our deepest fear...

The Case for (South) Korea

2011-12-22T00:16:00.001-05:00

[I lied about Saturday!]

I decided to make a spreadsheet (found here) of all the scored for teams 9-16 from prelims at Worlds. I added up the scores per event by score receive at Worlds and by difficulty awarded at Worlds. While I was sitting in my room at 4AM reading updates and trying to find live feed during Worlds, lots of bloggers that were there fell in love with Korea during podium training but were disappointed with how they performed in qualifications. Korea placed 15th and will have the opportunity in January to qualify for London 2012.

What surprised me about this list is that when I split it by difficulty, Korea (15th place) had the highest difficulty of all 8 teams with a difficulty of 68.4 in a 3-up, 3-count format. Italy (9th place) was 2nd with a difficulty of an even 68 and France (10th) was 3rd with a total difficulty of 66.6. They had the highest value on vault with a 16.9 (2 DTY (5.8) vaults and a 1.5TY (5.3)). Their difficulty on uneven bars was an 18.1 (France was 2nd with a 18.0 largely due to Youna Dufournet's amazing 6.7 start value) which is no surprise based on the amazing routines that the bloggers were describing. Italy had the highest balance beam start value with a 17.7 (Preziosa - 6.0, Ferrari 5.9, Ferlito 5.8) and Canada was second with a 3-up difficulty of 16.9. Korea was tied in 3rd with Spain and the Netherlands (who have lost all-arounder Celine van Gerner) with a 16.8. Korea's floor, as well as Canada's, was 3rd to Brazil's 17.0 and Italy's 16.8 at a value of 16.6.

In summary, Korea was 1st on VT and UB, 3rd on BB and FX. I think their strength comes from not only UB but also VT. Many of the nations in teams 9-16 are counting at least one full twisting Yurchenko. Korea appears to have 2 double twists and 2 individuals with 1.5 twisting Yurchenko's. Hyunjoo Jo and Ye Eun Kim both have DTY as well as second vaults. Jo's 2nd vault at World's was a half twist on, half laid out twist off (or a Lopez) and has a SV of 5.6 (8.266/13.866) and can be found here (or better landing and video found here '08 Olympics). Jo was a member of Korea's 08 Olympics Team and was also a vault finalist at Worlds last year where she placed 6th. Kim's 2nd vault was given a 0 and according to Blythe the Gym Examiner, was "a tuck Rudi attempt that did not have the last half twist." Here is Kyung Jim Park's 1.5TY from Worlds(13.9/5.3/8.6).

For uneven bars, the Koreans had 2 gymnasts with a D score of 6.2. One was Kyung Jin Park [found here at the Youth Olympic Games (Markelov and Gienger)] and the other was Seon Mi Heo whose 18th place UB routine from Worlds (14.233/8.033) can be found here (or below this paragraph). May I call her the Korean Beth Tweddle? At the beginning of her routine, she has a series of non-stop release moves going between the high and low bar including a straddled Tkatchev + Pak and a Khorkina II (toe-on 1/2 to high bar) and a Markelov. She missed a few handstands but I think if she fixes that and keeps her stuck dismount Korea might have a bars finalist on their hands!

Seon Mi Heo UB

On BB, Korea counted a 5.7, 5.6, and 5.5 routine. Here is Ji Yeon Park's routine with a D-value of 5.5 (6.6/12.1 - one fall and dangerously low dismount). She had the lowest E score for the Koreans on beam but 3rd highest D-value. Our UB star's balance beam had a difficulty of 5.1. The routine (found here) has a few spots where she can connect to up that difficulty. She had the highest E score of the Koreans and was the only one to score above 8.0 with an 8.166 (13.266). Hyunjoo Jo has the highest D score, at 5.7, for the Koreans. I couldn't find a recent routine so here is her beam routine from the '08 Olympics. I'm sure she's grown since then (British commentators call her a baby. hmm...) but hopefully her prowess on the beam has not changed. The only thing that bothers me about the Koreans on beam is how low they squat before their back handsprings. I just get scared for the connecting move since they get so low.

On FX, Korea has a 5.6 from Hyunjoo Jo and a 5.5 from both Seon Mi Heo and Kyung Jin Park. Based on this YOG video, Park seems to have lovely lines. Hopefully, she can fully rotate her triple twist now.

Jo has a lovely triple turn in her routine. Her music and choreography don't excite me but I do like her ending pose here at the 2011 Swiss Cup.

After doing this analysis, I think Korea has a decent chance of reaching the top 4 at the test event as long as the gymnasts keep their cool and perform to expectations.

Teams 9-16

2011-12-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

Teams 9-16 from the 2011 Worlds Championships in Tokyo have been invited to the London Test Event that will take place in January. Teams 1-4 at this event (effectively, teams 9-12) will be invited to the Olympic Games at the O2 arena in London.

From Worlds, teams 9-12 are

9.	Italy	219.578
10.	France	216.827
11.	Canada	215.328
12.	Spain	214.028
13.	Netherlands	212.828
14.	Brazil	212.497
15.	Korea	211.930
16.	Belgium	208.828

Personally, I think Teams 9-12 seem pretty set. The biggest threat is probably Brazil - a team full of well-known, experienced veterans at both a World and Olympics level with Daniele Hypolito, Jade Barbosa, and Daiane Dos Santos. Korea may also prove to be a threat with high difficulty scores and relatively clean execution... that is, when they do not fall. Canada definitely has potential to do better since they made a few mistakes and may also get a few new juniors. Of the top 4, France and Spain's spot in the top 4 is probably the most fragile, especially if there are no mistakes by other teams.

Team Netherlands from 2011tokyo.com

The nominative list is out now but I have no idea who the alternates are and we must not forget that this list is subject to change. Italy is taking the same team (assuming Erika Fasana is the alternate). Mira Boumemajen is the addition to the French team, with Clara Della Vora in the 7th spot. Coralie Leblond-Chartrand is out for the Canadians (with a small injury, she's not attending the selection camp) and Talia Chiarelli, '11 alternate, and Brittany Rogers have been added to the roster. Canada also has new seniors that have been invited to camp and may be added to the list. For Spain, Urbano is no longer on the list while there has been an addition of Ainhoa Carmona and Cinta Rodriguez. New senior Tess Moonen, Lisa Top, and Ayla Wilbrink have been added while Goedkop and Celine van Gerner (injury with surgery) will not attend. Gabriela Soares is the sole addition to Brazil's team as is Ji Hye Sung to Korea's team. Terry Grand’ry, Johanna Dejardin and Floriane Scianguetta have been added to Belgium's team in place of van de Velde and Vandersteen.

On Saturday, we'll take a closer look at Team Korea.

miscellaneous gymnastics videos

2011-12-15T17:52:00.001-05:00

if you want a group of less than 10 year olds to make you feel weak and hopefully motivate you to get off the couch:

Watch more video of Workout Wednesday, Season 5 on gymnastike.org

And a lovely bars routine from a girl named Lizzy Nand from Parkettes. She got the highest scores on bars for the meet and you could tell by her smile! She appears to be one of those with a natural swing and lovely line. I think I just loved that she hit her handstands. There were a few moments of leg separation and flexed feet but, overall, a very good routine!

Watch more video of Christmas on the Chesapeake 2011 on gymnastike.org

SYTYCD taking over Glee

2011-12-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

I thought this week's episode of Glee was pretty good. Other than the pathetic Mike Chang story line, I think Glee did a good job of digging holes that I never thought they'd get out of and managing to get out of it gracefully (and also reasonably!).

The other thing I've noticed is the host of SYTYCD-ers taking over Glee.

Exhibit A. Jaimie and Comfort were in Rumor Has It/Someone Like You.

Jaimie is a contemporary dancer from Season 3 of SYTYCD. She was Hok's partner (guy with the mohawk that dances in LMFAO videos) and I think this was her most popular dance. It was choreographed by Wade Robinson and won an Emmy for Best Choreo:

Comfort was in SYTYCD Season 4. She's also dancing in the Trouble Tones in the Adele remix but I feel like you never quite see her face like you do Jaimie. The part I like is at 0:50.

To come - Ryan from this past season, Robert from the season before that, Courtney from a while ago on SYTYCD, and Mark I think from a while ago on both SYTYCD and Glee (the Brit/Britt episode, he also dances for Lady Gaga!).

ouch

2011-12-09T15:50:00.001-05:00

it's like everything that could possibly go wrong all in one video.

2011-10-25T23:08:00.001-04:00

Switched at Birth

There's a real life Switched at Birth. Unlike the TV show, there didn't seem to be a huge blow up when the girls found out. These girls are now best friends and have opted to stay with the mothers that raised them. Like the TV show, they found out because one of the father's wanted to leave his wife because his daughter didn't look like her. After the divorce and DNA test, they found out that he was right.

The one thing the show mentioned, and these girls had to deal with, was what do they do now that they have another family. The show addressed it in a way that made sense to me - something was missing for one of the girl's. Beyond not looking like her red headed family, she also didn't fit in. She was dark haired, dark eyes, stubborn, and an artist. She didn't seem to fit into her people pleasing, pale, athletic family. So, I think when she found her mom, she found a piece of herself. I wonder if these girls ever felt like something was missing. Like their mother couldn't quite fill a hole in their heart. I wonder if just knowing that mistake was made is enough for them to kinda shrug it off and move on - to be the one that doesn't quite look like the rest in the family photo. I'm curious what will happen when the girls are 16, marry, have a first child, etc. I just hope everything resolves itself ok.

Real Life Disney Princesses

In theory, this seemed like a great concept. What would the disney princesses look like in real life? Some are great and some are horrendous. Jasmine has that sultry look to her face, exactly what I would imagine a real life Jasmine to have. Esmeralda also looks as stunning as I would have guessed. That typical confidence in her eyes of most girls of such beauty.

