Never tick off a squirrel

Magnet #1131 - Charlotte Squirrel

Bought this magnet at the Charlotte airport, and had to use it for today, since yesterday we passed Chapel Hill on our way to Durham (Yeah, Duke - don't ask, I still don't know either).

The squirrel - docile here though it is - reminds me of when I first got to Carolina. I was headed to class, and right beside Phillips Hall, one of the sciences buildings, I noticed two squirrels chasing each other around. I mean, if there's anything UNC has more of than Duke-haters, it's squirrels. I mean, they're everywhere.

So I stopped to get out of the squirrels' way because they were going pretty hard - they ran around for a bit, and then ran up a tree a little out of sight. I hear a bit of a kerfuffle in the leaves, and then all of a sudden, BAM!

The boy squirrel - and a branch! - came flying right out of the tree - right into the sidewalk in front of me!

You know what? He kept right on moving, too - didn't take a second look back at the scary girl squirrel who threw him out of the tree.

Lesson learned, I guess.

Don't tick off a squirrel, they will kick your asses right to the curb. Literally.

Cutesy Carolina

Magnet #1067 - Cutesy Carolina

How much do I love this magnet? No really. Adorable. Carolina and navy blue is one of my all-time fave color combinations, and all done up with little sweet polka dots and cutesy stripes? Love.

It's the kind of magnet you'd expect to find in a cute local drugstore on Main Street, the kind with an old soda fountain counter manned by local high schoolers aiming for the nearest highway out of town. Which is of course, where I found it.

Using it for today, because to this day, it still kills me that they picked Duke to be Joey Potter's Worthington campus. I'm sure it was easier to work with the private Duke folks, versus the bureaucratic state-run UNC, but still!

And, yes, I will grant you that Duke has a beautiful campus, but I really, really, really hate that all the college years promo shots on my Dawson's Creek DVDs have Duke in it, rather than Carolina.

What? I've been finishing up their college years, and all I keep seeing is Duke, Duke, Duke! Grrr. Argh!

Oops. Wrong show.

What makes a keepsake, a keepsake?

Magnet #952 - Smurfs

Today, I've entered the next stage of clearing out the clutter in my life. Or, my apartment, really. Closet, if you want to get specifical.

Ya'll know I've been a little worried that I'm exhibiting signs of a Hoarder. Not like those crazies on television...but close, as it would seem. Instead of collecting random odds and ends like those people on tv, I'm a big hoarder of my life.

Odds and ends that remind me of places, people, events and things. Ticket stubs and tchotkes, programs and cards. Lots and lots of cards. (That's a whole other magnetpost, it seems.)

Just some of the things I've found:

• My cousin's birth announcement. Hint. She's old enough for Facebook.
• The registry for my friend's wedding. Hint. They're celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks.
  
• The Student Caller for my senior year. Of high school.
• My very first paycheck stub from Putnam Berkley, here in NYC. The job that made me want to run out to Madison and 36th, and throw my beret (if I had one, I'll never tell) up in the air, and sing, "You're gonna make it after all!"
• The office invitation I got on my first day of work - for office party to celebrate the launch of Tom Clancy's Op Center. Book one, ya'll.
  
• Letters, notes, Christmas and birthday cards dating as far back as 1995, when I moved to NY.
• The cheesy fangurl letter I wrote to all the Loveswept authors when I first started.
• The sweet letters and cards and notes that the Loveswept authors sent to welcome me on board.
• The cheesy fangurl letter I wrote to all the Loveswept authors when I left.
• Two boxes of old checkbooks, ATM receipts and random purchases - dated anywhere between 1995-2001. Hello, paper shredder.
• The Sears receipt for the first and only tv I've ever bought or owned - a tiny Sony 20" box TV, $352.44 in 1996. (No, I'm not giving her up until she breaks. She's served me well, I won't give her up for a prettier, newer flatscreen model!)
  
• A whole photo album that I forgot about. It included this funny picture from Halloween 1994 with my college roommate. I was Jokey Smurf. Though, really, maybe I was ahead of my time and really part of the Blue Man Group? Once you see that picture, you'll know why I picked today's magnet.
  

