i worked on my rocker foxtrot again, and it's better than it was before!  improvement is always good, but i still have forever to go 'til it's "good".

i successfully did 2 fabulous awesome rockers in a row today, which was super exciting because i've not been able to do them on ice so far.

for the rest of my lesson, i worked on the 3-turns in moves in the field.  if i focus on keeping my knees almost locked and strong upper body, they're like amazing.  hopefully, if i keep doing these awesome ones, i'll get to test them soon.

then after skating, i went to target and got my glasses adjusted. hee hee.  i'm actually not minding wearing my glasses now for the next 3 insane weeks.  well, i am... just not as severe.  they're not falling down my face now, which is definitely good.  but i'm going to have to wear them on the missions trip and nerd camp.  ah. 

but the next time i have a lesson with patty, i'm going to be able to see, and that's exciting me.

Motion er skønt, og som bekendt godt både for og imod alverdens ting - desværre har en forkølelse hindret mig i hvad som helst denne uge, men på en dag som i dag, med 25 grader i skyggen kl. 18:00, trodsede jeg det hele og tog mine kære rulleskøjter på.

Sikke en tur i aftensolen - på strækningerne med medvind kunne jeg være fortsat så langt som til Sydfyn!

Jeg gengiver rundstrækningen herunder. Ruten kan også bruges af begyndere udi kunsten at løbe på otte hjul. Asfalten er for det meste rigtig fin; kun ca. 300 meter er den decideret ringe, men du kan jo løbe den med én, der er villig til at give et lille skub.

Hvis du (endnu) ikke er så god til at bremse, så vent til trafikken er taget lidt af... men der er ikke så mange kryds, og der er lange lige strækninger uden et eneste vejkryds.

Jeg vil mene, at turen er ca. 8 kilometer, da jeg selv var 3/4 time om den. Men man kan jo tage sig alt den tid det tager, for en del af turen er rigtig skøn i nærmest landlige omgivelser ude omkring Avedørelejren.

Start fra Hvidovre Kirke - Hvidovrevej sydgående - th. ad Brostykkevej - th. ad Byvej op forbi Avedørelejren - th. ad Kettevej - fortsæt lige over hvor Avedøre Havnevej krydser Kettevej - så kommer du til Spurvehøjvej med de 300 meter 'anstrengende' asfalt - tv. ad Arnold Nielsens Boulevard (her er selve vejen fantastisk at løbe på, cykelstien acceptabel) - tv. ad Hvidovrevej - returnér til Hvidovre Kirke.

laterr

-cody

Wake at 6, shower, dry hair, dress, put on makeup, get kids dressed, give kisses goodbye, remind nanny of day's schedule and give ok for her to take the boys to Botanic Garden, then go to work. Actually make time to stop at Starbucks for my tall, skim decaf mocha. Yum.

Work, work, work... things are INSANE at work.  Moving HQ, massive social media project launch slated for Monday that needs some TLC, 4-day work week, oh and the portal project needs more funding an my VP is on vacation and last email I got from her involved ice, beer, charcoal and Walmart, so probably not the right moment to ask about funding.

Realize at lunchtime (soup at my desk w/tired looking little cafeteria crackers), I forgot to make daughter's lunch for camp (she gets it there but hates the turkey on Wednesdays).

Console myself with working more. Good news, portlet for HQ move is coming along.

At 4:00 look at watch and know I can leave and make it to daughter's ice skating private lesson if I hurry... get stuck on a call with a lawyer discussing an NDA and end up singing the Washington Redskins fight song -- I am not making that up -- and leave at 4:15. Can still get there for 2nd half of lesson and will work more tonight to finish up what is still on my desk.

Leaving work, realize I will be driving to outrun what might be a tornado forming. It is absolutely all BLACK sky to the west of me and just grey mist to the east.  Am shortly stuck inside the most hideous storm... But, since I'm already insane, I might as well use this perfectly not perfect time to call the friends we might have a family dinner date with tonight to coordinate details.  Phew, done. 

