Wake Me Up When It's Eastern Standard Time

For someone who has no life (i.e. me), I'm very busy these days. No, not working. Following figure skating and tennis.

This week is like eating a hot fudge sundae and apple pie a la mode simultaneously. Only because everything is happening far from where I live, I think I'm eating them for breakfast.

I've been watching the European Figure Skating Championships online, on a combination of Estonian and Turkish television (when the Estonians freeze up, I hop over to the Turks). The picture is approximately 4 inches by 6 and the commentary is consistently in a language I don't understand (in times past, when I've watched via Italian TV, I really like it when the commentators say Mama Mia).

I have minimal problems with watching skating in a tiny picture and foreign language commentary. I'm a pro. I can recognize a fall in any language. No, the issue for me is Estonian military time. If the schedule says the men's free skate is going to start at 18:45, when the heck is that?

You think judges need calculators to figure out scores? I need a calculator to figure out the time.

Then there's tennis. This week and next are the Australian Open. I could probably track that down on the internet, if I were so inclined, but instead I leave it to ESPN2 to show me whatever they want. They repeat some of it from 3-7 PM (how I love AM and PM), and then they show some more at night, depending on what they're in the mood for. But mostly I sleep through that coverage, which is easier than subtracting, or adding, or whatever it is I would have to do to find out what time it is over there.

To add to my befuddlement, the US National Figure Skating Championship is rolling right along. For that, I have a combination of internet and two different TV stations. And it's on Spokane time, which at least isn't military time, but is, for the most part, after my bedtime.

Sasha Cohen will be skating her short program tonight, but she's skating 15th out of 23, which I think means she'll be skating around 1 AM, which, technically speaking, is deep into my second REM cycle. We won't even discuss Ashley Wagner's ETA, since she's going to be last to skate.

Tomorrow morning will be the women's short program over in Estonia. If Scooter plays Purr On The Neck early enough, I should be able to catch the Russian national women's champion's skate (my very rough ETA for her is 7:30 AM Susan time). You may wonder why I care about the Russian national women's champion, but it turns out she goes to high school in Newburgh, NY, about half an hour from where I live. Which means she lives a lot closer to me than any of the girls/women who'll be competing in Spokane tonight.

Meanwhile, in between European Original Dance and Men's Freeskate (the final flight of which includes Plushenko, Joubert, and Lambiel), I redecorated the blog. I have to pretend I'm working, after all. I changed the colors so it matches the cover of This World We Live In. It's kind of like the Empire State Building, which changes its lights for special occasions.

And speaking of TW, it's up to 18 blog reviews (check on the newly redecorated right side of this blog for a link to the list). There actually are 19 reviews that I know of, but I didn't like one, so I managed to forget to include it.

All right. I only have 27 minutes or 1 hour 27 minutes or 2 hours 27 minutes to get everything I need to get done before the European men start skating.

Good thing the only thing I need to get done is take a nap!