Way to go, Steelers! Way to go!

Magnet #346 - Black and Gold Smiley

'Nuff said.

What? Work with me. How many Steelers magnets did you think I would own?

Head over to Cotter's Steelers blog for all of the highlights.

Though what a freakin' amazing game that was.

Congrats, Steeler Nation!

Here we go, Steelers! Here we go!

Magnet #345 - Pittsburgh Steelers

Yep. Game Day.

My best friend's husband is the biggest Steelers fan in Salisbury.

North Carolina.

Which means that whenever you see his giant gold truck tearin' around town, with the license plate Blitzburgh, you know it's him. I think he bleeds black and gold. And, it's funny, because my BFF wasn't ever a big pro ball fan, but now, she's built up quite a collection of Steelerwear, so that she'll be just as tricked out as he is on game day.

So, of course, I thought of them when I was lucky enough to snag my friend's season tickets a couple years ago.

They met me in Pittsburgh, having driven all night in the snow to get there.

I don't know why none of us thought about it, but halfway through our day roaming around Pittsburgh, we sort of realized that we were shamefully unprepared for any sort of tailgating. Which meant that we spent a good portion of the night before looking for what we could take with us the next day. At some point, we were debating tracking down a Kmart or Target to find a hibachi grill. Thank goodness we didn't. Instead, we headed for the first liquor store we could find, and managed to find whatever liquidstuffs would keep us warm at gametime.

The next morning, we managed to find a great place to park, and then wandered into the parking lot. OML, I don't think we were quite prepared for the level of Steeler-crazy tailgating. Jeez, those people know how to tailgate. Seriously, they don't play. Loud music, plenty of booze and food, and tons of black and gold.

Watching my BFF's husband roam around the parking lots, it was like he had found his people. Very sweet. Meanwhile, my BFF and I sat in the truck, guzzling as much liquor as we could to fortify ourselves for the weather. It was snowing. It was cold. And I could not tell you about the second half. All I know is that we lost. And that perhaps finishing off a bottle of that girly Alize blue stuff was probably not a good idea.

Nevertheless, totally a fun weekend in Pittsburgh.

Let's hope they turn Tampa upside down today.

Anyway, real pretty Steelers magnet, huh? But for the real scoop on the real Steelers, check out Cotter's real Steelers blog.

eta:
My sister reminded me yesterday of one of my favorite Loveswepts (ok, I admit, they're all my favorites). But this one was about a couple - both Steelers fans - that get together, so that they could win Steeler playoff tickets. I'd forgotten about it, but looks like the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog didn't.

I suppose Donna (and us, her editors, copyeditors and proofreaders) got some of the football stuff wrong, but c'mon. You gotta give it to me for a fantastic cover.

Home is where the Steelers are

Magnet #344 - Heinz Field

Wherever I go, whenever I can fit it in, I love taking stadium tours. My only true allegiance is with Carolina Tar Heel basketball, so it doesn't matter what team or sport the stadium is for, I just love touring the venues.

There's something majestic about quietly standing in the stands without the loud cheering crowds, while looking down at a field without a single player. And, it's way cool to stand on the 50-yard line even though you can't catch a football, or be in the locker rooms without the boys in it (though, I wouldn't mind if the boys were in it), and hang out in the press boxes or private boxes to see how the other half watch the games.

Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has one of the best tours out there. Highly recommended - no, it's not Three Rivers, but even if you're a sometime fan, you can still feel the history of Steelers past on this site.

They traipsed us all over the stadium grounds - it was fantastic. We totally weren't allowed on the field - our tour was during the season, so they didn't want a bunch of tourists messing up the grass. But, I still managed to steal a couple of blades of grass for a friend of mine - that's me, the rule-breaker. Heh.

They also walked us under the giant ketchup bottles, which reminded me of the giant Coke bottles over at Turner in Atlanta.

Still, we were up in the private boxes - cushy-cushy snap, it's a great view from up there. And in the private lounge areas, and just above their little players private dining area. We went into a couple of famous people's boxes, and the real Steelers fans that we were with, were completely bowled over by being allowed in. I'm not gonna lie, while I was excited for them, it totally flew over my head.

At least until we went through their Steelers hall of fame area, where we were able to take time to look at the memorablia and read about the great players and coaches. Totally learned a lot more just wandering through there. And bonus, we were with maybe 15 people, rather than 15,000.

Oh, and the little shop! Dudes, how fun to run around and pick up tons of Steeler stuff without having to fight your way through mobs of people! Somehow, even though I myself am not a huge fan, I ended up dropping a ton of money anyway. Heh, I even picked up a Terrible Towel for my boss, not knowing the significance.

WHAT? I said I wasn't a huge fan! And now I know, okay? Now I get it.

Well, I know enough to theme this Superbowl weekend with Steeler magnets, anyway.

But, for the real scoop on what's the haps with the Steelers, definitely check out Cotter's One for the Other Thumb blog. He'll get ya educated.

YAZ-zle, not so dazzle

Magnet #343 - FDA

Who says that DVR people don't watch commercials?

