Wishful Slacker

My Olympic Moment

Yikes it's been a while since I posted here!  It's been a busy past week, folding into another busy two weeks ahead as I am now on call at work!  Ugh.  Too much.

This does not mean that I haven't been thinking of good things to post here.  Oh no, I've accumulated several ideas, but these may end up slowly dribbling out over the next couple weeks as I find time.  Recipes and wishful slacker thoughts will soon be back in gear.

With all this craziness, at least there's the Olympics!  Haven't you all loved it?  For me, it is so refreshing to go through a hectic work day and know that you have some terrific television to catch up on at night!  I love it.

From the train, Jackson Michigan
             
I took a dreamy train ride home to Michigan this past weekend.  As the trees whizzed by, my mind did an awful lot of blissful wandering.  I got to thinking about the Olympic athletes who, over time, molded their identity around a particular skill and pursued their dream to make it to the Olympic games.  Then I began thinking of the violinists and other musicians that we saw from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra a couple weekends ago.  Their story is quite similar- what first started as a hobby then developed into a part of themselves.  I think we always look as these individuals with awe, but forget that we too are filled with dreams and talents, people like you and me.  We are not decorated athletes or musicians playing in a world-renowned orchestra, but rather ordinary folks going about their 9-5 jobs.   Don't you think that everyone has Olympic-sized passions that shape and enrich the essence of their being?  What activities and interests helped to create who you are today?  Feel free to comment on what yours are at the end of this post, I think that'd be pretty cool!  Cooking, scrapbooking, traveling, swimming, working, whatever!  I'll post mine in the comments section too. 

I'll leave you with my own Olympic moment.  It was not on the world stage, but rather my grandmother's kitchen.  The clip below is taken from a Peanuts cartoon that I just loved as a little girl.  My grandma, who had a gift for whistling, used to stand in the doorway and whistle "O Mio Babbino Caro" while I "ice skated" on her linoleum flooring in my socks.  It was not broadcast to millions over the television and didn't score full points with the judges, but in these little slices of time I felt on top of the world.  Now all I have to say is thank goodness for YouTube for allowing me to watch it again!  Watching Snoopy get all frustrated out on the ice with the broken tape really makes me laugh too :-)

 

 

The latest from around Chicago: Depression spreads

The title of this post is a headline I just found on The Chicago Tribune upon the announcement that Chicago was eliminated in the first round of IOC voting for the 2016 Olympics.  

I also came across this sentence:  "Now the mayor comes home to face recession-driven budget woes and concerns about violence that plague Chicago, without the ability to change the public dialogue to Olympics talk."

Chicago made plans to become something amazing for the whole world to see.  A place where people near and far could come for the common pursuit of comradery and peace.

My thought is, now that the Olympics are out, why can't we still pursue these goals?  What if, aside from the development of the Olympic arena and village, Mayor Daley and city administrators continued with their grand plan to transition the city of Chicago into something better?  A place where residents are more tolerant and welcoming.  A place where children are raised without fear of gang violence seeping onto their playgrounds and into their homes?  What if this announcement allows for a great turn of events for this city, where these changes can be made without having to worry about hosting the Olympics?  We all had a glimpse of what the Olympics could do for this city- I don't think this needs to end here.

What say you, Mayor Daley???