Awesome Article

Read this article on Nastia Liukin and her dad. I dare you not to cry. I cried when Nastia amd Shawn pulled off 1-2 -- not so much for the medals -- but watching their relief and emotions. The stuff of dreams -- and the relief on Shawn's face when she finished her power packed floor routine -- WOW!

Have I mentioned...

Have I mentioned that I'm an Olympics fan? Have I mentioned that in 1992 while I was in college I worked for the NBC affiliate in North Platte, NE? Yes, I know ... It's probably the smallest affiliate out there, but why do you think Dani Richards is a television journalist in Deadly Exposure?

Anyway, back to the Olympics. In 1992 the sports director kept asking me for the trivia about the different athletes, because I've been an Olympics junky -- probably since 1984 when I was ten watching Mary Lou Retton score a perfect ten and win gold. That's the stuff dreams are made of.

And tonight I got to bite my nails...with my laptop in my lap pretending to write about antitrust law, while the American men battled it out to win bronze in the team gymnastics event. We also watched two teens from Indiana come close, but fall short in men's synchronized platform diving. Frankly, I don't think you could push me off the platform if you somehow got me to climb up there. I mean, that's like three stories up there! That's insane.

But so were the acrobatics the men from around the world did tonight. I watch them and wonder if I really want Jonathan to do much more than he's doing right now. You know, learning how to do a cartwheel and handstand.

Buy		Read

I got two books in the mail today that I can't wait to read. The first is the new book from Thomas Nelson on the Faith of Barack Obama. There's been so much rhetoric about that -- and frankly I'm a bit sick of it. This from a former political junky. I can't believe I just called myself former! (All my friends from when we lived in DC are shaking their heads, and would take my temperature if they could. Anyway, the introduction was interesting and thought-provoking, so I'm going to see if I can get permission to post that. If anyone wants the first 48 pages, email me. I have them somewhere in my inbox and permission to forward them.

Hey, what do you know, I found the widget on TN's website. Enjoy the preview. I'll tell you what I think after I read it.

And the other book is Julie Lessman's A Passion Redeemed. Those of you who read my review of her first book understand what an exercise of discipline it is not to pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist while I read it. I can't wait to see what she does with Charity's story.

It's very late/early depending on your perspective, and I need to write for another hour, so I'm signing off.

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW

Okay, if you're awake, did you just watch the men win the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. OHMIGOSH!!!!! This was the most amazing relay I've ever watched. Eric and I stood with jaws hanging on the ground. It looked like the French had it sewn up. But WOWOWOWOWOW. What an absoltuely amazing race from all four but Lezak hit 46 seconds flat. That is so incredibly fast.

And the ladies' gymnastics. As Jonathan said after watching one of hte gals, "that's amazing!" It's going to be an exciting team final. I can't imagine the shock of having a teammate get injured as you're ready to start your first event. That changes the strategy a bit, but they rallied.

I'm an Olympics junky. Here are a couple loose quotes that I think are very interesting for parents:

Shawn Johnson's coach says that he tells her it's okay to make mistakes as she gets ready to go out. And that gives her the freedom to do the crazy, amazing skills that she does. Because a mistake isn't the end of the world. If you saw her on the beam today, you know it works. She was rock solid.

Jason Lezak said "we'll let our swimming do the talking," when asked why they didn't respond to the trash talking from the French. We could all learn from that. Just let our actions talk when others challenge us.

Okay, I have to get back to writing, but just had to share my excitement!!!!

Go, USA :-)

Olympics & Writing

Okay, guys, I just to say it is killing me that I have two very tight deadlines right now -- and the Olympics are on! I love the Olympics -- when I worked at a NBC affiliate in 1992, I was the go-to person for trivia for the Sports Director.

And I need to be writing. But I want to just watch. So -- how do y'all cut out the distractions or multi-task. And, umm, if I don't respond super fast in the next couple weeks, just blame it on the Olympics :-)

Did anyone watch the Opening Ceremonies last night? They were neat -- but I still think the archer lighting the Flame in the Barcelona games was cooler. But the actual program at the beginning last night was impressive. What about those drums. Wow! The choreography was pretty amazing. And what a testament of the Chinese philosophy. Anyway, what did you think?

Any tips on avoiding distractions or multi-tasking? And don't forget to sign up for the giveaways -- I've listed them with links in the right-side toolbar near the top :-)