It started with a convertible ride into the night.
We headed out on our Labor Day weekend getaway with the top down, the starry sky soaring above, and a best of the 90s playlist on the iPad. For two hours our hair blew in the sultry evening breeze, as we chatted about everything and nothing, and laughed as we relived the soundtrack of our high school days.
As we flew down the open road, it occurred to me that I would remember this night forever. Being young, wild, free, and together. Reveling in the journey, giving little thought to the destination.
It was the kind of perfect summer night that country songs are made of.
And for those few hours, as summer drew to a close, it was our night.
When I stepped off the elevator yesterday, there was a chill in the lobby. At first I thought it was because of the air conditioner that hums in the lobby all summer long. But the front doors of my building were open, and the lobby was devoid of the rattling of the old window unit. I realized, with unrestrained glee, that the chill was coming from the outside, accompanied by a smell that means only one thing. Fall is coming.
Every August there are a few days in the last couple weeks of the month that feel like this. That give just a hint of what is to come. I think in Manhattan, where we spend the summer sweltering on subway platforms, and melting as we walk through the streets, we feel these days more acutely. The days that signal the changing of the seasons from summer to fall. And fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season of all.
I love fall for its cool days and chilly nights. For its spicy scents. For its pumpkin flavored drinks and gingerbread desserts. I love the cozy feeling of shorter days and longer nights. I love running through brightly-hued falling leaves, and taking my boots and sweaters down from the high shelves in my closet where they have lived, out of sight, all summer long.
Even though I know there are still some hot days to come before summer releases its sticky grip, today, I am thinking of fall.
Part of the reason I love this season so much is that I think I have never stopped operating on a school year, even though it has been four years since I have actually been in school. I still feel that unique thrill each and every August when notebooks and pens replace flip-flops and sunscreen in the "seasonal" aisle of Target and my local drugstores. I just love school supplies. Especially the pens. Don't laugh. I know you do too.
Fall still feels like a beginning to me, despite its proximity to the actual end of the calendar year, and no matter how far away I get from my student years, I don't think that will even change. As the leaves start to turn and fall, I will always think of the excitement of college move-in days, the stress of the first days of my law school years, and brand new apartments with September first leases.
Fall is the beginning of the Jewish year; a time when we celebrate our most important and awe-inspiring holidays. A time when we reflect on our past year, and make our wishes for the year to come. A time when we can wipe our slate clean, and live as we mean to go on.
Fall means Steeler football Sundays.
And it was fall when I walked down the aisle on my wedding day surrounded my family, friends, and the colors of the season. Now in the fall I celebrate my wedding anniversary, and plan and dream about all the fun still to come.
It might still be August, and summer may still have some heat to pour out yet, but today, I'm thinking of fall.
And maybe buying some school supplies on the way home too.
For sixteen glorious days, I was completely and utterly consumed by the Olympics. I stayed up late, woke up early, and was extraordinarily unproductive in any part of my life that did not involve medal counts and NBC Olympics coverage. I watched hours and hours of coverage on TV, and I streamed it on the internet (thank you NBC for this amazing fuel for my Olympics obsession). I read articles, and watched highlights. I followed my favorite athletes on Twitter, and learned more facts about their personal lives, training habits, and eating regimens than anyone would ever need to know, save the athletes themselves.
I sat glued to my TV as athletes from 204 countries marched into Olympic stadium for opening ceremonies. I welcomed the veteran athletes to my living room, and wondered for them whether these games would measure up to their last. I cheered for the young athletes, and got excited for all their Olympic appearances to come. And I felt nostalgic as some of the best finished their final races and played their final games, having announced that these Olympics would be their last.
I get a tiny bit fanatical about major (and lets be honest, minor) pop culture moments. And the Olympics is the biggest pop culture game in town.
So, now that the torch has been extinguished, the athletes have gone home, and "London 2012" has been replaced with "Rio 2016," what's a girl to do? I could start counting down to the 2014 winter games (541 days, in case anyone is interested), but that seems a little obsessive, even for me. So instead, I'll spend the week setting my DVR to tape the Olympians' appearances on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Late Show, The Tonight Show, and the like. And I will read articles about how London is cleaning up, and shaking off the hangover of a two-week long party. And I will ponder what NBC does with Bob Costas in between Olympic games, and why he never, ever seems to age. And I will go back to my regularly scheduled TV shows that have been sadly neglected as I soaked in Olympic glory - not because I reached my television-watching capacity, if there even is such a thing, but simply because there weren't enough hours in the day to fit it all in. I had to sleep sometime.
