Amy’s Adventures

Easter, circa 1978. I hated this dress!

Like every other little girl in 1976 I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill. Unfortunately, the closest I ever got to being women’s figure skating Olympic champion was this haircut. I begged for lessons and tried to convince my mom that my dance costumes could do double duty on the ice.

There were just a few problems with my plan. There weren’t many rinks in NC and it rarely snowed more than 2 inches. Simply, NC was not a haven for winter sport athletes. After all, why would you want to be a figure skater when you could be a little league cheerleader?

I was confident. Despite the fact that I had never been on skates, I knew I was a skating prodigy waiting to be break loose. After all, I could pull my head through my legs and do Cirque-Solie things with my body.

Well, we all know how this story ended. I didn’t become Olympic Figure Skating Champion. My six year old ambition wasn’t enough.  I moved on, and yes made the cheerleading squad on my first try. Yeah, for me. I learned to yell loud and wave poms poms on cue. I guess yelling out loud was my gift.

Initially, I was very weary of following the winter Olympics after I had already medaled in the DC snowpocalypse of 2010. Yet I found myself choosing men’s figure skating over Carolina basketball. This year, this is not a hard decision and fortunately, the winter gods have given me a diversion from this atrocious basketball season. My diversion: men’s figure skating. Typically, I hate men’s figure skating. Mostly it’s their costumes and music that turn me off. Men in sequins skating around to music that can push a bipolar person over the edge is not my idea of sport.

Nevertheless, I tuned in to watch the USA versus Russia drama. By now we all know how that turned out and everyone outside Russia agrees the Russian dude is just a poor sport. However, what no one is talking about is how Evan Lysacek looks a lot like the kid from Ugly Betty.

Evan Lysacek, 2010 Gold Medalist

Mark Indelicato from Ugly Betty