Then I call back the childhood friend who recently found me on Facebook and called earlier this week. Halfway through this call, I realize that talking on the phone in the storm is a really, really stupid idea. We schedule a lunch date and I hang up, which was just as well b/c she could probably barely hear me above the pounding rain on my car.  BUT, now quite fearful (my car actually seems to be crackling if that's possible), I call my husband to say (half-kidding) that I love him and he should know I'd be thinking of him if I died in a tornado.  Realize that I have to drive 10 miles an hour b/c impossible to see through windshield and, assuming I make it through the tornado/rainstorm, I will most definitely miss ice skating. I REALLY hate it when I fail at what I set out to do.

Arrive home, realize I forgot to call plumber today about STILL not fixed backup battery for sump pump. Considering I'd bet the power will go out at any moment, this is not good. It's now after 5 so will have to wait until tomorrow... as they enter holiday weekend. Sigh. Good news, daughter remembered lunch so nanny packed it before the bus came. Bad news, she came home with form for local skating team membership and early registration discount ended Monday. WHY ARE WE ONLY GETTING THIS FORM TODAY?!!!

Back online for work.  How did I get 24 emails in the inbox in 50 min?  Oh, and some portlet copy that needs big time editing.  Suddenly, 6:45 dinner seems tight. Still manage to get edits done AND change out of office clothes to casual family Italian restaurant clothes. Fresh lipstick on too. I'm on a roll!

Husband calls to say trains majorly delayed.. will be late for dinner. Calls 10 min. later to say likely to miss dinner as no ETD at all and still at downtown station. I frantically try to reach our friends to tell them not to leave for dinner before they do.  They don't sound happy. My kids are nearly crying with disappointment, especially my daughter who is best friends with their son... quivering lip, tear-brimmed eyes, you know the look.  I kinda want to cry myself.

6:20 and now w/no dinner plans have to figure out what we'll eat. Thank goodness for my fairy godmother (aka nanny) who makes tilapia for the adults while I make tomato soup and toast for the kids.  I know this sounds negligent, but honestly, they're not going to eat 5-min-thrown-together fish.  Don't worry, I put peanut butter on the toast for some protein.  And they drank all their milk.

Husband home in time for 7:30 dinner, then kids' bedtime.  When he brings in the mail, there's a late notice for a VHS tape rented from the library and returned one day before the due date. Call the library, they have record we returned it, aren't sure of why we got the notice, but show 2 out of the other 3 things I returned that day still outstanding. Grrrr.  I'm told not to worry, their computer scanners aren't working so great and they'll find them.

At bedtime, only one kid has a major meltdown and needs timeout. Did we remember to brush teeth? Not really sure.

Head back downstairs to make the twins' lunches for camp tomorrow. Also take out the tie-died shirts they made yesterday to rinse and wash. Back online for work. Husband and I hear really loud noise from direction of washing machine and cross fingers yet another thing isn't breaking (between the A/C and sump pump last month, enough is enough).

Phone rings -- it's the ENT who did sleep study for one of the twins in June. He's got Sleep Disordered Breathing in the sleep apnea continuum. 25 minute conversation about the study results. Net of it:  call his office in the a.m. to schedule removal of tonsils and adenoids. Only silver lining of this in my book is the glimmer of hope he might actually sleep through the night more than 3 times a week for the first time ever in his life. And therefore, we might too. We look at the calendar and for the life of us can't figure out a good Tuesday for this before the school year. How did our life get this crazy busy?!

Back online b/c I still have work. I manage a few things, but I'm burnt.  I haven't blogged in a week, and I'm feeling kinda pathetic. Think I'll turn on the news and make a quick attempt at seeming up-to-date.  This is the best I could do today.  It's pretty boring and linear, I know.  I sit here wanting to promise my next one will be better, but really, if your expectations of this are higher, then I've really got you fooled.

I think I first heard of Daniel Prell at an X-Battle in Barcelona, where he pulled some of the most insane skating I had ever seen, including 450 back royale on a hand rail, which I think was the first I had ever seen. He has consistently won contests across Europe since then, and is one of those skaters that are always at the top of their game. Not only is his skating a force to be reckoned with, but he is also one of the most loyal, responsible and professional skaters out there, always the first to try new products, to promote his sponsors and represent them to the fullest. After a long stretch of injury, he is back, and has already won the first two contests he has skated in.

