpine ski racer Marco Odermatt won the gold medal at the Olympics in 2022, and he’s back for this Winter Olympics aiming for more. To make it to one Olympic Games is insanely impressive on its own – to make multiple visits as one of the best in the world is incredible. His list of championships is too extensive to put down here, and it’s still increasing, so we’ll have to wait for the comprehensive collection.
In service of some badly-needed levity on the internet side of life, here is a green rim job on a mockarita from a recent inspirational dinner out as Suzie and I prepare a Mexican-themed dinner fiesta. It’s this year’s take on the ‘Suzette’s Feast’ dinner we threw last winter – a way to make it through the second half of winter, and a Mexican meal feels especially cozy right now.
We’ve worked out a rough menu draft, and the star of the show is going to be one of Pati Jinich’s recipes: Enchiladas Verdes in a tomatillo sauce. But I don’t want to give away all the secrets – a good meal should contain a few surprises.
As for the mockarita and green salty rim as seen here – the only time I want a rim job ON MY DRINK is for a margarita. The sugary ones caked in chocolate or sprinkles are abominations.
