London through red, white, and blue tinted lenses

I have to agree with my sister that my first Olympic memory was our dad listening to radio broadcasts before the television broadcast that evening, and predicting that Debi Thomas fell, allowing Katarina Witt, from a communist country, to win in 1988. Although it bears noting that one of us must have stuck Sarajevo 1984 stickers all over our Electrolux vaccuum sweeper that was still rocking out with those stickers over 10 years later. We were clearly engaged that year, even if we don't remember. Lara omitted in her launch post that our favorite thing to do during the Olympics was to calculate scores (drop the high and low, average the rest). Mom and Dad would patiently encourage us to share the calculator, and if we fought too much, the machine would get confiscated. I know, I know, you're wishing you grew up in a nerd household, too. Thank God we both have our own calculators these days. That's one less thing for us to fight about at the games.

Our family loves the Olympics, if for no reason other than it gives us a reason to cheer for the USA unabashedly, without reserve, for a few short weeks every few years (not that the Christensons ever need a reason to be proud of our country!). I spent three days in 2004 after grad school glued to the TV during men's gymnastics. I was obsessed with Michael Phelps in 2008. I haven't decided yet who or what to be obsessed with for this summer games, but I am going to DVR enough human interest stories to make sure I find a good one. I love celebrating the exceptional achievements of my fellow men.

I was the "late add" to the Olympics-bound group, and I've already been to London three times before, so I'm planning to put on an entirely different set of glasses this trip. My Olympic glasses, which unsurprisingly, are red, white, and blue. I'm also bringing my Canon 60D with me, and I'm hoping to break my habit of avoiding photos of people at all costs (literally, I am the girl who will wait 15 minutes for people to get out of my way, and give them dirty looks to move them along to save time). I want to take pictures of fans from around the world. I want to look at London in a different way, and photograph in a different way. And I hope to put some of those results on this blog.

My cowboy hat has been brushed off. My Flag game face tattoos have been ordered. Fun Cups with American flags on them have been packed. I am not entirely certain that London is ready for the American invasion of two Christensons.