Last night I read part of a really fascinating book by David Reagan called Wrath and Glory. We (Ethan, Joshua, Stokton and I) are reading it for our Wednesday morning Bible study. I've really liked it to far. He's said some stuff that I don't think he has support for (Hosea does not tell us that Jesus is coming back after two thousand years...the Bible is very clear that we don't know when he's coming back. Hence the admonition to watch. 'Cause we don't know.) But overall, really good book (so far).

Monday we had about 80 million things due for our state-required education portfolio and I actually got it all submitted by early Monday morning. I'm very impressed with myself. So far I've had three of the assignments assessed and I passed them all.

Thursday night Ethan, Naomi and I went into Tulsa to watch the Tour of US Gymnastics Champions. It was amazing. The men's high bar was the most incredible. Their tumbling was unreal. It was so totally worth $83.

If you ever get the chance to see or listen to the band KSM, run for your life. They are utterly, totally horrible.

Am I the only one who finds it deeply disturbing to see Nastia Lukin dressed in an almost bikini leotard, dancing provocatively to the song Butterfly Kisses? Doesn't that seem just a little bit icky?

As long as we're on that topic, allow me to climb on my soap box and give this rant that has been building up inside me since the Olympics. It's about the public image of female athletes. This rant was mostly brought on by the woman's beach volleyball and the woman's diving competitions. Apparently it isn't enough to be the best in the world: you have to be sexy as well. You have to wear next to nothing and parade around on national TV. In volleyball, the men can wear shorts and tank tops, but the woman are required to wear something that if spread out on the a table would not even cover a place setting.

I spend a lot of time working with some very serious female athletes. And believe me, they work hard. Have you ever had somebody literally lay on top of you to make you stretch farther? Or try this: hang from a bar, bring your toes to your hands, then put them down at 3 o'clock. Then back to your fingers, then down to 9 o'clock. Or shrug your shoulders. Now imagine putting enough power into shrugging those shoulders to throw your body 5 feet straight up in the air. These are common, everyday things for my students. Nobody turns their head or shouts "wow!" when they do these things: it's simply part of trying to be the best.

And after all that, our culture tells those girls that what they've done isn't enough. Oh no. What will really make you a success is some cleavage.

On a totally unrelated note, if you have never read the poem Requiem by Anna Akhmatova, then you need to read it. It's excellent.