Oprah, the Olympics and Chicago

Oprah had all the American medal-winning Olympians on her show today. I haven't watched it yet -- I rarely watch her show -- but TiVo is getting it for me tonight because I love the idea of having a rally to celebrate the Olympic team's accomplishments.

I mean, when a baseball team wins the World Series, a football team wins the Super Bowl or a hockey team wins the Stanley Cup, they usually come home to a big, rousing citywide rally to celebrate their success. But it's more complicated with the Olympics. The Olympians on the U.S. team are from all over the country, and there isn't one big accomplishment to celebrate, but several individual and team accomplishments. What one location could host such an event?

In this case, since Oprah films here, Chicago got to host the rally. And Chicago is also currently making a bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the decision being made by the International Olympic Committee next year. What better way to showcase Chicago as an Olympic contender and demonstrate the city's enthusiasm than having an Olympic rally in Millennium Park? 

And with the enthusiastic turnout of so many athletes -- over 150 of them -- it sure demonstrates that the rally was a popular idea with the Olympians. Perhaps after every Olympics, whatever American city is making a bid for the Olympics that year should host a similar rally? I really like that idea.

I'll take off my cheerleader hat now.

But, before I sign off on this topic, I thought I'd go out on a tangent and offer up one bit of trivia that to me illustrates how Chicago's Olympic bid fits in with Chicago's self identity.

There are four stars on Chicago's flag. Any guesses what they represent?



They represent four influential things/events in Chicago's history:
* Fort Dearborn, which was the original fort that the settlement was built around in the early 1800s;
* the Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed most of the city's downtown in 1871;
* the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, which celebrated 400 years since Christopher Columbus's voyage of discovery;
* and the Century of Progress Exposition in 1933, which celebrated 100 years since the city's founding.

Did you notice that two of the defining events in the city's history and self identity were international exhibitions?

And what's the biggest international exhibition in the world right now? The Summer Olympics.

Rolling up the newspaper and ...

*Smack*

"Bad Blogger! Very Bad Blogger!"

(That's me admonishing myself for neglecting this site.)

*Shuffles to computer
*Licks owie
*Starts typing

Here's something I started to write last Thursday. I thought it could be a Thursday 13 post. Obviously, since it's no longer Thursday, that plan had to be scrapped, but I'm staying with the 13 things theme.

13 Things I did in August

1. I neglected my blog. Yes, but you already know that because you're smart and you read the opening of this post  or you visited this site during the past month and figured that out for yourself.

2. I attended a writers conference. Went to the Romance Writers of America conference in San Francisco where I pitched to an editor and received a request to submit my erotica short story. Also went to all sorts of inspiring workshops and talked with all sorts of creative people (perhaps I'll write about that some more at a future date). I came home much recharged.

3. I worked more on that short story. A lot. There is much erotica in said short story. What's important is that I've been working on my fiction. Yay me!

4. A tornado touched down in my town. It wasn't an overly large tornado -- all we lost was a tree branch -- but it was very scary. I was driving home from work when it hit. I was listening to the radio and knew it was stupid to keep going into the path of the confirmed tornado, so I pulled over at the Oasis rest stop and waited out the storm with a bunch of other cautious (and scared) motorists.

5. I watched the Olympics. A lot of Olympics. It was constantly playing in the background whenever I was home.

6. I finally saw The Dark Knight at the theater. Excellent. I can see what all the hoopla was about. My husband still insists that Iron Man was a much better movie. Me? It's a toss-up.

7. I got to see my friend Wook when he came in for a surprise visit. It was a surprise even to him. The airline canceled his connecting flight at O'Hare, so he stayed the night with us. It took my poor dog Thor a few days to get over this visit from his own personal Satan, but the rest of us were happy to see Wook. :)

8. I enjoyed an afternoon at the racetrack. We celebrated my husband's 40th birthday by inviting a group of friends to go to Arlington Park with us. I bet the $2 minimum on just about every race, losing far more than anything I won, but I had a lot of fun. We all did. We couldn't have ordered up more beautiful weather.

9. I got to be a mock bridesmaid at a friend's mock wedding. Jules celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary by renewing her wedding vows. That's where all the "mock" business comes in. It was a gorgeous night, a very moving ceremony, and I was thrilled to be included in such an honored capacity.

10. I applied for another job within my company. It would be a lateral move to a different tech writing position, but it would be a welcome change. Let's hope I didn't just jinx myself by mentioning it here. There's a lot of interviewing still to be done.

11. I helped to run the draft for my husband's Fantasy Football league. I ran the computer, inputting the selections as players were drafted. I even remembered to wear my referee shirt from last year's Halloween costume. It was a big hit.

12. I saw Alice Cooper in concert. It was a fun show. We drove up to the Genesee Theater in Waukegan. It's an old theater with all sorts of gilded decorations inside, so it made for an interesting setting. I could imagine the society matrons from 75 years ago fainting at the sight of big, burly, inked Harley types filling the red velvet seats of this one-time posh theater. If that didn't get them, I'm sure Alice Cooper killing a babydoll and then mock hanging himself on stage would have done it for them.

I almost forgot No. 13. Seems like it should have ended on an even dozen. But yet, here I am, so...

13. Got the dogs into the vet for their annual checkups. That's actually big news for Miss Loki, who was diagnosed with a cancerous mast cell tumor during last year's checkup. She received a clean bill of health this time. Plus, both dogs were down 10 pounds. Their diets are working. (I can't say so much for mine.)

Now I'm all caught up. My blogging is back to a clean slate. Here's looking forward to a prolific September and no more swatting myself with rolled up newspapers.