spending a week in Greenwich, CT helped me to rest... my allergies are under control...my lips are not swollen anymore and they're not chapped too... the bump on my right head receded and the scraped/wound had closed. The thing that's a bit annoying is taking things slow. I just want to do things and get it over (because my actions are already slow to begin with), BUT I have to be mindful not to exhaust myself and repeat my little "incident."
to celebrate I went to starbucks in ardmore for my annual "reflection" seminar. It took me awhile getting there because I have to be "careful." This year rather writing a summary of reflection (based on my past entries), I decided to write a SHORt fictional story incorporating real events instead. It will be fun and a challenge. While at Starbucks I tried this new latte called Cinnamon Dolce. It wasn't bad, it was tres delicioso. It was a hot beverage and it was an apt choice. I drank it slowly while writing.
I got home around 5:45 p.m. and I watched 5 and 1/2 hours of figure skating: Cups of China and Russia in ESPN. It's really entertaining and awe-inspiring to watch ice skating. I used to root only for certain skaters such as Michelle Kwan or Sasha Cohen, But now I just watch and appreciate all skaters (this doesn't mean that I don't have favorites- it just means that I don't hate a particular skater because he/she is someone's so-and-so's rival).
Figure skating is an international sport. It's interesting how issues such as citizenship come up. One of the ice dancers is trying to quicken her citizenship process so she could make it to the 2006 winter olympics (in order to represent the United States). Congress is supposed to have made the decision by January 10 (just waiting for Bush to sign this new law in Congress).
One of the things the commentator said reminded me of a lesson I learned in World Literature about cultural relevency. The announcer commented about this Japanese skater's new dance program filled with nuances and subtleties- "avant-garde" program. Later on he said that the artistry was great, then he asked: "Does it build?" He expected the performance to be like a linear Western book with it's climax, conclusion,'denoument,' etc.
He reminded me that no matter how global the sport may be, it's still a western sport and the west sets the standard. Nonetheless I still enjoy it. It's interesting how each country approaches the sport: the way they trained, their musical selection, their costumes etc.
One of my classmates commented that Figure Skating is not a sport because the skater has to rely on the judges to be evaluated. He implied (like a Shakespeare tragedy) that skaters are fated to win or lose and that they have no control whatsoever. The way I see it, the judges are like referees who makes the call if violations occurred. Just like any other sports (basketball/football etc.) it has rules that governed it- typical of sports, it's a game where people compete and get points.
Figure skating is just a bit more theatrical (artsy). I think this is why some refute the fact that figure skating is a sport. Some people just don't see this amalgamation between sports and art as a possibility. Because it has always been assumed that one is a nemesis to the latter.
Skaters don't wear shoulder pads- they wear fancy clothes with beads or sequence sometimes (nonetheless it has to be aerodynamic so they can attain/maintain speed). They don't throw footballs or kick soccer balls, they throw themselves in the air everytime they attempt a triple flip or a double lutz. They don't run from one end of the field goal, they skate/glide across the ice backward, forward, sideways and in figure eights.
Figure skating has dance elements. It's physical in this sense-it's a sport. Every sport has it's individual dance/body movement. Figure skating is just obvious and blatant.
Posted by Michael Diezmos at January 3, 2006 11:12 AM