Pic Alex AMF

Read on to discover more about Daniel Prell.

OliBenet: All right Daniel, introduce yourself, where do you live, what is your full name and what is your age?

Daniel Prell: My name is Daniel Prell, I am from south Germany, a small town called Augsburg and since last Saturday I’m 27.

Pic AMF

OliBenet: No way! you're 27? haha I can't believe you are even older than me, I had no idea. How does that feel?

Daniel Prell: Beside that my knees act like they where 60, being 27 is quite cool, you can finally get the grown up girls.

OliBenet: haha so do you have an old woman with you now? Are you into that old people porn and stuff?

Daniel Prell: Ahhhhhh! stop that - no of course not! Were talking about 23+ girls not 30+
But on the other hand - there are some quite hot 30+ - but i guess im too young to mess with them - at least for most of them!

Cab disaster royale. Pic Bastirocks

OliBenet: Ok well let’s take this off granny porn, and get into skating. Cab disaster royale Now it seems Daniel Prell was everywhere a year ago, and then sort of disappeared for a while, what happened?

Daniel Prell: I heard he had some serious knee problems. After what must have been the 7th knee surgery the doctors didn’t really know what to do anymore. They said they couldn’t help and I had to live with it like it was... It took a long time in the gym/rehab to build up enough muscles to support the knee and take away some of the pressure before I could slowly start skating again...

OliBenet: So how has it been since you started skating again? How long were you out for exactly?

Daniel Prell: I don’t really know - I spend a lot of time in the gym and at parties - so every day was more or less the same. The best thing probably is that I made some new friends outside rollerblading that im spending lots of time with.

OliBenet: Old people? haha, so do you think its safe to skate now? Doesn't it worry you?

Daniel Prell: People in wheelchairs mostly!
Skating is never "safe" - that would take a lot fun out of it. I’m more concerned about my health now than I was back in the day. I can’t skate every day any more, injuries take longer to heal, but still skating is what I want to do - I enjoy every single moment on skates. Mind over matter.

Pic: AMF

OliBenet: So how has skating been for you since you got back? Can you still rock or do you suck now?

Daniel Prell: The first real session I skated after my injury was in Milano, the milf town competition - somehow I managed to win it - but my muscles hurt for nearly a whole week after that.
After that I decided that it was about time to skate more again, I started travelling again - Strasbourg, Berlin, Hannover, Sestri levante, where I won an other competition (tied with USD’s Roman Abrate)
I still haven’t totally recovered and tricks like switch soul hurt as hell, but seemingly I can still do tricks and have loads of fun with my thrones but specially in skateparks I notice that it’ll take some more time to regain the strength I need for certain big tricks..

OliBenet: So who do you skate for right now?

Daniel Prell: So what do we have there: Grindhouse – Europe’s favourite skate shop, USD - simply the best, Kizer - so in love, Stygma - what you see me wearing most of the time, Undercover - what makes me roll. AND Gibbon slacklines.

OliBenet: that company that makes elastic bands? What do you do for them?

Daniel Prell: You might call it that, yes.
I used slacklines for my rehab - they are perfect to train the small muscles that stabilize ones knee. Beside that you can skate them perfectly – they are like a transportable spot - perfect for transfers and s*it like that.
Till now our deal is quiet new - but ill provide them with pictures and footage, and if I can find the time I will go with them to exhibitions.

OliBenet: That’s pretty funny, but pretty cool too, I wouldn’t mind trying one. Allright, so what is your skate setup right now?

Daniel Prell: Ill probably be carrying one around with me next time we meet.
Haha my setup ok:
Black UFS Thrones left: blue cuff, black buckle. Right: red cuff, white buckle
Sifika Sl 310 Slim liners, Kizer Air Heel shock absorbers, Kizer arrow bearings, Kizer Element frame, UC team wheels.

Pic AMF

OliBenet: Where can people see you over the coming months? What are your current projects?

Daniel Prell: Im all spontaneous, whenever I hear about a cool event ill try to go there. Next things Ill do for sure are: Summerclash, Inline Games Hannover, the Italian roller league competitions, The German championship competitions. Ill also come up with edits about most of the events I’ll visit - you can check them on my page: danielll.wordpress.com
Next one to come: Milano and after that sestri levante...