But then you get to the other ones. Sleeping Beauty - eww. Where did those cheekbones come from? The most realistic thing about her is her hair. Pocahantas doesn't look as I imagined. Not sure what it is about her. This Belle does not look belle/beautiful at all! Maybe it's the facial expression they chose to give her. I always imagined Belle as that pretty girl that you can still be friends with. Ariel looks 12. She reminds me of a little kid, maybe it's the little girl in the sunblock commercials with the dog biting her underwear a few years later. I knew Ariel was young but I didn't think she would look this young. If anything, she'd be that "16 year old who looks 21."

And Ursula. Well, not much needs to be said there.

It was a really interesting concept. Maybe part of my problem for all the non-Jasmine and Esmeralda pictures is that they all look far too Photoshopped. I thought it was supposed to be altered to look real. Instead it just went from cartoon form to ... a different kind of cartoon (I see it most in Ariel). Your thoughts?

ANTM Cycle 17 - Michael Jackson

2011-10-16T22:27:00.001-04:00

Someone posted on lovelyish about how this was a "freaky" shoot. I thought this concept was brilliant and I was prepared for the girls do mess up, but they proved me wrong. They rose to the challenege and really embraced their inner Michael. Latoya was there to do the judging and no one went home because Michael was about love and wouldn't have wanted it so no elimination for this week. Here are my favorites in order:

i believe this one was Shannon. It was funny watching her do this because she's soooo skinny. There were no legs to give a hint of a masculine body so probably a good thing they cropped it out haha.

Kayla. This is probably higher than it should be for 2 reasons.

1. I love her.

2. This reminds me of something from "Will You Be There," my favorite MJ song.

Hold me. When you get lonely.

Bre. This was one of the last ones I think but I love it! I feel like it could be an album cover. Amazing! I think this was one of the photos that made me love this concept.

this is laura. she got best photo. it's really good and you needed to see her motivation behind it but it's actually not my favorite.

Bianca. Looking at this again, it's not that great. It looked like they had so many better shots of her but this is the one Tyra chose. I see where she was trying to go with this photo but it just wasn't quite there. Maybe she needed to be doing something with her arms, hands.

Allison. I don't get this picture. I think it's ugly. Latoya put it higher but I think it should've been one of the last ones. This was all about hair, makeup, and costume. I don't really think Allison did anything to make this picture amazing, or even good.

Alexandria. Maybe it's down here because I don't like her but I also feel like it's too posey. Everyone else, I felt like they were at a concert, they were actually doing the movements. In this one, I feel like she looks like a mime wearing MJ clothing.

Lisa. I liked the idea but execution was poor. I agree with Andre, don't like her hand placement or what they're doing. And there's also no expression on her face that would make this any more Michael other than her clothing.

Angelea. Michael saved her! Looking at these again, I realize why Angelea and Lisa were the bottom 2. Angelea isn't really doing anything. Am i missing something? This isn't very Michael or very modelesque...

My 9/11 story

2011-09-11T09:21:00.000-04:00

[Written 9/11/09]

When 9/11 happened, I was in 8th grade. It was the beginning of the school year and we had just taken our English diagnostic test. We were going up the stairs and talking about all the questions and which answers we put down, typical nerdiness after a test. We get to the 3rd floor and we see our 6th grade English teacher taking pictures out the window. Why is he taking pictures? He said something along the lines of "Don't tell anyone I told you but two planes just hit the Twin Tower." I remember looking out the window, seeing smoke, and not getting the importance of it. I shrugged it off and went to Math. We sat down in class but the teacher did not teach us anything. She had the radio on low and was running around talking to the other teachers. Pretty soon, they called us all down to the auditorium. Our principal, Mr. [insertItaliannamehere], told us what happened and that they were contacting out parents. I started freaking out. Both my parents were in Manhattan that day.

My aunt came and picked up me and my cousin. We went back to her house and watched the news. People were walking in Manhattan down the highway and across the Brooklyn Bridge. I tried calling my mom and sister but the cell phone lines weren't working because they went down with the towers. Again, minor freak out. My other cousin got home from high school fine so I was waiting for my sister. My sister came an hour or two later and I ran and hugged her. She wasn't in Manhattan but let's just say the smoke and dust clouds were strong enough that they reached the part of Brooklyn where she went to school. My mom came a little while later and we all waited for my dad. During that time, my mom told us her story. She went to work and while she was on the train that was riding on the Manhattan Bridge, she saw scraps of metal flying by her. She got to work and the one other person in the office told her to leave. By then, all the trains were down and the only option was to walk. She was one of those people that we saw on the news walking down the West Side highway and Brooklyn Bridge. She was ok, just a little shaken up, and sore.

So, my dad. Didn't hear from him for one day, two days. Then we get a call home. My dad was fine he was just shuttling doctor's back and forth from local hospitals to Ground Zero. He's a bus driver and they needed all the man and buspower they could get to shuttle people back and forth and get the necessary supplies. My dad, like my mom, was fine and shaken up. He came home the next day but wouldn't talk for a little while. I guess he was pretty traumatized and I still have never asked him what he saw on that day.

Basically, 9/11 shook my world. The Twin Towers weren't there when I looked out the window of my junior high school. On my way to swim practice, I could see a cloud of dust over that part of Manhattan as we crossed the Verrazano Bridge. On my way to swim meets, I no longer stuck my head out the window and craned my neck to see how tall the towers were. Whenever I watch Friends, I get a pang because I know the Twin Towers are no longer there. New movies focus on Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Empire State or Chrysler building when they show NYC. But one thing I realize is that nothing can replace the Twin Towers.

You know, maybe that's why New Yorkers have such New York pride. For that day, month, year, everyone was united. Everyone needed everyone. Everyone respected the police officers and the fire fighters. Everyone paid their respect for those that died in unimaginable ways. Everyone understood that 9/11 is a day that so many of us will never forget.

The BBC 100

2011-09-10T19:48:00.001-04:00

I'll get started.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 ~~Harry Potter series - JK Rowling~~ finished the day after the last one :(
5 ~~To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee~~ school
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 ~~Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell~~ school
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 ~~The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien~~ school
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 ~~Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger~~ school
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 ~~The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald~~ school
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
from another list: 36 A Wrinkle in Time- Madeleine L'Engle
37 ~~The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini~~ leisure :) + A Thousand Splendid Suns - high
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 ~~The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown~~ leisure :)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery [don't remember]
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding started in school, didn't finish...
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 ~~Life of Pi - Yann Martel~~ school [and maggie and i agree, it was real!]
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 ~~Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen~~ leisure
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth.
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens; school but far too young. reread!
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 ~~Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck~~ school
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett reread! hmm. did i only read abridged version...?
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 ~~The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath~~ school
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt.
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 ~~Charlotte’s Web - EB White~~ should reread
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery should read in French for bonus points!
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 ~~Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl~~ back in the day :)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

wow, pathetic. As of 9/10/11, I've read 14/~100.
Recent/upcoming books
Twilight - finished 9/7/11
New Moon
Pride & Prejudice
Eclipse
Jane Eyre
Breaking Dawn

New York Fashion Week

2011-09-10T18:52:00.000-04:00

Watched the Vivienne Tam line in the background while I was studying Cardiovascular Physiology. Then, youtube helped me discover Jessica White talking about this bathing suit. Maybe I should've worn it to Hawaii.

Jessica White modeling Chloe designed by Stella McCartney

Now, I can't watch too much of NYFW on youtube because a) i need to study and b) those models make me feel so large (and not in charge).

Anyone know how to look up the models?

ANTM All-Stars this Wednesday :)

Haiti helping Haiti

2011-09-05T10:34:00.001-04:00

Haiti aims to spread people, jobs across country

While I was in Haiti, one of the things that continuously bothered me was the amount of foreign aid workers in the country. Driving through the capital, I saw numerous UN security vehicles and only one Haitian police car. I didn't see any in the small town I was in but that was to be expected. Volunteer teams come to the hospital, foreigners set up different places for Haitians to work and a senior citizen's home. I kept asking myself when is Haiti going to help Haiti?

I guess it's happening and that article makes me very excited. I know it's not easy to move away from the capital, the place that you call home, especially when it has everything you need. Multiple times, we had to send patients to specialists in the hospital. On the drive to and from the hospital, the drivers often had to run errands to get supplies that could only be found in larger cities. But at least encouraging people to move out might gives more people a chance to find jobs, actually attend school, and decrowd Port-au-Prince. It was sad seeing the capital in the state that it was, the tent cities seemed to go for miles and miles. I wasn't sure how they were planning on rebuilding if there were so many people staying put. Also, from the medical side, the spread of infections just seems to simple in a place that was that crowded.

taken by me/Herman

I didn't know that "Papa Doc" tried to destroy the countryside by destroying the roads. The roads in Haiti were another story, but I just attributed that to the earthquake. On my way back to PAP to go to the airport, I saw that they were doing construction on the roads in PAP which made me glad. Progress :)

I really can't wait to go back, I just hope I get the chance.

Ghent Challenger Cup

2011-09-04T09:04:00.007-04:00

I only tuned in in time for BB finals although it's proving to be interesting.

Tatiana Solovyova of Russia did a free aerial to scale, a nice modification on the "Nastia" move.

Mariya Livchikova of Ukraine had some really nice moves. She did a free aerial directly to a front tuck. Right before her arabian, she did a split in handstand. I thought she connected more things but I guess not.

Komova was alright. She lands her front tuck so nicely but sadly she fell on her acrobatic series. Her arabian also seems a lot less labored, like she floats into it the same way she does every other move. She stuck her landing but she's not very happy.

Some very interesting choreo right before the dismount for the Greek, Stefani Bismpikou. Reminds me a little of Alicia mixed with Mustafina - I got sass, watch out!

Jeez, as much as I love bars, mens high bars is proving to be very scary to watch...

Valeria Maksiuta of Ukraine was off so quickly on a split leap :( Maybe the beam is slippery, I'm sure. And those were some open legs on her double pike dismount.

Luisa Galiulina has nice quality wolf turns.

