The Virtue-Moir Effect

You know, it's been a while since I've had a good crush.

All my life, for as long as I can remember, I've been the girl who gets "obsessed".  I fall in love with an actor or a singer or a band or an athlete, I research the crap out of them, I watch Youtube videos, read articles, and follow them relentlessly.  (from a distance.  I'm not a creepy stalker.  Oh, wait, I did do that once, but not intentionally LOL) - I get completely infatuated.  Notables from the past:  Tom Cruise.  Chris O'Donnell.  Wade Redden.  The Tragically Hip.  Jimmy Fallon.  Michael Scofield from Prison Break.  Just to name a few.

But honestly, aside from going back through a Michael Scofield phase again about a year ago when I watched Prison Break for the second time, I haven't had a good celeb crush in a looong time.

I wasn't looking at the Olympics as a possible stage for a new crush to enter my life, either.  I mean, I used to.  I remember in 2010 I even had my own "Olympic Hall of Hot Men" lol.  But as I get older, and the athletes get younger, the crushes tend to fizzle out.  When you're old enough to have been their babysitter, the appeal kind of dies down.  I was excited to watch this year's Winter Olympics from PyeongChang, but I didn't anticipate falling in love.

And then came Scott Moir.

Oh my gosh, you guys.  I am SO in love with Scott Moir.

I'm not sure how I got into the figure skating this year.  I honestly don't think I've been "into" figure skating since the Jamie Sale/David Pelletier days.  (Really felt old when I realized that was 16 years ago. eek!)

I guess the Team Skating events happened to be on TV early in the Games, and I just watched whatever was on.  I grew to really love that part of the evening, when I could settle down on the couch with my crocheting and tune into the Olympics, which usually got rolling around 7-7:30 at night.

Of course, the rest of the country already knew Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue quite well.  They were the flag bearers for our country at the Opening Ceremonies, the cream of the crop in ice dancing and this country's perennial sweethearts.  Somehow, though, I had missed the Virtue-Moir boat.  I vaguely remember them in Sochi.  I had completely forgotten they won gold in Vancouver.  While the rest of the world had previously gone ga-ga for this pair, I had somehow kept them at a distance.  Didn't know them.  Didn't care to know them.  Just ice dancers.  Whatever.

But I was re-introduced to them very early on in PyeongChang, and I finally caught the bug.  I got bit hard.  I was, at long last, on board the Virtue-Moir Train and there was NO getting off!!  This pair... they captured my heart.  They were easily my highlight of the 2018 Games, and I literally go back and watch their performances on Youtube pretty much every day.  They were so good. SO GOOD.  That Moulin Rouge routine?  UGH.  Melt my frigging damn heart!!

And my lord, ladies, don't we all want a guy who looks at us the way Scott Moir looks at Tessa?

My crush on Scott isn't entirely inappropriate, either, because they were the "old pros" at these Games.  They were just little babies when they won Gold in Vancouver in 2010 - Scott was 22 and Tessa 20.  Now, he's 30 and she's 28.  So he's still a tad young for me, but he's at least in my wheelhouse.  Put it this way, it wasn't creepy for me to fall in love with him.

Since their performances at this year's Games, I have seriously gone down the Scott & Tessa rabbit hole.  I mean, I have TWENTY YEARS of Scott & Tessa to catch up on!!  I'm so sad that I have missed out on their journey up until now.  I mean, they're probably at the end of it now - ready to retire & sail off into the sunset.  And I missed almost ALL of it!!  So I've been busy digging into the Scott & Tessa archives, watching old skates, old interviews... they even had a TV show in 2014 on the W Network!!  All of this Scott & Tessa time that I now have to soak up!!  Dudes... I'm even writing Scott & Tessa fan fiction.  It is THAT serious.

So, yes, I think Scott is adorable, and charming, and funny, and sexy as all hell.  I don't know what it is about a manly figure skater, but they do it for me.  That's why I fell so hard for David Pelletier.  LOOKED like he could be a hockey player.  And yet here he was on figure skates, lifting Jaime up in the air, not wearing frilly, foofy costumes, being all macho about it.  And Scott's much the same for me.  Maybe even better.

