So you might have heard there's a bit of snow on the ground right now. Also, you might have heard that only the top 6 snowboarders get to go straight to the finals without taking a second run. (Someone please tell me you watched half-pipe and were just as annoyed as I was about that little fact being reiterated every two minutes.)

Anyway, I loved the Opening Ceremonies. I'm a sucker for spectacle, anyway, but I thought there was much of interest and surprisingly few dead spots. You got your high art (ballet dancers and Pavarotti), your low art (YMCA during the Parade of Nations? Genius.), your not art at all (the Formula One car doing donuts), and I swear Sophia Loren was wearing spike heels, even though everyone else carrying the flag had on low-heeled boots. I hope I have those ankles when I'm 71. Also Yoko Ono, just for a truly WTF moment. Although my favorite part was when that big group of people formed the giant ski jumper -- maybe it's the marching band groupie in me, but I found that whole sequence really impressive. And super props to NBC for not only not letting Katie Couric announce, but apparently giving Costas and Brian Williams a per-minute-of-silence bonus, or something.

So I was a bit bummed out by the way the rest of the weekend shook out -- particularly Sunday, when through the magic of tape delay, the gloom of Michelle Kwan's withdrawal seemed to infect the favorite in just about every event with a massive case of the jitters, or downright disaster. And yes, I got more than a little teary eyed watching that press conference. Although, much like when the Cardinals lose in the NLCS, at least I can actually enjoying watching women's figure skating now, instead of having a near heart attack with every jump. But if I have to hear one more person call someone four months younger than me "old" -- I don't care if it is old "for her sport", she's not Grandma Luge, people. Whatever. It's over; good luck and God Bless, Michelle. If anyone knows what it's like to have your goals thwarted by bad luck/timing/judging/injuries, it's my family, and we've all survived.

So tonight -- women's half-pipe. Count the number of times the annoucers tell you about the mystical "top 6." Also -- I engage in the sport of climbing curbside snow drifts to get to the grocery store!