Speechless ... But Not Tweetless
I'm still hung up on this clip.
Plus I didn't have time to find a new graphic
because I spent all night filling out papers
to officially change my first name to 'Boys' ...
(thanks to Facebook fan Maggie Strasser for this brilliant idea!)
Wow.
Yes, I had already seen the BGJW finale when it first appeared via On Demand last week. But of course I had to TiVo its official airing again last night because not to do so would just be, you know, wrong.
But the finale coupled with Johnny's wrenchingly eloquent new SUNFiltered blog entry, which was posted yesterday morning and which offered a painfully eye-opening behind-the-scenes context--albeit infused with Johnny's wonderful sense of humor--in which to view the finale: That was a one-two punch I was not expecting.
If you have not yet read his entry, please: You must. It's one of the best pieces he has ever written, IMO. And despite how hard it is to get through, because of how truly awful so much of the Olys were, reading it breathes all-new excitement into anticipating the January arrival of his book. Because yes, the man can write. And he's funny.
So just three things before we move on--because move on we must, since the whirlwind never stops in Weirlandia and we already have NEW STUFF! to look forward to this week.
First: The corruption of the judging (yes, I know I'm repeating myself, but I am just compelled to say it over and over and over--on this aspect I am NOT speechless), and the complete and utter lack of support for Johnny from within his own sport--which he has represented so amazingly for so many years--is truly beyond appalling.
There's one thing he left out of the blog entry, BTW.
As he mentioned, not one official from his federation showed up to his final practice.
In like manner, not one showed up to support him at his press conference, either.
You can't help but notice that it's just Johnny and Tara up there at that table.
His federation's silence on the personal attacks / insults / name-calling he endured at the Olympics--AT THE OLYMPICS, as an Olympic athlete representing the USFSA and the United States itself HELLO--was deafening.
Where was the press release from the USFSA defending him? Or maybe a federation official speaking to reporters and condemning such outrageous statements about their own three-time national champion and two-time Olympian?
Nowhere to be found.
The officials' absence from the press conference? Just another f*ck-you moment for Johnny Weir, courtesy of the USFSA.
And that leaves me speechless.
But: To be the champion that he is; to have the grace, self-possession, dignity, and humor that he has, with all that he's given and all that he's had to put up with--that leaves me awed and humbled.
Secondly: I was very touched by the words from Galina that he shared. From his blog entry: 'When Galina and I parted ways after my event, she leaned over and hugged me and said, 'Johnnyka, you have made me prouder then anyone has ever made me before. I feel that you are champion; God blessed us today. Your victory is my victory. We came a long way together. I am so proud of you.' That statement, coming from Galina Yakovlevna Zmievskaya, is worth its weight in gold to me.'
So this is good to know, because Galina has kind of been on my grrrrr list ever since I found out in the finale that she had stopped speaking to him over his withdrawal from Worlds. But OK. I still love her.
And finally: He writes in the entry that he thinks maybe his post is too long, too emotional, too “woe-is-me.”
No, BB. Not at all.
It is beautiful.
It is so honest, so wry, so heartfelt, so courageous–so very Johnny. It is everything we love about you.
He also writes: “In my heart, I am a champion for everything I was able to accomplish.”
And in our hearts, too.
Always.
And now we move on to new and exciting events with which to distract ourselves from the ever-louder whisper in the back of our minds, the persistent thrumming of will-he-or-won't-he-will-he-or-won't-he-WILL-HE-OR-WON'T-HE ...
This week the focus is back on the Twitterverse, that wonderful place in which we cast more than 100,000 tweet-votes for Johnny to help him handily win 'Most Addictive Reality Star' in the NewNowNext awards.
So remember this twitpic?
This is from May 20th, the same day Johnny tweeted, 'With @joeycamasta and @ericaltsalons filming for Bluefly.com in my closets. Joey is making potatoes.' Sadly, nobody ever said anything about how the potatoes turned out. But now finally we not only get to see the footage, we've been invited by Bluefly.com to TWEET LIVE WITH JOHNNY TOMORROW!!
To which many Facebook fans have responded with: 'Yay!' Followed closely by, 'Lol wut? I don't really get how Twitter works.'
So to answer these and other burning questions, possibly including but not limited to 'what is the past participle of 'tweet'?', here's what you need to do first:
(1) Create a Twitter account, if you haven't already.
(2) Follow Johnny on Twitter! His Twitter account is here. Just click 'Follow' under his picture.
(3) Follow Bluefly too! Their account is here.
(Oh, and follow Joey, Eric, and Tara! And me too!)
