The Shoulder Bump

Last night, I had the great pleasure of watching Venus and Jelena battle it out for a truly great semi-final. But man, the shoulder bump? There is THE famous shoulder bump from years and years ago, at the US Open I think, before Richard turned into the amazing man that he is- he was still amazing, but now he even more amazing, how's that (and I am being serious, I worship the man these days)- and refered to the woman Venus shoulder bumped as a "white turkey". Now, I may have that wrong. I'm working on memory, and my memory stinks. So, you know, go easy on me.

And then there is the famous FAMOUS shoulder bump between Hewitt and Nalbandian at the Australian Open about three years ago. It was a five setter that Hewitt ended up winning. Nalbandian had words with him. Those two hate each other. Also, I was joking when I said that it was a famous shoulder bump. It was not. But for me, a Nalbandian devotee, in the way that some people are, like, Hindu, it was a big moment and has settled into my memory in a way other things don't settle there.

I was going to talk about Serbia here because if JJ's great win and also- I have been reading about Serbia! And that area in general. Here is the most recent info I have: I read a book called Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco (really really good book- it's a "graphic" book, so it's a comic book but with lots of good info instead of super heros). And I also read a tiny little bio of Tolstoy. A hundred years ago, the Serbs were attacked by the Turks, or the Ottoman empire. That is why there are so many Muslims in the area. During WW2, Serbs were massacred by Croats who sided with the Nazis. And more recently, in Joe Sacco's book's time, the 1990s, Serbs committed terrible atrocities against Muslims in particular. So here is the thing- what an incredibly messed up place from where JJ hails! And she's always SMILING?!! God bless her. I am really happy I did not have to come from such a troubled place. She's sort of amazing that she is soo good at tennis and smiley and stuff, and yet, like, she's from Serbia. That said, I realize that our country isn't perfect, but man oh man, it is not as messed up as Serbia is, or so that is my half assed opinion at the moment.

Yours Truly,
Paula