20 Facts About Me

Day two of the 31 day challenge is to write about 20 facts on myself. This should be boring, eh? But in case anyone was actually interested...

1. I am a huge 49er Football Fan. I have been since pretty much birth (if not before). Both sides of my family are from Northern California (but my parents didn't meet until they were both in Alaska, even though they went to rival high schools), and cheer for the Niners. I was born the day after they won the Super Bowl in 1985 - mom wouldn't go to the hospital that Sunday because she was afraid they wouldn't let her watch the game. I'm a huge fan of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Colin Kaepernick, Frank Gore, Steve Young, and Coach Harbaugh.

2. I love all things Iditarod and sled dogs, but I won't drive a sled. I've never stood on the back of a sled and told the dogs to "hike up" or "mush" (who says that command anyway?). I have sat in the sled while a friend drove her team of two down the trail, over an embankment and then bailed and let the dogs run me through an open creek. I then walked, soaking wet, back home. We were in Jr. High. I've never wanted to drive a team since. Though growing up I wanted to be the next Libby Riddles/Susan Butcher. I'm perfectly content to support the teams I love and work for the whackadoodle breed of human known as Musher.

3. I've taken TEN trips to a Disney park. 1990, 2006, 2011 and 2012 were to Disneyland in California. 2001, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2013 were to Walt Disney World in Florida. I can safely say I haven't seen or done it all, but I have done so much and love going back. The trip in September to Disneyland (my fifth!) will most likely be the last trip to Disney for the foreseeable future, and that makes me sad... super sad. But I need to venture out away from my happy place... and I need to build up my savings.

4. I have never been on a date. I've not been asked since high school. It's not that I'm picky, it's just that I have a very... strict? idea of what dating and partnership should be. And, really, in 11 years since high school I haven't been asked. So I'm sure there's something wrong with me. Ha ha. But I'm actually quite content to be single. Until people put their nose where it doesn't belong. Then I am almost to pick some random guy up to shut everyone up and give them something new to gripe about.

5. I have an extra bone in my right foot. Apparently this is pretty common - though most folks have the extra bone in both feet. When my mom worked for a local chiropractor in town (I was eight?) he didn't believe us that it was an actual extra bone. Just one "out of alignment". He felt my foot and determined he was right, so without x-rays he began to try and manipulate it "back into place." It wasn't until I screamed out in pain and kicked him that he pulled back and said "I'll be damned. You're right." And people wonder why I DON'T like people touching me?!

6. Speaking of that - I hate giving random hugs, especially when I'm not the one that gets to initiate it. Like I physically HATE it. I give hugs to close family and friends, but really if I don't go in for a hug... don't assume it's okay. It's not comforting, cute, or friendly. I feel very confined, uncomfortable, and disrespected. It's one thing when the person doesn't know, but those that acknowledge that I dislike them (and then suggest I need to get over it) that's when I really take issue. I'm outspoken, but I'm also unable to really speak my mind in those situations... so I typically take my punishment and then the rest of the day is pretty crappy. Yes, it's that bad. No, I'm not going to change my feelings. It goes much deeper than someone's need to force me to hug.

7. Growing up as an only child I wanted a brother. Originally I wanted to be oldest with a younger brother, as I've grown up I've realized I wanted/needed someone older. This is going to make me seem hateful and uncaring, but the younger brother I was blessed with has caused so much pain and hurt and yeah that I feel very cheated. I really do have a yearning to have a protector, like the older brothers so many of my friends have. In the last year I've never wanted something more. I don't know why, I just really wish I'd had one. Interestingly enough, had my parents been able to adopt the boy that they were in the process of when they found out they were pregnant (and the mother was pulling out of the adoption) I'd have had an older brother (by about 6 months). I'm very thankful for the guys in my life through the years who were older and filled that role for me. Now that they're all away and married perhaps that is why I feel that desire again.