Mariya Livchikova - Her music is very pretty and her choreo is going along well with it. Are you allowed to roll out of your turns the way she rolled out of her Memmel turn? I love when people "ending with the music" is get into position and then flick hands on cue haha.

Not gonna lie, I hope JYY has a new routine. Oh, that was horrendous - incomplete triple twist, low on double pike dismount and takes a huge step and finishes after music. JYY what happened? :( ooh they killed her - 12.025/5.1

[I didn't know you could just throw yourself off of pommel horse like that...]

DDS - springs in her legs! Let's see. I think that was an attempt at a leap after landing. Girlfriend needs to lay off the caffeine... Her routine made me smile, girlfriend still has springs in her legs!

Gaelle Mys - I need to watch again but it seemed like it had a spark :)

Aderteg reminded me of Nastia/Polina S. Maybe it's the pink and the blonde hair. Nastia, however, would never be caught dead with that kind of choreography.

Maria Paseka - on the Russian Worlds team - fell out of her Memmel turn. I like the portion of the music she chooses to dance to. Otherise, it's not doing it for me.

And now they're playing Michael Jackson.

Darya Elizarova - Incomplete twists have now officially terrified me. She just smirked and I couldn't tell if it was an actual smil or if she messed up. A few steps off her double pike. Hmm, what's she gonna finish with? Split series to end, interesting. I like that it was different

Adrian Gomes

1. 1.5TY - plum in middle, pretty damn good, huge smile from gymnast and huge hug from coach.

2. FHS on pike half off, step

ugh, I hate still rings. I also worry the gymnasts are gonna strangle themselves or break something if they get caught in the rings when they dismount.

Maria Paseka

1. DTY - she has really long strides on her run, low chest on landing and side step outside white line. Russian legs though...

2. bad at naming vaults, ro 1/2 on, pike 1/2 off? no idea haha.

Alexa Madina Moreno

1. how strong are you? too strong! FHS 1 1/2. land sideways and takes large step(s) off mat. (6.3)

2. tsuk full another big step. (5.2)

Jade Barbosa

1. DTY - stepped back diagonally. i don't like her makeup... and i think she should put her hair in a bun not just a pony tail.

2. YYL and JYY fake their smiles better than that - ro 1/2 on, layout 1/2 off - big step back but otherwise looked good

Alina Fomenko

1. 1.5TY - low landing, then twisted the side and put hands down. (5.3/7.5)

2. handspring front pike - steps forward but otherwise good (4.8/8.55) Did someone say she looked like Payson Keeler?

OK girl, enough spit already... runs to side, that seems way easier to do NOT on a podium. she reminds me of macko

1. 1.5TY - i think it was worth it for her to balk. 2 small steps forward but good form in air and lands in middle. (5.3/8.775 - 13.075)

2. FHS 1/2 - really nice. a little off center but good form in air (5.8/8.825 - 13.825)

cool - a guy from Jordan, but I still can't handle still rings.

Valeriia Maksiuta (14.025)

1. DTY low landing/deep squad - steps to side, off mat (5.8/8.375/-.3 = 13.875)

2. FSH full? nice! large step forward and bent knees in flight but apparently she fell in prelims. upgade! (5.5/8.675=14.175)

Angel Wong (7th - 13.688)

1. tsuk full? slight pike (5.2/8.550 = 13.750)

2. FHS 1/2 pike off - nice! almost stuck landing, small hop back. (5.0/8.625 = 13.625)

update

2011-08-14T12:06:00.006-04:00

1. someone posted somethin saying that nastia might be training again. so, i hopped over to nastia's twitter and found this beauty. have i ever mentioned how much i love valeri liukin?

2. i chopped all my hair off. well, i did the first few cuts and then my mom finished it. i might need to cut it shorter or make it more even. we'll see.

i didn't know confidence could affect your dreams

2011-06-26T09:17:00.004-04:00

but indeed it can.

i woke up feeling mopey just because of the dreams i had. somehow, someone is dating someone who looks like miss usa and has all the qualities that he actually wants in a girlfriend, so, y'know, he's happy. couldn't be happier. ashley who? i can't remember what the other one was. maybe it had something to do with cookies. either way, they both left me feeling horrible.

i'm tired of this.

on a side note, i thought miss california, the new miss usa was adorable. she reminded me of ariel - red hair, green dress, or mermaid tail - depends on how you look at it :)

good things come to those who wait

2011-06-13T12:41:00.003-04:00

i'm happy for them. they all have their own stories as to why this championship means so much to them and they all look so happy. this picture is kinda adorable because you get to see grown men smiling so widely.

either way, i think the heat have a better shot next year. something clicked for them during the finals, thats why they made it as far as they did but i think the stress of game 6/maybe the final game was a little too much to handle and they choked.

i was kinda disappointed with the way the game ended. one of my friends even walked out while there was still some time left. i thought it was gonna be a fight til the finish but it wasn't. there were about 5 minutes left and things were getting a little sloppy on both sides, but the heat couldn't afford it. 3 minutes left and it was over. the heat didn't make their move while they had the chance.

who knows, maybe it'll be heat-thunder next year! looking at the finals, i dont think the thunder would have made it against the heat this year. i think the heat would/could have won in 4 games straight. no point speculating, i'll just get excited for next year and another playoff/finals during final exams. oh joy!

cuteness

2011-06-09T00:54:00.002-04:00

"that awkward moment when you catch your crush looking at you" :)

heat win the east

2011-05-27T12:04:00.002-04:00

poor d-rose :(

i think basketball season is officially over for me :(

basketball = badass

2011-05-22T16:17:00.003-04:00

i wish i could do that

caption: Harden's high-flying act

okc lost. that game was sad but at least they brought it together near the end and didn't lose by 20 points. i think the thunder got one 3-point shot the entire game. i can't tell if they played a better job defending dirk or if he just stayed out of it more. he passed a ton and only made a few shots but each time they did, i think it hurt the thunder. mentally, they just didn't seem to be all there, i dunno.

edit later

2011-05-18T17:44:00.003-04:00

i like this picture. for once, it illustrates they're point perfectly

caption: How does he do it?
Foes (Kevin Durant - left) and teammates alike were simply in awe of Dirk Nowitzki's (right) brilliant offensive display in Game 1

I can just hear KD growling. Seriously, man?

i'll post what i wanna

2011-05-16T15:40:00.002-04:00

i think i'm gonna delete a few posts than add this to my facebook :O shouldn't be scared for people to see what i think, right? especially if it's funny

[from nba.com - tom thibodeau, bulls head coach, game 1 v. miami heat]

to the windooooow (to the wall)

get low by lil jon and the eastside boyz' reference just in case you didn't get it...

nba.com

2011-05-04T22:22:00.003-04:00

sometimes, the pictures they choose are oh so interesting. i didn't even see the ball at first. the positioning and expressions were just too funny.

other guy: yo kobe, can i ???
kobe: ahhhh!!!!

hahaha

dear celtics,

get your act together

sincerely, your fans!

mental health

2011-04-25T22:32:00.003-04:00

poor demi lovato: Demi is bipolar, a former cutter and bulimic. i was so shocked to read that.

interestingly enough, we had a medical school symposium on mental health. we broke into small groups and talked about different things. surprising statistic: the mental health services at my school treats 50% of the medical school! i wish they had told us this statistic at the beginning of the year. not so we all drop out, but we so we all know that it's ok to struggle and to seek help!

i'm gonna try to stop being so reckless...

wiz khalifa quotes

2011-04-24T17:18:00.004-04:00

dunno how i found him the first time, but his quotes keep popping up everywhere. i've started following him on twitter. he appears to be high all the time but hey. what are you gonna do?

Girls fall in love with what they hear. Boys fall in love with what they see. That's why girls wear make up; and boys lie.

3 things I want in a relationship: Eyes that wont cry, lips than wont lie, and love that wont die.

No matter where I am, no matter where you are, I'll be there when its over baby. Cause I was there from the start.

and dunno who said this one: One of the hardest parts in life is deciding whether to walk away, or try harder.

my horoscope today according to tarot.com: You're eager to have a bit of time at home today, especially if a busy social calendar has kept you jumping throughout the past week. (alright, not really true but hey.) It's healthy to reconsider what you want for yourself now, instead of just keeping up appearances and doing whatever's expected of you. Maintaining your integrity is important. Set new boundaries and, within reason, do whatever makes you feel good.

i find this all funny because i was just thinking today about my relationships and encounters and where they've all brought me. recent events have made me really sad and rethink things and what i think about myself. this has happened before but never to this extent. the things i've said and done and the people i've encountered are different - the experiences are harder, harsher, stronger, fiercer. i need to pick myself back up again.

well, at least i'm not so pessimistic anymore!

on doctoring love

2011-03-22T23:53:00.002-04:00

mom asked 8 yo son if his adhd meds were working "i like them. i fell asleep and it's like when i wake up, God took me apart and put me back together the right way." how precious! i never know how i feel about meds and medicating so young but clearly they work. i dont think i was that aware of my body and what made me feel better or worse at 8 but i guess if there's a difference, you notice.

today was a good day at on doc. i did a 12 yo physical but forgot a few things - like looking in her ears (went back to do that!), looking for her red reflex and optic disc/arteries. whoops! but i got most other things. it was my first physical so pretty good for first time! every now and then, though, i feel like i need to push myself more to be perfect.

sometimes, i just feel like perfect is unreasonable though..

haiti, cherie

2011-02-04T13:34:00.002-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110203/wl_nm/us_haiti_elections_8

dear newspapers, TV news, internet news, etc.,
PLEASE stop calling haiti "the poorest nation in the western hemisphere!" i'm pretty sure we've all understood that by now.
sincerely,
an angry haitian

in all honesty though, is it necessary? i don't think i've read an article about haiti that hasn't included that. it gets frustrating and it also makes me sad. i remember reading an article in 10th grade for french class and that was the first time i saw that and it struck me. it hasn't stopped. obviously, haiti still isn't doing all that well but i don't know if that reminder is necessary. are you trying to make the us look better? remind americans how good we have it? are you trying to get people to help? i just don't get it! it bothers that the only thing people probably think of when they think of haiti is poor, earthquake, and voodoo. how sad!

