iTunes Fuels Secret Shame Amongst 20-Somethings
Since the advent of the Apple iTunes Music Store, it's become increasingly more tempting to find and buy "that song" you just heard on the radio, TV commercial, or from the guy humming behind you in the Wal-Mart line. For just 99¢ you can be immediately reuinted with a song you haven't heard or thought of in years. Most of the time, I hope, the purchase is somewhat respectable. Other times, you're left glancing nervously over your shoulder as you click "Buy Now." Here's a Friday morning shout out to my embarrassing iTunes purchase of the week. Besides the fact that the Pets.com commercials (Michael Ian Black is hee-larious) might have been my most favorite commercials ever (I actually OWN the dang sock puppet; thanks Matt), last week on a Sex & the City rerun, Carrie Bradshaw danced to this song with her friend Stanford. I was immediately entranced.

If You Leave Me Now, Chicago
If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me
No baby please don’t go
If you leave me now, you’ll take away the very heart of me
No baby please don’t go

A love like ours is love that’s hard to find
How could we let it slip away
We’ve come too far to leave it all behind
How could we end it all this way
When tomorrow comes we’ll both regret
Things we said today

A love like ours is love that’s hard to find
How could we let it slip away
We’ve come too far to leave it all behind
How could we end it all this way
When tomorrow comes we’ll both regret
Things we said today

If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me
No baby please don’t go
Oh girl, just got to have you by my side

No baby, please don’t go

Oh mama, I just got to have your lovin, yeah

We’ve come too far to leave it all behind

A Camera and An Idea
So, my latest project is to make a homemade documentary about my Mummum's house. The last of 13 children, she was literally born IN the house (on the second floor) that her father built, raised her own family there, and as of next month, will be moving out forever. Sadly, the house is then going on the market, left to the whims of a stranger. Because I know just enough about Final Cut Pro to be dangerous, I brainstormed the documentary idea while in a meeting I probably should have been paying attention to. I'm currently in the process of rounding up information from my family. My cousin just sent me this starter list of her memories from the house. I loved these and thought I'd share them, at least until I get around to sharing my own list. Perhaps this sounds a lot like your own memories from your grandparents house.

- riding my bike into the creek

- playing hide and go seek outside (and getting stung by a bee on the lip -- gee, why do these all involve pain??!!) :)

- playing basketball down in the lower lot

- staying overnight and sleeping on the couch, being terrified that someone was coming up the cellar stairs (it was just the furnace running!!)

- the turtle candy jar

- doing puzzles on the table

- on the subject of the table, what's with the 20 layers of tablecloths?

- STAR WARS EVERY SINGLE CHRISTMAS!

- the Christmas tablecloth

- playing Atari on the TV in the kitchen

- the old comic books in the dining room cupboard

Comments
I got sick of Haloscan always deleting my old comments (although I heard recently that you can pay them $12 a year to have them all restored.) Instead of ponying up, I decided to relinquish my strong stance on laziness and just enable Blogger comments. So for right now, I have two sets of comments below. I'm not sure I'm ready to just delete my Haloscan comments. So I'll leave them up for a bit, probably until it gets too confusing (so, like, tomorrow). The first comments link is what you want for leaving new comments. The second is for viewing the old ones.

This is officially the most boring post ever. I couldn't even come up with a catchy title. But maybe after my record-setting worst ever "Whine and Cheese" title, the title gods decided I no longer deserved the gift of clever titling and took back my powers. Yes, I'm sure that's what has happened.

Whine and Cheese, Please


Seattle Seahawks Whine


Yeah, ok, these things have not ceased to be funny to me yet. Maybe that's what a week's worth of ESPN-driven hype will do to you. The finer print says "Made from the finest sour grapes. Also made with poor special teams, one crushing interception, horrid clock management, and tears." He he.

Back to Life, Back to Reality
My first non-football related post for awhile. It’s taken me the better part of a week to realize that life that does not revolve around football does exist. I was pretty out of it there for awhile (shakes head to clear the fog).

While the northeast was swimming waist-deep in snow, we managed to scrape out 3 to 4 inches of the white stuff ourselves. Not too bad for the bluegrass. If there’s another color besides bright green that I love to see our rolling hills and horse farms bathed in, it’s brilliant white. In fact, I can’t decide which one I like more. I’m glad I don’t have to pick, but live in a place that offers me both.


