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Winter Olympics

 My husband was drawn to the "Quad God"; he thought the Quad God's trajectory was really a parable about hubris. "You just don't name yourself the Quad God. That's asking for disaster."


Of course we read that Ilia Malinin had chosen that nickname in a facetious way; he intended to be self-mocking. But I'm reminded of a lesson I learned in a creative writing class. Never, never choose an "ironic" title for your short story. This is just a gateway to confusion and misinterpretation.

My own "Olympics journey" has led me to some shocking discoveries. For example: Kristi Yamaguchi is now a self-outed Conservative Republican. And--having lost the gold--Michelle Kwan once mounted a comeback by skating to the melody from the song "Fields of Gold." Was this meta-commentary--or just an athlete responding to a particular tune she liked? We'll never really know.

In this house, we're still divided on the Ilia Malinin question. Can he really recover from this past week? My husband--despite his strong negative feelings about "quad gods"--tends to be optimistic. I'm the pessimist in this couple.

Thank God for the Winter Olympics.
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