OliBenet: Ok, well thanks, is there anything else you would like to say?

Daniel Prell: Try to skate flat rocker!!! Kizer Element frames are a totally "new" way of enjoying rollerblading. 4 wheels down is so much more fun to skate - and that’s the reason why we all started – fun. Shout outs? Now? Later? Never?

Pic AMF

OliBenet: Thats funny, i was thinking of skating flat rocker in my elements. Shout outs now!!

Daniel Prell: Greta!!!
Team-mates! Specially Lepszy! Alex Rudolf! Alex! Mr. Spring, Tias, Olfert, Raik, Mes amis fraincais.
damn there are too many - the right people know that they are in my mind!

Daniel Prell: Oh! The most important one: Thanks mom!

OliBenet: no, the most important one is me, obviously

Daniel Prell: But you know that i love you so I don’t have to say that anymore! but you’re right: Thans Oli for finding time to do this, thanks for believing in me, thanks to Matze and Bauer from powerslide for everything!!!

OliBenet: Aw that’s nice, I wasn’t being serious! Oh well, thanks a lot Daniel!

Taken from: www.theconference.org

Mooore skatepark.

- Laurie

yesterday i gave up on that and made a short go of it.  typically around 6 or 7 miles they start hurting - my theory is that the sweat starts soaking the wounds about then, causing a burning sensation.  when it happened yesterday i shut it down.  at the rate the skin is closing up i'm guessing my left heel will be ok in a week, my right one in two weeks.  until then, i'm going to take it easy and stop skating when the heels start hurting.

8 miles today
8  miles this week
554 miles YTD
183.2 lbs

Pic. Basti Hofer (superlow quality to save webspace)
post scriptum: hes got really short legs which makes skating quiet hard for him ;)

The staff here at Current Skate of Mind has an announcement to make. We know this will come as great blow, so we want to be sure that our dear readers are sitting down. Ready? Here goes:

School's out for the summer!

And by this, we mean that there will be no new CSOM installments until mid-September. We realize that this is devastating, but we offer the following consolations: 1) all those excellent archived installments (43 to be exact) which you can access in the column over to the right under "Recent Posts" or "Search by Topic" or "Archives"; 2) you can also peruse the archived postings on our funny little pet project called "Cusp of Greatness", also accessible in the column over to the right; 3) and finally, you can enjoy all those fine postings of other internet luminaries located under "Interesting Links."

In the meantime, you can imagine us at the beach (anxiously applying SPF 75), sipping margaritas at corner cafes, and working diligently on the greatest book ever written about the sport of figure skating.

Will we also still be coaching oodles of young prodigies? Yes.

Will we therefore still be donning scarf, mittens, and snowpants on a daily basis throughout the summer months? Yes.

Will we miss whipping up weekly installments with obsessive regularity and receiving your insta-feedback in return? Yes.

Will we be back in September with a vengeance ready to entertain, spin verbal twizzles, and elicit the occasional chuckle? Yes.

Are we enjoying referring to ourselves in the plural? Yes, obviously a little too much.

With utmost seriousness, thank you for reading, commenting, and for generally encouraging this endeavor. The response to this site has been nothing short of thrilling. 

Until we meet again in cyberland, we leave you with the most clichéd and well-meaning of poems, the one oft repeated in our world of rinks: Skate Great!

Sincerely,

Jocelyn Jane Cox and the Dedicated Staff of Current Skate of Mind

                                                              ***

In order to assist in a bit of market research, please take a moment to vote for your favorite CSOM posting thus far by clicking on "comments" below. Which one stands out? FYI, the installments that happen to have received the most "hits" are Review: Blades of Glory (September), Dear Adults (April) and Ice Dance: Crisis or Opportunity? (March). My personal favorite? Glossary of Falls (March). This one holds a special place in my heart at least in part because fellow coaches are still coming up to me and sharing their worst falls and defining new ones. :)

And/or: please Suggest a Topic for CSOM. While I am not lacking ideas for future installments, I would greatly appreciate your input. Thank you!        

Their latest release called the Vulcan, is elegantly designed and constructed.  Have a look... these are certain to have an influence on this side of the shore.