Horizontal Snow

Amazingly, while the snow clung to every branch and bush, it melted the instant it hit the roads. So, don’t fret kids, my weekend plans were in no way hindered. I know you were worried. This isn’t a great picture, but when I got home Saturday night, I realized that the extra little bit of snow we had received that evening seemed to come in horizontally and stay there. I’m not sure how that happened because I don't remember it being especially windy. My whole neighborhood looked like this though.


Vanessa and Mr. Snowman

When Vanessa (my little sister) came over on Sunday she asked me if we could go outside and build a snowman. Besides neither one of us having the proper clothes with which to roll around in the wet snow, I explained to her that while I used to love being outside in the snow as a kid, as an adult I preferred to stay inside, nice and cozy, and watch it. Whoa… did that come out of my mouth? Who loves the snow as much as me and doesn’t like to play in it? And why? Because I didn’t feel like being wet and cold? What happened to my childlike enthusiasm? I felt bad for awhile, but decided that I probably have enough childlike qualities that I can let this one slide. And before you think I'm too cruel, she had spent the entire day before outside with her brothers and sisters making a huge snowman. Instead we made valentine’s cookies and played Monopoly. She was satisfied to make me the cutest little snowman on my back deck. Don’t mind his “right eye.” We had to do a quick surgery (his head fell off just before I tried to take the picture), which left him looking a little more worse for wear. I think it gives him character.

Bittersweet... Symphony?


Something they can't take away from us: Parker's record-setting TD run.

Yeah, that's the song that the Seahawks entered the field to on Super Bowl Sunday. What an odd choice. I'd like to think they were doomed at that point. But "bittersweet" is actually more like how I'm feeling this week, after the initial euphoria, and now that I'm shoved back into the real world, where the average person doesn't bleed black and gold.

"It was a boring game." Fine, then turn on the stinking Puppy Bowl if you're so bored.

"It was sloppy." Who said it was going to be pretty?

"Ben looked scared and performed horribly." Yes, he was scared and I can't blame the kid (I can't believe I am 5 years older than this guy)... I thought he totally got it together, however, and did what he needed to do (can you say taking on an NFL linebacker? how many QBs are doing that??)

Anyways, I can swallow all of those, but you know what I can't handle anymore? "The refs threw the game because the NFL wanted the Steelers to win." Oh really, just like they wanted them to win 4 weeks ago against Indy? Remember the overturned interception? Remember how blatantly wrong that was that the NFL said "My bad!" for the first time in three years? Yeah, I didn't think you guys forgot about that one. Funny how we won anyways, despite the refs.

I can't eek through this week without someone first congratulating me on the win and then making a snarky comment about the officiating. I've been waiting for this my whole dang life (anyone else remember my drama-laden post after the AFC Championship loss last year?), and people are RUINING this experience for me! Here's my three-point sermon about the game:

a) There were some close calls, and other calls which weren't nearly as bad (and certainly not completely wrong) as they're blowing them up to be. There's no conspiracy.
b) Seattle's problems ran deeper than the officiating.
c) Good teams overcome bad officiating (ie. Steelers vs. Colts)

More than all of that, I want to point everyone to Gene Wojciechowski's article on ESPN.com. He says everything I want to say - and says it from a non-Steeler-biased point of view. He readily admits to all the negatives of the game, but rightly scoffs at all the whining and finger-pointing. "...To simply dismiss the Steelers victory as an act of referee kindness is to take a Bettis-sized leap of faith." The Steelers WON this game - as ugly as it was. As nervous as young Ben was (rightly so, anyone see the poor kid on the Grammy's last night?), the team that found a pretty way to win three straight playoff road games, then found an ugly way to win the Super Bowl. They won. Period. End of story. Now shut up about it and let me enjoy this, people! And in return, when YOUR team makes it to whatever championship game is appropriate, I will say "Congrats!" and leave it at that, no matter what happens. Because that time is for the fans alone to enjoy. This is OUR moment, Seattle fans, you had your chance and you lost it.

(Clutching her Terrible Towel, Julie dismounts her soapbox.)