Three Completely Unrelated Things

1. Wow am I sucker for an elegant ESPN produced tennis montage. You know the kind? With the sweeping music and the golden hued shots of the players reaching up to serve in the fading light and the overcoming obstacles and the quiet but regal voice over. Heck, I'm a sucker for any of these montages, regardless of sport. I would watch a montage about a ping-pong player if it was shot beautifully enough. If I'm completely honest more than half of the reason I even watch the summer or winter olympics is for the NBC montages, preferably ones with hefty doses of pathos and hard fought triumph.

2. I want to model my summer style off of Amanda Seyfried's character in Letters to Juliet. I thought the movie was cute-sweet and airy and light, like a vanilla cream puff, but what really stuck with me were the visual elements of the film-all of those sun streaked shots of Italy. Not to mention Seyfried's clothes. They weren't glamorous or particularly fashion forward or bold. But they were clean and fresh and young, and it is my mission to replicate their easy sense of style, with their blush colors and summery utility. Also this only reinforces my desire to grow out my hair. By August it will be at least somewhat long, so I can let it air dry and wear it wavy and loose with a simple, pretty sundress on a hut, humid day.

3. On a completely unrelated note, I just have something to say to the people who are against the plans to build a mosque near the site of Ground Zero, particularly the people who have said it is a temple for Muslims to worship their "monkey god" or the radio host who suggested that if they build this mosque then they deserve for it to be "blown up." To these people I say, shame on you. You are small and ignorant and hateful. How can you not understand the irony of it, that you are hurling these simplistic, hate fueled generalizations toward an entire religion the same way the people who carried out the 9/11 attacks used simplistic, hate fueled generalizations about the United States to justify killing innocent people. If you choose to deride Islam for the actions of a group of people who have twisted their faith to justify violence, then you must also deride Christianity, for those (and there have been plenty) who have murdered in the name of their twisted interpretation of that faith. Shame on you. America was founded by people desperate for religious freedom, and that freedom has always been allowed. The terrorists who attacked America attacked us in part for that strain of freedom, for being a country that allows both zealots and atheists to not only coexist but to shout their beliefs from street corners. Many of the places these terrorists come from, the places America has sent troops to "liberate" do not allow that kind of freedom. And so do you even realize that by attacking the idea of this mosque, you are attacking that freedom, you are suggesting that the US become less open? What if instead of suggesting that this mosque would be an "insult" to the victim's memories, think about the fact that it might honor them. These people died as free Americans. They died because they were free Americans. And maybe this mosque would stand as the ultimate proof of that freedom, the inclusiveness and understanding and tolerance that these terrorists attempted but ultimately failed to bring down a few blocks away on a clear day in September.