For more images of the Vulcan see [City Run Racing].

Ps. If you're looking for some design ideas... this is a suggestion, but forget about the graphics.  Take a look at the Vulcan's older cuff design - which is also very slick.

More common on Jersey beaches than conchs or scallops or periwinkles or coral: the skate egg case, sometimes called the "mermaid's purse."

anyways, patty showed me the forms for the next competition.  it's all dance and pair events.  so, i'm doing solo dance.  there's 2 different levels that i could choose to do.  one is easier.  the 2 dances at the level are the fiesta tango and 10fox.  i did those a long time ago.  the other level option is much harder.  the dances are the 14step and rocker foxtrot.  the 14step i learned a month or so for the competition i just had.  the rocker foxtrot is a couple dances above what i'm currently doing.

but when patty asked me what level i want to do, i told her the hard one. :)  i know i could easily do the lower level and have a pretty good chance of winning, but i really don't want to.  i want to learn a new, much harder dance, and wheter that severely lowers my chances of winning---- this is what i want to do.

patty taught it to me yesterday.  and i LOVE it.  it's so much fun to do.  there's one really really hard turn in it.  you make an S on the ice, but there's like turns thrown in in the s.

i learned the dance in like 20 minutes.  now, i've just got to work on it A TON, but that is so much fun to do.

Indy- Vic West Park, Victoria BC
Pentax K200d with Bushnell 28mm 2.8

Photo of the Day is hereby renamed to "Photo of the Now" due to inconsistencies. No excuses on my part, just seemed a little pointless to carry on with that theme. Enjoy.

- Laurie

laterr

-Cody Rosser (skate pub)

At a recent competition I know that two of the judges (not any form of judges training) was judging way above their level. Meaning they had to judge the quality of elements they had never even heard of, let alone done. They are on Adult 2 (we are talking the Basic Skills program, not testing level) and are judging up to Preliminary. They just recently learnt their bunny hops.... I know this cause I taught them....

One if these girls is also teaching Freestyle 1 as a substitute, and does regularly teach Basic 5 through 8. The girls have been skating less than a year, most of the kids they teach have been doing it longer. I feel sorry for the rink, I really do. They've got seriously under-qualified coaches, and the ones that are qualified don't show up due to being partying college kids. This wouldn't have happened with me as skating director, but they screwed themselves on that one, didn't they? Stupid idiots.

Tomorrow I am skating again. Not at the rink I like, but at the rink "belonging" to my husband's X-girlfriend. Oh joy. Hopefully I won't run into her, but I suspect I will, would be just my luck. I will so not be able to focus. And I was going to jump tomorrow, just easy singles, and I will look like a total beginner, not the "hey I have landed a couple of triple salchows, thank you very much"-person, which I am. It's all about appearances in skating, I know, it's stupid but true. I do not want to look like an idiot, which I will, since I'll be overdoing it, which is what I do when nervous. Or I'll fall on my butt doing a crossroll. Oh joy...

JSAK

obviously i'm only making it worse by skating on it.  i'm going to take off two or three days and let my heel heal.  i'll do crunches and some other stuff so the time's not totally wasted.

Jeg har egentlig vært innom de aller fleste sporter. Noen år på turn, noen år på ishockey, noen år på fotball. Noen uker på volleyball, noen måneder på ninjutsu og et år på roing. Jeg sugde i alt. Men det finnes dog en ting som har vart. Skating. Ja, og så dataspilling om det teller.

Mitt første brett fikk jeg til 12 års dagen min av en tante. Jeg så på det og tenkte «jaok, så har jeg det og». Det ble vel brukt en gang eller to til å renne ned bakken på magen med, men ikke noe mer. Før jeg tok det opp to år senere. En venn av meg, Håkon Bogsnes, hadde brett og brukte mer eller mindre rå makt for å få meg til å prøve brettet, og mot alle ods så syntes jeg det var kjekt. Dager senere kjøpte jeg et brett på finn.no... Etter en uke var det stjålet, så gikk det enda en tusenlapp i ett nytt brett!

