tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186126752024-03-13T13:22:40.371-07:00WordyDoodlesA chocolate perspective. Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comBlogger501125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-2914727430454601062015-09-04T17:11:00.001-07:002015-09-04T17:11:34.046-07:00Good news! Livermore athletes in the USA Gymnastics Hall of FameCouldn't be more proud to see the great news that West Coast Training Center's own Michael Rodrigues-- who used to be a champion athlete and is now a coach-- is in the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame!
There's some terrific local coverage in The Independent of Livermore. Rodrigues interviews very well; he gives some great insights about what it felt like to win gold in international competition, as Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-10787746068732583722015-08-25T15:23:00.001-07:002015-08-25T15:23:12.564-07:00acro season gearing up It's that time of year! Summer is winding down and the kids have school at the top of mind-- and new acro partnerships!
We just finished up the last of the school supplies shopping, which means I've had my yearly talk with the kids about how lucky they are to be in a school where the school can request long lists of supplies and parents can donate to the classrooms. We talk about Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-59024400388134855092015-07-12T20:36:00.000-07:002015-07-12T20:36:03.438-07:00Acrobatic Gymnastics National Championship: First thoughts
We're back from Greensboro, NC, and the acrobatic gymnastics national championship!
I've been thinking about what it was like for the kids and how very impressed I am that they willingly (even enthusiastically) chose this endeavor. Ever taken one of those Very Serious multi-day exams to which you had to fly or drive forever, get your ID checked a million times, and sit in a cavernous Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-60357793918338623822014-12-02T18:47:00.001-08:002014-12-02T18:47:15.710-08:00Mindy Kaling's commencement speech at Harvard Law School
"Law is that pesky thing getting in the way of justice."
"I believe in the Clint Eastwood school of the law."
"Your dedication to meticulous reading is a tedium that I find just so admirable."
<3 br="" kaling.="" mindy="">
********************************** Tweet your thoughts to me @wordydoodles. Thank you!<!--3--></3>Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-68772979881290779462014-10-24T10:03:00.001-07:002014-10-24T10:03:59.430-07:00Poem of the Day: Love like Salt
Love Like Salt
by Lisel Mueller
It lies in our hands in crystals
too intricate to decipher
It goes into the skillet
without being given a second thought
It spills on the floor so fine
we step all over it
We carry a pinch behind each eyeball
It breaks out on our foreheads
We store it inside our bodies
in secret wineskins
At supper, we pass it around the table
talking ofAnita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-39497709137236674572014-09-18T10:20:00.000-07:002014-09-18T10:20:00.026-07:00Way to go, Coach Marie! WestCoast Training Center's Head Coach receives highest coaching distinctionWestCoast's owner and Head Coach, Marie
Annonson, has achieved the highest level of coaching distinction: Master
of Sport. This puts Coach Marie in the company of a small group of
gymnastics coaching greats. The list, found on the USA Gymnastics website, is full of coaching luminaries.
Among Marie's achievements:
She has produced world champions and internationally ranked athletes
Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-89917116593114307792014-09-17T09:21:00.000-07:002014-09-17T09:21:00.319-07:00AcroArmy: Photos & Video from Finale Demonstrate Technique + Love + Guts for America's Got Talent 2014
An intensely pure expression of love and athleticism on tv. AcroArmy gave everything, everything, and did it with supreme professionalism. And a certain fearlessness about sharing their hearts which I deeply respect. This is my daughters' sport, acrobatic gymnastics.
They are just at the beginning of their journey, but already I can see how they're learning the value of:
very very Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-51299687974403507172014-09-16T11:20:00.002-07:002014-09-16T11:43:21.718-07:00AcroArmy: Tonight's the night! A photo retrospective before America's Got Talent finaleIn honor of tonight's final performance of AcroArmy on America's Got Talent, I've put together pictures taken throughout the exciting journey of these beautifully hard-working, dedicated elite athletes over the past few months, starting with the most recent triumph.
