tape delayed.

It's no surprise that you've heard a myriad of complaints about NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games - it's not live (at least not on TV), it's not accessible (if you don't have cable anyway) and if you want to watch it with the surprise of what happens in "real time" you basically have to avoid any and all social media outlets. Considering how the world has evolved over the past few years, this is a problem. Kind of.

I'm going to share my own personal thoughts on this, from how I see it. You might not agree (but then, we don't have to agree on everything) and that's fine. This is just to give you some food for thought.

First of all, we can recognize that things need to change in terms of live coverage. Not just for the Olympic Games, but in general. I'll get to this in a minute.

We can also recognize that NBC could do some things better. For instance, I would have loved to see the "Abide with Me" 7/7 tribute during the Opening Ceremony, instead of an interview from Ryan Seacrest. Actually, I would have probably watched the Opening Ceremony twice if it had been streamed live (because I could have watched it on TV later too), and I don't exactly buy NBC's claim that we wouldn't have understood it without the commentating. We probably understood it better than Matt and Meredith.

I also think it's silly to claim that we can all watch it free online, when that's not really true. If you have a cable TV provider, you sure can. If you're like me, you have to find another way (and a friend willing to share a login) to watch events you want to watch live. I don't mind watching coverage on TV, but if I want to watch live, I should have an option (like this article points out, NBC could offer an option to pay for an Olympic package as they did for the Tour de France - I would gladly pony up for the ability to watch live online).

Sometimes technology isn't everything.

It could be better. But you know, people are watching it anyway. NBC has posted record numbers for the first three nights of primetime coverage from London. As sports business reporter Darren Rovell said in a tweet this morning: "NBC gets best Sunday overnight for a non-US Olympics yesterday, up 2% over Beijing, which had more high profile events live."

Now you could argue that this is the only option for some. That's true. If you want to watch the Olympic Games in the U.S., NBC is your guy. They have held broadcast rights for Summer Games since 1988 (2002 for Winter) and they will continue to hold rights until 2020. Personally, I enjoy their coverage. It's sometimes too much, with the fluff and Seacrest now in a position that many (including me) believe should be reserved for those who actually know and understand sport. But those stories and the fluff also teach you a little bit about the athletes, who are really the focus here.

When it comes to social media and the topic of "spoilers" - well, this is not new. I remember 2008 and the Olympic Games. If you were lucky enough to live in Eastern or Central time (you know, as majority of the U.S. does), you got to see many events live. You knew what was happening as it happened, and it wasn't because of Twitter. Because I lived in Colorado, I had to avoid Facebook and texts until I saw the races I wanted to see if I wanted to be surprised. Same thing in 2010. If you lived in Mountain or Pacific time, where the Games were actually happening, you still were forced to watch on a delay.

So while many East-coasters are concerned about the tape delays, this is just part of normalcy for some of us. Why can't we put Mountain and Pacific time zones on the same viewing schedule as Eastern and Central for two weeks? We do it for the NCAA tournament. For the Superbowl. For the Oscars. That's about it, unless it's a cable broadcast.

But I get it. It has to do with money, and contracts, and what NBC (and other broadcasters) believe people want to see. While people are shaking their fists and shouting about the primetime coverage, at least for now, it's done. It's not going to be so easy to change a contract for advertising during a primetime show now that the Games have started. Maybe NBC should have aired the Lochte/Phelps showdown in the 400 I.M. on TV, live, instead of relying on online streams and the tape-delayed race in primetime. But when your content plan is laid out (with advertising no less), it's not always so easy to change midway through.

My other thought? NBC didn't realize people would prefer a television broadcast over live streams online. In such a digital age, when everyone is linked in all the time (maybe too often), they thought they were providing an excellent alternative in the form of live streams (which, like I said, don't help those of us without cable but are great for people who want to watch as it is happening).

I can't say any of this for sure, because I am just an observer and long-time Olympic fan, and not some kind of television executive. I believe that NBC thought they could offer something to appease the masses (live streaming) while continuing a formula that has obviously worked for them in the past. Times are changing, and our event coverage needs to catch up with the world we live in, absolutely, but it's not going to change today, or tomorrow. Keep in mind though, it wasn't that long ago that we either had to watch the broadcast or find out who won an event by reading the newspaper, and that the Paralympic Games still won't be broadcast in the U.S. at all this year.

