O for a Muse of Fire: Shakespeare and Sci-Fi

August 3, 2015August 3, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

From the (admittedly, many) gifs on this blog you might have figured out that my tastes run a little…nerdy. Science fiction and fantasy are two of my favorite genres. But I’m also a theater kid…so I’m all about the Bard, bout the Bard, not Marlowe. (sorry, I couldn’t help it!)

I am doing a re-watch of Stargate (the TV show) while I do work for the next school year (see, teachers do work during the summer!) and one of the episodes is titled “Brief Candle”. And that got me thinking.

Brief candle is a reference to a line from Macbeth:

“Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”

If you read that, you notice there’s also the title of a William Faulkner novel (The Sound and the Fury) but…I digress. So with that particular thought, my brain went down the rabbit hole of useless knowledge and brought to mind two other Stargate episode titles. These were both in the fourth season of Stargate: Atlantis, the titles are “This Mortal Coil” and “Be All My Sins Remember’d”. These weren’t considered part of a two-parter, but they were connected, as the story flowed almost immediately from “This Mortal Coil” and picked up in “Be All My Sins…”. These, of course, both come from the uber-famous soliloquy in Hamlet that starts off “to be, or not to be?”. “be all my sins” is actually the last line of the soliloquy.

“To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; aye, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.”

and

“Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia? Nymph, in thy Orisons
Be all my sins remembered”

I don’t care who you are, that’s powerful stuff. Now, if we continue down the rabbit hole, we realize that Shakespeare is all over science fiction. Lines from plays act as titles for episodes in shows like Babylon 5, The Twilight Zone, and Dr. Who. Lines, plays, and characters are referenced within those shows as well, and many more. For example, two of the planets in Firefly are named “Ariel” and “Miranda” (Miranda is the “brave new world”) which all comes from the play The Tempest.

Which brings the question: why? Why is Shakespeare invoked in shows that are usually set hundreds, if not thousands, of years after he lived, and in places where there are almost no similarities to Elizabethan England?

One answer, the answer I’m not fond of, is that shows, especially science fiction ones, use Shakespeare to “raise the brow” on their show so it doesn’t see so “low brow”. I have no doubt that shows did that, but the ones I have mentioned are your sci-fi classics. Does anyone really think Dr. Who would throw in Shakespeare to avoid appearing “low brow”? No. I don’t think so. Some of these shows are filled with literary references.

The 2003 Battlestar Galactica series references religious and political works and figures, both historical and mythological. Apollo? Hera? ringing any bells? As well as quoting Shakespeare in few episodes. And Babylon 5 is a treasure trove of literary references. The show quotes Yeat’s poem “The Second Coming” for crying out loud. (You know, “what rough beast, his hour come round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?”) They also quote Upton Sinclair, reference Tolkien, Edgar Rice Burrows, Asimov, and, of course, Shakespeare.

So I don’t think the whole “raise the brow” reason is the real one. No, to find the real one we need to look at the science fiction series that references Shakespeare more than any other: Star Trek. I mean, one of the movies is called “The Undiscovered Country” and one of the Klingons (played by the magnificent Christopher Plummer) quotes Shakespeare extensively, though he does suggest that you must “read it in the original Klingon”.

(sidebar: if any of you are interested in doing so, the Klingon Language Institute – yes, that’s a real thing – has translated Hamlet and Much Ado about Nothing, and are working on translating Macbeth into Klingon. Click on the title to see that I’m not kidding. You can buy them on Amazon.)

The original series has seven, yes seven, episodes with titles taken from Shakespeare and several of them also follow the same plot as a few of the plays. Both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager have an episode title taken from Shakespeare, and quote (or misquote) the bard in several episodes.

They don’t use these things to “raise the brow” on a series that is, generally speaking, a fantasy and has the potential to be incredibly silly. (tribbles, anyone?). But that’s not Trek, Trek uses it to draw parallels, to give the audience a relatable frame of reference for something fantastical. No show, in my opinion, does this more than Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Now I will begin by saying that if I had the talented, classically trained Sir Patrick Stewart as one of my leads, we’d be Shakespearing it up because he is fantastic in general, but he nails Shakespeare. He speaks lines that are linguistically very difficult and full of meaning in a way that sounds conversational and yet doesn’t lose the meaning. (If you need a recent reference, go watch Richard II from The Hollow Crown. Stewart is superb as John of Gaunt.)