8. I have been obsessed with photography since I was seven years old. A friend from school gave me a point and shoot (film) camera and Panda Bear (it was a combo gift, not sure where he got it but I still have both the camera and the bear) for my birthday. I wore that camera out! My dad taught me the basics of SLR cameras and by the time I was in high school I was being asked to shoot weddings and portraits. I decided that I didn't want to do anything else - except maybe become a film director. I did not go to college for photography, however. I wanted to get into TV/Film direction. So I basically wasted a lot of time and money because I didn't end up with a degree, and I didn't achieve my goals. Mainly because I'm a poor student.

9.  I am a HUGE Steven Spielberg fangirl. Like SUPER fan girl. I have a collection of his films (not complete, but we're getting there. I got a late start!), even ones I won't watch (ET because he scares me, and War Horse because it crushed my soul). To me, Spielberg is my generation's Walt Disney. He brought to life dinosaurs, brought us Indiana Jones, and even the supposedly flawed Hook brought about imagination. For all the fun that he brought to our lives, though, he's also brought the important stories of WW1 & WW2 - the horrors of the Holocaust, the tragedies of war as well as the beauty of those souls fighting for what they believe in. I could gush about him and his work all day. SPIELBERG!

10. I love Alaska. I was born and raised here, and Lord willing I will die here. I don't want to live anywhere else (except maybe Cinderella's Castle). I live in Kenai - where I was raised - and you can't convince me there's a better place on Earth.

11. I still love the show FRIENDS. I have just about every episode memorized, and my bff and I are known to have full on conversations using only quotes from the show. I got hooked on it just a few weeks before it ended, and I sat with my bff and hugged her as the finale happened. She was a HUGE fan while it was on the air (still is) and was the one that got me hooked. But she's the one who cried. I made fun of her for getting SO involved with a TV show...

12. And then 10 years later - yeah, it was my turn. If you've followed my blog in the last few months you know where I am going with this. I got hooked on Once Upon A Time last year. It was a great escape for when I lost my beloved pug dog Yuka (while I was away from home visiting my bff, ironically). I was SO excited for the third season of this show. It was going to be dark, it was going to have twists. There were going to be pirates, and mermaids, and Neverland... and then the second half of the season happened and I had fallen in love with a character that, unbeknownst to me, was going to die. I have never been affected by a television show as much as I apparently have with OUAT. I cannot get over them killing off Neal Cassidy. I've never experienced the grief over a character of a tv show like this (I have for movies, so I know it's possible). And I've lost quite a few favorite TV characters over the years. Michael Raymond-James (as I've gushed about before) is a fantastic actor. I'm sorry it took me so long to recognize it, but OUAT will not be the same without him. I cannot WAIT for Sons of Liberty (History Channel, premieres December 14th, yes I will be obsessively watching). Yes, I did have to do this just to mention MRJ. I'm a crazy person.

13. Speaking of Sons of Liberty, I am a huge US History nerd. I like world history, too, but US History gets my attention far more than anything else. Revolutionary War, Civil War, and our involvement in World War 2 are my favorite categories (oh and Lincoln and Washington). I have to give a shout out to my 8th grade US History teacher, Bob Summer, for giving me a love of the subject. Even if my grades didn't always reflect it (I was a huge disappointment for him, I didn't apply myself. My grades did not reflect my capabilities).

14. I used to be really into politics as well, but have become increasingly more jaded. Probably the Alaskan in me. Hard to care about national politics when you know your vote doesn't count and that you have a very non existent voice.

15. I have been a huge fan of figure skating pretty much my entire life. From the time I was nearly four all the way till now I've watched the sport and fangirled over so many of its stars. I believe the years of 1984-2004 was the best era of figure skating (peaking from 1994-2000). It's considered the "Golden Era" of modern skating in the West. Kurt Browning is the ultimate figure skater. We will never see another like him. Medals and titles don't matter (though his four world titles are nothing to sniff at!), he is far superior to anything the sport has produced before or since. I could watch him skate all day. Scott Hamilton is the ultimate showman, but Browning is the real deal.