There may be a better answer to the question of Olympic coverage in the future - you know it, and I know it. But for now? I want to just watch the Games, cheer for Team USA and celebrate the successes of our athletes, whether I find out about it on Twitter moments after it happens or I wait until 7 p.m. to watch it on TV.

(I have some positive things to say about the Olympic Games as always, but I'll save it for another post.)

we don't have to agree on everything.

Remember that old song, that goes, "It's only you and me, and we just disagree..."?

Lately I have been reminded of it because there has just been so much happening in the world that people just flat out disagree on.

Sometimes more serious posts need not serious photos.
(thanks B.)

Let me be clear: you do not have to agree with everyone on everything. We don't have to agree on everything, and we can still be friends. Can you imagine how boring the world would be if everyone agreed on everything? I believe we would never evolve, grow, change if we all had the same opinion about everything all the time.

The thing is, even if we disagree, we shouldn't feel the need to get so mad about it. If someone doesn't like something you like (say, the Olympic Games), it's okay. They are free to like whatever they want, even if it's something you're totally not into like watching UFC. There's no reason to degrade someone because of his or her personal preference. It seems like a waste of energy to argue about such things.

We are better because of our differences.

And yet...

My example was kind of weak. Lately, everyone is all up in arms about how one business is anti-this and another company supports this. Mostly it's political and religious reasons that have everyone raging at everyone else. You know it, and I know it. We've seen it. We live it. It's all around us.

You and I don't have to agree on political or religious anything. Like I said, we are better for our differences. I can understand, you are different from me. It's cool! But somewhere along the line, it seems our society has gotten the idea that we all have to think the same thoughts about everything. Something like, if you don't agree with me, then forget you! It's my way or the highway! If you don't like it, you should just get the hell out.

Now, wait a minute.

Having an opinion doesn't automatically make you correct. Having a different opinion from someone else doesn't mean you should be told you should get out of the city/state/country. And whether you want to eat at Chick-fil-A doesn't impact me and whether or not I will eat there. I'm not going to give you my opinion one way or the other, but I can choose to support (or not) any business I want to, just like you. If I don't agree with something someone does, I don't have to support it. If I agree with what someone does, I will certainly back 'em up. But what I do doesn't make me a better or worse person if it's not what you would choose.

I guess it just makes me sad to see that by having a different outlook on life, someone could and would think that I am stupid and wrong. We all come from different backgrounds - our education, socioeconomic status, upbringing, choices, places we've lived, experiences we've had, belief systems, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc., all make us unique and part of a bigger picture. We all see the world differently, and we all function as part of the world in different ways. And it doesn't make you right or wrong or better or worse than anyone else.

We should embrace our differences. We should ask questions, and try to understand one another better. We don't have to agree, but maybe we should just be better listeners, and at least recognize that someone else has a different point of view than us, even if we don't like it very much. Most of the time (not all, but most) that different opinion or way of life someone has? Isn't going to hurt you, not one bit. Remember the golden rule? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you? If we treat others how we want to be treated, maybe we'd be able to rise above name-calling and insults and threats and live in a little happier place.

Note: I know that not everyone will agree with this post. For some, the idea that someone thinks and acts differently is blasphemes. I'm not saying you have to agree with me. But it's my blog, and I wanted to give you my opinion. So thanks for reading.

monday mash-up.

This post has no rhyme or reason. Hence the title, Monday Mash-up.

I can't embed this video, so I am going to just give you the link. But if you like Tom Hiddleston as much as I do, you should watch this. He explains how he is like Loki, the character he plays in "Thor" and "The Avengers." And it made me laugh out loud to myself last night. So watch it.

He's also quite handsome.

Mostly I am realizing that there are just so many great British things in existence. Which makes me all that much more excited to go there in about a month (or less than five weeks from now) for the 2012 Paralympic Games. I will hold off on saying that I want to live there until after I go. But I kind of already want to, just for a little while. I will let you decide if that is crazy or not.

This happened.

This band is not from England but they are from New York and Sam and I are having a dance party to it today. Feel free to join in, if you feel so inclined.

This article amuses me. I mean, I know I likely see the world differently than someone who is from the South (because I'm a Yankee)(and there's nothing wrong with being a Yankee or being from the South) but telling women they have four years to find a husband because:

That’s right ladies, four years to find a husband. Every true woman knows how vital it is to find the right brilliant babe to father their children and replenish their bank accounts. A Southern belle is nothing but a pretty face and pearls without a man to eat her cooking and appreciate her cleaning.

Oh my.

