Mid-Life Crisis

Ten on Tuesday...on Wednesday

I was drawing a blank due to my pounding headache, so I looked at everyone else's lists and got some ideas. So many ideas that I had to do twelve...

Ten Movie Characters You Love

1. Atticus Finch
2. Willy Wonka - the Johnny Depp version
3. Silent Bob
4. Every character Doris Day ever played
5. Felix Unger
6. Donkey from Shrek
7. Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.
8. Forest Gump. How can you not love Forest?
9. Norma Rae
10. Kathleen Kelly from You’ve Got Mail
11. Harry and Sally
12. Bunny Watson from Desk Set

Ten on Tuesday

I have such a bad headache that I can't come up with a list for this week's "Ten on Tuesday" topic, "Ten Movie Characters You Love." I happened upon this old "Ten" that I never posted for some reason, so I'm using that one instead:

Ten Movies That Have Made You Cry

1. Good Will Hunting - It hit home. That's all I'm gonna say about that.
2. Titanic - the part where they find each other again on the staircase after they die. *sniff*
3. Fiddler on the Roof - the part when the daughter and her new husband pass by her former home on the way out of town, and the father ignores her because he's disowned her. OY! I just sobbed!
4. Schindler's List - I only saw the last ten minutes but I still cried like a baby.
5. Dumbo, Bambi & ET - I have separation anxiety, what can I say.
6. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - when Spencer Tracy gives that speech about how much he loves his wife (played by real life partner Katherine Hepburn). When they pan to Hepburn she's crying real tears, because she knew Tracy was ill and wouldn't live much longer. He died shortly after shooting ended.
7. It's a Wonderful Life - "To George Bailey, the richest man in town." Omg, that ending gets me every time!
8. To Kill a Mockingbird - "Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."
9. The Way We Were - the very end when Katie and Hubbell meet in front of The Plaza Hotel years after breaking up. You know, when she brushes the hair on his forehead? *sigh*
10. Driving Miss Daisy - "Hoke...You're my best friend." Getting old makes me sad.
11. Life is Beautiful - Ack, this one was sad from beginning to end.

He's a Dancing Machine!

Dancing, dancing, dancing
He's a dancing machine
Ah babe
Move it baby...

That disco-era Jackson Five song has been going through my head ever since I saw Apolo Anton Ohno shake his booty for the first time during the Season 4 Premiere of "Dancing With the Stars" last week. (I took some poetic license with that quote. The actual lyrics are "She's a dancing machine.")

As a long time fan, I shouldn't admit this, but I really didn't think he could pull this off. Not the dance steps so much. I figured as a natural athlete he would master those. I just couldn't imagine him adding the flair that is necessary to make a ballroom routine anything other than painful to watch. (Think Tucker Carlson.) My sister told me she saw a video preview of the new season on one of the daytime talk shows, and she thought Apolo showed a lot of promise. I was skeptical.

I've stalked followed Apolo's career since 2002. I've attended many competitions and a few events off the ice where he was in attendance. In all that time I've never seen anything to indicate he was anything other than a very reserved person. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him smile. So imagine my surprise on Monday night when he stepped down onto the dance floor, swung his arms wide open and smiled. I think my jaw actually hit the floor. I had barely gotten over that shock when out came the swiveling hips and the fancy footwork. Whoa! Sure, there were some missteps, but still...he was good!

I've also never seen him look so happy and relaxed. It was so much fun to watch. After all the tension and drama surrounding my four year career as a short track fan, the DWTS experience looks to be a refreshing change. It's as if someone opened a window and let a cool breeze blow in.

Oh, and I shouldn't forget to mention his partner Julianne Hough. Julianne is sexy, adorable, (is that combination possible?), and a hell of a dancer.

Here's the video of Apolo and Julianne dancing the Cha Cha Cha in Week One:

Let's Hear it for the Boy...