So, how does Star Trek use Shakespeare? For example, in the episode Hide and Q, Q is trying to get a read on humanity and he uses Shakespeare as a sort of reference: (in this scene, Q is assuming that Picard has not read the real book in his library, which is an assumption made when the powerful Q underestimates the mortal human)

Q: Hear this, Picard, and reflect: “All the galaxy is a stage.”
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: World, not galaxy. “All the world’s a stage.”
Q: Oh, you know that one. Well, if he were living now, he would have said galaxy. How about this, uh… “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I see. So how we respond to a game tells you more about us than our real life, this… tale, told by an idiot? Interesting, Q.

So Q has judged and found humanity wanting, and Picard challenges Q on this (actually using Shakespeare to call Q an idiot, as his “game” is the “tale”.) Which is great, but it gets better. Picard then uses one of the most powerful lines from Hamlet, which in the play is used ironically, but here is delivered with the sincerity that only someone like Sir Patrick Stewart can do. (for a video of this scene, click here).

Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, I know Hamlet. And what he might say with irony, I say with conviction: “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god!”
Q: Surely, you don’t see your species like that, do you?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I see us one day becoming that, Q. Is it that which concerns you?

In this we see a moral human going up against the omnipotent Q. By drawing on Shakespeare, and not making some Braveheart-style stirring speech, we are informed that words are powerful things, that they can help you stand up to an impossible power, but they are not always your own. It gives the scene a sense of reality, which is needed because a Captain arguing with an immortal, omnipotent, all-powerful being in the ready room of his starship is pretty out there. A stirring speech would have felt less powerful, somehow. (By quoting Shakespeare, it also sets up a little arrogance on Picard’s part, which is later corrected by Q in his own way – but that’s a story for another day).

The bard is all over The Next Generation. They perform parts of plays, Picard rattles off as many sonnets and bits of Othello that he can in a stalling effort, there are four episodes with titles from Shakespeare, largely pulling from Hamlet, but also using plays ranging from The Tempest to Henry V.

The point of this is not to keep the show more intellectual, or to show off their acting chops, it is to give context. To provide familiarity in a show where the entire premise is something that, at the moment, can only exist in the imagination. To draw parallels and make you think.

Shakespeare in science fiction isn’t new, and it isn’t going away. I, for one, love it. Whether all the “world” is a stage or all the “galaxy”, Shakespeare’s words are powerful and still relevant.

SoHvaD yIyuDQo’ ram tlha’ba’ pem, qar’a. vaj tlha’ je ghu’vam: Hoch ghotvaD bIyuDHa’ je, ‘ej bIquvbej. <— that’s not gibberish, it’s Klingon for:

“This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

Hamlet, Act I, scene 3

(and no, I don’t speak klingon. but it’s amazing what you can google)

Papa’a la but Hau`oli

July 6, 2015July 6, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

Aloha!

So…Hawaii? Gorgeous.

Like, stunning.

We are staying in a house about a mile from a beautiful, huge stretch of beach, some cute little shops, and best of all, not in a super touristy area (like Waikiki).

So far my Hawaiian experience has been great. We’ve gone to the beach a few days, gone to a farmers market, gone on a hike (more on that later), and even running has been incredible.

Lets start with the weather. The place I’m staying has no AC. That’s only been a problem a few nights when my sunburn (regrettable…more on that later too) was making me hotter than normal which made it hard to sleep. But with the way I burned, it would have been hard to sleep anyway. So, in short, the weather is fantastic. It gets down in the 70s at night and up in the 80s during the day. It gets a little hot and muggy after it rains, but other than that the weather is very pleasant. Perfect, almost.

Now, on to the hike.

So we were planning on doing the pillbox hike but the weather looked dicey so we chose to do a lighthouse hike (which is paved and in a different area).

Okay, so there are these things all over O’ahu called “pillboxes”. They’re these little concrete structures that were lookout stations during World War II, but they kind of look like little pill boxes. So that’s what they’re called now. And they are all over the island on the hills and mountains (which makes sense, they were meant to help look out for Japanese planes/ships/etc.).

A pillbox on the top of the mountain.