Here's the thing:  As much as I LOVE Scott, I don't even want him for myself.  I want him to be with Tessa.  These kids have craaaaazy chemistry.  They look at each other with such longing and desire.  The way they move together, the way they touch each other, the way they look at each other... oh my God, it's ridiculously romantic.  I know that skating together since they were little kids plays a part in it - they know each other so well - but that kind of chemistry?!  There's GOT to be something more going on there, you can't just "act" that.  And those long, close embraces they do before they go on the ice?  To sync their breathing?  Gives me shivers just thinking about it.

Of course, since I'm so new to the Scott & Tessa game, I am only just discovering that I am not alone in these sentiments.  The internet is full of news stories and articles, basically pleading with them to get together.  It seems the whole world wants Virtue & Moir to just admit it already, they're in love.  They insist they are not, at least not on a romantic level.  And they've been insisting it for a long time.  Best friends, business partners, a relationship that is hard to explain... more than boyfriend/girlfriend, more than brother/sister...

Oh, COME ON, Scott & Tessa!  Just admit it already!!  YOU ARE IN LOVE!!!!

I know they're sick of being asked about it.  They usually just laugh it off or brush it off when they're asked, but towards the end of their run in PyeongChang, they were actually starting to show a little annoyance. Scott even told one interviewer that being asked about a possible romance cheapens the deep relationship they have.

Well, maybe it does.  But I honestly don't even care.  It's fun to daydream about.  It's fun to write about.  And I have so enjoyed going back through all their footage, watching them perform, watching them feed off of each other, watching them answer the questions, just watching them be Scott & Tessa.

Oh, and they ended the Olympics with their exhibition skate at the Gala by skating to the Tragically Hip's "Long Time Running".  My favourite Olympians, skating to one of my favourite songs... the icing on the cake.

It was well worth the wait.

Loves on Love Day

Everyone knows this is not exactly my favourite day of the year.  But, as I read somewhere this morning:  "Why be depressed if you're single on Valentine's Day?  You're single every other day of the year, too."  Ha. 

But, in an effort to NOT be a total Debbie Downer today, I have decided to compile a list of things I'm LOVING right now!  Coincidentally, it's What I'm Loving Wednesday.  How convenient.

I'm loving that I'm finally catching on to this crocheting thing!  Hey, if I'm going to be an old maid, might as well act the part, right?  My first few attempts were just little squares to practice the stitches, and then I attempted to make a beanie until my "practice ball of yarn" ran out.  I tore it out and practiced making a granny square for a while.  Then, last week, I bought a bunch of yarn and have been working on a giant granny square throw.  So far, it's coming along quite nicely, and I'm starting to enjoy the process rather than feel deep frustration over it.  Whoda thunk.

I'm LOVING the Olympics!  So much!!  Canada has gotten off to a great start - I believe their best start ever at the Games - and I'm just SO enjoying watching our athletes compete in sports we normally don't get to see much of.  I loved watching John Morris & Kaitlyn Lawes in the Mixed Doubles Curling (not only because John is hot); I got such a thrill watching the Slopestyle Snowboarding events; the Team Figure Skating competitions were also fun to watch; and of course, one of the best moments thus far was watching Mikael Kingsbury officially become the King of the Moguls.  Can't wait for all that's still to come!

I love that I'm on a bit of a roll with reading.  I seem to go through phases when it comes to books; sometimes I struggle, sometimes I sail through them.  Right now, I'm sailing.  I finished all of the "half-finished" books that were on my night stand, then I blew through They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars (our next book club book), and last night I started the book club book that's coming AFTER that one, The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld.  Last year, I seemed to get caught not able to finish books in time for book club, so I'm making sure I'm well ahead of the game this year!  It's the time of year when I have more time to read, so might as well take advantage of it.

Loving some fun plans that are taking shape for this coming weekend!  Hibernation mode means that I haven't strayed too far since Christmas.  I mean, I go to curling, and to church, and I've had a few little outings to Walmart and for groceries and to snowshoe... but for the most part, I've just been at home in my cozy little hole.  I love that, but I also miss seeing people and doing things, so I'm glad this weekend has some fun in store!

