That's Determination

Robin Agnew

 

Lots of times I see determination in the relentless, and optimistic, marketing efforts of authors.  (Last week we got a wooden box with the book cover on it, inside, a scarf, sunglasses, a postcard and temporary tattoos).  As I look around the store I see many of the cool posters made from book covers that we have been sent over the years. My favorite at the moment is the one for Megan Abbot’s THE SONG IS YOU.   I see determination in the store owners around me, who are determined (as are we) to outlast this dreadful downturn.  And last weekend, I saw determination in another place.

 

As I think I’ve mentioned in the past on this blog, I am a giant figure skating fan.  Since ABC dropped figure skating coverage it was picked up by NBC – who are only broadcasting three events out of a long season.  (That’s like watching the Super Bowl without all the games leading up to it).  If you want to see some skating, you have to go online.  It has some advantages – it’s live, and if you don’t want to watch the 3 a.m. broadcast from China or Moscow you can watch on demand at your convenience.

 

Sometimes I pick & choose and don’t watch EVERY discipline, depending on which athletes are there, and I had skipped the pairs competition in Paris until I saw a blog article about the “bravery” of Canadian pair Meaghan Duhamel and Craig Buntin.  I was curious so I went on over to icenetwork.com and peeked at their program.

 

It started beautifully – and then (and I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often) Buntin cut his hand on Duhamel’s skate blade as they were doing a fairly routine side by side spin.  Blood dripping from his fingers, they skated to the judge’s table, where they were given two minutes to get it fixed up and complete their program. 

 

A competent woman came out and bandaged Buntin up and, shaking his hand (this is the hand he uses to throw his partner and lift her over his head) they took a minute to pick up their music where they’d left off and finished their program, mistake free.  Meaghan’s dress had blood all over it but they ended up in second place for their free skate, only behind the defending world champions.  That’s determination. 

 

It’s also been my inspiration for the week.  And hopefully Meaghan will be able to clean the blood out of her dress!