16. My first celebrity crush was Tom Selleck as Magnum P.I. when I was a toddler. I would "call" him on the phone and talk to him for hours. I can't stand him now. Go figure. But I've always crushed on older actors. Very few from my age group are in my "best actor/hotties" list (well, that was more true before I started watching Once Upon A Time, most of those guys are my age-ish). I wanted to marry Scott Hamilton (figure skater) when I was four, and I've crushed hard for Harrison Ford, Kurt Browning, and a host of other older guys from the time I was in Jr. High. As I said earlier, I'm crazy.

17. I love tacos. Tacos are my most favorite things EVER. I could eat a mountain of tacos. They are my major weakness. I live for Taco Tuesday/Thursday. I love taco salad when I can't have tacos. Which is any time I have to cook tacos because I refuse to cook with oil over a flame.

18. I am terrified of cooking with oil because I set my parents' kitchen on fire when I was 16. In my defense I was sick and thought I'd put the tea kettle on to boil water to make some hot cider. In my cold med stupor, however, I turned on the wrong burner. It was an electric stove, so there was not flame to indicate that I was boiling the wrong thing. Mom had left a pot of oil on the stove. I walked out of the room for mere seconds and WHOOSH! I've been terrified ever since, though I love to cook.

19. It's just been in the last few years that I've loved to cook. It was out of necessity when I lived on my own, and now I miss not getting to cook more. I love planning my menu, going based on a theme, and making it all come together. I get this from my grandmother as she was the master planner and chef. I wish I'd embraced cooking sooner so that it would've been something we could have enjoyed together, but it makes me feel connected to her even though she's gone now. We'd always enjoyed baking, and now that I have found the love for cooking I have to believe G'Ma is smiling down on me.

20. I am a massive planner when it comes to vacation. I don't go as far as to do the spreadsheets (well, sometimes), but it's how I cope with the wait. This started back when I began working on the family 2007 trip to Disney World. I found a disney travel message board that encouraged this behavior. It's been a lifesaver SO many times, and now I'm kinda obsessed with planning. It's half the fun for me!

So there you have it, 20 facts about me. Probably more than you ever cared to know, but it is what it is... and if you actually read all that you deserve a cookie. Not going to lie. So I'll leave you with this adorable MRJ gif (yes I'm obsessed and I don't even know why. I feel like a stalker! LOL). I really need to rewatch Terriers again. Britt Pollack is too funny.

30 Days of [Figure] Skating: Day Twenty-Two

Day 22: Favorite and Least Favorite Commentator

Dun dun dun. The moment of truth. Who is Toni going to pick. Will she side with the haters and hate on her beloved Scott Hamilton. Will she choose the godlike Dick Button, fearing his insane ramblings will forever haunt her if she doesn't? Will she plead temporary insanity and choose Sandra Besic who is scary beyond all reason?

Answer to all of those: no.

I'm going to cheat and break this down and choose four commentators. Favorite/Least Favorite EXPERT commentator (skater turned talking head) and Favorite/Least Favorite COLOR Commentator (professionally trained talking head).

Favorites:

Kurt Browning, Expert Commentator. He got canned by NBC in his first US showing because he dared to call a 14 year old Michelle Kwan sexy. Actually he was commenting on the program given to the 14 year old, but all NBC officials heard was the word sexy on the topic of a 14 year old girl. Bye, bye Canadian commentator. Fast forward to 2005/06, and ABC was looking for some new blood. Who knows why. I'm just glad they did. Kurt was the first commentator willing to go toe to toe with Dick Button without muddying the job. Dick is a bully, plain and simple, in the booth. I would scream at the TV each week as he belittled Peggy Fleming (who is a mouse when it comes ot Dick. Stand up to teh jerk, girl!) whenever she dared to have her own opinion and not his. When Kurt shared his opinion as to why a skater's program didn't work and Dick interrupted him Kurt politely reminded him that he was talking, and then finished his thought. Eat that Mr. Button.