It has been fun and gratifying to see the acro community as well as the wider gymnastics community come together to support these Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-52890068970362794922014-09-06T16:51:00.001-07:002014-09-06T16:51:45.980-07:00AcroArmy on NBC's America's Got Talent features US national and world champion athletes
Are you a tv watcher?
Fan of America's Got Talent?
An athlete?
Gymnast?
Acrobat?
If you answered yes or no to any of the above, then now's a great time to get to know the acrobatic gymnasts of season 9 of America's Got Talent: Acroarmy!
Many of these athletes are part of the United States' acrobatic gymnastics national team.
As an acro parent, I'm Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-61064173278027325002014-09-02T11:30:00.000-07:002014-09-02T11:30:00.069-07:00Poem for the end of summer: Closing the Cabin
Closing the Cabin
by Thom Tammaro
IIn the yawn of dusk,We drift home in Minnesota autumn,Reciting the litany once more:Dock in; boathouse latched;Rugs rolled; plugs pulled;Windows hinged; floors swept;Pilots out; pipes drained;Faucets opened; doors locked;Hummingbird feeder taken down;Key hanging in its secret place.IIIn the flicker of lights near the city's edgeWe talk easily, gather Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-91003095378344658762014-08-14T18:34:00.000-07:002014-08-14T18:34:00.232-07:00quickest ever cold tomato soup
Photo by Flickr user Chiot's Run
If you're also dealing with miles of tomatoes, try this easy cold soup!
I'm part of a fabulous local CSA and receive a ton (well, a bushel. Maybe a half bushel? A lot) of veggies every week. On one hand, I love that it keeps me out of the grocery store for the most part. On the other hand, it's like a weekly challenge-- FINISH IT or drown in rotting Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-89066940749371279542014-05-16T11:47:00.001-07:002014-05-16T11:47:30.670-07:00#dailypoem: markerswe mark our milestones
her birthday, his passing
fifteen years ago
twenty two years ago
four years ago today.
These spring green trees outside my window,
I see them swaying but there's no wind.
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Tweet your thoughts to me @wordydoodles. Thank you!Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-28079565421524319342014-05-01T19:53:00.000-07:002014-05-01T19:53:00.714-07:00California State Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships Are Coming!!
Want to see acrobatic gymnastics competition at its best? If you're in California, put these two competitions on your calendar and join us!
Our kids compete with the team at WestCoast Training Center (thus the flyer below); athletes from all over the state (and beyond, for the Regional championship) will be participating. There's a wide range of ages and levels, which makes itAnita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-16194087741404968592014-04-24T18:30:00.000-07:002014-04-24T18:30:00.029-07:00#ThrowbackThursday, #Iheartacro edition
Love and admire our athletes, and this GoPro video is a fun demonstration of some of their skills, but I laugh at myself when I hear this song because every time, I think, "Kids!! Bad idea to 'make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!' You're probably going to LIVE! With all those morning-after consequences! Just sayin'. Ke$sha doesn't love you like I love you!"
Heh, you know Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-46657810307420104602014-04-23T18:37:00.002-07:002014-04-23T18:37:24.960-07:00poet of the week: Ilya KaminskyOne day in 2004, I was contentedly wandering around in Pegasus Books in Berkeley when I came across a book of poetry titled Dancing in Odessa by Ilya Kaminsky. His poems are so expertly wrought, so tender and alive, it seemed like a book that would be important to me at that moment and a decade from then.
So I bought it and came to an event at Pegasus with the author. I Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-54340555985962676192014-04-10T19:00:00.000-07:002014-04-10T19:00:02.874-07:00'Gravity' Behind-the-Scenes Featurette Takes Audiences From Script to Sc...
This featurette about the film made my throat close, my eyes tear. I don't know why yet, exactly. I think it's because when I saw the film, there was so much talk about how thrilling it was. And I just didn't connect with that aspect of it very deeply.