I'm loving that Lent starts today, and I've actually got a couple of Lenten promises that I've made this year!  First off, I'm giving up chips.  (This includes nacho chips, Doritos and Cheesies.  Does not include pretzels and regular popcorn.)  Chips are one of my very big weaknesses, and no matter how many times I say I'm going to eat healthy, the chips get in my way.  Can't stop eating them.  But when it comes to Lent, I seem to able to have more control of myself.  So I'm saying "See Ya" to chips for 40 days.  I have also decided to do the closet-cleaning Lent challenge.  Cleaning out my closet was the winter job I was dreading the most, but I think it will be more manageable if I do it this way.  Every day, I will remove something from my closet or drawers that doesn't fit/I never wear and put it in a garbage bag.  At the end of Lent, I should have a bag full of 40 items of clothing to donate to the Family Centre, and my closet should be in much better shape.  Win-win.  And of course, I will be putting some coins in the Lenten coin boxes handed out at church each day, to raise money for  Missions & Services for our church, as I always do.

And last but certainly not least, I'm loving that there's a new little one in my life!  There's been a baby boom in my group of friends in recent months, so I've been getting lots of baby snuggles in.  This past weekend, little Lainey joined the club!  Since she's just across the road from the office, it makes it reallllly easy (and tempting) to sneak over for a snuggle. ;)  Love her to bits!! xo

Happy Love Day, ya love bugs. 

Productive & Fun Weekend In the Books

Happy Tuesday, friends!

My first weekend in February was a good one.  I got a lot of stuff checked off the "To Do List" and had some fun, too!

Friday was a quiet day at home.  I had woken up with a headache (those always aggravate me), so I just lay low for most of the day.  I worked on a puzzle, continued reading "The Nightingale", watched a whole bunch of episodes of House of Cards, and napped.  Oh, and I also downloaded the new Justin Timberlake album on Friday morning, and listened to it A LOT over the weekend.  I absolutely LOVE it!!!

In the evening, Lindsay picked me up and we headed out to our first book club meeting of 2018.  This month's book was "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.  I was the leader on this discussion, and honestly, I don't even think we needed a leader or questions.  This book generated BIG discussion and analysis all on its own.  It was nice to hang with the ladies, eat yummy snacks, and enjoy their company and conversation.  It's the time of year when cabin fever is starting to seep in a bit (despite my absolute love of hibernation), so it was nice to get out and have some girl talk.

Saturday morning, I again woke up with a headache, but it eased off fairly quickly, thank goodness.  I enjoyed a lazy morning, thew my bedding into the laundry, made pancakes, and cozied up with an extra cup of coffee.  I didn't get my butt moving until mid-morning, and just as I was finishing making the bed, my mom called to see if I'd watch my niece while she ran my sister up to the hospital.  After being sick and missing work most of last week, they had decided she'd better get checked out just in case, but was too weak to drive herself up there, and Chris & Caden were going to a hockey tournament.  So Mom went to get her, and I offered to keep Dan for the night.  After being cooped up with a sick mommy for a week I figured she'd need a fun girls night with Auntie.  And that's what we did!  We watched old movies from when I was a kid (Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and The Cutting Edge), she coloured while I worked on my crocheting (I got the start of a beanie made!  Ran out of my practice yarn, but it was nice to see something actually taking shape and looking like it was supposed to look!), we ate pizza and cheesies and just hunkered right down.  It was fun!  (And for the record - sister was sent home with diagnosis of a bad virus, so nothing too serious!)

Sunday was church, and then out for brunch before heading to Mom's to spend the rest of the day.  We watched the Sens game, I finished "The Nightingale" (woo hoo!  all of my half-finished books are now finished!!), and then got ready for our "Superbowl Party".  Which is our silly reason for having "snacks for supper", just the two of us.  Mom had zero interest in watching the game, so we just munched on pumpernickel & spinach dip, nachos, mini pizzas, and Sun Chips for supper.  Then I went home and turned the game on.  Was I actually into the game?  No, not really, other than I had decided I wanted the Eagles to win. (Brady's hot, but he's won enough.  Someone else's turn.)  I was really just waiting for the Halftime Show. And it did not disappoint!!  JT was SO good!!  I loved it, probably my favourite Superbowl Halftime Show ever!!!

