Twenty Twelve

I'm the last person you'd expect to be interested in sport. Despite Mother's protestations I have always abhorred Wimbledon, football, the Olympics...really any kind of sport, live or on television. I've always found it pointless and boring, my body not designed for feelings like pride or patriotism. And yet something odd has happened to me. Some bizarre kind of Olympic fever has taken hold.

It all started with Twenty Twelve. Knowing that Siobhan Sharp's character so closely resembled reality (anyone even remotely connected to the fashion world will have met her sort before) should have made me dread The Games even more, but instead it planted the seed of obsession in my mind. This wasn't helped by the opening ceremony which saw me physically welling up in front the television screen. Sure the second musical half was truly awful (when will they stop wheeling out the decrepit Sir Paul?) but the beginning, with its celebration of British history in Disney proportions, was mind-blowing. Working on my own as I do, it's very easy to feel disconnected from the society around me. It's funny that it takes a thousand volunteers and Kenneth Branagh in a top hat to remind me of the connection between my own work and the immense history of these islands. There are all sorts of reasons one could argue as to how and why, but you can't deny what we as a people have achieved. You really have to step back and look at the big picture to place your own life in context.

Now I find myself checking the medal score on a daily basis, watching the recaps in the evening on BBC One and even streaming some of the events (gymnastics, obv) live while I'm writing up. I wonder if there's a pill I can take for this?

Wearing official Olympics Team GB kit by Stella McCartney and Adidas, shorts by John Rocha, trainers by Kris van Assche, t-shirt by Religion, pouch by Jil Sander.  

I thought I should augment this post with some more compelling reasons why you should have been watching the Olympics.  *cough*

Oh Ryan, cute as a button even if your parents still have to tie your laces for you.  

xxx

Duck