I got to spend my weekend with my friend Erin, who is my sorority sister and one of my greatest friends. She was out in Colorado for work and made a trip down to see me. We ate some good food (including fro-yo from Buttercup's - twice!) and visited Garden of the Gods and the Olympic Training Center. She said she can see why I live here, and why I have been here for four years.

I would love to be closer to my family and my friends; it's true. But right now it makes little sense to leave what is essentially the only job I ever dreamed about. I like being excited about my job and the experiences I get to have because of it. And I think there's this big world out there that needs to be explored, and I want to do that. So maybe after I feel like I have accomplished that, I will think more seriously about being closer to home.

But it's fun to see old friends, especially when they are the kind of friends who don't care if you act a little nuts sometimes. 

I thought running and I were going to get back on good terms but I was probably wrong considering I got awful shin splints last week... the same day I signed up for a 5k that takes place this Friday. It figures. So this week I am going to kind of avoid running. Until Friday anyway. And if I'm slow, oh well. At least somehow these shin splints were not so debilitating that I couldn't run. I just... couldn't walk very well after I was done.

The moral of the story is that I still need to get more interested in biking.

I get to see Florence and the Machine at Red Rocks Amphitheater on Wednesday! I have been waiting to hear Flo sing live for years, so I am excited. And that's not even a good word to describe it.

Speaking of other things I am excited about, I saw "The Dark Knight Rises" yesterday, and it was extraordinary. I won't give anything away, but if you have seen it and feel like talking about it, we can. I want to go see it again, actually. It was just... wonderful. We won't talk about how much I cried though. I don't really know why that happened.

One last thought: OLYMPIC GAMES START ON FRIDAY! FRIDAY!

I guess there's a lot of good and positive things happening, which maybe will make up for the sad and bad of recent weeks.

why colorado?

I don't really know what to think these days. I woke up at 3 this morning and when I couldn't go back to sleep, I did what I normally do when I have time to waste and checked Twitter. What I saw shocked and appalled me. A shooting, right here in Colorado, at the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises." By now you've likely heard about it. It's all over the national news, and was even discussed in "NewsBeat" on BBC Radio One in the UK.

It's not one of those questions that has answers. And sadly, it's not the first time a mass shooting has happened in Colorado. You'll probably remember Columbine, the school shooting in April 1999 that left 15 dead and 21 injured.

I'm not going to get into gun issues. I'm not going to make this about politics because it's not.

But I am going to say that our world is a sick, sad place. The fact that people had attended a movie, in search of entertainment, and were shot and killed disgusts me. I cannot understand why things like this happen, and I cannot understand people who make jokes about situations like this so cavalierly (because newsflash, it's not funny).

Aurora is just about an hour north of where I live. Colorado is my home (at least it is for now). The people affected by this are people just like me, and just like you.

And even though this isn't about me, personally, it still goes to show that it's people just like me, and just like you, when I talk to my mom and she says my brother called her, wondering if I was okay. And friends text me to make sure I am okay. Because I would have gone to a midnight show of this movie. It could have happened to anyone. And I am so sad, and so sorry for those affected.

Colorado has experienced more than its fair share of heartache and tragedy lately. I don't typically put my prayers out there for all to see, but between this and the wildfire, I will say that no matter what you believe in, maybe we need some prayers right now. Not even just in Colorado, but for all over, for the state we're in as a country and a society.

I hope we have something positive to celebrate sometime soon.

one art.

I can't think of anything else to say, but works of art by others often say it better than I could anyway.

One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop

The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

--- Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

back to reality.

This week, I start to get back to reality.

Partly because I am back to work after nearly two weeks (which was mostly vacation) and partly because the Waldo Canyon Fire is now 100 percent contained.

It almost feels weird to be talking about this still. When you leave a place during a major historic event, during a crisis, you have to separate yourself from it. You aren't there, so you can't be tuned into it every second of the day. People are living life without fires outside of this place, so you kind of just go along with it. Now that I'm back, I can see it. I can see the stretch of field that burned across the street from me. I can see the trees - or what was once trees - sitting atop the ridge. I see it from my windows in my apartment. I see it when I drive to work. I see it going home from the grocery store. It won't just go away.

The view from my porch just before evacuating on 6/26.

Everyone had a unique experience with this fire. I am fortunate that my apartment is still standing. I am fortunate that when I returned from my vacation, my apartment was just as I left it. It didn't even smell like smoke. (My car is a different story. If anyone knows tricks to getting out an awful smoke smell let me know.) My power was barely off for an hour. The only sign that something happened, besides the view out the windows, is the ash on my porch.