So we went to what was called the “lighthouse hike” because there is a lighthouse on the side of the mountain that you can see. The hike is actually called “Makapu’u Head” which is the eastern most point on the island.

There are actually three hikes. One is actually an abandoned road (called Ka’iwi) that goes almost to the top of the mountain. It’s about a mile and a quarter up to the top, but it’s paved and has a gentle rise. We took a five-year old and he was fine. And we saw plenty of people with strollers. That’s the first, most common, hike. The second is one that takes you all the way to the very top

of the mountain where there are more WW2 bunkers and another pillbox (there are several on the mountain). This was not for little kids, it’s more of a hike, unpaved, and requires climbing. Not major climbing, mind you, the stones almost make “stairs”, but it’s not just like going up the stairs in your house. The last part is Ka’iwi Shoreline. It’s a nice, flat walk that leads you to a nice little beach and some rocky areas. And all of it is absolutely gorgeous.

A pillbox on the top of the mountain.

This was great because I got to do the trail at the top, and everyone in our party got to do the road and the trail to the beach. According to fitbit, I did 4.2 miles that day, which is about right, considering the road trail is 2.5 miles on it’s own, then we did the Ka’iwi shore and I climbed to the top of the mountain. This was all in a town called Waimanalo (pronounced like “why man aloe”), which is pretty close to Kailua (which, in Hawaii, everything is “pretty close” compared to life on the mainland…)

at the bottom of the shoreline trail, the Pacific ocean ladies and gents

On to the burn.

I am descended from a long line of Irish folks. Pale, creamy white Irish folks. Equatorial sun and I do not mix well. And me, being the hippie that I am, I decided to use organic sunscreen. I bought this organic 30 SPF thinking that if I applied it more frequently it would be just as effective as the 50-70 SPF range that is not organic. I tried it out at a pool at home in southeastern VA. 2 hours and not a bit of sun. So I pack the sunscreen, thinking, if I re-apply every hour I can use this and not put weird chemicals on my body. (the clean eating is slowly expanded into trying to be clean and organic everything). I dutifully re-applied my sunscreen. I wore a hat.

I got completely burnt on my chest, back, and shoulders.

Thank goodness it was early in the vacation, which means I don’t have to ride in a plane with crazy sunburn AND I’m in a wedding with a strapless dress two days after we get back from Hawaii.

So now I have some really nice burn lines that need to do something about for the wedding I’m in. It’s only in…oh, a week.

That’s it for now. We leave tomorrow (SO SAD!) but I have lots more to tell later.

Aloha!

the view from the top…pretty stunning

Maha’oi (rude)

June 27, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

Today I have time traveled, been bumped from my seat, and ran through an airport Home Alone style in very loud flip flops. (Sanuks, I love you but running through the airport wearing you and carrying a 20 lb. backpack and wearing a long skit was not my best plan).

Currently, I’m sitting in LAX (more on that later), charging all my devices and waiting for my next 6 hour flight.

Lets start with LAX.

Interesting place.

I don’t like it.

The people are pushy, the food is overly hipster and it’s like this big, fancy, chaotic mess…

It looks nice (minus the construction). The chairs are arranged in a cool pattern, the food court looks cool and has lots of cool looking places to sit.

But there’s no space. And the chairs are cute but not functional. And there’s a very confusing shuttle system that is not terribly well marked.

Of course, it could just be that I am in a bad mood because I’ve spent six hours flying from Philly to LA, and before that I ran through the airport in Philly to just barely make my flight, and before that my first flight this morning was delayed an hour (which was the reason for the mad dash through the Philadelphia airport).

That could absolutely be it. And I still have 6 more hours to go.

Yuck.

I just hope the next 6 hour flight is better than the one from Philly to LA. Because we ran through the airport and barely made the flight, they’d given our seats away so my party was separated. I ended up in the very back of the plane in between a nice older woman and a teenager. My seat, though I hate the middle of the airplane, wasn’t bad, but all the people that sort of just…stand there and stare at you while they wait for the bathroom…weird. And if you get air sick, I absolutely do not recommend the back of the plane.

