Nothing motivates me more to write a blog than having had a huge dinner and finishing off a bottle o' cab. So I sit and ponder what I could possibly write about at the end of the first month of our Olympic year.

The Olympics. Long have I defended it to my unathletically inspired, critical, and pessimistic friends as possibly the greatest accomplishment of humankind. I have always believed that sports brings people together. One could argue that sports divides us as we root for our favorite and respective teams, but it's that competition that brings the two sides together to relish in the match.

When I lived in Los Angeles (for two years of my life) training with Track West (now VS Athletics), I often found myself justifying my reasoning for competing not for money, not for glory, but for the pure love of our sport. One of my bosses once told me that it was time for me to move on from this childish thing and pursue my career in gym membership sales. He thought he could relate to me because he was on a "travelling flag football team." The last time I checked, flag football was not an olympic sport . . . I quit that job.

I want to learn more about the Olympic movement. I saw that they put out a magazine and I have thought of subscribing (it's $9/issue!). I am wondering if anyone knows of any really good books about how the modern olympics came about. Or if there is a specific "History of the Olympics" book that I should read. I really hope to go to the 2012 Games, perhaps by then our little website will be strong enough to earn media credentials into that event (for which I would still hope to be employed and earn the privelege of covering that event!).

Two glasses of wine and no typos . . . maybe it's time for a new bottle!