The occasional cube of tofu, the swirling rings of scallions, and the almost-black jagged clouds of seaweed floating through the broth comprise a bowl that perfectly represents a minimalist stroke of culinary economy – where less is more and the notion of absence as elegance imparts impressive and beautiful restraint.
Winter’s enchantments are often hidden in plain stripped-down sight, but only for those who take the time to slow down and examine – both what is at hand, and what is at heart.
Bringing a joy and infectiously-giddy spirit to her Olympic journey, Alysa Liu has already been a Dazzler of the Day here – this is just to spotlight her current Olympic performance, in which she takes a classic Donna Summer hit and turns the world into her shimmering disco ball. This comeback season has been based on her unshakably relaxed and mindful manner of accepting whatever happens on the ice without it being a life or death situation for her. That’s the magic key to so much of life, and she’s found it just in time for these Olympic Games. Shake it for the gold!
He’s already been a Dazzler of the Day here, but Jordan Stolz is coming into his next chapter with a spectacular Olympics performance – as of this writing he’s already won two gold medals for the United States and today he races for another. As we careen toward the end of this Olympic Games, I’m already pining for it to begin all over again.
Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ movement gets a so-called ‘epic’ treatment, lending an already-dramatic musical selection even more tension and wonder. In this dizzying winter season, where the obscure has failed to resolve itself into any sort of focus, and the haze grows even more fuzzy, I’m reconciling myself to the imperfect way life has of stumbling along, especially at those times when we most want things to run smoothly.
Like days filled with the fullness of the moon, or periods when Mercury is in retrograde motion, this winter has proven challenging, and fighting such challenges is futile. When you learn to let go and lean into where the world is taking you, no matter how strange and unfamiliar, surprising things might result. There is an important distinction between giving up and giving in – good and bad points to each. While the rest of the world seems to have lost sight of nuance and subtlety, those graces are integral to making a happier way through life.
Winter waits for no one; it hurries for even less.
Six-time Olympian Elana Meyers Taylor just earned the gold in a lifelong quest for that elusive and precious medal. The grit, determination, and focus required to make it to that many Olympic Games is astounding – really unimaginable for mere mortals like myself. All I can do is marvel and cheer Taylor on as she puts her bobsledding legacy into the record books. This Dazzler of the Day honor is the very least of her laurels.
Most of my classmates hated our third grade English class. The teacher was a fright in her polyester pant suits and unruly bun (you could tell how harried she was by how many strands of hair were escaping from it at any given time) – and the material was dry for our young age. Most of the writing assignments were unrelatable as well, but they still appealed to me more than anything else. Part of me thrilled when we were given a topic and asked to write a paragraph on it; I didn’t realize then how much writing would enrich my world, but I felt the rich reward of working out words and sentences and seeing what worked best.
The lessons I gleaned were less about writing style and more about life – particularly in how to fit in and when to slip into the safety of unnoticeable shadow. Back then, fitting in was a matter of life and death. Having already been shamed for saddle shoes, I couldn’t afford another instance of being too different or other. When the teacher announced that day’s writing topic as ‘Three-Bean Salad’ I froze. I had no idea what three-bean salad was. Never had it, never heard of it, never even knew of its existence until that very moment. The rest of the class groaned, as much for the topic as for the assignment of writing itself, and the teacher herself was acting as if most people found the salad gross. I took that as my cue and proceeded to write the most over-the-top condemnation of three-bean salad I could make up. Such was my passion and detestation for it that the teacher gave me an ‘A’ and remarked how much I must hate it.
Instead of asking what it was, or writing of my honest ignorance (as a more clever classmate so bravely did) I wrote what I needed to write to fit in, to fly under the radar, to go unnoticed and unridiculed. It would be a trick I’d master as the years advanced, as a young gay man in the 90’s was safest when he blended in.
Even in the third grade, I could play any role. At what detriment, I’m still discovering…
PS – A three-bean salad sounds absolutely divine to me right now.
Joining Japan’s next figure skating hopes for a gold medal is Kaori Sakamoto, who skates her short program today, in a season when three Americans also stand a chance of making the podium for the gold. Sakamoto earns her Dazzler of the Day crowning for the years of dedication and champion-level bravura – and she has the fiery drive to add to her 2022 Olympic bronze medal.
Nobody edges us like Madonna edges us. She’s been promising the follow-up/sequel to 2005’s ‘Confessions on a Dance Floor‘ for well over a year, and it sounds like she just pushed it back a little further.
Winters have lately been times of reflection, leaving opportunities for moments of hygge, and as I’m fully entrenched in the autumn of my life trajectory (God willing) I find more comfort in winter now than I ever did in my younger years. Some of my contemporaries are fighting it more, and I wonder how much of it is fighting our own aging and the relative passing of time rather than winter itself.
The past week has brought about a warming trend, as we’ve finally moved above the freezing point for the first time in forever. Andy and I finally felt warmth on our faces from the sun – a sensation we haven’t had since last year. I’ve also detected the sounds of melting in dripping icicles, falling ice, and shifting snow. Not anywhere near a total thaw, but enough to give slightly more hope than that stupid groundhog.
Deserving of this double Dazzler of the Day crowning, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara found themselves in 5th place after a lift in their short program shorted out, and after being the favorites coming in – and Japan’s first possible gold medal in figure skating pairs – they are in jeopardy of not making the podium. However, if the Olympics stay true to their unpredictable nature, they maintain the possibility of a medal – even a gold one – and this pair is one that has defied devastating falls in the past to come through in the clinch. They earn this Dazzler honor regardless of how things turn out based on their history of championship performances.
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.
Mar-a-Lago is mentioned in the Epstein files more times than Epstein Island.
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.
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.