Which brings me to a salient lesson from this morning. So when we got to the airport and made it through security at 7 AM for our 7:45 flight (totally on time), we realize that the 6 AM flight to Philly hasn’t left yet and we get the phone call that our flight won’t be ready to go until 9 AM. That’s a problem when you have a 9:55 AM connecting flight in Philly, and if you miss that, it messes up the flight from Philly to LAX, and then from LA to Hawaii.

So here we are, standing in line like everyone else at the ticket counter to see what we can do to NOT miss our flight and have to reschedule…everything. Then around 7:30 they start boarding the 6 AM flight people. And what do you know, a couple decides to get in line to board the plane even though they were on the 7:45 flight. One the folks in line figured it out, there were some pointed comments made, but the couple continued to stand in line for the other flight. Then someone said something to them directly, mentioning that there’s a line and we’d all been waiting, so they couldn’t just go up to the front.

The person’s response? A very flippant “we just want some information” was the answer.

But that’s what everyone is doing. When that was pointed out to this couple, they refused to move.

I mean, how entitled can you get?

What makes you so special that you don’t have to wait in line like the rest of us? Seriously. Totally rude.

And guess what, Mr. and Mrs. Entitled, you’re not special. You don’t get a special treatment. Everyone in this line has a connecting flight they have to make. Some of us have more than one. And everyone in this line has been here for an hour or so. You do not get to just cut because you don’t want to wait in line.

Rude.

They had a few spots left on the 6 AM (no leaving at 745) flight and everyone in that line wants the few seats. And I felt like if they gave the seats to the Rude Couple, the line would riot. Because the line was NOT happy with the rude couple. At all.

So here’s the best part.

He finally sneaks in and grabs the lady that had just finished checking in all the 6 AM people who were originally scheduled for that flight. She looks right at him and says “Sir, I understand you have connecting flights. That’s what everyone in that line right there has. So I’m going to need you to head to the back of the line and wait your turn.”

I’m surprised the line didn’t cheer. I did a little inside cheer for her.

And then the airline kept calling folks to inform them about the flight changes. So literally everyone’s phone went off at the same time. Like, three times because the flight time kept changing. So one guy just turned his phone on speaker and held it up.

I will say this: nothing brings people together like shared misery at the airport.

Note: we have finally arrived! I’ll post more from Hawaii later 😀

Aloha, ‘apala kaika ‘awa’awa

June 21, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

Very roughly translated, the title of this post means “Hello” (or goodbye) and “apple cider vinegar”.

You may ask, what do Hawaii and Apple cider vinegar have in common?

The answer: nothing. They merely both happen to be having an impact on my life at the moment.

Let’s start with Hawaii.

In just a few days I will begin a day-long journey across the country and part of an ocean to see my sister who just happens to live in, you guessed it, Hawaii.

Ah…so beautiful. And I will be there so soon. If I can ever finish laundry and packing and all the other millions of things I need to get done and we’re getting so that I leave in days. Days.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m OCD so I’ve already started and mostly finished my packing. But it’s summer and what I wear here (I’ll admit, nike running shorts and tanks/tees) is what I will be wearing there, so I had to plan laundry and pack so that the last few things that went into the washing machine will, in fact, fit in the suitcase. And I haven’t even started gathering things for my carry-on, getting books on my kindle and a paper back or two, rounding up chargers (kindle, iPhone, fitbit, etc.), printing out confirmations and reservations, finding all of my travel items, getting my quart-sized bag of 3oz or less liquid containers…

This list is making me feel like I should be working on packing instead of writing. Oops.

We will be gone for two glorious weeks, which is awesome, and then when I come back, I still have a whole month before I even need to think about school or work. But we do come back a mere two days before my cousin;s wedding, which I’m in, so that’s going to be a rush. Fingers crossed that my dress is ready to pick up from the tailors on Monday. And that I can find the jewelry I want to wear…

I digress. Hawaii, yay! I’ll try to blog from there but…meh, I’m on vacation and my posting is spotty at best (I’m trying, my goal is twice a week, we’ll see how that goes).

I’m super excited and I have so much to do but I’m sure it’ll all get done. And if I forget anything, my sister lives near a Target. And you can find everything you need and a million things you never knew you needed at Target.

Now for the second part of the title. Apple cider vinegar.

