A Year Ago Today

I'm big on important dates. (I sat here for five minutes trying to figure out how to make that sound like I'm not talking about going-out-with-boys dates, but it's just not happening.) I like to remember when things happened.

I got my first Endurance callback on April 14th, 2005 (and another one on the same day in 2006). The first day of filming was July 31st, 2006, and I got sent home on August 8th. I graduated high school on June 28th, 2009 (the same day that Billy Mays died. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died three days earlier, which was the night of my prom. Fun fact of the day). I moved into my freshman dorm on August 18th (which is my brother's birthday, a fact I will never stop feeling bad about) in 2009. The London 2012 Opening Ceremony was on July 27th, 2012.

And exactly one year ago -- December 20th, 2011 -- I filled out the London 2012 Ceremonies volunteer application.

And look how hopeful and naive I was!

Actually, I just didn't realize that my visa expired in June. Oops? Luckily for me, Laura decided to process my application anyway. We were supposed to be eligible to work in the UK through November to volunteer at all, but... oops? Hah. I think it worked in my favor that Laura is an American living in the UK. When May and June rolled around and I told people I was getting kicked out of the country, they all kind of wondered how I was let in to volunteer in the first place. But then they threatened to kidnap me so I wouldn't have to leave, so I think any indiscretion was forgiven. ;)

I had no idea how freaking awesome THIS would be! Half an hour from closing the door to my flat to signing in at 3 Mills. Best commute ever.

Again, look at me, being all "WEEEEEE I can work at the Olympic ceremonies!" Nope.

Heh, I chose all operations roles. Silly me. I'm so glad casting plucked me from the pool!

This is where I ended up: 

It's kind of crazy that I was filling this out so long ago. Pretty soon I'll be able to say I was in London a year ago, which is unbelievably bittersweet. I miss it desperately and would go back in a heartbeat (seriously. If I had the money, man...). So while the constant ache in my chest sucks, it's hard to look back on my London 2012 experience and do anything but smile. And maybe flail a little bit. 

Because, seriously, how was that real?

Sochi or Bust!

I'm a pretty motivated person. Pretty average when it comes to the day-to-day, sure, but when there's something that I really want? Come hell or high water, I make it happen. Like Endurance; somehow this skinny, bespectacled, introverted kid with no prior TV experience beat out 10,000 other applicants to score a spot on her favorite show in the world. And working for the Olympics; this nutjob couldn't get a job with the US Olympic Committee, so she up and flew halfway across the world and spent four months volunteering with London 2012 Ceremonies.

Me and some fellow L2012C casting department vollies at the Dagenham rehearsal site. :)

Where did she go? She was cool. I miss her.

Basically, I found the perfect thing for me to do after graduation. It's a new school called the Russian International Olympic University. It's a one-year program for a master's degree in sport management, and your modules are Olympics-focused. As if that wasn't enough, it's in Sochi, from September 2013-June 2014. So, while the Olympics are in Sochi in February... follow the breadcrumbs. It makes me all goosebumpy and flaily just thinking about it.

Perfect, right? Absolutely flawless for everything I want to do in my life. Except it costs $30,000, none of which I have. So I haven't been thinking about it like it's a legitimate possibility. When I tell people about it, I say, "It's going to sound ridiculous, but..." and wave it off like it's not for real. A pipe dream, if you will.

But when I was home for Thanksgiving, my wonderful cousin Molly and I were talking about it, and I mentioned that I can't afford it. She waved me off like it was nothing. "You'll find a way," she said. "You always do."

(This is also why Molly doubles as my best friend.)

Hearing that was like a slap in the face in the best way possible. I do always find a way, don't I? So... why have I been so quick to write off RIOU because of $30,000? There are ways to pay for grad school; grants, loans, scholarships, whatever. I just have to find them. And hell, I would basically give a limb to be able to go to this school. It's like a higher power was like, "Hm, what would Darci's ideal life look like after she graduates from college? Let's do that!" Nothing should be stopping me from making this happen for myself. Nothing.

So I have decided to find the girl that made it onto a TV show with just a video camera and a dream, and the girl that found herself at Olympics opening ceremony rehearsals in London because she refused to take no for an answer.

She and I are going to Sochi.

RIP Jeff Blatnick

I got some sad news today; Jeff Blatnick died.

He was an Olympic wrestler who won gold in 1984. Now, I don't know the names of many Olympic wrestlers, let alone ones who competed almost three decades ago. But a year and ten days ago I was reading a book called Awaken the Olympian Within and came across Jeff Blatnick's story (click the link for the post I wrote about it). It left me moved and emotional and tearstained, and I suddenly had an immense attachment to a man who competed in a sport I rarely watch a full seven years before I was even born.

I don't remember the last time I'd even though about his story in the past year. But upon seeing tweets mourning his passing, it all came crashing back. This is the first time in a long time that the death of someone famous has personally meant something to me and I had to take a moment to myself to be sad.

There's really no point to this post, nor do I have anything else to report. Jeff Blatnick died, and I'm sad.  That's about the extent of it. But this is my small tribute to a man who overcame an Olympic boycott and cancer to become the best in his sport, and made a 20-year-old girl cry on a plane to Salt Lake City.

Rest in peace, Jeff.

 

Winter Wonderland

I'm one of those oddballs that actually enjoys winter, and the winter Olympics is no exception. Just like I prefer coats and boots to humidity and sweating, I'll take skating and sliding over running and swimming any day of the week. And, yes, it's barely fall (and still well over 80 degrees here in Miami), but I spend the full year and a half lead-up to every winter Olympics in a perpetual wintry mood.

See?

Has anyone else heard that the Utah Olympic Exploratory Committee (because apparently that's a real thing) has recommended to the governor and Salt Lake City's mayor that Salt Lake City should bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics? Just me? Well, you're welcome.

I've been a little bit depressed ever since the USOC announced that there'd be no American Olympics bids for 2020. Because, really, 20+ years is way too long to go without an Olympics, America! And 2026 is still a bonafide lifetime away (I'll turn 35 during those Games -- holy crap), but Utah would need a formal bid process in place by... 2016. Okay, so, that's still way too far in the future. But if that's the best we can hope for than I'll start getting excited now, because the atmosphere of home field advantage at the Olympics is absolutely incredible. I never really felt it until I was there, but I can't even fathom how awesome it would be to cheer on Team USA in the USA. If you think going to a football game and cheering the home team feels like camaraderie, imagine that the whole country is the stadium.

Again, you're welcome. ;)

But in the meantime, we've still got Sochi to look forward to (in less than 500 days!). In the terms of an Olympic host city that's, like, tomorrow. So some exciting stuff is happening over there! The Sochi 2014 Winter Games Facebook page put up some photos of the Adler Arena and "Iceberg" Skating Palace.

So pretty! I love how the clean lines and whiteness of the building feel and look like ice.

Also recently released are the Sochi pictograms!

Call me a nerd (guilty as charged), but I'm so excited about these. They're ADORABLE! I said it in my post about Sochi.Park and I'll say it again -- I am totally head over heels with the Sochi design scheme. The font and the colors are perfect, and I absolutely love that the pictograms were inspired by the ones used at the Moscow Games in 1980.

Now, aren't you excited for winter too? :)