First, go look at yesterday's
href="http://dichroic.diaryland.com/otwpics.html">cool pictures. Those are
from the digital cam -- we're hoping at least one of the film versions of the two
of us will come out well enough to have made into a poster, with Robert Frost's
The Master Speed superimposed. (Hey, if it comes out well, anybody want a
cool rowing poster? Good wedding present.)
Anybody watching the local
news at 5AM today might have caught a glimpse of me. Um, on further thought,
perhaps "glimpse" is not the correct word for it. "Eyeful" may be more like it.
Evil Coach DI (he's not my problem any more but I still consider him Evil because
his coaching methods with those kids remind me of Bela Karolyi's, only without the
winning results) had a TV news crew out there to film the juniors this morning. He
must have asked the kids to show up early, and he himself was there before I was,
which may be a first. Now, last night on the news there was a story about a dead
body found in that same lake -- they're still not sure how he got there, whether
it was murder, suicide, or accident. So I walked up to a cameraman, figuring that
since the light on his camera was out it wasn't running, and asked, "Are you here
about the juniors or the body in the lake?"** Some newsman type came running up
and said, "You just walked into a live camera!" Oops. So I got into my boat and
called, "Well, sorry but I'm here to row -- you guys are on *our* beach!" but I
think he was ignoring me as soon as I stepped back.
I do think it's
more important to row than to televise rowing and they were definitely in my way,
but the most irritating part is knowing that no one will have mentioned that there
are not one but three local juniors rowing programs, or much of anything else but
how wonderful DI is. I entertained myself for the rest of the row with fantasies
of being interviewed, of the weaknesses in his program I could imply while never
speaking one word of overt criticism. Actually, even speaking directly to a parent
whose child wanted to learn to row, I wouldn't advise against DI's program. I
don't like him but his coaching style might mesh perfectly with someone else's
learning style. In theory, anyhow.
True confession time: It was
pretty obvious the TV people were there to televise the rowers. I asked about the
dead body largely to see if any of the kids would freak out, but I don't think
anyone heard. Bad Dichroic. No pretzels. (Yeah, right.)
Actually,
it was a fairly miserable morning to row -- almost as muggy as rowing in Houston,
not a good combination with all the crud still riding around in the my sinuses,
throat, and lungs. And to add make it worse, She-Hulk pointed out yesterday that
there's a scratch on my pretty brand-new boat. Drat. So I only made it one
easy lap around the lake. I figure though that every meter I row is at least
better for me than one I don't row. I'll start pushing again when I feel better
and the more when things finally cool down. Meanwhile, today's goal is: trying not
to cough up a lung. Or lunch.