Terry Gannon, Color Commentator. This was difficult, until recently I would have named Verne Lundquist as my favorite. He was the voice next to Scottie's for many years when CBS had an interest in the sport. Now he's back commentating for golf. Like Lundquist, Gannon takes his job seriously... and in doing so he's seemed to fall in love with teh sport of figure skating. When ABC dropped skating from their lineup, I was devastated. Not because it meant less coverage, but because no more Terry Gannon. I don't watch golf or basketball (his other sports) so I thought that was it for the yumminess that is Terry Gannon. Until this season when I was plesantly surprised to find he was commentating for Universal Sports (though now I don't get US thanks to my move. Depressing!). Hooray for sexy color commentators!

Least Favorite:

Dick Button, Expert commentator. Pretty sure you saw this one coming with my rant on him earlier. I don't find much to like about Dick. Yes, his knowledge of the sport is second to none. Yes, he has been commentating since the beginning. But that doesn't give him the right to belittle his co-commentators, or bully his opinion on the fans. And, now, anymore, he doesn't make any sense. Sometimes I wonder if he isn't all there. I much prefer when he's not in teh booth.

Al Trautwig & Tom Hammond, Color Commentator. Neither one gives a flying fart about skating. They sound bored when they talk, they make some pretty sly slurs about the men. They're a waste of space.

30 Days of [Figure] Skating: Day Seven

Day 7: Favorite Men's Program

You really want to hurt me, don't you? How am I supposed to choose just one program? It's pretty close to impossible. The Men's dicipline is my favorite in figure skating, no surprise there, and I have a lot of favorite programs. So I'm going to narrow it down to two, favorite show program and favorite competitive program... at least I hope by the time I'm done I can have one. It'd be easier to just ask for favorite body of work of a figure skater! LOL

I'm still having a hard time deciding, I've had this blog open pretty much since I got home two hours ago and I'm still watching Youtube trying to decide just which program I want to use. It's come down to Kurt Browning, but that just narrows it down to A skater... not a program. I have so many favorites for so many reasons. And just when I think I have decided my heart comes up with another love.

But I think I'm going to go with Serenade to Sonia on this one. Not because it's technically difficult, or mindblowingly artistic (that'd be Nyah and Summertime) but because of the heart in it. It is, after all, a program dedicated to and about his relationship with his (then) new bride. And it's the program that made me fall in love with the Canadian skater whom most of the skating world already loved.



So there, whew, I picked my favorite show program... now to decide on my favorite competitive program... oh dear. This didn't seem to be so difficult. Originally I was going to go with Kurt's 1994 SP to St. Louis Blues (even if it was a disaster in Lillehammer), then I remembered I liked Evan Lysacek's Carmen, and then I wanted to pick Ryan Bradley's 2010 LP, and then I remembered I love several of Alexei Yagudin's programs. So many fantastic programs. And I do enjoy watching Johnny Weir's Otonal program... oy...

Alright I went with Ryan Bradley's 2010 Free Program. I dedicated a whole blog post about it last year, so why not. It's a fantastic program. It's everything I enjoy about the sport - in a COMPETITIVE program! It's just freaking awesome. I cannot wait to see what he does at nationals this year (so glad you've come back, Ryan!)

Oh those... pants...

The other night a close friend and I were reliving my childhood ;) (sorry, girl, I had to give ya a hard time on that one hee hee!) and thinking back to some of the great moments skating brought in teh 'early stages' of our friendship. That's right, one of my closest friends I have never met face to face but I love and adore her like a sister (maybe more so because I'm a rotten sibling lol). She is a joy and a blessing and I guess, in a way, we have figure skating (or maybe just Kurt?) to thank for that.

I got back into skating fandom in 1999 after Scott Hamilton and Katarina Witt got together and brought a skating show to Anchorage Alaska. I got online, looked up all I could on the sport... and found a great friendship with several people on a little skating board called Skate Forum (one of the original skating centric boards that is now gone. I miss it.)

