Winter weekend

This weekend is a long one. Wa-hoo! Bad timing, though, as I realised Saturday morning that I only have one day (Tuesday) to finish an at-minimum two-day (Monday and Tuesday) task for work. I am gearing myself up to going in early tomorrow. That never seems to work. Perhaps I will surprise myself.

B and I started this LW with a fabulous skate on the fabulous winter trail, then went to the pub to watch the Opening Ceremonies. The sound was mostly off. I am generally not into that sort of thing, but also, deep down, very much into it - especially when it comes to the Olympics. I am nostalgic for the Olympics, coming as I do from Cow Pie.

My favourite part of any Opening Ceremony is the introduction of the participating countries. I think this is the only time when countries are referred to by their official names, so the orders are wonky, what with 'People's' and 'Islamic' and 'Democratic' prefixing the standard.

This set of introductions was particularly fun with all dancing that was going on in the meantime. Most of the dancers were pretty consistently energetic (one guy in particular was really into it, punching his fists in the air, bouncing his knees around non-stop - exactly why I love the Olympics), but you could see the odd individual growing weary - bored, even - as they drifted inward, forgetting where they were, much as I used to do after dancing my 11th song in a row at The Republik, beer in hand, concentration on slick dance moves sliding out the window to be replaced by sloppiness. I think if the stadium weren't covered, that phenomenon would have not manifested.

Otherwise, the event was relatively under-whelming, I thought. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, though. There was a lot to laugh at - often because of the squashed human form on HDTV. And I wish the sound had been on for K. D. Lang.

B and I are planning to go cross-country skiing today. There is a golf course in town that has very nicely-groomed trails in the winter. It's windy, though. I am fine with a still -21, -40 even, but the wind! Its relentless nature brings out my weenier side.

What to do, then? Watch a vid? Tidy? Bake muffins. I have a book that I need to finish in time for the second-ever meeting of the Planning Book Club which two friends and I started. The book is called Planet of Slums and I recommend it. A bit statistics-heavy, but eye-opening.

Screw it. The Olympics have inspired me. Skiing it is.