So, as I've picked through the last 20 years of my life, the question that's been running through my head all day is, What makes a keepsake, a keepsake?

Example, the plastic winecup with "Iris 2/4" markered on it. What's that even mean? (Toss. Sorry, Iris, you were wonderful to work with, but I can't remember why I'd keep a winecup...)

Another example, the plastic alligator from one of the many, many nights I spent at any number of Brother Jimmy's back in the late 1990s. (Keep. I drank a FISHBOWL of liquor to get one of those.)

In the end, my answer to myself is this:

If you're looking at something and you don't remember the memory (or the person) it's attached to - toss.

If you're looking at something and you get warm fuzzies from it - keep.

After all, you're keeping something for the sake of a good memory!

The Old Well

Magnet #853 - UNC's Old Well

The Old Well is a long-standing symbol of Carolina, once the only water supply for Old East and Old West, now two dorms. Old East is actually a national landmark, they call it the oldest state university in America (from 1795).

There are a few legends about this well, though. The first is that all in coming freshmen should drink from here, to ensure great grades. The other, is that there's a reason some folks nicknamed it the Pee Well. Ewww.

I picked this one that my sisters got me a couple of weekends ago, because in a few hours, I must get up and over to my BFF's house, so we can get this roadtrip on the road.

We'll be stopping along the way for a late breakfast in Chapel Hill with another friend and then the start of the BFF Babymoon Over the Confederacy Roadtrip to Richmond begins in earnest.

Richmond's a place that we've both driven through, but never been. I mean, all I know about Richmond, is what I know from whizzing by it on 95. The crazy streets with the tons of crazy drivers, zipping around the corner of that really pretty church. I swore I've never been, but I have a dim memory of driving around deserted streets. My dad confirms that "Oh, c'mon now, don't tell me you've never been to Richmond! We've had Chinese dinner there!"

Uh, yeah. That totally doesn't count!

I'm superexcited about our trip. The Virginia Museum of Fine Art is what I'm hanging my hat on. You'll see why, soon. Just gotta get into that gift shop!

James K. Polk, Silent Sam, and what was your name again?

Magnet #767 - James K. Polk (1845 - 1849)

Even though I officially refuse to acknowledge the existence of post-season college basketball this year, I do find myself thinking about my alma mater in recent days, as we've hired a junior account person from Carolina, and I've interviewed another candidate who lives like 30 minutes away from where I grew up.

So, James K. Polk, our 11th president, it is, then.

He was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and I've been to his birthplace. Sorta. I've been down the very, very dark road that leads to his birthplace, but didn't actually get to see anything (see very, very dark). Ok. Permaybehaps, it doesn't count.

I can however, as a former student tour guide for UNC, guide you to Polk Place, the quad named for him.

I can also take you past Silent Sam, a Civil War monument for the 321 Carolina alumni who died during the war, and those who joined the Confederate Army. Sam's silent because he only fires his rifle when a virgin passes by. (Ok. Fine. I've later learned that he's silent because he doesn't have one of those cartridge boxes for his ammunition.)

Oh, yes, on a campus as big as Carolina's, I've got a million little stories. The Davie Poplar. The Old Well. Sitting on the loveseat at McCorkle Place. The Morehead-Patterson Belltower dunce cap over Wilson Library (remember that one for later, peeps).

There was this big crush I had during summer session, and he asked me to give him a private tour (of the campus, you gutter-dweller). Of course, I eeeee'd quietly, and we started on our merry way.

As we passed by Morehead Planetarium (which used to be where astronauts trained!), I was explaining all about the Morehead family (how alum John Motley Morehead III started Union Carbide, and how they award the biggest scholarship on campus, and they were totally one of the founding families at Carolina, etc.). Crush was totally listening, but he was nodding way too much during the family part of it, and I looked at him, and he was like, yeah, I know all about the Moreheads.

And I said, "Really, how? Wait. What was your last name again?"

Crush: "Morehead."

End tour.