I know, random. But that’s how I roll. If you haven’t seen it on Pinterest, you may not know this, but apparently, Apple Cider Vinegar does many things. The one I will be focusing on today is hair. You can use Apple Cider Vinegar (hereafter abbreviated ACV) as a sort of cleanser/conditioner. I love this idea, because it’s cheap, it’s chemical free, and my hair is super thin and needs as much help as it can get.

Per a great deal of googling, I learned that ACV cleanses excess product out of your hair, helps fight split ends, and helps your hair hold moisture. All good things.

So I decided to try it. You put some apple cider vinegar in a container with some water (depending on which site you look at, it’s 1 cup water to 1/2 cup vinegar, or 1 part water to 1 part vinegar). I estimated and did about a 1/1 ratio. After shampooing my hair, I dumped this on my head, rubbed it in a bit, and then rinsed it out. I smelled like salad for a few minutes, but the smell was gone long before I left the shower, so that’s good news.

But the best news?

The best news is how my hair feels. This gif expressed my feelings perfectly:

I literally cannot stop touching my hair. It feels SO SOFT. Like it does after they wash it at the salon.

Amazing.

I am so going to keep trying this. I even made myself a little 3oz container of ACV to take to Hawaii. And if continues to work, once I run out of the shampoo I couponed* for, I think I may try no-poo.

*I haven’t bought shampoo in a year, I got a really good deal one day and bought a ton for almost nothing…

Hey, it’s summer, it’s not like I have to go into work if my hair has a hard time transitioning (which, I hear, is occasionally an issue).

I love being a teacher 🙂

Aloha, mahalo, A hui hou kākou

Match.com, Match.com, Make Me a Match…

June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

It will come as a surprise to no one that I have tried online dating. (I’m in my late 20s and still single…you do the math) but man is it weird.

I mean weird.

Not necessarily the people (though…yeah…some serious wackos on there), but also the whole…process. It’s not exactly normal to “wink” at someone or send them an email when you don’t know them.

And the whole point of the site is to match you up for dating so that adds a whole other layer of awkward. And if you’re an awkward person to begin with (i.e., me!) then it makes it super awkward.

Sigh.

Finding the right guy is hard. It almost makes me wish for the days when parents arranged matches. Almost. Maybe I would let a select panel of people choose me a husband…but not just my parents. As much as I love them…yeah, no.

Does anyone else feel me? I just have a hard time with the whole online dating thing. Half the time the guys who are interested in my are not Christians (which, sorry dudes, but that gives you an automatic “no”) or are way too young or way too old. I know age is just a number but a girl’s gotta have her standards. At least a little.

On to happier (or, at least, less awkward…) things.

How about the Red Sox?

No, that doesn’t work. I just wish they could get their pitching and hitting going at the same dang time.

Basketball?

Hate the Cavs. Hope they lose. Not terrible invested.

Hockey?

Hate the Blackhawks and the Lightening. Can a hole open up and swallow them both?

Oh! Of course. My beloved Dave Ramsey.

Now that I’m significantly less in debt and my vacation is paid for, I like him again. I have exited the DR Doldrums and am now focusing with gazelle-like intensity on my goals. I’m even starting the whole process of looking to buy a house. Seriously, when did I get so…adult???

And on an even happier note, SCHOOL IS OVER!!!! I AM FREE!

I’m really not even excited about it 😉 I miss getting up in the morning and dealing with my lovable band of…minions. (not really, I love them and I love my job but summer is pretty much the most awesome thing EVER).

Happy summer y’all 🙂

Llama, Llama, Run From Mama

February 26, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

In case you missed it, two llamas got loose today in Sun City, Arizona. No, I’m not kidding. The hashtag #llamasontheloose was trending and people were watching the whole thing unfold on TV. If you did miss it, Deadspin has condensed the entire chase and put it to some entertaining music. You can view that video (and see some hilarious gifs) here.

It’s pretty entertaining, I’m not gonna lie.

In fact, it’s been a nice distraction since we are AGAIN snowed in.

We missed the entire week last week thanks to President’s Day/Snow and we missed yesterday, today, and will miss tomorrow because of the same evil white stuff.

Yes, I know up north they function with, like, 3 feet of snow and we shut down for 3 inches, but that’s also because we don’t have the equipment to take care of said snow. I think we have 50 plows for three cities to share, and that’s including some privately owned ones. So streets don’t get clear very quickly.