But before all that happens, I think we should take a moment to honor the most transcendent athletes of the summer Olympic games. A group that made these Olympics something to remember, and who made history with their sheer numbers, soaring achievements and stunning poise. I am talking about the U.S. female gold medal winners.
For the first time in history, women outnumbered men on the U.S. Olympic team 269-261. Our women athletes accounted for 63% of the gold medals won by the U.S. team, winning 29 out of 46. They set five world records across two sports. If the United States women were their own country, they would tie for third place in total gold medals won in this Olympic games. That is something to talk about.
There are a lot of them, and they are worth mentioning. Our biggest congratulations and heartfelt thanks to: Claire Donahue, Katie Ledecky, Rachel Bootsma, Jessica
Hardy, Shannon Vreeland, Missy Franklin, Breeja Larson, Allison Schmitt,
Allyson Felix, Dana Vollmer, Rebecca Soni, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas,
Carmelita Jeter, Sanya Richards-Ross, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Dee Dee
Trotter, Lauryn Williams, Kayla Harrison, Kim Rhode, Kerri Walsh Jennings,
Misty May-Treanor, Jamie Gray, Jenn Suhr, Kristin Armstrong, Keshia Baker,
Alyssa Anderson, Diamond Dixon, Brittney Reese, Bianca Knight, Jeneba Tarmoh,
Tianna Madison, Claressa Shields, Lauren Perdue, Francena McCorory, and the
U.S. women’s gymnastics team, soccer team, basketball team, water polo team,
and women’s eight rowing team.
We are amazed. And we are proud.
What was your favorite moment of the London games? Are you, as I am, suffering from Summer Olympics withdrawal?
They're here! This past Friday night, the world watched as the Queen of England declared the games of the 30th Olympiad open. The athletes marched, the crowd cheered, and Great Britain staged a gorgeous spectacle complete with James Bond, David Beckham, the Royal Family, and hundreds of Mary Poppins look-alikes falling from the sky. Can't get better than that right?
What has followed since the Opening Ceremonies is three days of tears, heartbreak, and overwhelming triumph. And I can't get enough. In predictable fashion, I watched it all. Every minute of the opening ceremonies, and many, many hours of the TV coverage since then. God bless NBC for live-streaming every event, and then showing the major highlights every night in a four-hour prime time broadcast.
For two weeks every two years (Winter Olympics, I dearly love you too), this is how I get. The heady mix of pop culture moments and sporting event history is more than enough to send me into a euphoric haze. For those of you who are not quite as passionately obsessed as I am, I thought I would take today to count down my five most memorable Olympic moments from the first three days of the games. Not necessarily the most triumphant (although a lot of them are), but the ones that we will remember, and the ones that we will continue to talk about long after the Olympic torch leaves London and heads to Rio for 2016.
5. U.S. Earns Medals in Men's and Women's Synchronized Diving
It has been twelve years since the United States won a diving medal. In two days in London, they won two. U.S. men's pair David Boudia and Nick McCrory and U.S. women's pair Kelci Bryant and Abby Johnston won bronze and silver, respectively, in synchronized diving. If you have never seen a synchronized diving competition, get ye to YouTube immediately, because this was absolutely amazing to watch.
4. Jordyn Wieber Fails to Make Gymnastics All-Around Finals
Never since the "Magnificent Seven" of 1996 has the United States had such high hopes for a Women's Gymnastics team. Well, the Magnificent Seven have become the Fabulous Five, and they are heavily favored to win the team competition, and unseat China as the best gymnasts in the world. But before the team finals could start, the top eight countries had to qualify, which the U.S. did, spectacularly. But the dark cloud over the team finals is favorite Jordyn Wieber's failure to make the all-around finals. Only two athletes from each team can enter the all-around finals, and Jordyn just missed the mark. She burst into tears as the scoreboard flashed teammate Ali Raisman's floor routine score, dashing her hopes for individual all-around gold.
3. Misty and Kerri Win Again
Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings have won 31 straight sets in their Olympic career, which has now spanned twelve years. That means that, in all the years they have competed in the Olympic games, they have never lost a single set. Not one. Their streak continued last night, when they beat the Czech Republic, continuing their quest for three straight Olympic gold medals. What makes their quest even more spectacular is that many thought they would never make it to London. In the years since Beijing, Misty May tore her achilles and retired. Kerri had two children. But despite the fits and struggles, they returned to the London Olympics in fine form, in the hunt for gold.