Sigh.

Señorita, I feel for you*

Magnet #617 - Señorita Joy

Talk about creeeepy. Or, just a bad Photoshop job, honey.

Heh. Inside work joke.

A friend of mine brought this Spanish dancer back for me from Spain. Love her, even if she freaks me out because she's a little bobbleheady. (No, it's true. I'm not so good with the bobbleheads, it makes me bobble my own head.)

Just figured I'd use this to get into the Halloween mood. I'm supposed to be at a Halloween baby shower in NC today, but didn't make the ride down. Of course, this was the same couple that had a Halloween wedding reception. It was a great idea - they sorta-eloped with their parents and the priest, and then a month later, had a big costume party wedding reception. Genius.

That way, girls could wear their old bridesmaid dresses - my best friend wore my dress that I wore for her wedding. Wait. Is that weird? Maybe a little. I showed up as the wedding planner, in a business suit, clipboard, and lanyard and phones. Yay, 1st place. Of course, I'm sure it was rigged.

I rarely do the dress-up thing anymore, the last time I went allll out with any effort was as Jokey Smurf at Carolina. That's where we do it right - closing Franklin Street down and everyone running around unsober in costume. Really fun stuff. No real trick-or-treating, but that's what Nov 1st is for, to go buy the candy you want...at half price.

Honestly, in my 14 years here in town, I've still not done the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Dudes. I get freaked out in my cube in broad daylight. The thought of a million strangers in costume and trying to scare people? Scares me.

So, it's the Chocolate Show for me today. We'll see if they have a magnet.



*A la pretty boy JT. And no, not Sweet Baby James that went to Carolina in his mind. Though, there is something in the way he moves, too. Hahaha. See what I did there?

What?

The tiger stands defender*

Magnet #554 - Princeton Tigers

There was a time I knew the mascot of every single NCAA men's basketball team between the ACC, Big East, Pac-10, SEC, Big 10, and the Big Eight. Yes, it was that long ago.

Seriously. A boy's dream girlfriend - I could list inane stats of the top 10 Div I ballers. After all, it's only expected of a Carolina Girl.

Well, not really. Really, it was because I had the best summer internship - ever. Editorial intern at the publishing house that put out the college basketball previews for most of the conferences listed above. Had to read behind everyone as a last check - on the stories, the players, the stats.

So. Much. Fun. And, they also put out those fabulous commemorative hardcovers for the NCAA basketball champions every year, and they had this terrific library - read, skids of boxes - of past books.

I managed to score the Carolina '93 book, as well as the Carolina '82 book. And of course, I gave them both away to the wrong boy. Man, those would be collectors' items now. Sigh.

Anyway. My friend went out to Princeton for an event, and picked up this Princeton Tiger for me. Supercute! Whiiiiiich is probably not what they were going for in terms of fighting tigers. He looks like he could kill me with his little smirky smirk going on there. Hah.

Actually, years ago, UNC redesigned their mascot, for almost the same reason. The old ram was too lovable looking and meek. And so they changed him to be all mean and unhappy, and quite frankly, scary.

I picked this guy for today because a couple of nights ago, I was talking with some friends about the mascots they had over the years. Interestingly, my sampling of a dozen people yielded several Eagles and Mustangs, Cardinals and Bulldogs. Some of the odder ones were the Wallabies, the Maroons, the Blue and the Aztecs.

Though, my all-time favorite? The Hot Rods. Yeah. Good thing that was an elementary school. Any older and we'd be making jokes all the way through the last buzzer!

*From one of the Tiger fight songs. What? I just got done saying I'm a Carolina Girl, I'm not going around spouting off other people's fight songs!

Lost and found

Magnet #493 - Hannya

Boo!

So, this guy - or actually, gal - came from a friend and colleague of mine during his trip to Japan. It's a Japanese nō theatre mask, with two horns, very mean eyes and a giant scary mouth from ear to ear.

Freaky deaky, I know. Supposedly it represents a jealous female demon - she was soooo jealous that she grew those horns. Huh. Ok.