my first fight

2011-01-31T14:43:00.001-05:00

i had my first fight with a friend.

it was my first one in a while.

i didn't like it.

i hated that feeling that came over me.

i hated not knowing what to do next.

i hated not knowing where "we" were gonna go

if we were gonna make it out with our friendship in tact.

i hated it.

and it still bothers me.

troubles

2011-01-20T14:59:00.002-05:00

i'm having lots of troubles sorting things out - my emotions, my feelings about school (to split or not to split), my feelings about friends, about my body, about everything. i hate how the world seems to stop until my quizzes are over. no responding to friendly emails, minimal hanging out, maximum alone time (until i crack and hang out with a np friend), lots of library visits, eating alone. it all gets tiresome. today, it's thursday and i can't wait for it to be monday at 10AM. everything's just dragged on and tiring. i have to decline invititations, attempt to keep myself off facebook and youtube, and just focus on my school work. it takes a lot of effort and sometimes, i just want to stop.

i've also realized that i'm a pretty bitter person. probably, more bitter than most people expect of me. sometimes, i want to stop and smell the roses. other times, i wonder what the hell's the point? they're just roses! it makes me wonder if i'm missing the point. not appreciating life at this moment or that moment. how can i if i'm so stressed? i have a lot riding on the next quiz and i don't like it. maybe i'll end up with performance anxiety. maybe my fate for school, for this year, will be decided for me and i won't have to think/stress about these things anymore. i just want to relax again.

funny, you thought i was always so calm and composed. turns out, you never really know...

sometimes, you matter more than you think

2010-12-14T23:47:00.003-05:00

chin up buttercup

a few nights ago, i decided to stalk a friend or follow or read or whatever you want to call it. i got to a few blogs where i knew exactly what this person was talking about. then, i found a post that could probably pinpoint the day we started talking.

a lot of the time, i think that people don't care what i say. that i'm nice to talk to in the moment but i'm not memorable, nor are my conversations. but people somehow manage to surprise me. sometimes, i matter and it shocks me. of course, it is nice to know that i do matter. it also made me realize that i ALWAYS need to watch what i say. no matter how mean, how angry, how nonchalant, how emotionless, or how much of an emotional wreck someone is, I need to always show compassion. at the very least, be myself. i find i can say some shockingly mean and hurtful things and i don't like it. every now and then, i look in the mirror and don't like what i see. i need to change that.

it's interesting to see how funny things can change your life. an all nighter with someone i thought was quiet now has me a friend who won't shut up. and he does exactly what i hate, which is challenge everything i say. do you believe in soulmates? why? what is love? how does society treat it? why does therapy matter? sure, ask someone that who thinks she wants to be a psychiatrist. he seriously had me thinking i didn't want to do it for life if i had someone talking to me like that day in and day out. i wanted to give up and not answer his questions, i was very frustrated. but he managed to get me to push through.

in the end, he said something along the lines of i think you've changed my life.

kinda profound. maybe psych can stay as a potential field!

i'm also shocked at how quick i am to trust people. i guess people never cease to amaze me.

thank you, olga korbut. you made me a new friend

dear body, don't settle

2010-11-10T22:42:00.003-05:00

i've been working out, although not consistently, so i could be all "bikini ready"... in the fall/pre-winter. but my body/the scale is not cooperating. oh well. supposedly, charlie likes me for who i am. right? o__o

tonight was gymnastics and it was fun, of course. we worked on back handsprings (on mat with yuriy spotting us and on the tumble track) and front handsprings onto a mat. yuriy's ukranian! i'm glad i found out without having to ask him. he's a cool guy. he randomly did one of those handstand thingies that guys can do on the parallel bars and then decided to do a standing back tuck i think. jo ling's so graceful on her front handsprings and i think i just muscle them around. hmmm.. nastia/shawn anyone? hopefully i don't run like shawn! she then taught me the beam routine after i worked on my bars. i can do a pullover, cast, back hip circle. i worked on my single leg cut backward. it's crazy how fast you go. i can only imagine how the olympians feel, it must really feel like flying.

less than 2 weeks to hawaii! can't wait!!!!
and yet i'm scared at the same time, but life goes on.

off to study for finals

it's just those rainy days

2010-11-05T19:39:00.003-04:00

one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. i used to sing it when i had to swim the 200 fly... long course. that last lap, oh man! it's like the wall gets further and further away with each stroke!

It's just those rainy days
Spend a lifetime tryin to wash away
Until the sun come out and shines again
Smile for me, smile for me

All of those rainy days
Spend ya lifetime tryin to wash away
Until the sun shines and I see your face
Smile at me, smile at me

We were always livin so crazy and sexy and cool
And we began to love it
Watchin all of the heartache and pain of the world
And thinkin nothin of it
And baby I got love for you
And I know that you got me, baby
But everytime the sun shines bright
It gets so cloudy

Nobody loves the rain
Can't stand it
We know we've seen it before
Baby, handle it
Baby, what did we tell ya before
About chasin those waterfalls

Sometimes the rule don't mind the rain
It kinda feels like I'm drownin in the Lords pain
Until the sun comes out and shines again
Smile, and give me reason to keep believin
That everything ain't misleadin
And I, kiss the clouds on them rainy days
And, smile for you when ya skys are gray
Babe, cuz I'm a tear drop away from crying
And a few shots away from dying
Dear Lord, would you shower my pain
Let it rain, let it rain on me
While I cherish the air I breathe
I'm an angel, that can't soar, can't fly
And I, mastered it Lord knows why

I feel like an angel
With my broken wings
So I can soar again
Lord let me in
Baby through all the passion the pain and the hurt
I feel like I'm fallin, yeah
Makin clothes for all of those that
Spread love
And for those who can't take it
Stand up
Baby, we gonna make it
In the words of Marvin Gaye
War is not the answer

Til the sun shines
Just smile for me
Know in your heart, that we are free
Free to believe, whatever we feel
So feel somethin real, baby

i've decided that i want to go to haiti for the summer. it's not school-related, it's me related. i loved france so much and it was my first time out of the us (depending on whether or not you count puerto rico). i think i should go back. back to somewhere i've never been. who knows, maybe i'll find my long lost twin haha :)

another quiz weekend coming up. i can't focus long enough to study, i mean it is friday. i might go to jl's and get a bit of work done. i want to finish biochem and that last cto (aka histology) lecture so that tomorrow i have physio and anatomy to look over and then i can start actually studying and memorizing. it's funny how after more than 2 months i still don't have a study schedule down. oh well.

finals are coming up and the stress level is slowly rising, mine and my classes. it was bound to happen but i don't like it. i want one more post-quiz party. i want more good times BUT i also can't wait for thanksgiving break. it couldn't come soon enough. i'm getting so frustrated with my roller coaster of emotions, stress from this test, stress from finals, and just trying to stay positive. oy.

dear rollercoasters,
normally, i love you, but this roller coaster i want to get off of. please?
k. thx. bai!

honesty is the best policy

2010-10-27T19:20:00.002-04:00

crazy how much gymnastics i post about. this is normal haha.

honesty is the best policy
"next time, dont do it down the middle" -j
"you look like a martian" - r

at least they were honest. i braided my hair down the middle and didn't like it but wore it to school anyway. guess i dont do well with things like that down my head haha

today, in on doc, we did the cardiac exam. i'm falling behind in my on doc work and i need to do it so i can be the ultimate doctor! jk. it's only fair to my patients that i know what i'm doing.

we did two things i'm self-conscious about. 1. people looking at my chest and touching my boobs. damian was playing around and practice on me but wouldn't let me practice on him. how rude! overall, it was fun. i think our on doc group is super close now. note to self - always bring sports bra to on doc! the 2nd thing was that i was made fun of for sweating (a lot). that's my other thing i'm self-conscious about - sweating. anything that makes me "excited" makes me sweat a lot - including laughing and i like laughing!! how frustrating :( so nick made fun of me for that and ppl were staring at my chest and i couldn't see what they were looking at. scary haha. or odd more than anything.

now i'm off to study and stay on top of everything. i don't want a repeat of last week/sunday/monday morning and i don't think i'll be entirely functional over the weekend. we'll see!

<3

cry baby cry

2010-10-19T20:47:00.002-04:00

cry baby cry - santana, sean paul, and joss stone

just found this song. i think it's a really interesting fusion - joss stone's sweet, soulful voice, santana's flavor on the guitar, and sean paul's... sean paulness haha. it was pretty good.

school's stressing me out but i'm trying not to let it. i stayed up late and knew i would have trouble today. we had a half day and i spent my normal amount of time studying as opposed to more.

i watched the sad glee episode. maybe thats why i'm like this but right now i just want to cry. scheduling tutoring is making me sad and stressing me out. ironic, since it's supposed to help but i have 3 tutoring sessions and they don't seem to be helping since i keep failing. its disappointing, aggrevating, frustrating, i could go on. i'm gonna go cry, listen to some sad music and hope i wake up tomorrow feeling better.

adult gymnastics at northern lights!