2. Lochte Soars, Phelps Stumbles. Or Do They?
Phelps v. Lochte. Lochte v. Phelps. Its the world's longest running soap opera, and it is playing out before our very eyes. On Sunday, Ryan Lochte won gold in the Men's 400 IM, and Phelps, for the first time in twelve years, failed to make it to the podium. So is Lochte 2012 the new Phelps 2008? Probably not, judging from Sunday's freestyle relay and yesterday's 200 Free. So maybe all the Lochte-lovers spoke to soon when they anointed this man the God of London 2012? Or maybe this media-manufactured rivalry is causing the missteps? It's anyone's guess. There is lots of swimming over the next few days, so we'll see what we see.
1. Swimming Has a New Golden Girl: Missy Franklin Wins Women's 100m Backstroke
During the Olympic Trials last month, I fell in love with this unaffected 17 year old from Colorado. An effervescent high-school student, Missy Franklin has turned down lucrative endorsement deals so that she can remain eligible to swim for her school's team. And she is fierce. Last night, she swam a race to qualify for the Women's 200 freestyle finals. She then jumped into the diving well after receiving special permission from the Olympic officials to do so, to cool down and then warm right back up, because she was swimming in the finals of the 100 backstroke 10 minutes later. She won gold in the 100 back, and set a new American record. Expect to see her smiling face lighting up your Wheaties boxes any day now.
And as if we didn't love her enough after her amazing back-to-back races, when she stepped up to the podium to receive her gold medal, the announcers let the crowd know that Missy hails from Aurora, Colorado, the site of the Dark Knight movie theater shooting. Bob Costas then cut to a pre-taped shot of Missy's high school friends watching her race from Colorado, and cheering their hearts out when she won. And the tears fall.
BONUS MOMENT THAT NEEDS NO EXPLANATION - Ali Raisman's Parents Watch Her Uneven Bar Routine, Hilariously
One minute your life is one way. The next minute it is something entirely different. Completely unrecognizable. Eternally changed. The time between those minutes is forever marked as the time when the universe tilted and irrevocably divided life into "before" and "after."
For the countless victims of the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and their families, last Thursday night was one of those times.
As most of us on the east coast slept, a gunman walked into Theater 9 of Century Aurora 16, opened a canister of gas and started to shoot. A few hours later we awoke to scenes of horror. Tales of lives lost and those still fighting to survive.
Words fail. And we struggle to understand.
Our minds and hearts send tears, prayers, support and love to the families of the injured and the dead. To those broken by unimaginable violence. We offer whatever assistance we can. We wonder how we ourselves will feel the next time we sit quietly in a darkened theater.
In the days and weeks to come there will certainly be discussions and there will be debates. Over what is an appropriate age to take a child to a midnight screening. Over whether stricter gun-control laws could have stopped a killer. Over whether violent movies beget violence in life. Over whether a comic book character is to blame. And some of these debates may be worth having. Some may not be.
And there will be anger. Anger at a killer who was not a boy and not quite a man. Anger at parents who recognized evil but did nothing to stop its forward motion. And some of this anger may be justified. Some may not be.
But today. Today I am not debating, and today I am not angry. Today I am not sad. Today I am not thinking about violence and tragedy and lives taken long before their time. There will be plenty of other days for that. But not today.
Today, on this Tuesday, I am thinking of heroes. I am thinking about stories of courage and bravery that are rising from the ashes of this senseless tragedy.
I am thinking of Nick Yowler and Matt McQuinn who, when gunshots rang out, pulled Nick's younger sister down on the ground and shielded her with their own bodies to keep her safe. I am thinking about Stephanie Davies, who stayed with a wounded friend, applying first aid as the gunman continued to shoot. I am thinking about Jarrell Brooks, who ushered a young mother and her two children to an exit; saving three people he had not known before the gunshots began.
Today, I am thinking of heroes. The people who represent the very best of who we are and what we could be.
Today, I am thinking of heroes. And with those heroes, the promise of brighter days ahead.
It probably goes without saying that Manhattan is a place unlike any other. Depending on the day and the subject, this is either a good thing or a bad thing. We can get anything we want, at any time of the night - delivered if we so choose (good thing). We have to commute to work on crowded subways carrying passengers in various stages of cleanliness (bad thing). We have 843 acres right in the middle of our city of grass, woods, trails, and fields in which to play (good thing). We live in teeny-tiny apartments and consider ourselves lucky when said apartments boast full size kitchens and closets (bad thing). And the list goes on.
