Today is Wednesday, and there’s not a whole lot to say about it except for that. It was a lot more of the same — more reading chapters, more hoping I can get these two projects finished before February is done — except with much better weather than yesterday. I still don’t love the walk between the house and train station, especially today when I didn’t wear my boots but everything had iced over, but even this evening was a whole lot nicer than the wet sludge we had on Tuesday.
It’s Ash Wednesday, and as I joked on Twitter earlier this afternoon, it’s that day when, traditionally, we draw a circle of ashes around ourselves to keep the island’s Smoke Monster at bay. (Does that qualify as a Lost spoiler? If so, um, oops.) I hope that doesn’t make me a bad Catholic…although, truth be told, I also ate meat today, and aside from my sister’s wedding (which wasn’t a full mass), I haven’t really been anything like a regular churchgoer in years. Maybe it’s the four years at an all-boys Catholic high school that did it, I don’t know. I’d probably consider myself a spiritual person, if not a religious person, but despite how I was raised — and though it might pain my mother to learn this — I don’t know for a fact that I’d call myself Catholic. God and religion are definitely things I think about, seriously and often, but I’m not entirely sure I’d put a label on any of my beliefs. (Nor am I unwilling to admit that might be a little bit of a cop-out.)
In other news, I watched a little more of the Olympics this evening — mostly women’s hockey, Canada versus Sweden. At the time when I get home in the evening, it’s apparently that or curling on NBC. And despite having seen Men With Brooms, which is ostensibly a movie about curling, and despite realizing it’s not all that complicated, I remain a little mystified by just what those teams are attempting to do. (Though I’m with John Scalzi: these pants are nothing short of amazing.)
And that, really, is that.
Who knew the Norwegians were so extroverted in their fashion choices?
Oh, and Men With Brooms is fun, but it doesn’t really explain the Canadian fascination with curling. That said, I’m not convinced there is a Canadian fascination with curling. My parents curled all through my youth, but I seem to remember a lot of alcohol being involved. It’s probably more of an excuse for those who can’t skate to get together weekly and drink…a lot.
It’s maybe worth noting that I didn’t much like Men With Brooms, despite generally being a big fan of Paul Gross. But as I recall, it did pretty much explain what the sport entailed, if not necessarily why it’s so popular in Canada. (If it is, I suspect it’s simply because you have more ice and snow than we do.) I’m not saying it doesn’t look fun, or like it doesn’t involve real skill or strategy. I just don’t quite get it. But there are lots of sports I don’t quite get, and I don’t mean to single curling out. It’s just, that’s all that was on. I enjoyed the hockey game, though.
I don’t understand curling. There’s a guy in my office who LIVES for curling…but he said that you have to be from Manitoba to really get it. He even takes holidays around his bonspiels. Incredible.
I wonder if he’s secretly got a pair of those wicked curling pants. They are THE BOMB.
Truth be told, I haven’t been to mass in years, either. But I still try to give things up at Lent.