Anastasia Llewellyn

I mean that to be supportive, but it probably reads as angry. My anger is at the situation, and obviously not at you.

Too negative or too needy? You’re being physically threatened—you’re doing better than most people would in such a situation. It’s okay to cry and/or rant about it.

I really hope this becomes a meme.

No matter what we won

Well, it’s been a wild ride. It was an exciting game, though I can’t quite say I enjoyed it. I’d forgotten how stressful it is when your team is actually in the game for 76 minutes. I would have loved to see a tie, honestly. But I’m not feeling deflated like post-Scotland.

If I were superstitious, I’d go put the kettle on.

Botham lives on the street I lived on in Cardiff, so I yell the name of the street every time he has the ball. Except this last time, because I went for a wee, and missed the try entirely.

And the joy at one’s team scoring is unparalleled. Even if you, um, happen to miss it because you went for a wee. 🙄

Sports are an excellent way of safely and productively channelling big emotions. I’m not looking away from the news—I’m following it closely—but getting upset about, say, Wales losing another rugby match (instead of, you know, kids being killed) lets me process some of that without drowning in it.

My speciality is minoritized language and culture, and Welsh culture includes rugby, so there you go.

I’m posting about rugby, and not about world events simply because, for all its faults, Blueksy is full of excellent commentary from experts who specialize in the sort of political phenomena that are playing out in front of us. I’m not an expert in international relations.

Can you get player of the match if you leave at 45 minutes? And if your team ultimately loses by a fair margin?

But, like, I’m not *expecting* this to be a close game at 79 minutes. Just hopeful, and slightly dreading such an outcome.

I’ve never written this team off the way so many people have. And a new coach can’t change everything overnight, especially when the WRU continues to do everything they can to make things difficult. But there’s a difference between being vaguely optimistic and having real glimmers of hope.

If they lose this one by a few points, I think I’ll be even more devastated that after the Scotland game, where I just felt empty. First time in a while gaining some real hope of a win. But, big-picture: two games in a row where it feels like they’re in it would be a huge victory.

You I’m both thoroughly enjoying this, and not at all. Laughing emoji. I know exactly what you mean.

Text exchange with my dad sums up my thoughts.

Watching this alone, and my poor neighbours must be wondering what the hell is going on in here, as I’m shrieking at the television in Welsh.

I genuinely don’t know if my heart can stand the second half of this rugby match. I decided not to go to the one pub in Ottawa that shows the games, because no other Welsh fans (that I know of, but I think I know all of them) were going. Irish fans are always loud and plentiful there, though.

*and, not snd. 🙄

A round table is covered with a white tablecloth, and place settings, cups and saucers, individual butter and milk or cream cups, printed programs, a sign, a small Welsh flag. and a small glass vase with three daffodils.

A modern church sanctuary with a triangular roof, green carpeting, and wooden pews. People, mostly white haired, are standing and sitting in the pews. A short, white-haired woman conducts from the front of the church. A stained glass window rises up behind her.

Amidst the chaos happening all around us, it was lovely to celebrate community snd togetherness with the Ottawa Welsh Society this weekend at our annual Saint David’s Day luncheon yesterday, and our gymanfa ganu today. Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Hapus!

I should know better than to check the news first thing on a Saturday morning.

Great shot!

It’s wrong from a language and power perspective, but it’s also a display of poor event management. It should not have come as a surprise that a French-English interpreter might be needed for a press conference with a member of the Canadian Olympic team, particularly one who is a Francophone.

Et pourtant le français est une langue officielle des Jeux.

The story of Archie Rolland, the Montreal man who chose MAiD because he wasn’t getting the medical care he needed for ALS has haunted me since I first read about it shortly before his death. MAiD should not be a substitute for medical care, a way for the system to avoid its responsibilities.

Whatever are we going to do next weekend when there are no Olympics and no Six Nations? Enjoy stress-free Saint David’s Day celebrations?

I am not so naive thst I don’t think that rugby has its issues as well, but there seems to be less systematic an acceptance of toxic masculinity and misogyny.

I slept through the men’s hockey gold medal game. It’s hard enough to root for a team that includes Brad Marchand when I’m not sleep-deprived. And men’s hockey is still so infused with misogyny in a way that one can’t ignore. So, I chose sleep over watching my favourite sport at the highest level.

“There is a longstanding problem of people not being taken seriously when they report such symptoms,” which begs the question of why people rush to assume overdiagnosis.

And, unfortunately, I just can’t get into curling, so that’s no real consolation. Congrats to those involved, though—they’ve brought great joy to a lot of my neighbours.