2010-09-09T15:49:00.002-04:00

can i just say that i had soo much fun. although, my levator scapulae is now sore, it was totally worth it. we got the the gym and met yuriy - hybrid bela karolyi and valeri liukin. i fell in love. sorry, charlie. he told me and jl to do handstands and walk across the floor. jl and i were wondering how in the world that was gonna happen. so we tried. wiggled our way down and doing a new handstand every 2 hand-steps. 4 was an accomplishment. then he came over and said, "ok, forward rolls." i couldn't tell if it was because our handstands were so horrendous or if he just wanted to see where we were at. we did that, dive rolls, which i had never done. then we did cartwheels on our good and bad side. my bad side was an epic fail and i need to work on squaring off. did some round offs. same squaring issue. he told me i had to be careful otherwise, i'll go on the tumble trak and fly off or into the wall, neither of which is fun. then we did some front handsprings on a mat and by some divine miracle i nailed my first one. nailed a few, squealed and fell on a few but such is life. then i did a drill to work on...??? i have no idea. i think on being hollow bc i'm pretty sure that's a problem of mine.

then we went and played on bars. yayy!!! i have the first move down, well, not when i focus on keeping my legs straight. and we did 3 casts to a hip circle things. i was going so fast. more screaming. then, i tried the one leg over thing and that didn't go to well. i fell a few times and the only times i got around, he was definitely helping a lot. then we jumped on the tumble trak. i tried a front tuck twice and didn't nail either of them. i fell out of one, landed on my head for the other. oh well. then we stretched. over all, it was tons of fun.

these 2 girls had a beam routine to airplanes and i really liked it. i've decided i need to put together a routine - level 3 is fine. then i can pretend i'm cool and can say i've done gymnastics :)

jessica gil ortiz competing again!

2010-09-04T15:12:00.002-04:00

i'm glad that she's finally competing again. her floor routine had tons of potential. this is the bad: clickie. and here's her full routine:

she qualified for event finals on floor at panam games. she was 10th but because of the 2 per country rule i think she's 8th. i hope she does well! i don't know if she's competed since then.

everyone's been talking about mckayla maroney and how awesome her vaults are. i wanna see this and see how much trouble asac is potentially in. i dont know how much alicia actually wants to go to the olympics. i actually believe her when she says one day at a time. worlds is tough enough, going to the olympics and facing all that sh*t again would be tough! so, hoepfully she makes worlds this year and we'll deal with next year and 2012 when we get there.

update time

2010-08-17T23:11:00.003-04:00

i haven't written in a while and i was inspired by another dms student who has been writing in her blog. sometimes, i get really nervous and embarrassed about the things i like - glee, gymnastics, sound of music. hmm. i'm trying to think of other things but i can't right now.

i'm gonna get ready for bed soon. today i was more on time than the first day, but still not totally there. i wanna be like 5 minutes early so i can get a good seat. we have physiology to me which seems pretty hard and biochem. right now, biochem is very basic protein information then we go more into genetics-y stuff before we get to the pathway stuff which is the part of biochem i enjoyed the most.

the people here have been tons of fun! found a friend to do adult gymnastics with me and watch make it or break it, stretch our splits, go to the gym, get ben & jerry's, form study groups, go out to dinner, or just go out for drinks. its nice. we had to do a letter to ourselves and i'm pretty sure i wanted to like the person i will be at graduation. i think i'm on the right track. i'm kinda liking this ashley right now and i can't remember the last time i said that :)

also, i'm trying something new with my hair. it kinda smells funky but we'll see how it looks tomorrow. i'm going for the wavy look that i used to do wayyyy back in junior high school when i had thicker hair haha. but i would just braid it and leave it out. this time, i made sure to take care of it before i did that with appropriate oils, conditioners, and styling thingies. we'll see how it goes!

bela karolyi on make it or break it.

2010-07-28T14:38:00.004-04:00

bela karolyi will be on make it or break it! i found this first: CassieScerbo: (girl who plays lauren) Ahhh! INSANE news! Béla Károlyi is going to be on #MIOBI! Can u guess who he’ll play? We’re so excited! Find out more: http://bit.ly/9Kf2F5

bela on miobi! he'll be playing sasha's father. funny to anyone else? did anyone else notice how sasha went from total hard ass to like gym dad. oh payson, stay safe, you're not ready for nationals. i believe in you. you can win if you become a ballerina.

another website talks about how payson, ayla bell, danced professionally for 14 years. interview here. also interesting. i must say, though, that she looked WAY better than lea (rachel) in glee when she danced to total eclipse of the heart.

nastia tweeted about the 2 yr mark til london olympics and also mentioned that she picked out music for the gymnastics and skating show. when and where is this? maybe we'll see if she's at all in better shape? i wonder if she'll pull the anti-payson and with her new body become a power gymnast haha. just kidding. i think nastia will always have beautiful lines.

i also saw lauren gottlieb's name in the opening credits and thought, hmm is there a girl on miobi with the exact same name as my favorite sytycd-er? it was her. i squealed. she didn't look that great dancer. that tootoo, man oh man haha.

everyone's talking about it.

2010-07-27T22:49:00.003-04:00

kayla williams retired. first us vault champion at worlds. it was an awesome vault. i remember watching her dty and dropping my mouth. it looked damn near perfect. well, she's decided she probably won't make the worlds team so she's focusing on college. cant be surprised with the competition being so much tighter in the us than the past.

i immediately thought "omg! alicia can make it now!" everyone kept saying the only thing stopping her was williams but that was a big IF. no if anymore. i'm excited for alicia and i think marta will give it to her. i'm more curious about kytra hunter and where that puts her. i know we think of aly raisman as alicia ii but what about kytra? she's an everything but bars girl. she has awesome tumbling. she's STRONG in the 3 events she does. i think she deserves a shot.

only time will tell.

i wanted to write an article for the couch gymnast on adult gymnastics but i see someone has already done that. maybe i can do it from the perspective of someone who has never done it? i dunno. i just looked and there are adult classes in hanover. well, actually in vermont but only 10 minutes from dartmouth. the downfall is that it's just a 1 hr class. the class at mit was 2.5hrs! i'm curious how much you stretch and how much guidance you get. the class at mit was also a lesson. we all learned pretty much at the same time. maybe we worked on different things or the same thing but doing drills at different levels but it was still instruction. i'm not sure if i'll get that anymore :(

just saw despicable me! it was lovely. a good pg movie. definitely pg for rude humor, i mean, russel brand is in it! but cute movie overall. when we left, the moon looked orange. i said maybe it was vector's jumpsuit. next, i wanna see ramona and beezus. maybe i'll watch that on my computer when it's available and skype chat with my sis. i miss her. i leave for dartmouth on sunday! excited, terrified, anxious, and curious? all at once.

some gymnastics math

2010-07-25T23:06:00.002-04:00

it seems like the us will be in trouble again at worlds. ppl say we would have lost the olympics anyway because china's sv was higher than ours. it seems like we might have this problem again.

i realize, though, that i'm jumping to conclusions. these are based on classics and chinese nationals. i dont think it's fair to compare since key people were missing from classics.

what i did/am doing: i'm looking at the us scorers in the 6.0+ d-score and assuming they make the team.

macko - 6.2 bars - barf, i don't really like her
kytra - 6.1 beam
alicia - 6.3 vault, 6.0 beam
bross - 6.2 bars (horribly overscored 9.25 e-score), 6.0 beam
bridget - 6.0 bars

just looking at that, it looks like we're in trouble. only 2 of those people are definites.

lets look at chinese nationals. this is also based on names i've heard thrown around for them
he kexin - 7.4 bars,
deng linlin - 6.8 beam,
su liu - 6.4 beam, 5.8 floor,
wu liufang - 6.9 bars, 6.0 beam,
huang quishan - 6.6 bars,

actually, scratch what i said before. i think it will become a battle of power-house strength versus artistic-ness. oh yeah, artistry. china is clearly dominant on bars with their lowest sv being 6.6. i'm confident hexin is going so she can win the bars final medal. their beam is higher than us values unless bridget didn't throw something. us seems to be better on vault, thank you asac. based on nationals, the highest sv from china was 6.0 from li yiting (whose other vault was 5.0). she has the highest average. i'm confident the us can better that with asac, kytra/kayla, bross maybe? not sure but it's higher than china's. with floor, it seems the us will have a slight advantage. but that's not to say there are more chances for errors on us floors - see out of bounds by nastia and shawn in 08. we shall see

nastia's workout!

2010-07-25T18:20:00.002-04:00

i feel unique for posting this.
nastia gave her routine in elle. no wonder she looks the way she does. you can't go from elite 7 hr workouts to a 30 minute run and 60 situps. yes, i know the average person can't do it but the average person is also significantly larger than nastia.
nastia guest blogger on ellegirl

although, she does look smokin here: picture from supergirl premier i think. i dunno, i think she grew into her forehead rather nicely.

2010 cover girl classic

2010-07-24T20:06:00.011-04:00

so excited! they just showed alicia and i got chills! i'm excited for mattie larson and am curious to see what aly can do. alicia, rock it! hope bridget can stay strong to 2012.

lovely ass shot of alicia. looks like she lost weight but she is pure muscle now! asac's interview is cute, love the makeup and the braid but that montage was shit. ok. she looks terrified. i'm terrified.
alicia, calm down! your nervous face is scaring me but your smile is so cute :)
does live streaming always do this? why is live streaming buffering?????
shucks, mom needs computer. bebacklater...
darn, can't rewind live stuff, huh? saw alicia, saw someone on bars and someone of floor (kytra hunter maybe?). refreshing da paggeee. saw the back of alicia's head. couldn't tell if that was "i'm so damn sad" posture or "shake it off, focus on vault" in a positive or negative way. she's smiling!

go aly!! needs to be more flexible. wobble. needs to rock the low beam part better. man, her flexibility isn't all there. finally, a twist on that 3 part combination. interesting full turn. shit! almost sat down but nice!!! 5.8, 8.5 beam =14.3

cassie!!!!!!!!!!!! she;s gotten a lot bigger. or maybe that leo just doesn't compliment her eyes the way it used to. lovely first pass. nice. stayed in! she kinda runs like a hunchback. nice turn. her choreo is meh. love that she combines her flips. not sticking but it happens. nice dbl tuck. that routine was blah. cassie=!floor exercise girl. until the judges prove me wrong haha.
i'm in the car right now and my rents are playing music. maybe its good cuz i cant hear the commentators. tim and his manboobs drive me crazy.

