Why Have a Plan, then?!

For those of you regulars that read our blog, you have come to know that I am a super-planner. I need to plan out just about everything in my life - at least seven days in advance. This goes for groceries, weekend activities, etc. So when my husband and I decided to throw a BBQ over Labor Day for friends that would be in the area, I began planning out the menu - what kind of appetizers should we have; what sort of drinks; how do I want to arrange everything; what needs to be cleaned in our house, etc.

Amanda was nice enough to inform me of a new store selling cupcakes in DC. I immediately thought that I did want to go there AND possibly purchase some cupcakes for the BBQ. I thought that would make a nice dessert option. So I read up on their website about their flavors, pricing and saw that you could place advance orders and even order mini-cupcakes (advance orders only, it says). So I quickly asked what Amanda's schedule was going to be so I could plan on ordering my cupcakes today and giving them an approximate pick-up time for Saturday.

Imagine my surprise when I went to call them and they said they're not taking advance orders at this time. Their excuse was because it was their opening week and they didn't know the demand that would be out there. So my only option was to go to the store and be serviced on a first come/first serve deal. I feel like she just told me I had to camp out for concert tickets.

This is where the business side of me comes out. If you're going to advertise the fact that you can pre-order cupcakes AND you have mini-cupcakes available for pre-order only, then why can't you follow through on that promise? If it is part of your business plan, why can't it be executed from the very start? At the very least, why can't you have a caveat on your website that says orders can be placed starting on MMMDD? The excuse they gave me that they couldn't forecast demand is totally unacceptable (to a business person). I'm actually providing you with a demand - why can't you supply me with it then? It's economics, people. You can't create your supply unless you have a demand - and if I'm handing you a firm demand, why can't you create the supply to meet it? It doesn't make sense to me. And the fact that they couldn't forecast tells me that someone didn't complete their business plan. After all, part of creating a business plan is knowing what your demand is going to be so you know how much you need to supply.

They are certainly not the first cupcake place in town so it's not like they couldn't do some field research to meet the business plan goals and do some forecasting.

So there's one point on the 'Con' side of this new cupcake shop. I wanted to like them - they had a great name and a great location - but we are off to a rough start, my friend.

We'll see if I decide to camp out for concert tickets.

Trampoline...Really?!

So as most of the country is swept up in the latest patriotic craze...the Olympics....I'm finding myself getting bored with it - but despite the boredom, I still manage to tune in just to see what's going on. I've noticed that swimming and gymnastics - usually two of the more popular Olympic sports, takes up the first full week and the highlight of the second week is usually the track and field.

One of my favorites, volleyball (both team and beach), runs throughout the two weeks as it's more of a tournament type of play and I get really excited when I'm able to catch a Team USA game. But I'm at the mercy of the broadcasting stations to schedule it in...thankfully Misty May and Kerri Walsh are the top women's team in the world so their games are pretty much guaranteed to be on.

But after Michael Phelps dominates the swimming competition, gymnastics winds down to the individual contests and track/field is just getting started with their preliminary races, what sports do you show to fill in those gaps? Trampoline...Really.

I didn't even know it was an Olympic sport..it's not listed under the Sports section for the Yahoo! Olympics coverage. But sure enough - there it was, on NBC, the other night....women in leotards, jumping and twisting their way into the hearts of millions. Did they win me over? Not quite.

There didn't seem to be anyone from the US competing...surprised? Not really. The world trampoline champion comes from China...no surprise there either. The idea behind it is that there is a rectangle outlined within a rectangle trampoline with a big '+' in the middle - that's the target - it is where the person (would they be a trampolinist?) should always aspire to land between their "tricks" in the air, while trying not to land outside of the rectangle border or the trampoline itself. For the most part, everyone stayed within the rectangles. The champion from China did great until the end, where the commentators said she "lost control." Where do these commentators come from and are they trampoline experts, by chance?


I thought that these trampoline people were gymnastic rejects - sure they could do all the twist and turns in the air but perhaps they had trouble with landing. It's not like they have to dismount off the trampoline. In fact, the end of a routine is pretty anti-climactic....they just stop. My husband seemed to think that they might also be diving rejects....maybe they're afraid of water.

In any case - I just wanted to open your eyes to the world of trampoline-ing. With all the trampolines that I see in people's back yards, you would think that any kid could aspire to get to the Olympics to compete in that sport...maybe in time, the US will have an influx of trampoline athletes trying to "go for the gold!"

Journalism At Its Finest

Now that swimming is over and I've just watched two American gymnasts get robbed in the event finals (I'm not biased, I swear - how can a woman who lands on her knees in a vault knock poor team finals choke artist Alicia Sacramone off the podium - I mean how bad can that poor girl's week get anyway?), my interest in the Olympics is starting to wane. For some reason, after former fantasy boyfriend Dan O'Brien got too old for the competition (I was inexplicably drawn to that gap of his), I lost some interest in track and field (okay, the whole Marion Jones scandal certainly didn't help matters - disgraceful!). So in reflection, I thought I would revisit Michael Phel . . . err . . . I mean swimming.

So at this point, you're probably thinking that I'm about to go off on another rant. And ding-ding! You are correct. I would never take anything away from Michael Phelps, and believe me - I was just as excited as anyone else when he out-touched that poor dude to win the 100 meter butterfly by one one-hundredth of a second! The guy is amazing, and he deserved every single one of those gold medals.