Så begynte jeg så smått å skate, men jeg ble bare mer og mer keen på det. På det meste kunne jeg gå direkte fra skolen ned til skateparken og skate til kl. 8-9 for så å gå hjem å spise og legge meg.

Men selvfølgelig, det er jo bakdeler også med skating, tro det eller ei! Det første, og den aller verste er jo pøbel stempelet. Går jeg imot en gammel dame på veien med brett i hånden får jeg blikk som dreper. Som om jeg gikk med ett gevær og skulle til å myrde en hel barnehage.

Den andre ulempen er alle skadene. Jeg har i løpet av halvannet år rukket å brekke en fing og en fot. Det er forresten på grunn av foten at bloggen i det hele tatt eksisterer. Også i det fine været!! Heldig som jeg er, har jeg også skadet hånden i en annen forbinnelse, så der røk også tre og en halv måned. Så i løpet av halvannet år har jeg egentlig bare skatet ett år. Kanskje jeg skulle begynne med en ny sport?

Brenneneslespising. Det ser fett ut. Det er få som utøver det, ergo bedre sjangse for å bli best. Smerte terskelen har jo blitt relativt høy opp igjennom årene, så det skal ikke være noe problem. Det må vel heller være smaken! Men 20 meter rå brennenesle skulle vel gå greit med litt øvelse og oppvarming? Og så er det jo lov å drikke under konkuransen, så det er jo bare å drikke det ned...? Sikkert bra med sponsor penger og!

Back in January, I outlined (okay, whined about) the fact that coaching skating is "one of the coldest jobs in the universe." Well, I'm happy to report that now it's time to gloat.

For example, during a recent heat wave here in New York City, I found myself dialing up my non-skating friends to brag.

"Guess where I'm headed," I said in the snotty tone of an eight year old who just got a new bike. I could envision my friend on the other end, slow-roasting in her apartment.

"Where?" she asked without interest, too hot and lethargic to actually play my little guessing game.

"Oh, just the ice rink. Yep," I continued, "just taking my scarf and mittens over to that freezing workplace of mine."

"Lucky," she acknowledged, again without much enthusiasm and too overheated (or polite) to point out that I'd called to whimper about this same destination only six short months ago. After an awkward silence, she slowly said, "Look, I gotta go, I think my elbow just burst into flames."

After we hung up, I dialed another friend to boast some more. I had a lot of time to fill since I was heading into work about four hours early.

Despite a well-meaning yet ineffectual air conditioner balanced precariously in my window, my apartment had become as hot as a sauna. As the temperature increased outside and the hot air easily climbed the five flights of stairs to my apartment, it started to seem more like an oven. When the sun rose, my "cozy" little nook started to resemble a broiler. The disturbing sizzling sound turned out to be emanating from my very own flesh.

Everything around me had looked as if it was starting to melt, kind of like the clock in that Salvador Dali painting. I was clearly becoming delirious. I couldn't think, I couldn't move. The fact that I didn't even want to eat was probably the most alarming aspect of my condition. I'd basically lost the will to do anything other than stare at my ceiling.

Suddenly, I remembered that it was Monday and this meant it was time to go back to work! Though the rink is 30 miles away from where I live, I could see it with complete clarity right before my eyes, glowing like a frosty, blue oasis with angels singing in the rafters. Nirvana. I imagined staggering into the arena, aiming directly toward the ice surface then lying face-down, gradually returning to my former self.    

I know that the sport of skating has been good for me in many ways but never before has it so obviously ensured my survival. Likewise, I enjoy my job, but I'd never headed toward it with quite this much enthusiasm. Granted, getting ready was no easy feat, since my fingers had swollen to the size of sausages and I had trouble fitting my hands through my shirtsleeves. Speaking of feet, I knew there was no chance mine were going to squeeze into my skates. No matter, I had every intention of going out onto the ice barefoot, anyway.

Once in the car, with the vents blowing AC on my face, I started to revive a bit. This is when I launched into that series of braggy phone calls. Afterwards, I felt somewhat guilty about flaunting my enviable work situation and I wondered, momentarily, if I really deserved such luxury. Of course I deserve this, I quickly decided. This is exactly what I earned when I contracted frostbite, hypothermia and shattered teeth (from chattering) during those long winter months.  