do i sense some bridget and alicia drama? at first, i thought they were talking to each other now it looks like bridget is glaring.
damn cameras. leave mattie alone and focus on the gymnasts ACTUALLY COMPETING!

mattie on beam. here we go! [yay, bridget, aly, and alicia are friends :) or so they want everyone to think] nice mount. nice extension and flexibility on mount. needs more on split. almost fell! i dunno, she looks kinda sloppy right now. like she's doing the moves but landing sloppily. the triple thing i'm starting to hate. horrible split thing! lets hope it was the camera angle. i like full turn in split. the half memmel as the couch gymnast class it. uh! fell on landing. 2.5twist (i think) she was doing so well. she and her coach both look disappointed but hey its her first meet back. nice leo though.
sam shapiro chalking up. beam in the bg but i think its for barssss. my fave. nvm. its beam. i didnt know she was 17. nice, chalk in the ass. she's matured A LOT since pac rims.
mattie's a good sport with the cameras. i think i wouls be saying GTFaway from me!!! who are those girls near her? 5.7, 7.75 = 13.45
sam shapiro. lovely, unique mount. more flexible than mattie and looking better. landed to close to the edge on her sheep jump but she held on. not sure if she meant to but she lost connection in that 3 part thing. i'll get the name the next time i see it. tolerable full turn. she's going into split but its not graceful. but how graceful can you expect sometone to be, right? solid front tuck. her ears are so cute on her. dbl pike. big step back. nice though. she has a smile and so do i.
commercials. i hope mattie can stay positive. i'm not sure if she's qualified for nationals already so i hope this didnt ruin it for her.

so much temptation to read other ppls blogs but i dont want to find out about alicia and be crushed! macko warming up. she looks scared. wtf, shes in the lead? i dont know why but i dont like her.
who is this pretty girl? amanda jetter, 15. she's so cute. probably home schooled but otherwise the boys would be crazy. MLT baby. let's see what happens. vault. dty. nice. i thought she asnt gonna make it. something looked weird in the air and on the run but she survived. she walks with a woddle. hope she's not injured. aww, hug from bridget.
parents got lost and started arguing. oh gps, the problems you cause my family.

red head, looks like the australians. woga. riley. bars! work it ah la nastia. nice handstand, high overshoot. nice straddled jaeger, leg separation on gienger. she like stopped in the air but landed well. nvm. she looked so good. oh someone, wanted her 5 seconds of fame.

kytra hunter. nice vault. dty. small step/hop but otherwise awesome. is that vazam?
aly take 2. she looks like your typical high school athlete. strong, pretty, messy bun. again, probably homeschooled but she pulls it off well. aww, alicia, is so cute! nice, stayed in. arabian dblt ftont. nice, she's doing well. can i say shitty choreo? whoo. looked like she was gonna fall out of that. shake it girl. nice dbl pike. awkward end pose. overall, good. agree with the commentators, lack of artistry.
pause. gps says i should be home by 9:10. oh miss bross. nice leo. bars. miss handstand. nice overshoot. missed again. nice tkatchev. miss. nice straddled jaeger. nice pak salto. stuck landing. smile. and valeri is happy so i'm happy. i love him. if there were 2 coached i could marry, it would be him and bela haha. no tasha. i see no nastia. am i retarded? she missed handstands!!! let's see what the judges say. if her execution is above 9, thats concerning.
commercial break... tik tok.and we're back.
more mattie. floor. i hope her floor routine is still good. these ppl dont like giving scores.
15.45 for bross. you must be kidding me unless her dd is really high.
my bad start value not diving haha.
nice dbl layout, mattie! her music is nice. hops out of triple twist. lots of hand dancing. nice 3rd pass. nice triple twist. showing slexibility. showing floor humping ability. sass. dbl pike and it froze. and she... please let me type lands! and she lands but out of bounds. not her meet. maybe she'll only go up from here. i like that her running matches the music. she's so cute. "i was like no!" hug from aly.
again, who is the girl in green? nice 8.9 is real good considering.
almost home for me!!!! i'll watch sam than pause.
let's see who tim calls the best dancer. so far so good. she reminds me of beth tweddle. lots of power. supposedly in bounds. 1.5 twist punch full twist. dbl tuck with a bounce. a little hop. nice dbl pike, again hop. she looks good. i approve. and she's very balletic in her style. k. write more later!

rewatching from the beginning haha. now i get to watch alicia! true, starting on beam. i hope she lands her mount!
so now i know who vazam is. she's on vault. that must be tough to do college and then decide to go to the olympics. oh good luck to her. i never paid attention so i dont know what she's going for, all 4 events or what. she's a small girl for a college gymnast. think of what elise ray and shayla worley look like in college. nice vault but huge steps.
macko. i dont like that nickname. she looks like shawn, like actually looks not talking about gymnastics. same nose and the pony tail and all. going to u of f but deferring. lame mount. nice jaeger off the bat. nice ray? pak salto. combo. misses a lot of handstands. she has a lot of tricks but its not pleasant to watch. nice landing. small shawn-esque step.
man, alicia looks so much smaller but she looks good. hope she can do it! camera man MOVE AWAY!!!!! serious face on. yes! perfect mount! small wobble. nice full turn! nice front pike, aerial back walkover. yes dbl pike and she landed! step but hey. she's smiling and hugging her coach. she's good!!! marta looks excited. go alicia!!!!!!! 5.9, 8.9 = 14.8, nice!
i was right, kytra hunter. nice twist in her hair. interesting music choice. and she stuck it! full twisting dbl layout. arabian dbl front pike, nice. not sure i like this music. needs more flexibility but expected with the strong gymnasts. like the tempo change. nice twisting combo. yeah, the beginning sucked, but this is much better. fell out of triple twist. cute ending.

back to macko. nice side somi off the bat. wobbles like no other and loses connection in her threesome. wobble and fall! looks like she's cryig but shes stron. almost fall again. nice korbut. dbl tuck? knees hit, i think. we'll see. is it just me or did the crotch of her lea eem really narrow.
kaitlyn clark. like the music, can she keep up? nice arab dbl tuck. lots of power on dbl twist, full layout. meh flexibility. i dont mind, but why is no one doing dbl pikes anymore? nvm, dbl pike. gf's got hips. overall, liked it.
ooh brady quinn is there. so cute! my boyfriend loves the broncos and i love alicia, so we fit haha. they could've spent all this time showing other gymnasts.
jordyn's weiber, meh. don't know why but i dont like the color i guess. wieber, best aa in the world, whoa!
ooh, sabrina was FAR behind. i wanne see ohashi's entire set.
brossy baby. screwed up that full turn again. i do like her hips to beam part. the low part of the korbut. she looked like she slipped on the roundoff. fall. ouch. that was her last event.
bridget on bars. caera ppl GO AWAY! nice pak salto, take that woga. hits her feet oddly on low bar and get stuck in handstand but she gets it up. she lands her dismount but looks like she could fall flat or fly forward. an interesting combination.
aly. why aly? tried to do an amanar. i heard something funky when she hit the vaulting table but hey. tried an amanar and fell. poor aly.
kytra hunter. typical strength gymnast having trouble on bars. lets see what she does. bridgets score universal sports? nice low to high. falls on hindorff. so far from it. she's too strong for her own good. awful handstands, not sure if that's emotional, though. nice dismount. i think she shouldnt do bars unless she gets ore fraceful.
mattie. please! yes, she lands. dty. looks out but she stayed in, as can be seen in the replay.
cassie on bars. better be good! lame mount. she does like a stalder into pike tkatchev. nice overshoot. nice endo's. this is nastia-esque.
wtf happened to sam??? shit, lock legged landing. is it bad that i wanna see it?

alicia. vault. so much hype, i hope its good. esp, after that. brady's happy :) she looks far on the vaulting table but she lands it. that was her handspring rudi. it looked pretty similar to 08 to me. she looked GOOD! nice! FTY? i need better eyes cuz i didnt see the difference. brady is so cute!
dear time, could you say names of moves? talk abt the sport. al these families of vaults stuff. what are they? what families did she choose?
VaZam - solid scores. hope she qualifies for Nats. nevermind. she already qualified. nice full turn, different prep than i'm used to. wobble on her onodi. slip/fall on layout step out. nice 2.5 twist. shouldnt be too bad, her score. thats a lot of personal attention and she has no friends like all the other girls.
what is that blue leather warmup thing?
hmm. all this talk about bridget is getting me thinking. can she hold on to 2012 and are the karolyi's really heartless coaches? she's injured, leave her alone. at least she is competing.
alicia is so cute!
hmm, do british commentators do interviews like that? interesting turn out with the scores. the #1 "seed" in 6th. wonder where macko is.
aly. bars. nice routine. nice l-grip tkatchev.
cassie. beam. please dont screw up! so far so good. full turn wobble. 2 slips but no falls. good, she looks steady again. fall on an easy element. there goes that. terrible 2.5. looked like a double with a hop to make it a 2.5.
mattie on bars! lets see. simple mount but looks like she's gonna fall when she switches grips, like her elbow will give out. nice straddled tkatchev. scary overshoot but she made it. nice tkatchev. stuck dbl layout! i think she can go to worldssss!!!!!! i think i love her again. she misses a few handstands but overall good!
vazam floor. nice dbl layout. cute floor. she's having fun. hope that the judges can handle it. nice 2nd pass. twist with an aerial walkover. her routine is nice bc its simple dance that fits the music with tumbling that doesnt require her to stand in the corner for a half hour. cute routine. let's see what the judges say. she's cute.
amanda jetter. great chance for 1st. lets see what she does. needs 14.06. i kinda want mattie to get it but hey. at least mattie will medal. same mount ass teammate. bad full turn. side somi. alicia-esque body roll. nice standing arabian. touches the beam, lets see what time says abt the deduction. solid arabian dbl front dismount. small step.
mattie came over. girls seem like quite the gossiper. i think jetter gets it, just barely. she has a lot of hair in that pony tail haha. valeri's sitting there like those stupid girls.
NICE MATTIE LARSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay!
she's so happy. macko made it up there [unfortunately in my opinion] poor aly. hopefully she learns something now as opposed to at the olympics, a la alicia.
so that was fun but i dont think i like live blogging. i rather read and then comment. oh well, i'll do that next time. twas a fun experience though! will cleaen up the post later. goodnight!

covergirl classic!

