Mid-Life Crisis

Oh Yes, He Won!!

Apolo Ohno and Julianne Hough - Dancing With The Stars Season 4 Champions!

Apolo Anton Ohno is the Season 4, disco-ball-trophy winning, Dancing With The Stars champion! Yes!

I'm uncharacteristically ebullient today because finally something I care about had a HAPPY ENDING!

Okay, so I got to see him win that Olympic gold medal thing. In person. In Italy. That was pretty cool. But that was over a year ago. Starting about a week after that, my life started to go horribly awry. Things haven't quite turned around yet, so it feels really, really good to have something to smile about. Not that I'm actually smiling right now. But I'm thinking that I feel like smiling, and that's a major improvement in itself.

I really love Dancing With The Stars. It's so colorful, fun, and spangly. It's glamorous, in the most tacky way possible. I must admit that the whole circus atmosphere wears me out after a while, (especially when there's a lot of drama, cause you know I'm NOT into the drama). And yes, the judges do bug the crap out of me. Still, I'm always sad to see it end because it brightens up my decidely un-spangly life.

I'm going to miss my weekly DWTS fix.  I got a little happiness transfusion seeing what Apolo and Julianne came up with every Monday, what horrible song they were stuck with, and what amazing thing they managed to do with it. I'll miss the sexy costumes, the parade of hairstyles, the spray-on tan, and the dramatic makeup. Oh, and I'll miss Julianne too.

And speaking of Julianne, never has one woman (girl?) been envied so much by so many. As much as I hate to admit it, I'll miss swooning along with the other love starved fans over the unfolding drama of the couple's faux romance. It was like one of those cheesy Harlequin Romances come to life.

So now it's over and I must return to the dull routine of my daily life. There's nothing left but the memories...

Oh, who am I kidding. I've got the whole season saved on my DVR. I can watch it anytime I want. I'm just being dramatic because I can't think of anything else to say to end this post. I guess I'll just have to go with the obvious...

Apolo and Julianne, you ROCKED!!

(Oh yeah, I'm gonna totally regret that later.)

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...