We love the Olympics here, and we love a ginger here, so this post brings you the best of both worlds. Andrew Capobianco is currently in the running for an Olympic medal with his diving partner Michael Hixon (seen as Hunk of the Day here, and a previous Olympic Spotlight here). Capobianco brings his ginger flair to his team, lighting up the Olympic pool.
Joining the Olympic hot bunch (see Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, and Shane Wiskus), this is U.S. diver Tyler Downs, making his debut beneath the Olympic Spotlight. We’ll let the photos speak for themselves.
The Philippines hasn’t won a single gold medal in any Olympic Games… until now. Busting through that streak is Hidilyn Diaz who won the country its first gold medal, and in weightlifting no less. Through such sheer determination, grit, and literal strength, Diaz also earns her first Dazzler of the Day for putting my Dad’s home country on the Olympic gold medal map at last.
A few years ago I purchased a couple of ‘King Tut’ papyrus plants on a whim, and after drowning them in water and sun they rose to tower almost over my head by mid-summer, pumped up from a steady diet of moisture and fertilizer, and lined pots that only let a little bit of drainage occur. Papyrus do quite well when they are practically standing in water, and the ‘King Tut’ variety that was available took in all the nourishment, and the regular supply of sun that summer, to soar skyward.
This year, I found a few papyrus plants at Lowes – an unmarked variety so I had hoped they were less-hybridized, and even taller when treated well – but they turned out to be some dwarf version. Better for a smaller pot or garden, but not the larger trio of urns I’d wanted them to fill.
That said, they are starting to fill out – sunless days be damned! – and their smaller stature and finer form actually draws the onlooker in, demanding a closer inspection.
Set against the blue water, their bright green hue looks especially striking in the sunlight, which may have made a comeback this week. Echoes of the Nile, and Cleopatra glamour, come with the territory of the papyrus plant. Or maybe that’s just my overactive imagination…
Rounding out a trio of Olympic Spotlights from the US men’s gymnastics (see also Brody Malone, Artur Dalaloyan and Yul Moldauer) this is Shane Wiskus, making his Olympic debut and setting the stage for a future Dazzler of the Day. Watch these guys in the coming days, and years…
Making it to the Olympics is an amazing feat on its own, regardless of whether one wins a medal or not. Making it there twice is even more amazing, when you think about the years and time-frames involved. But to make it to eight Olympic Games is downright superhuman, and so Oksana Chusovitina easily earns this Dazzler of the Day honor for her outstanding achievement of participating in eight Olympic Games. If you do the math and consider the sacrifices that must involve, this woman deserves more than a few medals. She’s a true inspiration, and is still one of my favorite people at the Olympics.
The simple tomato and mayonnaise sandwich is new to my summer lunch repertoire, but it’s better to discover something this delicious and easy later in life than never at all. While I don’t have the same childhood memories that so many others seem to have of this combo, I’m all for making new ones.
Piggybacking off this tomato beginning, we will soon be harvesting some fresh fruit or vegetables (depending upon which side you side on for the argument) from our own backyard. Does food taste better when it comes from your own garden? Absolutely.
This Olympian just had surgery on an injured Achilles tendon a few months ago. MONTHS. And now he’s competing in the Olympic games. Introducing gymnast Artur Dalaloyan as our Olympic Spotlight tonight, in honor not just of triumphing over an injury in such speedy fashion, but in going on to excel at his Olympic experience. As someone who’s had entire weeks derailed by a hang-nail, I find this exceptionally impressive. (See also Tom Daley and Matty Lee.)
Being your most authentic and genuine self is not always easy even for the most confident and secure among us. Whenever I see someone stepping into a more honest representation of themselves, I’m inspired and often awestruck. The courage it takes to be different should never go unnoticed or underestimated, and sometimes just being you in a world that wants to make everyone the same takes an enormous amount of energy and effort. Tommy Dorfman recently exhibited such courage when she revealed she was a trans woman. The star of ’13 Reasons Why’ earns her first Dazzler of the Day honor thanks to such bravery:
“It’s funny to think about coming out, because I haven’t gone anywhere. I view today as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically. Coming out is always viewed as this grand reveal, but I was never not out. Today is about clarity: I am a trans woman. My pronouns are she/her. My name is Tommy.”
Olympic spoiler alert: read no further if you haven’t yet seen the men’s diving results. For those of us who foolishly opened our phones and saw the real-time results, continue on. Tom Daley and Matty Lee – Britain’s wondrous diving duo – just competed, completed and conquered their quest for a gold medal in these Olympic Games, and have more than earned this gold-themed Olympic spotlight. Tom Daley has been featured here so often that he has his own category (click here for the last few entries) and his diving partner Matty Lee has also appeared as a former Hunk of the Day.
A couple of sunny days do not a summer make, so until we have a stretch of warm weather it feels like this summer has been stalled, if it ever really got started in the first place. Still, we trudge along, and the tomatoes are just starting to ripen, so some things are happening, even if it doesn’t quite feel like it. On with the weekly recap…
The cup plant returned to bloom.
A summer reunion with two dear friends. Here’s to Estonia!
The Jonas Brothers do the Olympics.
An anniversary letter to my husband, 21 years to the day we met.
When the power goes out, a return to mindfulness.
A shirtless Pete Buttigieg goes jogging.
The Summer Olympics, delayed from 2020, finally kicked off in Tokyo, and the Olympic Spotlight feature returned with Brody Malone, Chase Kalisz, and Yul Moldauer.
Dazzlers of the Day included Ricky Schroeder (the cool one), Sarah Paulson, Nam Vo, Pita Taufatofua, Ben Percival, and Victoria Beckham.
Thanks to his husband Chasten, the world has just been blessed with this shirtless Pete Buttigieg pic, which handily gives Mr. B the edge as Hottest American Politician. Witness his Hunk of the Day crowning, or his joint appearance as Dazzler of the Day with his husband. Hopefully he’s setting up a different sort of run again as President one day.
In the arrival of the cup plant flowers and the re-blooming of the Korean lilac, this past week has felt a bit like the rebirth of the summer season, which never fully found fruition since it began. Certain summers are like that – slow to start, slow to burn – and sometimes they never fully catch fire. Bathed in rain, they make for a different kind of season, one in which water adds a constant element that only works when you learn to embrace it.
At the very least, it makes for some interesting photos that wouldn’t be possible if there were only sunny days.
Joining fellow team-mate Brody Malone in the Olympic Spotlight, Yul Moldaeur executed an amazing floor routine to qualify for medal competition in the Tokyo Olympics. This marks his first trip to the olympic games, and is just the beginning based on all the promise on display. It also makes for a giant leap toward getting crowned as Dazzler of the Day. Stay tuned…
It should come as no surprise that my favorite Spice Girl is Posh. More than that, the woman who brought Posh to life, Victoria Beckham, has long been an inspirational force in my world, and because of that she earns her first Dazzler of the Day honor. Over the years she’s been the butt of many jokes, and through it all she has held her head high, retaining her own sharp sense of humor (often underestimated) as well as a keen sense of fashion that has served her own line quite well. For some reason, it’s not her performances as Posh or her domination of the designer scene, or even her husband David and all his underwear poses, that has moved me most about Ms. Beckham – it came, oddly enough, in her appearance with the original band that brought her such glory in their reunion at the London Olympics. They arrived by Mini Cooper and each ended up riding around the arena alone, hair and dresses trailing in the wind. It reminded me of their original, indisputable sense of girl power, coupled with the years of hard-won experience, and watching them all ride solo but part of their own singular tribe touched me in a surprising way, all to the pulsing drama of ‘Spice Up Your Life’.