The sad part is that I can't even tell you what the rest of the writing is on the magnet, despite taking Japanese at school. I only took it under extreme motherly duress - she was convinced that I should learn Japanese, so that I could do business in Japan. In the end, I took those three ill-fated semesters of Japanese in college.

Which meant, every Friday, I had a katakana/kanji quiz. Ugh. Oh, I loved writing the characters. Loved. They were so pretty and fun drawing them! It was when I had to actually associate them with words and speaking that I had troubles. Good gravy, those were some of the hardest semesters at Chapel Hill. I hated it.

And guess what, Mom wasn't wrong - my first advertising client was NEC, whose headquarters were in Japan. Oddly, my clients were actually based on Long Island, so I rarely had to interact with their headquarters. But, having not retained one word of it, it was about two years or so on the account that I even confessed that I'd had Japanese in school.

There's a part of me that's a tiny bit envious for those whom Japanese came seemingly easy - for example, the friend/colleague of mine who went to Japan? He took Japanese in school, and ran the complete gauntlet, totally immersing himself in the language and the culture, even went to live there for several years. It's weird how some things stay with people, and some things just fall away...

Here's another weird thing...that same friend/colleague? I lost touch with him after freshman year, as you do. But one day a couple of years ago, I was sitting at my cube minding my own business, and my chairman rounds the corner and introduces us, saying that we had to get to know each other since we were both big Tar Heel fans. And it was a good two minutes before I placed him to JAPN101 at Chapel Hill.

See, that kind of thing happens when you go to smaller schools. But when it's a school of 22,000 kids in NC, you don't often expect former classmates to randomly pop up in your cube in NY.

Talk about freaky-deaky.

We are Carolina

Magnet #410 - Michigan state, with a little Tar Heels on top

Talk about leaving your mark...

Carolina 89 - Michigan State 72.

And, here's the video of Franklin Street, because you know they've gone insane down there, closing off the street, crowded as hell, bonfires and all. See?

What?

It's what we do. It's who we are. We are Carolina.

The funny thing is how much we underestimate or take Carolina for granted, both the school, and the basketball.

To wit: Before going, I never thought of UNC as a particularly great school. But apparently, it is. It's a state school. Practically half my high school went there, so it never dawned on me that Carolina was a hard place to get into. It was the only school I even applied to. (It was that, or join the Air Force, but that's a whole other story - let's just blame Algebra, shall we?)

It's also never dawned on me that basketball wouldn't be a big part of someone's college years. I have never understood people who don't have a huge attachment to their college sports teams as we do. But, then I remember, ah, it's because we grew up on Tobacco Road.

Finally - and I swear this will sound cockier than I actually mean - but, we tend to take it for granted that our team will be awesome. I mean it. When we aren't good, we're actually surprised.

But, there's a reason we're good. Great kids, great coaches. It's our history we compete with the hardest - the great coach and great kids who came before.

As my sister (a Carolina alum, but unabashed Dook fan, don't hold it against her...really) put it: "You just forget. You just forget how good it is. You just assume that every other school is just as good."

No truer words.

By the way, no, that's not photoshop work up there on that magnet - I always keep a stash of Carolina stickers. You never know when you need them.

Well done, boys. Well done. No practice tomorrow.

eta:
Back in '93 (yes, showing my age), before I was allowed to head over to Franklin Street with a bunch of my friends, the boys made me go back to my dorm room and pull out my favorite sweatshirt - a very sacrilegious, but so damn cute, Dook sweatshirt. And, as I watched, the boys literally tore it to shreds and used it as fodder for the bonfires. Bonfires, like the ones in this slideshow from the Daily Tar Heel.

Methinks it was a worthwhile cause.

Stone cold crazy

Magnet #409 - Metallica's And Justice for All

So, guess who got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend? Eeeeep! Just another reason to visit Cleveland. (No, I'm serious, I'd totally go...after all, the building itself was designed by I.M. Pei.)

My friend picked this up for me at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex downtown, because ya'll know I loved that place. Like, a lot.

