A Payback is owed

So, all of you out there that have been salivating at my eating St. Louis cuisine will be repayed in full. With pictures, mind you.

I owe somebody something. Om nom nom, as they say.

FYI (not meaning to offend anyone), but I miss the good old days when commies were commies and we were renegade proud democrats. I mean the Olympics just don't have the same oomph if I can't surreptiously root for the 'other side'. I had a platonic crush on Katarina Witt. (I was always more of a winter voyeur). I hated her for defeating Debbie for the gold at Sarajevo, but spent several hours post-broadcast attempting to recreate on dry land her skater-ific Carmen.

1984 Los Angeles. It was momentous because it followed the non-appearance of our nation in 1980. And it was always about the Eastern Germans. But, really - consider what that really means. We were traumatized athletically by communists from a very small country. Many of them from half of a city. Half of a city. Politically and Historically important, but still . . . small, really small.

And we've never really reconciled our national fascination/distruct of Bella Karyoli. And Nadia . . . there is still no competition. But when Mary Lou hit that vault landing, it was thrilling. My parents had moved a mattress downstairs in front of the tv (thank god for their forbearance and patience with my antics) so that I could bounce along. I still prefer Nadia's stoicism to any perky americana, but she was the 'enemy'. In the end, I still say Go commies - but that's beside the point.

Final Thought: Is Michael Phelps not human? He just set the pace for some sort of crazy world record setting relay - like 5 secs under the current world record. He's 5 gold medals for 5, ALL OF THEM WORLD RECORDS. Wtf.