Still, it didn't really seem fair that I got to seek sanctuary while others suffered. On the street, people wiped their brows in misery. Other rink-less souls tried to take cover from the sun under awnings while their dogs panted and tried to fan themselves with their own ears.    

What if? I thought. What if I rounded everyone up and took them to the rink? Sure, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, but I'd prefer to take them ice skating. By the busload. "Hop in!" I'd beckon from the driver's seat. "Real refreshment awaits!" Then I'd deliver them to the hot-day version of heaven on earth. And for them, if only for a few hours, everything would be okay. Well, better than okay: Cool. 

All right, I don't own a bus and I don't have a license to operate large vehicles. And I can't fit more than 3.5 people in my car. Though I do have a brain, albeit modestly-sized, and I really attempted to use it the next 30 or so minutes.

What if? I continued my earlier theme. What if everyone in the universe turned off their lights and air conditioners for one day then strutted on over to their local ice rinks to beat the heat? How much energy could be conserved in this manner?  It would be kind of like the cold version of carpooling. We could call it "coldpooling." I'm surprised Al Gore failed to mention this concept in his otherwise brilliant documentary about the sorry state of our planet called, "An Inconvenient Truth." I'll have to discuss this with him next time I see him. 

I'd like to point out that the general public is wrong to only associate skating with winter. In fact, it should be the exact opposite. People should be waiting in lines at ice rinks instead of smoldering away on the hot tar of amusement parks. And swimming pools? Last I checked outdoor pools adapt to the air around them rather than the reverse. Don't even get me started on how beaches are hotplates and how lounging on them is basically grilling yourself like a piece of meat. Sunscreen works to a degree, but mix it with ocean water and what you have a salty marinade. All you can do is be sure to cook both sides evenly - I've learned this lesson the hard way. 

I don't want to sound like some kind of Summer Scrooge. I just want to be part of the solution. And I know first hand how uncomfortable it is to sweat: it's an embarrassing and rather annoying part of being human and it tends to make people irritable. Why do you think crime rates soar in the summer? As temperatures rise, tempers flare, but can't we all just get along? Can't we all just lace up, lock hands, and skate a few laps together?

What could diffuse gang tension better than a skating party? Or: Mad at your neighbor? Miffed at your best friend for dating your ex? Upset that your partner embezzled those funds? Instead of saying, "I'll see you in court," why don't you all just come on down to the rink? Let's just cool down, literally and figuratively.

I really like that character on the TV show, Entourage, named Ari Gold. He is an angry entertainment agent who often loses his temper. After he unleashes his vitriol, he will often embrace his victim, saying, "Let's hug it out." You know what I say instead? "Let's skate it out."

As I drove toward work, I started to fantasize about becoming some kind of grand-scale mediator, or a skating missionary, determined to bring our nation and the people of all nations together through the Gospel of Rinks. It became gradually clear to me that many of the world's most bitter conflicts are currently taking place in hot climates. What if, I thought, What if?

Michelle Kwan, our Ambassador, tell them, tell them all that the blade is mightier than the sword! Okay, scratch that. The blade is kind of like a sword and could be used in a similar fashion so...maybe skates themselves should be taken out of this particular mission.  Maybe all these sweaty, warring factions should just come to the rink and slide around in their shoes. Perhaps we could organize a big, civilized game of...curling?     

I pulled into my parking space at the rink quite pleased with all the excellent brainstorming I'd accomplished in the name of World Peace. I was really proud of how I'd turned all that gloating into something beautiful, something larger than me, something to be shared. I vowed to hammer out the specifics of my master plan, and pass it on to others...perhaps through the written word... perhaps delivered on the wings of a flourishing little bird they call the internet.     

Fortunately, in my walk across the steamy parking lot, I temporarily came to my senses. When I opened the front door to the rink, I did not fall to my knees and cry out, "Hallelujah!" at the top of my lungs. I didn't even lie down on the ice as I had planned or skate barefoot. I simply bundled up and taught my lessons.

Toward the end of the day, I was shivering and my toes were numb with cold. Pulling my scarf a little tighter, I gazed longingly at the sun streaming through the building's front doors. I couldn't wait to get back outside.