It was all too easy to make things up, it was like skating on thin ice, it was like doing dainty pirouettes on a brittle crust over water thousands of fathoms deep.
I live by the sea, but the body of water I have the most feeling about is the Mississippi River, where I used to row and skate, ride on the ferry in childhood, watch the logs or just dream.
Doing shows is always a side of skating that I've loved, it's the performing. I get to do that without the pressure, it's always fun between the skaters and the preparation, the show is always so much fun.
I skate about 15 to 20 hours a week and also incorporate a lot of off-ice training. I take ballet and Pilates classes and lift weights with my physical therapist when I'm not on the ice.
My life path has been a blessing and a great learning experience. Skateboarding is my passion and I don't see that changing. When I'm not skating, I love to surf. I'm open to the new experiences and opportunities.
When I saw the 2010 Games and speed skating, I had a change of heart. I had always dreamed of being an Olympian, and something clicked inside of me. I knew I had to move to Salt Lake City and make this dream a reality.
We grew up very poor, and I hated being poor. I was the oldest of five kids, and I never got a pair of skates until I was nine. It was very difficult to get an education back then and play junior hockey.
I'm really very glad that I had skating to be my love and my escape. I think that it always gave me something that made me feel good, and it was music, and it was peaceful, and not a lot of the other stresses of life.
I had spindly little ankles, and growing up in Canada, I couldn't skate. I was no good at any sports so was very much a pariah through those adolescent years.
I didn't know about competition or the Olympics until Peggy Fleming won in 1968. My mother looked after all of the competition stuff. I just skated. I didn't really love competition, but that was the only way to get better. You'd see more talent.
Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There's plenty of movement, but you never know if it's going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.
In group lesson number six I think we learned how to turn backwards and then just kind of wiggle. That wasn't really skating backward, but I guess I was going in the right direction.
I don't mind the sparkle - I think it's kind of a tradition in skating. I don't think the men really need sparkles, but for the women it's part of the glamour of our sport.
I've designed since I was 12. The first was when I skated to Carmen, in red and gold and black. I wanted so many frills at that time. It had a lot going on for a little person like me. And I picked out fabrics that didn't stretch. Very uncomfortable.
Skating was popular, but it wasn't mainstream. It had this underground following, and you could go on tours, win decent prize money, and make royalties from signature products - that's how I came to buy a house when I was a senior in high school.
But after a few minutes of convincing myself that I really wanted to go - telling myself that I love skating and that my coach is there waiting for me - I would get up and go. And my mother would always get up and eat breakfast with me!
I don't even need to do anything; I am always amped to skate. Always amped to be competing. I love competing - that's what I do. Any contest, it doesn't really take much. Just get me on the course and I'll get going.
My mother stopped working when she had my brother. She was a full time mom until I started getting heavily into ice skating lessons, and it got to the point where they really needed my mom to earn an income.
I want people to see a real person on the ice. I want to seem tangible, hard-working, passionate about my skating, not just going out and doing something I've rehearsed a million times.
So the programs all start to all look the same. I watched one free skating competition, and I thought I was watching a short program. Everyone was doing exactly the same elements.
Oh, figures!' answered Ned. 'You can make figures do whatever you want.