After seven years of living and working in this city, I have come to understand and appreciate Manhattan both for what it is, and what it is not. I love it for all of the things that it has given me - a law degree, a husband, incredible friends, a backbone, and epic adventures. And I dislike it, sometimes immensely, for all the annoyances that come with city living - carrying grocery bags home in the pouring rain, lack of closet space, barking dogs in the apartment next door, and steaming hot subway platforms. Needless to say, I have complicated feelings about Manhattan.
But even with all the complexity, sometimes something emerges from this city of ours that is magic. That makes me say, in that moment, "I am really glad to live here." I had one of those moments recently, and because it is Tuesday, the day where I pass along fun and happy things that I discover, I thought it was the perfect time to share.
You all know that I am loud and proud when it comes to the books I read. I love to read on buses, subways, and pretty much anywhere I have a free few minutes. And even more than I love to read during my commutes though, I love to look around to see what everyone else is reading. This has become more difficult lately due to the ubiquity of e-readers. When Kindles abound, we who like to spy on readers and their book selections have a choice to make. We can either decide to let our curiosity dissipate, or we can hover over the Kindle user's shoulder to try and catch the title of the book that lives at the top of the screen while simultaneously attempting the correct body language so as not to come across as a creepy stalker. I have tried this second option, many times. It's a hard balance to strike. Trust me.
So those of us who like to carry actual books and watch other people who carry actual books are usually left disappointed and wondering what will become of our most favored accessory now that e-readers rule the day.
Enter today's bit of fun.
While perusing some blogs the other day, I stumbled upon a link to something called the Underground New York Public Library. In 2008, a photographer named Ourit Ben-Haim got an idea. Her idea was to ride the New York City subways, and take pictures of readers. For four years she has haunted subway trains and platforms, capturing straphangers immersed in the pages of books. Not in the screens of e-readers, but in the actual pages of actual books. And late last year, she turned her work into a blog.
Every day she posts pictures of people consuming their literature of choice, and invites her followers to look and to comment. The pictures are generally candid, and the subway lines are never disclosed. Ourit doesn't provide editorials, or stick to a particular author or genre. She doesn't seek out a specific class of individuals. She just looks for people holding books, and she takes their picture. Late last week she even caught a woman reading a Nora.
The result of Ourit's efforts is a stunning portrait of the community of readers that meets below the city streets. A community that I love, and a community of which I am a frequent member. At a time where countless people are embracing the anonymity of the e-reader, her work has never been more important.
I have spent a good part of my life connecting with people through the books that we read, and feel an instant kinship with the readers portrayed on the pages of Ourit's Underground Public Library. I get a little thrill when I spy a picture of someone reading something familiar to me, and have even copied down titles of books I don't recognize to add to my ever-growing library. I hope you will take a minute on this otherwise ordinary Tuesday to check out Ourit's blog, and I hope that one of her pictures speaks to you, as they do so often to me. Together, we will keep tangible books en vogue for a long time to come.
As I have written before, Tuesday is not my favorite day of the week. In fact, Tuesday is my least favorite day of the week. On Tuesday, I usually look for a little pick-me-up (aside from the inevitable extra caffeine). And a few weeks ago, I decided to share those (non-caffeinated) pick-me-ups with you, in the likely event that you, too, have a day of the week where you simply can not function with a little outside influence.
And today, I have the best outside influence of all. Because today is the day that Susan Elizabeth Phillips' new book, The Great Escape, hits bookshelves. As I write this, my brand new copy, procured from Barnes and Noble bright and early this morning, sits next to me on my desk. And I can hardly wait to open it because I know exactly what awaits me.
The Great Escape is the much anticipated follow-up to last year's Call Me Irresistable, which featured Lucy Jorik running away from her wedding and her best friend Meg Koranda taking the heat. Meg falls in love with Lucy's ex-fiance, and he with her, and all is right with the world. Except we were all left wondering, "what happened to Lucy?" The Great Escape is Susan Elizabeth Phillips' answer to our questions, and I could not possibly be more excited. I am so excited, in fact, that I am saving the book for this weekend so that I can read the entire thing, from cover to cover, without interruption. Willpower of immense proportions, I tell you.