2010-07-10T00:20:00.006-04:00

excited for the cover girl classic! i just need to make sure I can watch it because my sister moves up to Albany that weekend :( I'll record it otherwise

usa gymnastics and gymnastike have posted the names of competitors for the 2010 cover girl classic. i must say that i am super pumped!

seniors i'm excited for
alicia sacramone! it's her first competition back since beijing. i even made a montage dedicated to her. i think she's working beam and vault. i hope her vaulting keeps up with the rest. i'm pretty sure she would bc she was the best us vaulter at the time and i don't think she has crazy amount of vaulting competition. i'm also curious what her beam looks like. how much ass shaking and posey booty popping choreo she'll have. i'm VERY curious about her mount onto the beam. that gave her problems in the past but it was VERY original considering all the boringness peole use nowadays (not everyone but some ppl just jump on).

mattie larson i was excited for her in 2008, heard she got an injury and was bummed. she's training again and is ready to compete! not sure which events but i'm pretty sure it's not aa. i looked at all her stuff again and didn't get why i liked her so much so i'm hoping that this gives me reason to like her again. i was hoping she would be a huge contender for 2012 so we'll see.
Bridget Sloan wanna see what she's made of, that world champ and the only 08 olympian to continue with the sport.
Sam Shapiro I didn't realize that she was a senior! she looked good at the last pac rims (09 i think). curious to see if she makes it into the 6 for worlds.
VaZam I don't follow college so I'm curious to see what this girl is made of that you all keep talking about.
Aly Raisman She's interesting. I forget how she started. Was she picked as the 2nd American for the Tyson Cup or something? It's like she was picked out of a hat and then her career just went on from there. Like Martha was like "eenie meenie minie mo" and landed on Aly who happened to be amazing. I'm curious how she fares next to Alicia since a lot of ppl call her Alicia II.
[bross left out intentionally...]

juniors
the obvious threesome.
jordyn wieber has a cute interview here: "read the last question! i like her and approve of her consistent winning sprees.
kyla ross is such a cutie. her bars at pac rims was nice but only a 5.0 sv. she gor 9.25 in execution which is pretty amazing considering how they watch every single angle and extension and everything. i wonder if she upgraded. her fx is really nice too.
sabrina vega! she's from ny haha. thats the main reason i like her! jk. well, partially. look at ny on the list of qualifiers. SHE'S THE ONLY ONE! she was on beam at pac rims and did well, i thought. she looks confident on beam and although she has wobbles, she stays on with a little class. she doesnt look like a terrified puppy.

k. thats all i have time for!

night!

Harry Potter!

2010-07-03T22:28:00.003-04:00

The official trailer came out and I'm excited. This post is gonna have spoilers

It seems like it stays pretty true to the book. You see Voldemort using Avada Kadavra on Harry. Harry looks all nice and mature - looks like there's a little scruff there and the heir of traveling for days. Harry and the goblin with Bellatrix aka Hermione in Gringotts. Ollivander looks properly tortured and tired. They show the escape of Harry with Hagrid. Poor Hedwig!! Ron and Hermione getting cozy :) Harry, under the invisibility cloak, with Hermione going to Godric's Hollow. I'm curious why Harry's lying on the ground in his cloak and a tie. Can't think of the scene for that. Not sure what's going on with that man and the Hogwarts Express or what scene it is when Hermione raises her hands.

They show Ron, Hermione in a red dress, and Harry after Bill and Fleur's wedding. I'm curious how much of that they're gonna show. If people didn't read the book, they'd have no idea about the wedding. I'm excited for the scene with Ron killing the Horcrux.

Overall, super excited for the movie!

I went to see Eclipse with my sister and some of her friends. It was interesting. I saw twilight that morning and they told me what happened during New Moon but I still feel like I missed out on some of the emotions and stuff. I see why people like it but, in all honesty, I hope the world gets over this vampire craze. Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, i think The Gates is about vampires. C'mon people, it's getting a little crazy. On the other hand, I know I'm not one to speak because of Harry Potter. Magic. Something not in the "real world" or something that can't quite be explained. Same with vampires.

Overall, good weekend. Excited for the 4th tomorrow!

Ashley

excited

2010-06-29T23:38:00.003-04:00

because i just looked at onemodelplace and modelmayhem . com and found out that my modeling career doesn't have to end! i looked and there are a few legit photographers in new hampshire and i'm actually interested in working with most of them. i discovered OMP from a friend during senior year. i did one photo shoot in boston and i loved it. my sister came as support but ended up being my make up artist too. it was great. a little weird because it was my first time in front of a camera like that - alone, without people, selling myself, not trying to just have a pretty smile and keep my eyes open. it was different.

obviously, i'll be busy with medical school and tests every 2 weeks but if i plan it right i think i can do maybe 3 shoots throughout the year. that sounds great to me! 1 shoot a term. i'm excited just gotta lose more weight!

and i know that picture isn't great, but hey, it's me. and that's my first shoot. i can only get better, right?

made my alicia sacramone montage!

2010-06-28T21:19:00.003-04:00

either it's me or youtube changed again and forgot something but i don't see the embed video link. so, here's the video. let me know what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvOl5aXF5bg

i joined internation gymnastics online forum. so far so good. its cool to be around other ppl who like gymnastics so much and know so much. i looked up jessica gil ortiz. she fell on her head during 2010 floor exercise finals at worlds. she's ok and is back in the gym. she even has a youtube channel. JGO1207. here's her full routine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px6_MlZLgco

gymnast update

2010-06-26T02:34:00.003-04:00

i just found out about internationalgymnast forum. its pretty sweet but i'm not sure if i'm gonna sign up. i dont know that much about gymnastics...

so, i remembered someone who i really liked watching 08 or 09 pac rims. bross was there as a junior. as was sam shapiro. there was a canadian girl, peng peng lee, also known as christine, who performed. she had http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spondylolisthesis but i believe i found a video or something telling me that she has competed this year. that makes me happy because i really liked watching her. she was only ajunior at the time and is listed on gym canada as a senior so i assume she qualified somehow.

mattie larson has already competed! as did sam shapiro. they both only performed on 2 events - bars and beam. they're total scores were 28.550 and 27.600. it makes me wonder who usa gymnastics thinks they can get with a 30 points for 2 event qualifying criteria for us nationals. pretty harsh if you ask me. i guess its good because you get more all arounders but why would you want to discourage/make it REALLY hard for specialists? if they're good, let them prove it at nationals with all the other girls who snuck in there.

alicia sacramone was at the last camp and scored a 15andchange on vault. if she gets that on beam/floor, she has a chance. people are also saying she can petitions, which i believe, since she's a former olympian/world champ.

sam shapiro - i hope the us doesnt turn into china. you remember how they had that girl flying but she wasn't the one who actually sang, it was a girl who they deemed wasnt attractive? i hope we dont factor looks into things. think about it, the most unattractive is bross right now and she's #1. ppl say nastia was unattractive (when she was younger, didnt know how to deal with the forehead yet) and she's 08 all around champ. pretty legit. i just hope they dont ignore her for reasons like that. i think marta is entirely too focused on winning, though, to let looks affect things.

another girl keeps popping up, alexandra christensen. i wanna look her up. i know an anna with her last name so i always get so confused when i see that!

my blog?

2010-06-23T22:54:00.006-04:00

I wasn't sure what I wanted this blog to be about. I friend all different kinds of people - friends from school, gymnast enthusiasts, fashion enthusiasts, and just people opinions i like to read. This blog was solely about gymnastics for all of oh 5/6 of the 11 posts. I was worried what people would think of me any my blog. As a swimmer, why do I love gymnastics so much? If I like fashion so much, why do I dress so normally? All these questions, I couldn't answer and it made me kind of ashamed of myself. That's why I don't advertise my blog. It's not on my facebook or anything. I haven't actually commented any of my friends although I'm subscribed to them and I guess it's worked. I've had so few visits and no followers. This isn't one of those "I need more comments" it's a "WTF do I want my blog to be?"

I've thought about this all day as I popped from gymnastics blog to fashion blog to med student blog. Everything written is important to that person. Why am I so ashamed to write what's important to me? Why care so much about other's opinions? I'm me and although I don't quite know who me is, I shouldn't hide her.

With that, today I continue my post on the Olympics. It's actually funny because I realize how swayed I am by the commentators! I was watching Mattie Larson and there was footage that said she would be the next big thing. This was it and I oohed and ahhed. She's good but I don't know why I was so in love with her, to be honest. She would be on my 2012 list but I think she needs to be more interesting.

I looked her up and she is back in the gym after an injury, ankle I believe. She competed at that USA-GER (I think it's a tri meet). This is her all around.

Watch at least her vault and bars. She's like a mini Alicia Sacramone. I'm gonna be honest and say that the reason that I might have liked her more than I intended to is because she might be part black. As a swimmer, I was always the only black swimmer on my team, except for my high school team at Tech. It didn't bother me in the sense that it made me want to quit but it was frustrating. The girls touching my hair, asking me why it was different, and just not having anyone who understood me. Jenny Thompson was my role model but I remember Sabir Muhammad trying a million times to make it. I remember Anthony Ervin tying for a freakin' gold medal and not really embracing/acknowledging the fact that he could be the inspiration for people that were like him, or half like him. Then, Cullen Jones made it and you can't get much darker than that. He was on that epic 4x100 free relay. He's made a movement in the black community encouraging Black kids to at least learn how to swim since he almost drowned when he was longer. Basically, I say all this because it's hard to get into a sport where you're part of a team but still alone. It doesn't have to bother you but I think everyone at least notices it. No matter how color blind you are, you know when someone doesn't look like you. And as you get to better and better swim meets, as you get to a more elite gymnastics style, the chances of you finding another African American get slimmer and slimmer. It's nice to have role models.