So I'm not going to pretend to understand what someone went through losing their home, or their neighbor's home. I'm not going to pretend I know how to help these people - I don't know. I bought some shirts that support wildfire relief. I want to do more. I'm not sure what that is yet, for me.

There are lots of ways to help, as my friend Kat posted in her blog:
Help Colorado Now
Heal Colorado
Thank a Firefighter with cards from CardGnome
Waldo Canyon Firefighters Fund (from Pikes Peak Community Foundation)
Colorado Springs Together - Restoring Our Community

Back to reality means more than just getting used to the new normal here at home.

For me, it means actually spending an entire month here, in my apartment, with no traveling. I had been gone nearly every other weekend since April, so this is a welcome change. This also helps me to get my bearings before marathon travel starts in August, with weekend work trips to Ohio and Vermont, and a three-week stint in London for the 2012 Paralympic Games.

To say I'm going to be busy is an understatement, I think.

Needed: more running.

Plus, there's that whole running thing. Yes, running. I'm still planning on doing it, once in a while. I signed up for this trail half marathon, which is on Oct. 6, and I'm still not sure about that. It probably wasn't the best move on my part, especially given the hills on the trail and my travel schedule, but it was affordable. Maybe I'll walk most of it. I don't know. It's just over 12 weeks away, and I printed out a training plan. I'd really like to not embarrass myself by quitting before I even get started.

I was able to get back to reality last night, by cooking food in my apartment for the first time in more than two weeks. I'd say this is a pretty big accomplishment, considering how lazy I was in June. Reality should be healthier - and not just with running or swimming or eating real meals. It should be healthy for my brain. I need some good mental health. I need to get a grip on my perspective, and be grateful for all the things I have, and not fret about the things I don't.

Reality means living better, and enjoying more, and worrying less. Being a better LindsAy, and not for someone else, but for me.

Back to reality. Back to good. 

one week, and how to help.

For those that don't know, it has been one week (plus a few days) since the start of the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. One week since we saw that smoke plume rise above the city. One week since our lives there were changed.

In Colorado, fires are more commonplace than in a place like Michigan. It's hot, it's dry, and we have red flag warnings often. I'm not saying fires don't happen other places. It just seems like the conditions are more... ideal ... in Colorado.

How did we go from a day at the pool to packing important things in a car, just in case the fire spread?

How did we lose such a beautiful neighborhood to the beast that was that fire on a Tuesday afternoon, just because the winds kicked up to 65 mph?

How did so many of us find ourselves in a race to leave our homes Tuesday as the smoke ball (as I call it) blew out over the rest of the city?

There are so many questions I have. I'm still not sure how to feel about the fire, even though at this point it is 70 percent contained. I know that when I do go back to Colorado (as I am in Michigan now for a long-awaited vacation), it will be hard to drive past the neighborhood where ~350 houses were destroyed when I drive to work every day. And I feel like a chump for saying that, because people lived in those homes. My apartment is still there. And I feel like a chump.

I can't adequately explain how I felt when I saw those flames crawling down the mountain on Tuesday. The odd thing is how perfectly it fits can be directly found in lyrics to that Baz Luhrmann piece, Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen (as pointed out by my friend Jamie):

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

It really happened that way. We were blindsided. And it's hard to accept. But we will, and we will rebuild.

The Colorado Springs community has been phenomenal. It's hard to explain, but you really feel as though people, even those you've never met, really care about you, just because you are in essence, their neighbor. This is the kind of feeling I have always wanted from the city I lived in, and though the circumstances that spurred this kind of support and kindness are tragic, I am proud to be part of a community that cares about the people and the places in the city where we live.

If you want to help, you can find ways to donate and give back here (thanks Kat!).

You can also pick up one of these sweet shirts from Wild Fire Tees. I convinced my whole family to get one! The proceeds all go to help those affected and to wildfire relief funds.

Maybe we can learn from this. I'm not sure what all the lessons are. I know that there are very few things in my possession that I actually care about and consider irreplaceable. I know I am grateful for friends and folks on Twitter for support. I know I miss Colorado more than I ever have in the past. I know that I want to spend more time exploring the trails and beauty of the city and the state I live in. I know I appreciate all the people that work to keep us safe, on all kinds of levels, and I know it's hard to think of ways to accurately express my gratitude.

I know we will be strong in Colorado Springs, and I know we will come back from this even if it takes time. This is where I live, and this is a place I love.