However you spend it, spend it as a proud American.
Happy Memorial Day.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy
I glanced at yet another article on how women who are “big” and muscular should embrace their body and not be swayed by society’s ideals of beauty. Meh. I guess I don’t see the difference in XXXL men telling you it’s okay to be “bigger” than Glamour magazine telling you to be thinner. Either way, someone is telling YOU it’s okay to be YOU. I’ll call B.S. on that every day of the week but that’s not my battle today.
Earlier this month while competing at the Minnesota Scottish Games, a few of the men in our group were talking about female participation at the games. One man (who other than this ass-i-9 comment was very nice and tried to be helpful) mentioned trying to get his young daughter into the games. Her reply, which he shared with mock concerned glee, was ‘Dad, only the big fat farm girls throw in those things.’ Huh? First off, I’m a city girl. Secondly, huh?
He went on to shake his head and state that it’s a fact that women who are in good shape don’t want to be a part of a sport with such overweight women. Ya know what? I take back the ‘he’s a nice guy’ comment. He’s an ass. The fact that I was standing right next to him didn’t even deter this stupidity. The other men he was talking to had the decency to look embarrassed and I moved on.
The reality, I’ve found, of the Highland Games is that women of ALL shapes and sizes not only compete, but kick arse. I’ve quickly learned not to underestimate anyone, size has nothing to do with it. Many of these women are complete technicians and utilize power and force no matter how small or large they are.
Strong and explosive is strong and explosive. Check out the numbers of women’s weightlifting in the lower weight classes, strong. Then check out the numbers of the 75+ class…still strong.
That these games welcome ALL women is the point of why it is such a great sport. Period. Comments such as the former nice man make me feel bad for daughters who aren’t raised to be proud of small and strong or big and strong. Just be strong!
On that note, I took a painting break last week and spent over an hour listening to Shawna Mendelson interview Becca Swanson. It was time well spent. First off, Shawna’s fun and positive personality comes through loud and clear and even in some heavy subject matter, she keeps things light and real. Becca Swanson is amazing. Beyond her achievements in the strength world, she’s fought her battles and has come out on top with a very peaceful zen that came through in regards to life, lifting, size, and love. If you have some time this week and are interested in hearing more from these great ladies of strength, listen here.
With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
Eleanor Roosevelt
This weeks Friday Jams are dedicated to two people.
My French friend V who continues her battle for health with strength; beauty; grace; a positive attitude; sexiness; fantastic wigs; a great accent; and the love of hundreds, probably more. I am honored to be her friend. I am humbled by her courage.
And…
My brother Jerry. I could write pages and pages on how incredible he is but I’ll have to condense this to the last year. He just celebrated a very big milestone. Without giving personal details, he has quietly fought, and scraped, and battled with very little accolades and atta’boys. What does he have to show for it? The ability to look himself in the mirror and see a man who’s children can be thankful and proud of; who’s friends can admire; and who’s sister is so incredibly proud of him there are no words to adequately describe. Congratulations big brother. You ‘da Man.
Foo Fighters: My Hero.
Enjoy the weekend.
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
Christopher Reeve
We spent a gorgeous, sunny day last weekend outside Springfield, IL for the May Highland Games. It was the first time competing this year without the long johns and UnderArmour cold weather wear. Delicious.
I turned the caber for the first time which was an absolute blast! On my first pick, it was getting away from me when people kept yelling, “Pull it in! Pull it in!” SRSLY. It was the equivalent of screaming “Activate your shoulders!” while attempting a PR press. I kindly (I hope) asked that instead of screaming to do something I know I need to do, scream how. ‘Move back’ etc. An action I can do. It worked. My second pick was golden (thanks to Katie Steingraeber’s advice to squeeze the log with my neck) and away I went.
I have to say, the brief moment between getting to the bottom of the Caber and picking it is equal to getting to a start position and having the gun go off. It’s GO TIME. Fun stuff!
The stone throws went okay, slow and steady improvement is what I’ll take. I didn’t use the spin on the open stone since I didn’t feel I’m getting it down and still using my legs but I hope to have a session or two with Sara Hilgers this summer to nail it down. I PR’d with the slide but STILL got beat by one of our Junior competitors! He was cool.
I worked hard on the distance throws to keep the weight where it belongs and had a spectacular fall out of the trig on my first heavy throw, followed up by SUPERSTAR! pose that would’ve made Mary Katherine Gallagher proud. We gotta have fun, ya know. I PR’d my light distance throw by a couple inches from Minnesota and I’ll take it. I’ll always take a PR.
Our last event was the WOB. We had just enough time to sit around while waiting for the gents to finish up, that getting a bit stiff; tired; and frankly less motivated than I would have preferred was predominant walking over. We opened at 8′ and I decided to come in at 11. Yes, the day will come when I need to bite the bullet and come in at 12′ but not this day. I started jumping around and trying to fire up when the crew was going at 9’… then missed my first attempt. Uh oh. I moved out a little bit on my next throw and it was fine. 12 was fine. Then the dreaded 13′. I hadn’t hit 13 since March and I was a bit pissed off a bout it. Thankfully I hit it and went for a PR of 13’6″.
Things are a bit fuzzy here. I don’t think I hit 13.6 on the first throw but I don’t remember. I DO know that when I hit it, I immediately looked at the judge and gave him the thumbs up. As in, “Higher. We’re going higher.” My first throw at 14 wasn’t close, I remember that. My second throw had the height but didn’t go over. I asked the head judge if I should move out. He said no but went on to say that he noticed my arm veered off to the side a little bit. Keep it out in front when I toss. That’s all I thought about when I was winding up, keep it in front, and over the bar it went. I think I was more relieved than happy in that first moment, but happiness quickly took over.
The first thing I did (other than getting a happy hugs and kisses from the Bigg man, that goes without saying) was profusely thank our judge, Neil, for his cue. It was spot on and one I’ll remember going forward. Keep it in front. Word.
Overall it was a wonderful day and I got to spend time again on the field with Games friends Adele and Anita who were also in Springfield in March.
My second place sword went to the Oz man who worked his arse off shagging all day and in general, will treat it with lots of TLC.
Yup.
Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA-ordinary citizens don’t need guns, as their having guns doesn’t serve the state.
Heinrich Himmler
tosabarbell 