Supposedly, folks watching a DVR'd program tend to FF through the commercial pods, but will stop if something they see interesting fly across their screen.

But me? I have this ridiculous habit of forgetting that what I'm watching is on DVR, so I forget to FF. And then about 45 minutes in, I'll realize that I could have saved myself 15 minutes. Sigh.

I did that yesterday, and saw that new YAZ commercial that's apparently on heavy daytime rotation on network tv.

I wouldn't have noticed it at all, were it not for the opening lines: "You may have seen some YAZ commercials recently that were not clear. The FDA wants us to correct a few points in those ads."

Whoa. Looks like someone got in trouuuuuble. Actually, I looked it up. The FDA cited Bayer because they thought the commercials were misleading, something about them implying that YAZ would alleviate all their PMS syndromes, when it doesn't.

There's a part of me that says that the FDA and Bayer called more attention to themselves by running the clarification spots when it's quite possible that no one cared enough in the first place. Of course, I also wasn't running around thinking that YAZ really made any PMS symptoms go away - it's birth control, not a miracle drug.

But, whatever, I'm certainly not debating an ad that should have been cleared properly before airing in the first place. After all, this is a magnet blog.

And to that end...dudes. Does the FDA really get that many requests to identify orphaned drugs that they not only need an 800 number, but a handy magnet to boot?

JOY-ful!

Magnet#342 - Joyful Heart

So like I said, I've been in an intro- and retrospective mood lately.

I was saving this magnet for some cheerful news, but my sister saw it, and it reminded her of our piano teacher Mrs. Louise Pinnix, who always used to call me "JOY-ful!" in her fabulous Southern accent - which I will always hear in my head for as long as I live. (She used to call my sisters, Tiger. I'm convinced it was just to keep from having to tell them apart. Heh.)

The three of us took piano from her for more than a dozen years each, and besides piano, she taught me words like mazurka, and alla turka, and gaddabout, and about people like Tchaikovksy and Bartok.

She was ever the consummate minister's wife, leading pilgrimages to the Holy Land every so often. And, I'm sure that job gave her the patience of Job, because we were all such a handful.

She'd enter us in state contests, make us recital each year, and gave us funny little composer busts every year for Christmas. And she scolded me all the time for not practicing, something I absolutely hated doing.

Which is funny, because I was the one who begged for lessons when I was five. And man, she loved telling everyone how this precious little girl (me, of course) learned how to play the piano by practicing on the kitchen table, before my parents bought our upright.

With three of us taking lessons at a time, that meant spending our free hour at her house each week, working on homework, reading or playing outside. Or better yet, hanging out with Mr. Pinnix back in the den, watching The Andy Griffth Show. He'd get started heating up their dinner, and even now 20-odd years later, I can still remember the smell of dinner cooking, while I sat on her easy chair, re-reading their old Readers Digests.

She was an amazing woman, and we were extremely lucky to know her and have her in our lives. She's probably upset with me up there, knowing that I won't play the piano now, but I've a feeling a lot of what she taught me was more valuable than middle C, anyway.

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!

"If you want a happy ending..."

Magnet #340 - Cinderella's Fairy Tales

"... that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.”

- Orson Welles

It's no secret that I love a good happy ending.

It's why I read books like And the Desert Blooms over and over again.

And watch One Fine Day whenever it's on tv, even though it's sitting right there on my dvd shelf.

And watched, in its entirety, the 235th presentation of the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie (Loving Leah).

For Pete's sake, it's why I wanted to be a romance editor when I was in seventh grade, and how I ended up with that dream job by the time I was 23.

And before you think this a stupid girly-girl post (which it is, but you're still reading, so there), I would be remiss if I didn't readily admit that the cynic in me always fights back and hears P.T. Barnum's "There's a sucker born every minute." in my head. (which apparently, he never said, see this random page about it)

But, this past weekend, I told that cynic to STFU, while I watched, also in its entirety (and in the background while working, which made weekend work a thousand times more bearable), a hundred videos of General Hospital's Aztec Princess storyline on YouTube. It first aired more than 25 years ago, and marked the beginning of the Frisco & Felicia storyline - one of my most-beloved soap couples - ever.

Frisco was a really hot teen pop idol with a few number 1 hits in real life (Hello, remember Lady of my Heart and All I Need? And don't make fun, because you totally know that I have all [yes, there was more than one] his albums). And Felicia was the beautiful, but spoiled, Aztec princess with gorgeous long hair, and a missing treasure.

How can you resist a pairing like that? And what made it all the more magical, was knowing that Jack Wagner and Kristina Malandro ended up married and with kids in real life, too.

And so what if they eventually character-assassinated both Frisco and Felicia, and they didn't stay together on the show?

So what if Jack and Kristina didn't stay together in real life?

So what, I ask.

On YouTube, they'll be together forever, and I get my damned happy ending every time.


eta:
Today I read this post over at Neatorama...apparently, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry (who passed away in 1991) and his wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry (who passed away last month) will be blasting off into space together. So, there's a happy ending, I suppose.