I mentioned once before that when I'm ticked off at work, that I like to put on my headphones and blast my Metallica Pandora station. Loud. Probably louder than someone who is hard of hearing should do.

Can't help it. I like the pounding music and the harsh lyrics. And generally, only when I'm mad. Otherwise, I can't stand it. It's weird. I can't tell if I'm encouraging my bad mood when I'm listening to it, or if I'm soothing it away. Cause or effect.

Eh, either way, I still love it. The other funny thing I like is the actual boys in the band - but only because I watched that Some Kind of Monster documentary about the boys. Not sure how true to life it was, but it totally made me fall in love with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. I know! Seriously, if you know me, you know how crazy that is. And yet, you know you're not surprised.

What's really crazy is that you really can't call me a real fan of the band. I still can't tell you the complete track list from any of their albums, nor can I tell you who else is in the band besides Lars and James. Shoot, I can't even tell it's a Metallica song blasting in my head until I peek at the Pandora tab. All I can say is that whenever there's a song that I'm totally rockin' out to, nine times out of ten, it's a Metallica track.

What? Just trying to be honest here.

But, the other reason I picked this magnet for today, is because it's the NCAA basketball finals tonight (we all better know who to root for, by the way), and because during this tournament, they've been airing the greatest Guitar Hero ad ever - the one with Pitino, Roy and Bobby (and oh, yes, I suppose you have to count Coach K). The ones where my boys Lars and James ask them what they're up to? So. Freakin'. Funny. And the follow-up ad? Even damn funnier.

Except dang. A week ago, I could have sworn that these ads were totally computer generated. Seriously.

Until I saw this video with the coaches. Dang, those boys are crazy spry for some old guys.

First, let me just say that I think it's freakin' adorable that the Carolina boys played enough arcade games to earn 70,000 tickets to get Guitar Hero for their locker room.

Second. I don't think I needed to see Coach K up close in boxers.

I'm just sayin.

Wildcats not so wild

Magnet #408 - Meow Mix

Yeah, this magnet might be one of the biggest stretches ever - but seriously, how many Carolina magnets do you guys think I can own?

Can I help it if my alma mater totally kicks ass and I have to keep mentioning the milestones with my magnets?

Of course, if I had my druthers, I'd be in Chapel Hill right now, with the hundreds of folks that have closed down Franklin Street with the bonfires and the booze and the happy, fun times. Instead, I'm magnetblogging about it. With a cat magnet.

Anyway, a cat-loving friend of mine gave me this magnet - a free bit of swag at at Meow Mix Acatemy experience that they did down in Union Square a few years ago. Seriously - they did this whole big experience, where people could bring their cats and learn all about their habits - catnapping or cat-isthenics, or making a new toy for your cat. I'm not a cat person, but I still am sad that I missed out on this.

However, I'm glad for the magnet, because the Villanova Wildcats were tamed by the Carolina Tar Heels last night - 83-69.

As usual, I didn't watch...well, that's not entirely accurate. Though I was keeping up with the live updates online, I did think that when we were up by 18 toward the end that I'd be able to watch. Then I turned it on. Then we were only up by 12. So I turned it off.

See what I do for you boys? I totally took one for the team again.

Yay, Tar Heels! Don't go crazy excited, we've still got one more game to play, and maybe, just maybe, ya'll might be back out on Franklin Street on Monday night, too.

In the meantime, ready, Carolina Band?

There'll be a Carolina Victory,
When cross the field our foe has fled.
Cheer our team to victory,
For we are Tar Heels born and bred (Rah! Rah! Rah!)
Glory, Glory UNC,
Our hearts will live with thee.
Fight! Fight! Fight! for the blue and white
Are rolling to victory!

Sweep this, Dookies

Magnet #381 - UNC Tar Heels

I'm not gonna lie. I didn't watch the game. I've said it before, the last few times I've tried to watch? The boys in Carolina blue lost. So I stopped watching.

Well, that's not entirely true of yesterday. Actually, I fell asleep watching something else, and the TV defaulted to the game. I think Jenny woke me up, and I rewound the last two minutes of the game, through Tyler fouling out, said sleepily, "Suck it, Dook," and drifted back to sleep.