I feel like I have been looking forward to this book more than I have any new romance novel in recent memory. And I know the exact reason why. About a year ago, I discovered that Susan Elizabeth Phillips has a Facebook page. I "liked" her page one day on a whim, and am now treated to a delightful daily dose of her musings. She writes about her family, her house, her daily routine, and, most importantly, she writes about writing. She has been posting about Lucy's story for the better part of the last year. She has posted about plot, characters, re-writes and editing, and has even crowd-sourced some ideas as she motored along. I have loved having this window into her life and her writing process, and know that I will love the book even more because of it.
Another fun reason I am looking forward to Lucy's story? Because I met Susan in person just as she was starting to write it. Last year, I attended an evening meet-and-greet at the Romance Writers of America Convention in New York City. It was predictably amazing. The entire ballroom of the Marriott Marquis in Times Square was filled with writers. Every square inch was occupied with a romance novelist ready and willing to sign books and talk to fans. The line for Susan's table was long, but when we finally reached her she was sparkly and cheerful, and happy to sign the (many) books we brought for the occasion.
It was so fun to meet her last year that I e-mailed her last week to find out if she would be making a stop in New York this year on her Great Escape tour. Alas, she e-mailed me back yesterday to say that she is by-passing the city this summer and heading west instead. Wishing her lots of luck on her tour, and counting the minutes until Saturday morning when I crack open The Great Escape and read Lucy's well deserved and much anticipated story.
Happy Tuesday to all...Will you be spending this weekend immersed in The Great Escape, as I will be?
As a whole I am pretty optimistic. Happy even. Funny sometimes. But there is just this one thing. One little bit of gloom in my otherwise sunny existence. And that little bit of gloom is Tuesday. Weird, right? I know. But since the beginning of my professional career four years ago, Tuesday is simply a day I don't enjoy. Some people (most people) feel this way about Monday. But not me. For me, it's Tuesday. Tuesday is the day I can't get out of bed, the day I can't find anything to wear. The day I accidentally miss my subway stop because I was reading an Entertainment Weekly recap of The Bachelorette, and have to go down to 42nd Street and turn around. True story. It happened this morning.
Needless to say, on Tuesday I look for a little something to brighten the day. And usually, I find something fun. So starting today, every Tuesday, I am going to start sharing these little bits of excitement.
So what, you may ask, is brightening my today?
First, a story.
In a few short weeks, London will host the 2012 Summer Olympics. I am, quite literally, counting the days until the opening ceremonies. I love the Olympics. Every two years, in a burst of patriotic pride, I am glued to my TV for the better part of two weeks. I devour news stories about Team USA, and regularly check the medal count. I cheer for ice skaters, gymnasts, runners, swimmers, skiers, and even for the athletes in the more obscure sports like shot-put and bobsled.
I'm not exactly sure where this complete obsession with all things Olympics started. It might have been when I was in fifth grade in the Winter of 1994 and stayed up way past my bedtime to watch Nancy Kerrigan's silver medal performance at the Lillehammer Games. Or it might have been in the Summer of 2004 when our family vacation was cancelled due to hurricane, and we instead spent the two weeks at home, watching on our brand new HD TV as Michael Phelps swam to six gold medals in Athens. But whenever it was, at this point, I am well and truly hooked.
And while I love all Olympic games, the Summer Games are my bread and butter. So I am completely psyched for London.
So what does this have to do with shining a bright spot on my otherwise mundane Tuesday? Well, I discovered something recently. I discovered that a few weeks before the Olympics, there are
Olympic Trials to determine which hopefuls will represent Team USA come the end of July. I always knew, of course, that these Trials happened, but I never watched them. Until this year, that is. And let me just say, I have been missing out. Because watching Olympic Trials is nearly as exciting as watching the
Olympics themselves. I held my breath last night when Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps in the men's 400 IM final. And I celebrated with Elizabeth Beisel and Caitlin Leverenz as they made the
Olympic team in their own 400 IM final. It's like watching the
Olympics twice - once in June and once in July. A huge, extra-special bonus for those who know to watch.
Well, this year, I'm in the know. As I type this, my DVR is recording six hours of swimming and track and field semifinals, and will record another hour of prime time swimming coverage tonight. And that's just for today. Obsessed? Perhaps. But I'm good with that.
If you, too, are looking for a lift to your Tuesday, I suggest you check out these videos from nbc.com of the 30 greatest olympic moments. And then tune in tonight to find out who we will all be cheering for in July. I promise you, you won't be sorry.