Once the JT concert was over, I fell asleep on the couch, and while I had my PVR set and ready to go, I was so glad I woke up in time for This Is Us.  The big "What Really Happened to Jack" episode was on right after the Superbowl, and it was one for the books.  Many of my friends say they watch the show and cry every episode, but I seem to be an exception to that rule.  I have had tears a few times, but I don't sit and bawl through every episode.  I love the show, I think it is done amazingly well, and I usually come out of each episode feeling a connection to one or more of the characters.  And my gosh, who doesn't love Jack Pearson?  But I don't cry all the time.  Sunday night's episode was definitely a tear-jerker though.  It got me good.  I think it has a wide reach, because it speaks to different people on different levels.  While Jack Pearson's death was vastly different from my own father's, I could still relate to those kids trying to deal with that loss, that grief.  It was profound.  And yes, I cried.  A lot.  Pretty much from start to finish.

So, like many of my friends, I awoke Monday morning with a This Is Us hangover.  Puffy eyes and a slightly achy head.  But I had things to do, and no time to wallow in post-Jack grief!  I got my laundry started and then tackled the next items on Jill's Crappy Winter Jobs List: cleaning out the fridge and kitchen food cupboards.  I like to think of myself as a clean person, but man oh man, my fridge was disgusting.  Much like the front hall closet, I'm not entirely sure the fridge was properly cleaned before we started loading it up with our food.  I took literally every single item out of it, the shelves, the drawers, and scoured it from top to bottom.  It was awful.  But boy, does it sparkle now.  It felt good to throw out all the expired salad dressings and condiments and jams, etc. that lingered in the back, taking up space and long forgotten.  I didn't have any containers of mouldy old leftovers or anything like that, thank God, but a lot of bottles and jars with expiry dates past their prime.  Good-bye, old crap!  The cupboards weren't so bad, as they got well cleaned back when my kitchen was painted a few years ago, but it was nice to toss old boxes of crackers and rice and stuff like that.  Once they were cleaned and re-organized, I was able to clean off my cluttered little table and store a lot of that in the cleared space in the cupboards.  So I got my table set up with the little coffee and tea tray that I had mentioned in the Hygge post.  Justin carried me through all of this cleaning and re-organizing, as I had the Man Of the Woods album on repeat.  Have I mentioned lately that I might be in love with Justin Timberlake?  'Cause I'm totally in love with Justin Timberlake.

The rest of the day was spent chilling.  I shoveled and went for a walk,  continued reading our next book club book "They Called Me Number One" by Bev Sellars, caught up on the PVR and watched more House of Cards on Netflix, cooked a spaghetti squash that had been rolling around in the fridge for a few weeks and made a cheesy spaghetti squash casserole.  I konked out early on the couch... that was a pretty busy Monday for little ol' me!

How was your weekend?

The Kevin Spacey Dilemma

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I have started watching House of Cards.  My friend Lolly has been recommending it to me every time we discuss our favourite Netflix shows, and it's always been on my list to watch, but I was really hesitant to start it.  My main reason for hesitating right now?  Kevin Spacey.

As we all know, we are now living in the "#MeToo" era. After years of abuse, silence, shame, and fear, women - especially in Hollywood - are going public with names and accusations, taking down very powerful men in the industry for sexual harassment.  As a woman, I feel it is a very empowering and long-overdue movement, and yet at the same time, I can feel very torn over it at times.  Names are coming up that I know, actors and comedians that I have loved, and I've struggled with accepting the fact that they aren't all wonderful men with good hearts, as I so naively thought them to be.  I've also honestly thought it must be a very scary time to be a man in any position of power.  Skeletons are being dug up, the wrong looks, the wrong words, the wrong touches, and so much more... no one is safe, it seems.

It all seemed to start with Bill Cosby.  Dr. Cliff Huxtable, the patriarch from The Cosby Show, the host of Kids Say the Darndest Things, the warm and hilarious and respected and esteemed actor/comedian, who, on in his late '70's, suddenly was hit by a barrage of women who came forward to accuse him of drugging them and sexually assaulting them.  I had a hard time with it.  I didn't want to believe it.  And, believe it or not, for a long time, I even tried to defend him.  "It's not fair to the poor lad. These women are bringing up things they say happened YEARS ago.  How can anyone prove it?  They just want his money.  He's too old to be dealing with this crap!  Everyone just leave Bill Cosby alone.  The man is a legend!"

But it went from a couple of women to a couple of dozen women.  The count is now up to over 60 women who have come forward with allegations.  Surely, they can't all be telling tall tales.  It's kind of hard to ignore.  Kind of hard to defend.