In fact, it's been such a crazy 2009, that the entire Carolina Tar Heels basketball season has passed me by. That makes me sad.

It's also ironic, because this year, we seem to be building up a quite a group of Tar Heel fans in the office. Ok, fine, there's like 4 of us. Plus, there's my personal FB page, riddled with Carolina fans and fellow alum.

I feel like I'm letting them all down, particularly when our junior AE comes bounding in to work the next day and is like, Didja watch? Huh? Didja watch? Huh? Huh? Huh? And when I respond back with a curt, no, I was working, he always looks crestfallen...especially when I'm not jumping for joy with him over each win.

So. You can't see me, but I'm at least hopping for me over yesterday's 79-71 win over Dook.

Go Heels!

It all seems so unfair! Just when I found you, I lost you!*

Magnet #371 - Sports Museum of America

Noooooooooo! They closed the Sports Museum of America! Nooooooooo, say it ain't so!

I'm so freakin' devastated by this news, you have no idea.

To be fair, I have to admit that when I first saw the advertising for it last year (what little there was of it), I wasn't all that interested in going. Then I saw that the asking price was $27, and I was totally not interested.

While I love going to games and watching boys play sports, or staying at home and watching boys watch boys play sports, I'm just a Carolina basketball fan. The rest of sportsdom (outside of the Summer Olympics, and [shirtless] Karch Kiraly and his volleyball playing/judging/commentating), I'm just not a huge sportsfan.

But, upon watching their sizzle reel (I swear, who thinks sizzle reels don't work?) my sister insisted on going, and they had dropped their prices down to $16, and it was in the Standard Oil building (which I love), so we went.

And (second to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex) the SMA became one of my favorite museums in Manhattan. I freakin' loved this museum. We went on a Thursday, and we were the only ones there - which should have been our first sign. We literally saw maybe ten people during our three hours there.

But what fun did we have. Seriously. We got to:

• hog the Heisman Trophy all to ourselves.
• watch their opening video of the greatest moments in sports history twice. And alone. Great video, but Jenny was mad that they didn't include the stupid 2.1-seconds left historical shot that Christian Laettner made to win that Kentucky game, which I saw at the Carolina student union, booing the whole way through. I mean, even Ashley Judd (who, by the way has a great quote about being an obnoxious UK fan under the UK exhibit), has to admit, it was a sweet shot.
  
• play the interactive soccer game. Twice.
• hold ARod's bat. Now we understand why the steroids. I hadn't a clue bats were so heavy.
  
• pretend to be a hockey player on the ice.
• compete in an interactive round of sports trivia.
  
• see a ton of Olympic medals and memorabilia.
• see a ton of just superdupercool general sports memorabilia.
  
• timed ourselves on a balance board, to pretend we were skiing.
• touch basketballs in rapid succession to test our reaction times. I'm awesome, in case you ever want to play one-on-one.
  
• practice our balance beam routines, just like when we did them across the folded blanket and/or sofa for the 84, 88 and probably 92 Olympics.

But the best thing we got to do (made even better because no one was around) - we got to put on the headsets, roll the videotape, and call one of the greatest games in history - Joe Starkey's Call of the 1982 Cal/Stanford Big Game:

Alright here we go with the kick-off. Harmon will probably try to squib it and he does. Ball comes loose and the Bears have to get out of bounds. Rogers along the sideline, another one...they're still in deep trouble at midfield, they tried to do a couple of....the ball is still loose as they get it to Rogers. They get it back to the 30, they're down to the 20...Oh the band is out on the field!! He's gonna go into the endzone!!! He got into the endzone!! Will it count? The Bears have scored but the bands are out on the field.

...The Bears, believe it or not, took it all the way into the endzone. If the penalty is against Stanford, California would win the game. If it is not, the game is over and Stanford has won. We've heard no decision yet. Everybody is milling around on the FIELD!!! AND THE BEARS!!! THE BEARS HAVE WON!!! THE BEARS HAVE WON!!! Oh my God, the most amazing, sensational, traumatic, heart rending... exciting thrilling finish in the history of college football! California has won...the Big Game...over Stanford. Oh excuse me for my voice, but I have never, never seen anything like it in the history of I have ever seen any game in my life! The Bears have won it!

