vuvuzela season

photo via instagram

World Cup 2014 is here!  As I type, the first game has begun and I am in my happy place.  It got me thinking about what was happening four years ago during the last tournament and I gleefully realized that Mr. F and I had just started dating.  In fact, we used the World Cup as an excuse to see each other more often.  Such was the beginning of our international lives.

I have loved the World Cup for a very long time.  I love the idea that the entire world is watching these games.  Watching 22 men run around a pristine pitch, kicking a back, representing their respective countries.  I love the colors, the cheers, the traditions, the vuvuzelas, the music, the games. The dance of two teams that are well matched is a thing of beauty.  Their movements, the psychology behind a kick.  Oh, it's wonderful.  I love the way my world expands for four weeks.  I learn about countries I knew little of, brush up on my knowledge of flags, geography.  It's a total sensory experience.

Croatia is up by one in the first match and the tournament is underway....

viva la revolution!

Today is a good day to be an American. Today is the day we showed up. With the dice loaded against us, eleven men took the pitch and played their hearts out in a game the rest of the world thinks we have no right playing. Today is the day we advanced to the round of sixteen after a triumphant draw against England and an ego-shattering result with Slovenia. Today, we beat the Algerians in the ninety-second minute of play. Today Americans wail into their vuvuzelas offering ecstatic declarations of joy in a situation where all seemed lost. Today, we played football.

pandemonium

It's that time of every four years, where the world collides in one epic event. Where the hopes and dreams of nations rest on a ball, ninety minutes, about twenty individuals. It is the same time when I act less and less like an American and relish in my not-so-secret desire to be European.

It's World Cup time.

If I don't return phone calls, emails, show up to work, appointments, or any such thing, it's more than likely because I'm sucked into the tournament. That and I'm trying to send all positive energy to the US team, so still has a small but hopeful chance of advancing to the second round.

Viva FIFA!

reason number 472 why I can't bring myself to cheer for OSU

Scene: Ohio State versus Bowling Green hockey game at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. By the middle of the second period, the score stands three to two, OSU in the lead. The game is getting more heated, tension is building. One lowly Michigan fan sits in the stands considering whether she she should cheer for OSU or not, since Bowling Green really doesn't matter, when...

Announcer: One minute left in the second period-
Entire crowd (sans one lowly Michigan fan): AND MICHIGAN STILL SUCKS!!


I rest my case.

duck out of water

On Friday, 2 January 2010, the Rose Bowl was held in Pasadena, California. The teams competing? University of Oregon and The Ohio State University.

Now, as we all know, I have issues with Ohio State. So it was a fortunate happenstance that they were playing a team I've been rooting for for years. A team that was favored to win by three points.

So it was that I went to a party hosted by some friends here in Columbus to watch the game. I was decked out in green and yellow. Everyone else was in red..lots of red. Blech... The overall effect was something like this.

Except for by the end of the game, I was the blue ball crying in a corner surrounded by at least a dozen happy, smiling, yellow balls. I'm now considering going to therapy for the off-chance that I am somehow a good luck charm for OSU. Let's face it, I move to Columbus and they win their first BCS bowl game in how long? This can't be good news for me.

recipe: saturday extraordinaire

Ingredients:
1 pair of new friends
1 car
3 festivals
6 NCAA football teams
zest of sun, to taste
1 cupcake
2 cookies
2 apples
1 street vendor
1 fantastic restaurant
drizzle of starlight

Take the pair of new acquaintances, inject them with fresh fruit and place in the car. Begin in Grandview Heights for farmer's market. May be best to feed here after procuring fresh fruit. Results vary, but tend to be positive. Local bakers may also be present. Utilize.

Return to car, head in a westerly direction until reaching Hilliard. Roam the streets basking in classic cars, Sweet Adeline performers, and local artists. Street vendor optional at this point.

Return to car, and start driving. Helps if one of the pair of friends is new to the area and has no idea where any of these places are. Take a southern course to Lithopolis. There, surprise the unassuming newbie with a smörgåsbord of antique stores, a small art fair, honey festival, and bratwurst. Allow adequate time for roaming, shopping, and general silliness. Proper monetary considerations also need to be reckoned with as willpower tends to diminish in the presence of watercolor paintings, a National Geographic book from 1926, and a wide variety of honey. Prepare accordingly.

When sustained by bratwurst, return to car and veer north back into Columbus for another festival. Far more amusing if it is composed of hippies and their wares. Festival should not be left until joining in the process of creating a mural with a local artisan. A preferred medium is handmade paper, especially with the raw material. Such a medium leads to fingers stained blue from "non-toxic" dye. After sufficiently dyed, a break is necessary. Return the unassuming newbie home for a few hours to relax and catch football scores.

For this concoction to really be successful, BYU needs to give Tulane a thorough trashing, raising them even further in the rankings. (No. 7 on the AP poll is preferred.) This can only be catapaulted by a last-moment win by Michigan over Notre Dame, giving the former a 2-0 record before conference play.

To round off the day, select an absolutely amazing menu from the the selection for Restaurant Week. Dress appropriately, head to restaurant (in this case G. Michael's in German Village), and let the chef do all the work. Be prepared for a sensory overload as the most incredible meal ever created is placed before you. Three desserts are optional, but definitely preferred. Good conversation and good company are a must.

Follow this off with a stroll through the park, walking off the inordinate amount of food that has been consumed. Add a crystaline sky, the twinkle of starlight, and the slightest of breezes to taste.

Wake up the next morning to find out that USC beat Ohio State in the last minutes of play, and the day will be complete.


Serving sizes vary.

reverie: rugby

This is me, 10 inches of hair and 20 million rolls of electrical tape ago.

Back when I found myself daily in a scrum set up miraculously low and tight.

A time when I wore mouth guards, was constantly covered in dirt, and was always at the ready to hoist teammates into the air.

I still don't wear socks, so luckily some things don't change, 

but there was only one time when we were the first ever State Champions for Women's High School Rugby in the state of Michigan.