Harvey Weinstein really got the ball rolling when he was outed last fall as being one of the worst offenders. Since then, the list has only grown longer, with new names being added almost on a daily basis.  Ben Affleck. Mario Batali.  Matt Lauer. Louis C.K. Dustin Hoffman.  Jeremy Piven.  James Franco.  Aziz Ansari.

And Kevin Spacey.

Kevin Spacey.

To me, Kevin Spacey isn't the kind of actor I got all moony over.  I didn't have his picture pinned up in my locker as a teen, he wasn't on my list of "favourite celebs ever", and I didn't rush out to see movies that he was in.  But I did tend to enjoy him as an actor, and generally liked anything I saw him in.  Se7en and A Time to Kill, especially, rank among my favourite movies of all time.  Anytime Jimmy Fallon has had him on The Tonight Show, I've found him to be funny and really entertaining. I liked Kevin Spacey.  I really did.

Spacey's outing was different than the others.  Because it wasn't women who accused him of sexual harassment and assault. It was men.  This wasn't a huge surprise, being that rumours had swirled for years about Spacey's sexual orientation, but those rumours had never been confirmed previously, and in fact on several occasions, Spacey had denied them.

Only after actor Anthony Rapp came forward with his story of being assaulted by Kevin Spacey years ago, when Rapp was only 14 years old, did Spacey deem it an appropriate time to address his sexual orientation.  And it was in his so-called "apology" to Rapp that he came out as a gay man.  This did not sit well with many.  Instead of an apology, it came off more as an attempt to change the subject, use his own drunkenness as an excuse, and imply a connection between being gay and sexually assaulting a child.

Kevin Spacey has since fallen from grace.  Big time.  A movie he was to star in for Netflix has been shelved.  His scenes in the movie All the Money in the World were cut and his role re-cast to Christopher Plummer in re-shoots after the film was already completed.  And Netflix severed ties with him completely, removing him from the cast of House of Cards for the sixth and final season, a show he has been the star and main character of from the beginning.

Thus, my dilemma.  Would I enjoy the show, starting it now, knowing all of this about the man behind Frank Underwood?  Would I be able to set aside the Kevin Spacey "ick factor" that now exists and appreciate his acting?  Would what I know about him now taint the way I watch his show?

As it turns out, no, it isn't bothering me in the least.  Granted, it probably helps that Frank Underwood is kind of a slimy, sly, dark type to begin with.  In fact, Spacey suits the role quite well, and it's almost a shame he won't be able to finish it out, because he really is good at it.  Good at being slimy and creepy and evil.

I guess if the shoe fits...

It's difficult sometimes to realize these characters we so enjoy on TV and in film aren't real people; that the actors behind them aren't all charm and grace and good hearts.  I really do struggle with it.  Another example this week came with the news of Mark Salling's suicide.  If you dig around in the archives of this blog, somewhere you will find a post dedicated to his character Puck, from the hit show Glee.  I wasn't a huge Gleek, but I did go through a phase of watching it, and mainly because I adored Puck.  I lost track of him after the show ended, but I had heard rumblings recently that he had been charged with possession of child pornography. Just about the ickiest of the icky right there...  Unfathomable, grotesque, despicable.  I'd like to have felt a twinge of sadness over his death, that he felt such despair, and forgiven him for his sins... But that's a lot to forgive and forget.  Mark Salling's death was greeted with little fanfare, little coverage, and absolutely none of the usual tributes and accolades that an actor's death would normally draw.

It's a tough one.  Rationalizing the enjoyment of an actor's performance against their real-life character flaws.  It almost feels wrong to be watching House of Cards right now, feeling eager to get home and watch more, anticipating what Frank might do next.  When the world has decided to completely cut him from the program going forward, maybe I shouldn't be watching (and enjoying) what he did in the past?

What's your position on the matter?  Is it icky to watch The Cosby Show now?  Have you lost respect for the likes of Ben Affleck, James Franco, and Louis C.K.?  Would you look back on episodes of Glee and still think Puck was adorable?  And is it wrong to find enjoyment in watching Kevin Spacey in his vast catalogue of work?

I'm still not sure how I'm supposed to think or feel about it all.  It really is a dilemma.  But for now, I'm going to keep watching House of Cards, and leave the judgments up to someone else.