I have never had so much fun at a museum in my entire life. Seriously.

Which is why I'm taking the news about its demise so badly. Do you know that the very next day, I went to work and told at least a handful of boys to go visit it. And now they're closed!

I know it's expensive - it had to be, they spent $93 million to build it! I know it's a crap location, I know there was no advertising (heh, the founder said their crack ad campaign resulted in 95% of NYC residents not knowing about it), but people! Come on!

This is a museum devoted to most of America's national pasttimes!!! Without regard for collegiate or pro, bowling or soccer, NASCAR or Tobacco Road basketball, male or female. How can you not visit - it's practically unAmerican!

Or course, I'm not going to lie, there are things that I would change.

• The cost. It was good they brought it down to $16. It's still a little steep.
  
• The location. Even though I love the wonderfully designed Standard Oil building (curved at the base, but with a tower that was designed to be in line with the Broadway skyline in order not to mess up the sightlines), its location at the tip of Manhattan across from the Charging Bull, is just not the best location ever.
• The signage. Because you're in that gorgeous Standard Oil building, you can't mess it up with supercool signage. No one knows you're there! SMA's the most undercover museum I've ever seen.
  
• The displays. They need to run in there and actually look into some of the displays - some of the wallpaper was falling down.
• The swag. Ok, that's unfair. They have some great swag. I was just sad that this wasn't a real magnet.
• The marketing. I'm a NYC resident and I just happened to find out because a taxi drove by me while I was on a bus. The boys I mentioned it to - boys, mind you - didn't even know of such a museum. Come back, I'll work on your ad campaign for free.
  

Please, oh, please, I just hope some private investor (like I dunno, any ten of the people whose medals and memorabilia are actually featured in the museum) comes to save the day. It's such a fantastic museum, it's a shame to see it go the way of Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium the dodo bird.

*Kudos to those who actually get this obscure reference to one of my favorite movies of all time. Shut it. I write a blog on magnets. Really? You're judging me for what's behind this link? C'mon. (6:04 for the beginning of this song, but 8:10 for the actual reference to the title. And yes, as soon as I find an appropriate magnet, there will be bloggage on that movie.)

There'll be another Carolina victory

Magnet #346 - Basketball Hall of Fame Joy

So I tried to look up who had more folks in the Basketball Hall of Fame - Carolina or Duke.

Then I saw this headline from SI.com, and thought, eh, who cares. Hehehehe. In the words of one of my guys at work, good win.

Of course, it's that same guy who faithfully reports the Carolina scores to me after every game. I always feel bad, because I'm a big Tar Heel fan, but I rarely watch the games.

Here's why: When I started watching the game, the score started to plummet, and Dook was up at the half. Then I skipped the rest of the game, and we won 101-87.

See how much power I have? I know! So, that's me, takin' one for the team.

If you have a chance, definitely head up to Springfield, MA, for the Hall of Fame. It's a terrific building, but also, a really great set up. It's kinda like the Guggenheim - you just take the elevator up to the top, and the work your way down the chronological order of the inductees. I love looking at the memorabilia from the players and coaches. Make sure you go with enough time to spend, and with no kiddie distractions.

A bit pricey, but worth going if you're at all a basketball fan.

Oh! And since you're in the neighborhood, definitely check out the nearby Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden and the museums surrounding it.

Some red-headed chick

Magnet #341 - Red-Headed Chick from Corbis

Yay, swag magnet!

So almost 18 years ago, I walked down Skipper Bowles Road, down the giant hill toward Carolina's Dean Dome for the first time ever.

I was an incoming freshman, and our incredibly hot (seriously, you'd have to have seen him to believe it) RA (of course, named Tucker, but because don't all hot guys have the coolest names) said we had to go. Something about Convocation being the first of only two times you'd ever be sitting with all of your own college class.

