the olympics, sport marketing

It is now 2012, and that means this summer we will be treated to the Olympic games. I, for one, am excited! The Olympics- both summer and winter- are so much fun. Plus when all the different sports are televised- well, that beats ninety percent of what’s usually available on daytime (and primetime!) television!! There are so many sports represented that you can almost always find something that entertains you.

Of course, we are only treated to the Olympics for a few weeks every couple of years. It would be great if we could see it more often, but there just aren’t enough athletes for that. It’s hard enough to break into the elite level of any sport, and once you’re an elite athlete, you have to train consistently. There’s also just not enough money in sport marketing to support a constant sports festival.

I suppose if I had cable television, I *could* watch sports channels all the time. But I am just too cheap to pay for television!! :)

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Puppy Bowl!!!

I do not have cable television, so it is unlikely I will have an opportunity to see this year’s Puppy Bowl.

Such a shame. I guarantee you, it will be OODLES more interesting than the Super Bowl! :)

10 Great Moments In ‘Puppy Bowl’ History.

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goodness

There are days when life is just good.

It’s not even because everything around me is good. Sure, the weather is nice, and I squeezed in a good workout today (swimming! woo!), and I’m resurrecting an old (yummy) recipe for dinner tonight. But my legs are also still sore and suffering from yesterday’s workout, and I’m craving corn chips but can’t eat them because my potassium has been all wacky this week, and I have oodles and oodles of work to do. But I don’t care. Life is good.

I don’t deserve to have such a good life. God is good.

I’ve been lacking inspiration for blog posts lately. I used to write about going to school, or my experiences living in a foreign country, or working in various schools. Today, though, my life is kinda boring, but in a good way. I work at home, and I write, and I seem to devote all my creative energies to fiction and freelance writing. By the end of the day, I’ve got nothing left for my blog.

Recently I added a few blogs to my RSS reader that suggest daily writing prompts. Some of them are kinda wacky, and the themes are all over the place, but I intend to start using those. When my creativity has been exhausted, I need that new inspiration.

Life is good. Sometimes that’s all that needs to be said.

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aquarium

A new aquarium here in Kansas City is currently filling with 130,000 gallons of water. I’m not totally convinced that Kansas City needs this aquarium, but I suppose it’s kinda cool. I mean, visiting aquariums is a lot of fun and it would be great if KC could attract more tourists. Plus this is no tiny aquarium- not like some hole-in-the-wall places that look more like an unattended pool, with all kinds of algae and fungi. You know- the kind the neighbors complain about until fencing pool becomes a priority. This is supposed to be very professional. In fact, if I run the Hospital Hill half marathon or the Kansas City marathon or half marathon, we could visit this after the race. That would be cool!

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3 years after US accident, boat washes up in Spain

What a story- a boat that crossed the Atlantic on its own, caught in the ocean currents, and washed ashore in Spain three years after it was lost. Amazing!

U.S. News – 3 years after US accident, boat washes up in Spain.

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photos of the Costa Concordia

Haunting.

PhotoBlog – Despite dangers, divers continue underwater searches of Costa Concordia.

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tomorrow’s plans

Tomorrow I am hoping to get up early and work out, but the weather is just wacky enough that it may be too cold to run outside- so I may need to go to the gym instead.

I have a bunch of other errands to run in the afternoon- shopping and other business. I need to take back a pair of leggings that doesn’t fit, and I’m debating stopping at Home Depot or Lowes to get their pre-season price on teak wood patio furniture to replace our broken patio chairs. Sometimes you can get a good deal if you shop out of season!!

Plus I plan to work for at least a few hours- whenever I can find the time!

It would be nice if I had more time, I suppose, but I really do like having such a busy life. It’s nice to have my days filled, and it encourages me to keep on a schedule!

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backups

One of these days I have got to make time to run some backups on my computer. It’s one of those things I really shouldn’t put off. I have a bundle of media that can easily be burned to DVDs- download video and music and that kind of thing.

I also want to take a look at my old laptop- I think I just might be able to convert it over into an exclusively media-viewing machine. It would certainly be useful… I just need a few more hours in the day for all of it! :)

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my thoughts on cruising

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard about the cruise ship catastrophe in Italy. For those of you who haven’t, the short version is: a cruise ship struck some kind of underwater hazard and sank. In the process many people were injured or killed. Since then, there have been many allegations of misconduct, primarily on the part of the captain. Evidence is emerging that there seems to be a lot of truth to those allegations.

I want to add my two cents to the controversy. Here’s the deal. I’ve only been on one pleasure cruise, but I lived onboard a medical ship for several months. Because of this, I’ve had the opportunity to learn an awful lot about maritime law. And I’m just shocked by what I’ve learned about this cruise.

I guess what stuns me most is that they did not do a muster drill. I understand that, legally, they have 24 hours before they are required to muster, but that’s 24 hours when something *could* go wrong. Like, you know, hitting an underwater obstacle that tears a hole in the ship and causes it to sink. Musters should happen as soon as the ship leaves port, if not before.

My one pleasure cruise was on the Vision of the Seas, owned and operated by Royal Caribbean. I am happy to say that I had absolutely no concern for safety on that cruise. All of the staff members were competent and had been trained in what to do in case of emergency.

Most noticeably: On our last full day of cruising, we were scheduled to tender off the island of Visby, Sweden. Visitors who wished to visit the island would be transported to the island via tender boats. However, due to a storm that kept the sea quite choppy and unstable, the captain made the choice to cancel tender boat trips to the island. He felt that conditions were simply too dangerous for the tender boats. My family and I had a delightful day on the ship- swimming, playing a card game, and relaxing- but above all I was reassured that the captain valued our lives and our safety above all.

Of course, it is also shocking that captain of the Costa Concordia seems to have behaved in such a cowardly manner. I think everyone is shocked by that, and rightly so. The captain is responsible for the safety and security of everyone and everything on his ship. It’s a big responsibility and should be given only to those who have proven themselves worthy. For the captain to flee from his ship is absolutely inappropriate.

One other thought: I’ve read many comparisons between this catastrophe and the Titanic catastrophe. Both were absolutely tragic, beyond words. But I immediately noticed one major difference between this and the Titanic catastrophe.

In this catastrophe, the captain abandoned ship very quickly, long before all of the passengers had disembarked. Several people died and many more were injured- fewer than on the Titanic, sure, but it is no less tragic.

When the Titanic sank, over 1500 people died and many more were injured. But the captain of the Titanic, Captain Edward John Smith, remained on his ship to the end. He organized the departure as best he could, and ultimately died. His body was never recovered, and it is generally agreed that he went down with the ship.

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weird wild weather

The weather has been so strange this winter… though I have no complaints about it! Today it was so warm that I went for a run in a tank top and shorts… at noon, it was 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and when I ran (in the mid afternoon), it was 56 degrees.

I do feel badly, though, for the people who live up north- WAY up north- like Alaska or northern Canada. They have gotten just so much snow up there!! Brrr- if you have to rent edmonton homes, you’d better be sure you have a good heater! When I’m hearing stories about twenty feet of snow or running out of snow shovels… well, yikes. I’m pretty tolerant of all different kinds of weather, but that’s just crazy!!

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