Now, here are a bunch of random things you need to know about Twitter:
*Tweets are limited to 140 characters.
*You can only see tweets from people YOU follow. So if you follow Johnny, you can see his tweets. They'll show up right on your Twitter home page! You can even set your preferences so that his tweets are sent to your phone as text messages, so for one sparkly-special second, you can imagine that he's actually texting you personally ...
*You can't see tweets from people you don't follow. And people can only see your tweets if they follow you. This part often confuses people. But there is a way around it that we'll get to in a minute.
*You can tweet to Johnny all day long if you like! Just put @JohnnyGWeir in your tweet! Like this: '@JohnnyGWeir: My zipper is stuck and I'm really really desperate ... You busy?'
*Johnny can see your tweets to him in one of two ways: (1) If HE follows YOU (but he just can't follow every fan, because if he followed all 60,000+ people who follow him on Twitter, he would lose his mind in about 200 tweets or so); or, (2) When he searches for what are called his '@replies.' These searches are something that you and all Twitter users should do. Searching for your Twitter name lets you see who's tweeting to you that you DON'T follow (the work-around mentioned above). That's how celebrities on Twitter see what their fans are saying without following every fan.
In the search box on the right-hand side of the page, type in your Twitter name, including the '@'sign, and press 'Enter,' or click the magnifying glass next to the search box. A list will pop up in chronological order of all the tweets that include your Twitter name.
*You also can search '@JohnnyGWeir' in the same way to see who's tweeting to him and what they're saying, and retweet all the good ones (like this one) just for fun.
*In addition to user names and @replies, Twitter also uses something called 'hashtags.' These are keywords with the '#' symbol in front of them; popular ones currently are #worldcup, #OilSpill, and #Vuvuzela. This is also how we tracked our NewNowNext votes: To be counted as a vote, every tweet had to include the hashtag #realityWEIR. You can search for hashtags in the search box also, to see who's tweeting about a particular topic. A search for #BeGoodJohnnyWeir last night resulted in lots of fabulous tweets, including this one.
OK, now you know all about Twitter accounts, following people, @replies, and hashtags, so you're good to go! The live Twitter Q and A with Johnny is set for Tuesday from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. In order to participate, you need to be able to see Johnny's and Bluefly's tweets, which you can because now you're following them (if you're not, go back to steps 2 and 3 above, and ingest more caffeine before reading this again).
In addition, Bluefly has asked that our tweets include the hashtag #bfclosets. That's what they'll use to search for tweets and bring questions to Johnny's attention.
So now all you have to do is think of some questions for Johnny that are OK to ask in public where millions of other Twitter users will read them! (Oh.) Here are a few sample questions:
Niecy Nash comes to help you clean out your closet. What do you do? Agree to a yard sale? Or lock your doors and pull the blinds? #bfclosets
Is your closet deep enough that you can see Narnia from the far end? #bfclosets
Please explain the whipped cream. Do you consider your fridge an extension of your wardrobe? What food do you wear most often? #bfclosets
What three things in the closet (besides Evan) could you simply not live without? #bfclosets
What three things (in addition to Evan) could you easily toss out without a backward glance? #bfclosets
What must-have item could I buy with the $3.57 I have left after scooping up VIP tix to every event at which you are skating? #bfclosets
If we promise not to make a mess, could we have a pj party in your closet when BGJW Season 1 comes out on DVD? We'll bring the whipped cream ... #bfclosets
(BTW: How many of you fear that we are totally going to crash Twitter on Tuesday and spend that hour mostly staring at the #failwhale ... ? )
Coming soon: An untold story from Skate for Hope,
and more Twitter madness! Olympic Tweeters, we need you
as we launch our comprehensive campaign
to tweet Johnny onto DWTS!
and more Twitter madness! Olympic Tweeters, we need you
as we launch our comprehensive campaign
to tweet Johnny onto DWTS!
in USFSA's 2010 Readers' Choice poll
(voting ends July 15)!
that you want them to donate $250,000 to Just Push 'nPlay!
Johnny is on the board of the 'nPlay Foundation,
and this funding would help to provide physical activity
programs to nearly 20,000 kids.
Let's help make this project the top vote-getter!
(voting ends Wednesday!)
Tubey Awards voting has ended for Be Good Johnny Weir,
but as of today you can still vote here
for Johnny's Foot Massager, nominated for
Best Performance by an Inanimate Object!
It's listed among categories 13-16.
Only the top 10 vote-getters in each category
will make it to the final round of Tubey polls!
Special thanks to Facebook fan Jennifer Apodaca
for her suggested questions!
for her suggested questions!
Speechless ... But Not Tweetless
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