Posted 5 Years Ago: One of my favorite posts of all times

Reposted from 8/19/15 

Here's to the Chorus!

Here's to the Chorus - 

We'll never get our own TV special or Olympic commentating gig.  We'll never make a hairstyle famous or get our face on a box of Cheerios.

BUT, we will give the A-list skaters time to rest and change costumes.  We will be budget friendly and usually less demanding.  And most importantly, no single skater, no matter how good, can do a kick line like this ...
 

Ice Charades is going on vacation for a bit and won't be posting until some time in September.  Yes, Ice Charades is in there, but it doesn't matter where.

Have a great end of the summer.  Come back for fall!

It's Been A While ...

I haven't posted since March 6th, when I offered my review of Adam Rippon's wonderful book.

Anything been happening since the beginning of March?

OMG.

Years from now, people who are old enough to remember this pandemic, will talk about events as pre-Covid and post-Covid, much like we do of events before and after 9-11.

But as for the protests and Black Lives Matter - I can't add anything witty or profound that hasn't already been said.  I think of myself as an ally.  In my first novel, the best skater in the whole damn show is a black gal in the chorus.  And in the second, the star of the show is (again by far the best skater in the show) is black.  They are both modeled after real skaters, so it's true.  But I also wanted to point it out.

I'd much rather write fiction than put my own beliefs down on paper.  So, I'll leave it with this ... a design my daughter and I thought out and she put down on paper, so to speak.

Beautiful On the Outside by Adam Rippon

Just finished reading his book, Beautiful On the Outside, and fans of figure skating won't be disappointed.  It's fascinating to read about his path to the Olympics and I don't want to spoil it here, but SPOILER ALERT!! he goes to the Olympics.

The 3rd one he had planned on.

As you might expect, there are lots of juice details about his fellow skaters, judging, and his trials as an openly gay athlete sprinkled throughout the book.

One thing that surprised me was how poor he was at a time when he was already an elite skater.  Toward the beginning of his time training with Rafael, there were times when he could barely afford to eat.  How does one train at an Olympian level when one has so little to eat?

Shouldn't someone at the USFS be checking in on their skaters?  Shouldn't there be loans or an Olympian Food Bank at least?

That really bugs me.  It's hard enough to compete at the top of the world, and Adam had worrying about basic necessities to add to the list?  I admire his discipline.  That's some next-level, grown-ass  discipline, I must say.

But, back to the book.  It's delightful and at times, funny as hell. If at any moment you rooted for him or enjoyed his skating, you will enjoy this book.

I do hope there is more writing in his future.

Time for a new look!

Spinning Out

Let's hope the show is not down and "out" yet. 

There is a petition on change.org to save Spinning Out and it's already got 18,000+ signatures. Click on the link below, if you want to add yours.

Save Spinning Out

And in the meantime, if any of you thought I want all that skating drama, but I'm missing some penguins .... well, I've got you covered.

Ice Charades: Penguins Behaving Badly and Other Follies From the Road

Happy National Penguin Day!

In my opinion, Martin Luther King Jr Day is more important, but this year they will have to share the day, I guess.

I am a big fan of penguins and a big fan of Penguins of Madagascar (more accurately the German version - Die Pinguine aus Madagascar) television series.  It was very helpful for me and my daughter to learn German.  And snarky af.

Which is precisely how the penguins in Ice Charades usually behaved.

So, in honor of National Penguin Awareness Day, I'm sending anyone in the contiguous 48 states (the U.S. that is) a free copy of Ice Charades: Penguins Behaving Badly and Other Follies From the Road.

Send an email by January 25, 2020 to icecharadestheblog@gmail.com and I'll get a book in the mail to you.