I did shovel my driveway today. That was a great workout, and I felt productive as well.

And after that, my family could get out of our house for a bit. Not for anything important, mind you, just to get dollar drinks (tea and soda) from Hardees and chicken nuggets for my notoriously picky father’s lunch.

I kid you not.

Since I’ve been home, I like to think I’ve been productive, but I haven’t. I did do my budget for March and started working a bit on April and travel plans for the summer. I read. A lot. A whole lot. I researched. I was on Pinterest. I was on Pinterest. I was on Pinterest.

Yeah…might have been on Pinterest a whole, whole lot.

While on pinterest/twitter/online shopping, I came across the new swimsuit ads for ModCloth.

Let me just derail for a second and explain just how much I love ModCloth. They have absolutely ADORABLE clothing that is, for the most part, reasonably priced. It’s all vintage inspired and indie so no one is going to have the same dress as you. (I’m serious, the only time I’ve ever seen anything I own on someone else was one time a lady on jeopardy was wearing a dress I bought on ModCloth and the next day she had on another ModCloth piece, so she became the person I was cheering for). I digress. Anyway, here are some of the items from my most recent order (I NEED spring so I can wear these!)

Cute, yes?

They sell lots of things, but I’m a big dress wearer when it comes to clothes for work so…yeah. Also, losing weight is great but when a new season rolls around and you’re smaller than you were the last time that season was here…not so good.

Again, digressing.

But that’s not my #1 reason for loving ModCloth. It’s also because they are using their own employees (REAL WOMEN) in their swimsuit ad and have taking the Brave Girls Alliance Heroes Pledge for Advertisers. (read more here) This is the pledge:

Basically, it states that the pictures in an ad need to reflect what the person ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE.

It’s a little scary how much is photoshopped in/out of photos these days. There was a leaked photo from Victoria’s Secret where they had changed the color of the suits, taken away straps, eliminated any rolls and expression lines, and enhanced the women’s cleavage. So, basically, not humanly possible.

No cool, Vicky, not cool.

But they’re not alone. Lots of advertisers, magazines, and others do this. All. The. Time.

But we’re starting to see a shift. We’re starting to see more companies take the stance against photoshopping, mostly from online retailers, but still, it’s happening. Just take a look at the ad for ModCloth’s bathing suits:

Personally, I LOVE it. I hate body shaming, and while I am in the process of becoming healthier and losing weight, I also don’t think anyone should be shamed because of the shape they are in.

In my experience, you can’t really effectively lose weight until you start to love yourself for who you are. So when I finally said “Okay, I’m 180 lbs, which is big for my frame. I have to accept that and rock that” things started to turn around. I ditched any clothes that were too small, except for a few “goal outfits”, and rocked the body I had. Then I decided that if I really loved myself, I would take care of my body. It’s a mind shift from the “I’m fat, I have to lose weight” idea. Soon I began to look at myself and say “I’m okay with this, but I can be better”. And I am. I’m down quite a few pounds since then, and I even fit in two of my four goal outfits (yay!). And I’m not done. But I look in the mirror now and I know that I look good. And when I lose ten more pounds because I am taking care of my body, feeding it the right things, working out, getting regular sleep, etc., I’ll still look good. But it’s all about that acceptance. And these ridiculously skinny girls who are 7 feet tall and photoshopped and made-up and properly lit should not be the standard of beauty.

This mentality is one of the main reasons I love ModCloth, because they are more about the individual and her style than cookie cutter “you must look like this and wear this” that you see at chain stores. And they have a cook feature where each product that is reviewed might come with the measurements of the reviewer or even a picture of said person in the dress/shirt/pants/etc.

This means I can find a girl who is close to my size and see her/read what she has to say about an outfit. It’s nice, because sometimes I’ll read a comment and go “good, I won’t buy this because everyone says it’s not good for short girls with large chests…” Or “everyone says that it’s short, but those people are all tall, so this should be the perfect length on my short frame.” Or I look at the pictures and go “That looks so good on her! It would look good on me too!”

You won’t believe how much this improves shopping for me. It helps me make decisions, helps me not overlook fabulous finds, and generally lets me know if I’m getting a good product for my money. I highly recommend it.

