Signing off from St. Paul
I just posted the last photo. I don't even want to guess how many I took over the course of the nine days. When I left St. Paul, I had under 3 GB left on my laptop. I pulled the majority of the bad ones and still have 10,000. How is that even possible? I foresee a lot of DVD burning in my imminent future.
While I was pulling the last of the blooper photos, I had the exhibitions on TV. Even though I saw it live, I like to hear what commentators say (well, sometimes) and what kind of backstage fluff they air. I really would have preferred seeing more exhibitions and no rehash of the tie heard round the world, but a big kudos to not talking through the routines. If only they did the same for competition!
Less than a week after getting home, I think ice-dance.com has everything up that it is expecting. That's pretty amazing. Almost finished with Canadians, too, with only one report left that Mel is working on. Definitely challenging for her to juggle school and freelance work. We got a little behind once Daphne and I got to Minnesota, because Canadians wasn't the only event anymore. Plus we had multiple people working on U.S. nationals, and Mel was flying solo in Vancouver. She rocks!
Every nationals leaves lasting memories. When I think back to St. Paul, I'll remember:
1. The weather! Or specifically, the temperature. Lillehammer in February and Moscow in March were just trumped by Minneapolis in January. I'm not complaining, though! I love the cold.
2. Not being in the hotel. This is my first nationals that I didn't stay in a hotel. For the Lillehammer Olympics, I stayed in someone's home in Hamar that was walking distance to Northern Lights Hall. For Skate America '94 in Pittsburgh, I lived in the city, so I slept in my own apartment. For World Pro/Landover in '94, I stayed with someone I met at Skate America at her apartment in Arlington. Hmm. All 1994. Chez Karen '08, however, tops them all. I am so grateful to our wonderful hostess for welcoming us into her home. For a long time. With lots of luggage and camera equipment. And although we didn't get peanut brittle on our pillows at turndown like in the Davenport in Spokane, we had goodie bags and homemade chocolate chip cookies that stayed soft for days. Yum!
3. New responsibilities and expanded coverage. I wore a few more hats than usual in St. Paul. Copy editing everything and trying to make it all match IDC's Style Guide was a new challenge. Reports have one set of rules, blogs another. With the blogs, making sure to keep the author's voice even after I edit it. We certainly had a lot of different voices this year! I'm very proud of that. We all had different levels of experience, both in blogging and in being at nationals. I've blogged nationals in the past for USFS. Daphne has blogged for IDC. We add Katie and Karen, who are both attending their first nationals as spectators. Karen is a professional writer; Katie is not. Travis gave us the insight into a competitor's first Big Nationals, and Jim talked about the experience of a parent's first time at Big Nationals. We have multiple photos of every single dancer in every single event, plus practices and medal ceremonies. Photos of every participant in the exhibition Sunday night. Plus over 100 bloopers for your enjoyment. When we'd get tired or frustrated, it helped to step back and go--Wow! We rock.
4. The skating! So many programs and moments to remember. Only two made me cry: Johnny and Kimmie's free skates. Obviously, they were for opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course The Tie will be one of the most memorable--and talked about--competitions in recent history. The ice dance events on all three levels were exciting and unpredictable. The U.S. now has an obscene about of depth and talent in ice dancing. The movement in the standings throughout the novice and junior competitions was wild, with nearly every team standing in a different spot at each phase of the competition. Even though the top three senior teams didn't move, the TES/PCS scores revealed that no one is "safe" anymore.
A big THANK YOU to everyone (including Huckleberry, who has forgiven me for leaving him), especially those who emailed, texted, and called when I needed a boost. I hope to see you all in Cleveland next year. And hey, only six months 'til Placid!
While I was pulling the last of the blooper photos, I had the exhibitions on TV. Even though I saw it live, I like to hear what commentators say (well, sometimes) and what kind of backstage fluff they air. I really would have preferred seeing more exhibitions and no rehash of the tie heard round the world, but a big kudos to not talking through the routines. If only they did the same for competition!
Less than a week after getting home, I think ice-dance.com has everything up that it is expecting. That's pretty amazing. Almost finished with Canadians, too, with only one report left that Mel is working on. Definitely challenging for her to juggle school and freelance work. We got a little behind once Daphne and I got to Minnesota, because Canadians wasn't the only event anymore. Plus we had multiple people working on U.S. nationals, and Mel was flying solo in Vancouver. She rocks!
Every nationals leaves lasting memories. When I think back to St. Paul, I'll remember:
1. The weather! Or specifically, the temperature. Lillehammer in February and Moscow in March were just trumped by Minneapolis in January. I'm not complaining, though! I love the cold.
2. Not being in the hotel. This is my first nationals that I didn't stay in a hotel. For the Lillehammer Olympics, I stayed in someone's home in Hamar that was walking distance to Northern Lights Hall. For Skate America '94 in Pittsburgh, I lived in the city, so I slept in my own apartment. For World Pro/Landover in '94, I stayed with someone I met at Skate America at her apartment in Arlington. Hmm. All 1994. Chez Karen '08, however, tops them all. I am so grateful to our wonderful hostess for welcoming us into her home. For a long time. With lots of luggage and camera equipment. And although we didn't get peanut brittle on our pillows at turndown like in the Davenport in Spokane, we had goodie bags and homemade chocolate chip cookies that stayed soft for days. Yum!
3. New responsibilities and expanded coverage. I wore a few more hats than usual in St. Paul. Copy editing everything and trying to make it all match IDC's Style Guide was a new challenge. Reports have one set of rules, blogs another. With the blogs, making sure to keep the author's voice even after I edit it. We certainly had a lot of different voices this year! I'm very proud of that. We all had different levels of experience, both in blogging and in being at nationals. I've blogged nationals in the past for USFS. Daphne has blogged for IDC. We add Katie and Karen, who are both attending their first nationals as spectators. Karen is a professional writer; Katie is not. Travis gave us the insight into a competitor's first Big Nationals, and Jim talked about the experience of a parent's first time at Big Nationals. We have multiple photos of every single dancer in every single event, plus practices and medal ceremonies. Photos of every participant in the exhibition Sunday night. Plus over 100 bloopers for your enjoyment. When we'd get tired or frustrated, it helped to step back and go--Wow! We rock.
4. The skating! So many programs and moments to remember. Only two made me cry: Johnny and Kimmie's free skates. Obviously, they were for opposite ends of the spectrum. Of course The Tie will be one of the most memorable--and talked about--competitions in recent history. The ice dance events on all three levels were exciting and unpredictable. The U.S. now has an obscene about of depth and talent in ice dancing. The movement in the standings throughout the novice and junior competitions was wild, with nearly every team standing in a different spot at each phase of the competition. Even though the top three senior teams didn't move, the TES/PCS scores revealed that no one is "safe" anymore.
A big THANK YOU to everyone (including Huckleberry, who has forgiven me for leaving him), especially those who emailed, texted, and called when I needed a boost. I hope to see you all in Cleveland next year. And hey, only six months 'til Placid!