Dutifully, I went.

And behold the wonder, the Dean Dome. If Yankee Stadium is the church of baseball, then for us, the Dean Dome is surely the Cathedral of college basketball.

I walked into the stands, a little dazed and taking in the view, and I sat down next to this red-headed chick.

We started to make the standard freshmen small talk. But our conversation went something like this:

Her: Where you are from?
Me: Salisbury? (cuz no one's ever heard of it)
Her: You're kidding!!! Where'd you go to school?
Me: East Rowan? (cuz really, who knows the ERHS Mustangs?)
Her: What? I went to North Rowan! Where do you live?
Me: Down Bringle Ferry, just past Dan Nicholas.
Her: What??? I live on Providence Church!
Me: OMG, I drove by you every single day on the way to school!

Dudes. Seriously?

One could argue that North Carolina's a small state with even smaller towns. But, honestly? It's a state school, so our incoming class must have had at least a couple thousand kids. It's my firm belief that only The Powers That Be could have intervened and sat me beside this red-headed chick in a dome that seats 22,000.

Years and lots of memories later...we're still friends.

All because of that one fateful meeting down at the Dome.

Happy birthday, Annette!

Tigers, Huskies and Rebels, oh my!

Magnet #316 - LSU Tigers

I wasn't planning on doing birthday shout-outs to everybody I know, I promise, but since I have the perfect magnet (given by her), I'm sending out birthday wishes to my friend, a big LSUfan.

I would have used this magnet for a major LSU victory of some sort, but since my sister's fiance is an Ole Miss alum, I've a feeling it might be a conflict of interest. Especially since Ole Miss did a little raiding of their own yesterday, beating down Texas Tech Red Raiders in the AT&T Cotton Bowl yesterday. (I don't have an Ole Miss magnet, I don't think.)

Of course, their bowl was at least a game with a final score of 47-34. It seems that I could have used this LSU magnet for the Chick-fil-A Bowl (mmmmmmmmm, Chick-fil-A) a couple of days ago, where apparently the LSU Tigers kicked the bee-jeepers (geddit?) out of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets a couple of nights ago, 38-3.

But there is today's LSU/UConn women's basketball game at noon today on CBS. Apparently, the Lady Tigers and the (I thought Lady, but apparently not) Huskies are two of the most storied women's teams in America, both teams having reached five consecutive Final Fours. Dang, that's pretty good, huh. Looks like UConn's ranked number 1, so I will say it (even though Gordon may get huffy): Geaux Tigers!

Whew. This became a totally sporty post, and I didn't mean it to be. Especially when my own allegiances run Carolina Blue! (Even though we lost our own bowl game by a rather depressing one point...31-30. That's ok, we're still doing pretty good in basketball. Of course.)

Joyeux anniversaire, LSUfan!

T-shirt heaven

Magnet #146 - Johnny T-Shirt

Going for a fridge magnet, because I'm on day three of fever, chills and aches.

Anyway, Johnny T-Shirt is one of the best places to find Carolina shirts in Chapel Hill. You can spend at least an hour there, and the one thing you won't be able to do is choose just one shirt to buy.

You know, come to think, I have to say, they may be the best quality tees, too. I still have and wear the shirt I bought there after the 93 Championship.

Dang. That's a great T-shirt.

Not another Carolina victory

Magnet #44 - Carolina

Well, I was saving this one in case Carolina won it all again this year. But, alas, that was not to be the case.

So this magnet serves as a chapter ending to this year's Carolina Basketball program - it was a pretty good run, and it was more than a hundred other teams had, so we really can't complain.

It's truly difficult to feel bad for Carolina - it's a basketball powerhouse, and we can't win it every year - in fact, given our storied history, we've really only won the championship four times - 57, 82, 93, & 05. I was at Carolina in 93, and that was very definitely a good year.

As for this year, it looks as though Kansas finally got Roy Williams for leaving them years ago, so I guess we'll have to give them that, then.

See ya'll next year.

Go Heels!

Magnet #16 - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels

'Nuff said.