What bothered me was the failure of a certain journalist to appreciate the efforts of some of his teammates as individual athletes instead of simply supporting characters in Michael Phelps' quest for Olympic history. Now, I am sure the other swimmers knew that their efforts in the Cube would be overshadowed to a certain extent by the phenomenon that is Michael Phelps. They probably had a special support group just to prepare them for that. But what really got me was when a journalist interviewed Jason Lezak about his clutch performance in securing that gold medal in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Jason Lezak, who not only redeemed himself for a previously disappointing performance in the 4 x 100 relay in Athens but who came from behind against the world record holder, beating his personal best by one and a half seconds.

So, as a journalist with a prime two minutes of Jason Lezak's valuable time, what would you say to him? Here's what our friendly correspondent for NBC decided to go with: "I bet the fact that you were helping Michael Phelps keep alive his quest for eight gold medals in a single Olympics helped motivate you for that strong finish." Okay, I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point. Are you kidding me? Yes, random NBC correspondent who apparently graduated from the University of Disrespect, even though Jason Lezak was born a decade before Michael Phelps, he has trained for his whole life, all thirty-two years, with the hope that one day, one day, he could play a small part in someone else's dream. It was not besting his own personal record that helped him edge out the trash talking Frenchie. It was not helping his relay team (which included four people). It was all for the cause of one single American.

Jason Lezak - just in case you're reading this, I want you to know that I thought you handled that embarrassing question with as much dignity and grace as humanly possible. And I thank you for gently reminding our friendly reporter that, in fact, the dreams of Michael Phelps were not what drove you to reach that wall first. What drove you was your own passion for swimming and your desire to win for your teammates.

Yes, as in plural.

Where Are Those Guys....

...that sing and dance and just put a big smile on your face when you watch them. I'm talking, in particular, about the men from 'Singin' In the Rain' - Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Yesterday, on TCM, they ran a whole documentary about the 'Anatomy' of Gene Kelly - one of the greatest performers of all time. And then they followed it up with most of Gene's movies...the one I was waiting for, of course, was 'Singin' In the Rain.' It has been touted as the best musical ever. I can't say that I don't agree.


Whenever that movie comes on, I find myself totally entranced. I wonder how cool it was back then that there are these men that sing, dance and act and aren't afraid to break out into song, tap dance a little and have a grand old time. If any guy did that now, they would think he was a complete looney. But not only did they sing and dance, they were dressed impeccably and didn't even break a sweat! The guys back then looked so debonair with their two-tone tap shoes and who else but Gene Kelly could pull off a tweed suit with a belt-like closure, tweed hat, brown tap shoes and get completely drenched while singing and dancing to 'Singin' In the Rain' - and still look dashing?!

Watching Gene and Donald tear it up in that movie is amazing to me. And when you throw in Debbie Reynolds for the 'Good Morning' number, you just want to get up, find two people to sing and jump on couches with. The whole movie is outstanding - I could watch it all day long for weeks at a time. I don't *totally* understand why they would want to end the 'Dancing Cavalier' with the 'Gotta Dance' number but I'll tell you, when Cyd Charisse puffs out a whole mess of cigarette smoke, it may have been attractive back then, but certainly not now. She kind of reminded me of a dragon.

I was so exhausted yesterday from a whole weekend of fun and could not wait to get to bed, but when 'Singin' In the Rain' is on, sleep can wait - and I ended up staying up until almost midnight just watching it. My husband, who is not a musical type of guy, even enjoys the ending where Lina Lamont lip syncs to 'Singin' In the Rain' with her ridiculous hand motions....' And every so often, when he knows the movie is on, he'll quote Lina and her 'And I can't stand 'em' with her annoying, child-like voice. When it was all over, I looked over at my husband and asked him why we don't break out into song every once in awhile like Gene and Debbie did at the end of the movie. He looked at me like I was crazy and told me to 'Stop being weird.'

The Trash Talker

Okay. I admit it. I am a sucker for the Olympics. In the months leading up to them, I ignore all of the hype. I don't watch the trials. I don't follow what's going on with drug testing. I don't rush out to buy a bunch of red, white, and blue garb so I can follow along like a crazed fan from my living room.

But once they are on, I get hooked. And my favorite part of the Summer Olympics, I've decided, is swimming. I love swimming for many reasons, just one being that I know for a fact how ridiculously hard it is. I was never a serious competitive swimmer, but I did spend two summers swimming for the Forest Lake Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and believe you me - that was plenty. It was positively grueling. I also love swimming because it is one of those sports that truly shines in the Olympics. The game-related sports like basketball are totally boring to me because these are professional athletes who are just taking a break from their million dollar salaries to give this little 'ole Olympic thing a try. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm sure Michael Phelps does quite well in endorsements - QUITE well. But swimming is at its pinnacle on the Olympic stage. The contest is over fast, and it's always exciting.

What I don't get is the trash talking. The French swimmer dude (sorry - can't be bothered to look up his name), saying prior to the 4 x 100 free relay, "The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for." Is that right??? You didn't come to represent your country with honor? You didn't come to win the gold? You specifically came to bring someone else down? I mean, it goes without saying that, to win, someone else must be defeated, but still - what kind of sportsmanship is that? ESPECIALLY during the Olympics! Not to toot our own horns or anything, but the NBC coverage, while certainly America-centric, does focus on some of the athletes from other countries who deserve to be celebrated. I believe all Olympians do.

I have to say that I was rather proud of the Americans in their response. Of course they let the swim speak for itself. And it did. It spoke volumes, in fact.