Anyway in a round about way I'm getting to the main topic of this rambling. I met "Binky" on skate forum on my first day, and she was so sweet and it wasn't long before we were IMing each other, emailing, and sharing random inside jokes on the board. One of our main topics that we had MANY inside jokes about was none other than Kurt Browning. Yes, I'm going to talk about him again. If you're shocked, well, I don't know how you could be.

Last night while I was converting old tapes to DVD I came across a competition where Evgeny Plushenko (you know, that Russian skater who's still P.O.ed that he wasn't just handed the gold medal in Torino.) skated to Nyah from the Mission Impossible soundtrack (you know, that movie with another stuck up celebrity as it's main character - ie Tom Cruise, he knows medicine better than Matt Lauer, cuz he reads books).

That got Binky all fired up as the ONLY skater allowed to skate to that music is, of course, Kurt Browning - who has a signature piece with that very music. It was choreographed by a dancer who is in the same Ballet Company as Browning's wife... and it's quite possibly the closest a skating routine will ever come to actual DANCE on the ice.


Thank you, Sonia Rodreguez-Browning for making your husband go to the gym and bulk up. In the words of my 'sister': Mmmmm. Shoulders. ;)


But this program is NOT the one I want to gush about... at least not tonight. No, tonight I do not want to talk about the Artist Browning... but the Playboy Browning. In his 'role' in SOI Kurt normally found himself as 'the playa' or playboy of the troupe. Most women (and some men) didn't complain, we'd take all we could get. One of Kurt's 'big break' numbers was to the song "Brickhouse". The show's costume designer, Jef Billings, went all Saturday Night Fever for the number putting Kurt in a flowing cut down to there polyester white shirt... with midnight blue SKIN TIGHT pleather pants. All the girls swooned and a professional star was born.


My brother used to know all of the choreography by heart and would 'skate it' on the kitchen floor in his socks. Duane absolutely ADORED Kurt growning up, and still considers him a sports hero (doesn't hurt that Kurt sent him a gift for his birthday in 2006 - no one is more genuine than Kurt).

But, still, that is not my most swoon worthy. No. A few years after the Brickhouse sensation (and a score of memorable numbers such as Serenade to Sonia, Summertime, and Antares... to name a few) came "Brickhouse 2" which was skated to "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)". It's teh first program I can remember drooling to. I was 13 or 14 at the time and had just - apparently - discovered what made all of the ladies on TV start screaming and swooning the minute Kurt took the ice.

There were those midnight blue pleather pants (but with a brown cut down to there polyester shirt). Oh. my. word. It's probably the most swoon worthy - for me - of all of his pieces (ok, swoon is not the word. Let's face it, when I watch this program I am in full out lust mode. Especially when the butt wiggle happens lol). He can play sweet, sassy, masculine... he can do it all... but he took it to a whole new level with Funky Music.


Oh... those... pants.

A is for Axel

I've been redoing my room tonight, and I ended up stopping and reading World Figure Skating Champion Kurt Browning's children's book A is for Axel: An Ice Skating Alphabet. I was fortunate enough to snag my copy at a book signing he did at the 2006 US Figure Skating National Championships. It was probably the greatest 'celebrity' experience of my life and sealed Kurt into the number one spot on my favorites list. I don't think there's a more genuine skater on the planet. The fact that he was able to boot Scott Hamilton out of that spot is probably the best indicator of how much I truly appreciate Browning as a skater and a person.

The book itself shows just another side of Kurt's talent, and brings a little light on his passion. As a father of two, it's obvious Kurt revels in his role as dad - his eldest is even featured in a couple of the book's illustrations. The simple poetry for each letter is sweet, and the tidbits on the history and technical side of figure skating - while simple in explanation - make the book good for kids just learning their letter to just starting to read real books... and is a great addition to any figure skating fan's collection.

Now, if we could just get Kurt to write a second autobiography that takes off where the one from 1992 left off, I'd be a happy fangirl.