[Seth Says] Olympic Fever!
Or, as it's commonly known, "Covid". ("Jesus, Seth, can't we get a single sentence into your newsletter without something depressing? Don't you like humor?" "Bile is a type of humor.")(This would have been a great place for a Simone Biles joke, but I realize I already made that reference in my column which will of course be linked downthread.) ("Seth, can't we get more than a single sentence into your newsletter without a paragraph of parenthetical asides?")(Can you actually go off on a tangent if you don't have a starting vector or point to begin with?)
Aaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, as you may have noticed if you're not in a news blackout, the Olympics are happening! And in addition to the cool memes like casual shooting guy and medal-biting girls, there's also less cool memes like French runner yesterday collapsing on the track, and the dozens of athletes who have tested positive for Covid, and the many dozens more who aren't testing until after their events because they may want plausible deniability, and of course the pre-event-confirmed Covid-positive US runner collapsing on the track after winning the bronze medal.
It's almost like Covid is an actual problem that can severely impact anyone's health even if they are literally in the best shape in the world, in spite of the fact that our global and especially national strategy seems to be to continue to remove data points and testing so we can pretend that everything is normal and no mitigations are necessary. ("...and I'd have gotten away with it if it weren't for you medaling kids!" )
("Ruh-roh, Raggy, it's Rovid!")
IN LIGHTER NEWS
As alluded to last fortnight, in spite of the ubiquitous awfulness in the world, things are actually feeling a little hopeful of late. (It's me, I'm "things".)(I've objectified myself.)("Plural, even!" /Snagglepuss voice)(This newsletter is microtargeted to appeal to fans of animated anthropomorphized animals from decades ago.)("Phineas J Whoopie, you're the greatest!") I was pleased that Kamala Harris selected Tim Walz as the VP, whose affable demeanor, long history of helping people, and midwest hunter/veteran/coach cultural bonafides make him pretty much the man for the moment. Usually the candidate to emerge from the selection process for Presidential nominee or VP is not my top choice (or even in my top 3), so this was a pleasant change of pace.
Also, my professional life is somehow chugging along in spite of the fact that the platform where I find most of my work is crumbling. (But not crumbling as fast as the Cartoon Network website.)(I'm not saying anvils should ever fall from the sky, but if one did and landed on WB's David Zaslav, it would be pretty ironic.)(and possibly ferric.)(the ACME of karma.) I'm amidst ghostwriting a book for a client, and in the past week I've picked up another two clients who need a best (wo)/man speech, which are always some of my favorite (paid) things to write. It's almost like I could make a living at this.
Meanwhile, I recently finished recording my acceptance speech video for the National Press Club award, which will play at the award banquet at the end of the month. I'm still basking (robbins) in 31 flavors of kind comments from friends about my award, and have even had a few strangers reach out to mention they are longtime fans of the column.
THE COLUMN
This week I wrote about the Olympics. But not your fancy Olympics with super-talented athletes competing in arcane sports requiring great physical skill. No, this is about
I should note that one friend has already confirmed that she has done this same triathalon event, so you can read this being assured that it is an Olympics for the people.
I REST MY CASE
Thanks to *someone who lives here*, I recently had occasion to rewatch that scene from My Cousin Vinny starring MARISA TOMEI (whose name is, awesomely enough, an anagram of IT'S-A ME, MARIO!). I, of course, know nothing about cars. I don't even like them. (You can consider me a car-berater.) But I do like people reading my newsletter, so I thank you for doing so, will be back in two weeks with another column, and should probably go to sleep.
I'm Your Huckleberry Hound,
Seth