I remember watching this and jumping up and down cheering. I almost had a heart attack it was so close. Cullen was the slowest leg but I think he was always the slowest. Hey, 4 people, 1 of you has to be the slowest, right?

So, after yesterday's post, I also looked more at Ivana Hong and I don't think I like her that much either haha. All my favorites are leaving me! I think WOGA was good/will be good for her but I think they need other coaches other than just Valeri. He's coached 1 girl for the past how many years? [I think he only coached Nastia]. He's a great coach but I don't know where his originality is. Their beam routines are all very similar as are their bars now. I like Ivana's old bars where she had that funky shoulder thing. German giants. It's weird if you look at that video and another from 09. Her Tkatchev's have gotten lower. You'd think you'd get stronger. Yes, you weigh more, but you took out the german giants before hand, so no excuse. tsk tsk ivana.

K. I think I'm all blogged out now :)

Who for 2012?

2010-06-22T17:54:00.003-04:00

I'm writing this on my itouch so bear with me with the spelling errors.

After reading different ogs, I've decided to look up WTF an elite qualifier is. Basically, different meets give you the chance to qualify for elite. If youget a certain score, you can go to the USclassic which is the last opportunity toqualify for nationals. Or, like Vanessa Zamsomething, a high enough score can land you straight to US Nats. Once on that team, you cancompete for spots on the US international squad for things like worlds and the Olympic. I skipped a step with international elite but life goes on. Alicia will
be at the classic :)

I was wondering who would make the 2012 squad. A lot of people speak highly of Rebecca Bross but I don't like her. I think she's too much of an in-between. She's not super flexible and she's not so powerful that I ooh and aahh at every tumble. I hope Bridget Sloan can stay relatively injury free to make it to 2012. She's not my favorite but I don't mind her representing my country at all. She did a damn good job in 08 when the team was falling apart. She could've crashed and burned on her 1 event but she didn't. She's a very solid competitor to me. Next is the darling Ivana hong whom I hope can recover soon! She truly deserves a spot that she arguably shouldve had in 08 when the team broke. Most of her awards are on beam but I personally love her bars routine. Aly raisman is meh. I like her over bross and as long as she doesn't crack like Alicia in 04, she should be ok. I like the juniors more. I tend not to like the ones in the spotlight re: Jordyn Wieber. She's cuter, and better IMO, then Shawn as far as being america's commentators favorites. Maybe vega and Ross or one of the other yet to be noticed juniors will steal the spotlight.

comebacks!

2010-06-20T00:57:00.003-04:00

not really sure what i'm updating here. i feel super scatterbrained right now.

1. i'm excited alicia sacramone is coming back! she'll be competing at us nationals. it will be hard for her to "make it" (or break it haha), depending on how you define it. i think she can be in shape and not make it. the current seniors are good and the juniors that were at pac rim are good too. so the olympics might be a long shot but maybe she'll travel for something in the near future.

2. according to Aunt Joyce, ivana hong is training again! i'm excited for this which leads to my next comment.

3. comebacks. i'm excited for alicia but don't know how far she will go. ivana has a beautiful body and i think she can do well if she ever starts to show some consistency and STOPS BREAKING!!! i couldn't care less for sam pezcek coming back. or shawn johnson for that matter. she will be pure disappoinment. a, she's HUGE. b, i have no idea what could make her interesting again. america liked her for her cute smile, her triple combination on balance beam, and called her the new it girl. they have an it girl in bross, which i do NOT agree with. nastia, i was excited for but she too has not really been training. someone called her chipmunk cheeks and i think thats very accurate. i dunno if she can get that 5'3", 99lb body back. she's probably grown more too with the lack of pounding and the increase in nutrition.

i'm having gymnastics withdrawal. i follow college so i have no idea what's going on. i feel like i'm in a gymnastics draught.

on the up side, i found a place where i can do gymnastics in new hampshire :) i'll definitely need a car but it'll be worth it.

2004 olympics all-around

2010-06-02T16:40:00.002-04:00

watching the 04 all around. carly's beam was pretty cool. allana's floor was really low and i thought sveta's bars was too high for all the mistakes she's made. one thing i've realized though is that the code of points changes so what was allowed then, might be a deduction now. so who knows. maybe its ok to be totally sideways in your handstand.

anna pavlova's floor music is lovely and i like the tumbling pass that ends in a front walkover. its pretty and i feel like you don't see things like that today with all the crazy amounts of tumbling and combination and high passes that people want to get in.

courtney kupets did screw up on beam but i didn't think it was <9. courtney kupets score on floor was kinda low but she did step out of bounds and stuff. oh well, she tried. her floor music makes me wonder though...

the interview: "what were you thinking during khorkina's floor?" carly: silence. haha. i'm pretty sure she was thinking something nasty and downright mean.

long time, no talk of gymnastics

2010-06-01T11:21:00.001-04:00

back now! school is finally out of session and i'm glad. I've graduated and I will be heading off to medical school next year.

Posted my first gymnastics video. I'm really happy. Let me know what you think! It's the first one, so I'll gladly take criticisms.

I started to go to that gymnastics class. I will have gone to 10 classes by the end of this week. I like it so much. I can do a cartwheel, pop cartwheel, and round off. I've been working at my handstands. I'm not used to getting up in the air so I'm at that point where I'm in handstand and don't know what to do so I fall over.

Right now I'm watching the 2004 women's team finals. I can't believe I don't remember what happens. I vote US Silver. I'm actually shocked at how poorly Carly performed (I haven't seen floor yet) considering she got her act together to win the AA.

Shake it, shake it, shake it girl. Make sure you don't break it, girl

2010-03-21T15:42:00.008-04:00

Home now for spring break! Hopefully, I'll be OK and there won't be too much fighting. I think I'll be going down to NYC for at least one day and hopefully I will get to see Sharon. I have a bit of med school stuff to do - accept/withdraw schools, find scholarships - clean my room, start packing for next year and organizing, all that good stuff.

I've been watching a lot of gymnastics lately. I've watched the 2006 aa and the 2007 worlds team finals. The 2006 aa was kinda underwhelming. I'm happy for vanessa ferrari considering that was her first worlds but overall, there was nothing to interesting. I found Isabelle Severino again who is in Stick It - she plays the main character's gymnastics double. Her floor music was the black eyed peas! How awesome is that?

I'm watching the 2008 pac rim's now. I wanna see what people were saying about Sam Shapiro's floor music. I read somewhere that they were comparing her and Jordyn Weiber to Nastia and Shawn respectively. We shall see. I can't believe we're nearly half way through the quad, I'm so excited for the olympics already! To be honest, I hope Rebecca Bross isn't our AA hope. I need to find a new favorite and fast. I wonder if any of the young Chinese will be returning. I really loved Jiang Yuyuan at the Olympics. She is just too cute.

How does that not make you smile?

I went to my adult gymnastics class on Tuesday. It's called FOCA gymnastics - google it. It was fun! We worked on candle sticks, front and back rolls, and the beginning parts of a handstand. We'll be doing handstands, cartwheels, and I think round-offs in the next 2 classes. After that, I think I'll start going to the advanced class. I'm lucky I'm doing this while I'm still young and still have some of my swimming strength and flexibility, hence why I want to go the advanced class. It's 1.5 hours of instruction and 1 hour of open gym. During the open gym, I walked along the balance beam and pretended to do jumps, chalked up my hands and I went on the uneven bars, and ran towards the vault but didn't actually jump onto it haha. It's actually kinda terrifying. Hopefully this is something that I can continue at/after medical school!

i'll post as many times as i want

2010-03-15T21:20:00.001-04:00

this is my blog and i can talk about whatever i want for however long i want :)

i've been watching so much gymnastics and i think it's unhealthy. i just discovered a whole section of youtube devoted to all these (well, mostly) level 10 gymnasts showing their routines and showing them at practice working on different moves. it's good because now i'm learning names. it's bad because there's just so many to watch.

i start tomorrow :) so excited!!! i'm gonna work on my bio homework, watch a few videos, then look for clothing for tomorrow that's worthy of gymnastics. maybe i should just wear my bathingsuit? hmm...

Excited

2010-03-14T18:07:00.000-04:00

Im not going to lie. I'm super excited to start gymnastics on Tuesday. It's at MIT and will cost $15 I believe. It's for 2.5 hours and I'm glad it fits into my schedule. I hope I actually get something out of it and learn some cool moves. I also hope that we get to use all 4 apparati. Gotta get my uneven bar routine down so I can cross it off of my list of things to do before I die :)

updating!

2010-03-11T12:00:00.000-05:00

I've decided I'm going to start using this blog more whether it be for gymnastics, fashion, or just rants on life. I want a place to write :)

On a happy note, I found a place to do gymnastics right at MIT. I hope to go next Tuesday. I'm so excited!

Week 3 - Who Do I Look Up To

2009-03-01T09:42:00.000-05:00

Hey,

I think I look up to my mom the most (and grandmother, but she passed away and she and my mom are pretty similar). My mom works really hard to get things done for me and my sister. She always tries her hardest to make sure we're happy and have the same opportunities that all the other kids have. Like most parents, she's very devoted to making sure that the life of me and my sister is/will be better than the life that she has/had when she was younger. She's a very determined, strong-willed, wise, and kind woman. A lot of good qualities in one person!

Hello!

2009-02-12T00:28:00.000-05:00

My name is Ashley and I'm a junior at MIT. I'm from NY and I have an older sister who I lived with last summer. I like trying new things but I also like the comfort of things familiar. I like both pink and blue, I like watching gymnastics and I wish I were more flexible. I'm excited for Leadership Training Institute! I liked meeting all of the mentees last Sunday and enjoyed the activities we planned. I hope that the program goes well this semester and continues to prosper.