You know how everyone has that one thing about them that’s especially quirky, endearing, but mostly just strange? For those of you who know me well, this comes as no surprise, but for the rest of you, welcome to my thing: Figure skating. I love it. And have for almost as long as I can remember — or at least since the 1994 Winter Olympic drama between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. Yes, it’s probably the most trite sport — if you could even call it that — imaginable, but for whatever reason, it has always held my attention.

This past week, champions were crowned at this year’s U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn., determining which American skaters will compete at March’s World Figure Skating Championships in Goteberg, Sweden. Young skaters dominated the scene, which bodes well for future American prospects, but also meant that two of the champions — 14-year-old women’s champion Mirai Nagasu and 14-year-old pairs champion Keana McLaughlin (with partner Rockne Brubaker) — were ineligible for the World team because they do not meet the international minimum age requirement (15).

But perhaps my two favorite performances from the competition came from skaters who did not win: men’s silver medalist Johnny Weir and Caroline Zhang, who placed fourth in the women’s event. Weir is a divalicious artist who lurrrrves everything Russian and is in the midst of a promising comeback, while Zhang is another 14-year-old protege with artistry beyond her years and a very bright future. If you like what you see, check out nbcolympics.com to view more streaming video from top competitors.

This entry is dedicated to the life of the beautiful and talented Heath Ledger. He was taken from us too soon, and I was deeply saddened by the tragedy. Kudos to the tabloid television shows for recently drawing the line for evasion into celebrities’ lives by choosing not to air controversial video footage of Ledger, out of respect for his life and family.

Oh, and I think that Mary Kate is most def responsible. Just check out her alleged thought process, from 23/6. So sinister.

So, if you are in Wisconsin (or the Midwest) you are probably aware that it has been almost too cold to move ninety percent of the time, as of late. While many other schools have had multiple days off, UW has not had the same foresight.