But as a metaphor for life, for loneliness, for survival, for growth, it moved me very much. This featurette was the first time I got to hear Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-11926271941817799492014-03-20T10:30:00.000-07:002014-08-21T23:35:57.899-07:00What I really thought: Third StarHaving decided to take more time for relaxing with films and tv, and having poked around on Amazon Prime streaming, I found what looked to be a gem--and free! Third Star is described on IMDB this way:
James and his three closest lifelong friends go on an ill-advised trip to the stunning coastal area of Barafundle Bay in West Wales. What follows is a touching and comical adventure dealing with Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-61155354981201683202014-03-14T17:24:00.000-07:002014-03-20T10:20:34.871-07:00What I really thought: BBC Sherlock Series 3BBC Sherlock series 1 and 2 were surprising and brilliant, emotionally resonant and with storytelling flair far beyond what I remembered from reading the original stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Series 3 took the show in a very different direction for me. A friend asked why I didn't connect with it as strongly as with the first two series. I ended making a list of reasons:
- I felt like Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-46250401659999156962014-03-11T18:03:00.000-07:002014-03-11T18:03:00.667-07:00Of all the shows to consider watchingIt's actually Brooklyn Nine Nine that's at the top of my list.
As a big BBC Sherlock fan, I want to check out True Detective. But I don't have HBO. That also shields me from whatever's happening in the world of Girls. Sleepy Hollow looked interesting, but I'm almost having more fun watching their writers tweet than trying to find time for the show itself.
Sherlock comes on once every two years Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-12060277508084750292014-03-11T14:50:00.004-07:002014-03-11T14:50:51.627-07:00Cosmos!Cosmos is here! I have no doubt Neil deGrasse Tyson is doing his friend Carl Sagan proud. On the meta: Isn't this an interesting trailer? Almost no words, just letting the images speak for themselves, and about a million references, many of which I'm sure I missed. Which did you catch?
I'll leave you with:
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Tweet your thoughts to me @wordydoodles. Thank you!Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-50018317782864979902014-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:002014-03-05T09:30:01.162-08:00Here are my two steps to quit worrying about people1. I think of a hero of mine, someone I respect, admire, think of often.
2. I remember that that person was also reviled by countless others. Sometimes more reviled than loved.
In fact, I can't think of a single person I admire who didn't also put up with a lot of nonsense and worse. Not one. Famous, not famous, religious icon, everyday hero, scientific pioneer, they all had to deal. It's a Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-30687430130104900452014-03-03T09:22:00.002-08:002014-03-03T11:57:42.251-08:00I have a guess about Matthew McConaughey's Oscar speechIt's no surprise to see Fox and Breitbart throwing together approving articles on Matthew McConaughey's Oscar acceptance speech. But despite the fact that it sounded rambling, here’s why I think Matthew McConaughey was actually giving a very calculated speech that went beyond praising God.
First, I have no doubt that his speech was sincere, that he meant to say just what he Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-2008721695240672792013-12-31T10:30:00.000-08:002014-01-04T17:13:52.058-08:002013 In Review Via Songs!Charm City Jukebox is doing their annual review of the year in songs and I'm totally honored to contribute a post for it. Claire, one of the editors, literally grew up in a house made of vinyl records. Nope, not figuratively-- literally. (Ok, not literally, figuratively, but I'm working to build up her legend.) She really knows music and has great taste in it.
So she's going to be thoroughly Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-35918406578088786342013-12-29T10:00:00.000-08:002013-12-29T10:00:00.610-08:00Sunday movie: ZoolanderI've decided I've got to organize more leisure time into my schedule. Watching more movies and generally enjoying more great storytelling sounds appealing.
When you think "great storytelling," you probably don't think "Zoolander," but that was at the top of Netflix's suggestions when I clicked "cult movies." And I did want to see the origin of the famous GIF that's been modified a million Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18612675.post-74120689794754201342013-12-06T10:14:00.001-08:002013-12-06T10:14:50.790-08:00Acro National Team Training Camp 2013
Brennan Atsatt made another terrific video of our US elite acrobatic gymnastics. Some amazing skills worked on here!Anita Sarah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138675700948126778noreply@blogger.com