That’s all for now, I’m going to get back to reading and enjoying my snow days 😀

We’ve Got Cabin Fever…It’s Burning In Our Brain

February 20, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

We’ve been snowed in for almost a week now. Not Boston-level snowed in by any stretch of the imagination, but snowed in for us, which basically means 4″ of snow, some ice, and Hoth-level temperatures for the rest of the week. Which means I haven’t been in school all week.

So let me go over a few things I haven’t talked about on my hiatus. First off, can we just celebrate for a moment the fact that the Patriots are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS?????

I’m done!!! That was such an AWESOME moment. I literally fell on the floor (I was at a party, people can vouch for this).

And I heard the best Boston sports question EVER the week after the Super Bowl:

If you walked into a bar and Malcolm Butler and Dave Roberts were both there and you only have enough money to buy one of them a drink, who do you buy for?

Ug. I can’t even decide. Butler put to rest so many demons…Spygate, 2007, 2011…but Dave Roberts’s steal basically started off the chain reaction that put to rest 86 years of nonsense for the Red Sox. Too hard. Can’t do it.

Speaking of the Red Sox, it’s SPRING TRAINING! It’s HERE! PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORTED TODAY! BASEBALL SEASON IS STARTED!!!!!!

I’m so stinking excited. Not only because I love baseball (seriously…love it) but because it’s like the heralding of spring. It means that all this stupid winter stuff is going to melt away and the temperatures will warm up (it’s a balmy 18 degrees right now…) and we can pull out the spring clothes and get ready for that magical time known as SUMMER.

I can’t even…

So on to another topic. I’ve had a lot of time this snow break to work on finances. Dave Ramsey. So fun. It’s in the book a little, but I didn’t realize how absolutely irritating the, let’s just call them “DR Doldrums” are. I’m almost done with my first debt (yay!) and then I’ll start snowballing the next debt. And I see the light way, way, way at the end of the tunnel but right now all I keep thinking is “AM I EVER GOING TO HAVE ANY MONEY AGAIN?”.

I know. I know. Stick to the plan. It’s going to work out if you stick to the plan. It’s like loosing weight. It sucks while you’re doing it, and you may not see progress ALL the time, but the end is worth all the work and sweat and healthy eating.

I’m going with the mantra I have been learning to apply to everything: Jesus take the wheel.

Right now I’m discouraged, right now I don’t want to snowball my debts, I want to go to Hawaii and buy new spring clothes and shop and go out more. But that’s not how this works. That’s what got me into this mess, and stopping all those behaviors is what will get me out.

It’s exactly like loosing weight. I had to change the way I ate, completely, before I could really start to lose (30 lbs so far! and continuing) So with my finances I have to change the way I think and the way I do things. And once that first debt is gone, it’ll feel really good and I will get that adrenaline boost, similar to the one you get from losing 5 lbs. And then I’ll feel more ready to tackle the next debt and it will snowball, but right now I still have the debt, I have lots of things coming up I need to pay for, and I’m in the DR Doldrums. I’ll just have to keep watching highlights of Super Bowl XLIX and see pictures from Spring Training to help motivate me. Because if I ever want to GO to spring training or buy Patriots things again, I have to get my brain in a better financial place.

Jesus take the wheel, cause I’m gonna crash if I drive. And just so I don’t end this blog on a low note, here’s Tom Brady jumping up and down in reaction to the Butler interception (what was Carroll thinking????)

Super Bowl, Super Broke, and Six Times a Bridesmaid

January 31, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

Well, the Super Bowl is tomorrow.

The Super Bowl is tomorrow.

Holy cow, the Super Bowl is tomorrow!!! Yeah!!!!

So I’m off to the grocery store in about ten minutes, just as soon as I finish this blog to get my supplies for sausage balls and the Super Bowl party I’m going to tomorrow.

Sometimes, it’s hard for me to go to a Super Bowl party. I’m a little nuts when I watch football. If you’ve ever read this blog, you might have noticed I’m a bit of a fans. Just a bit. However, the last three times the Patriots won the Super Bowl I was at a church Super Bowl party. The other two times? I was at a party at a friend’s house.

Yes, I know that where I watch the Super Bowl has absolutely ZERO impact on the game. Rationally, I know that. However, like the good sports fan that I am, I am totally and irrationally superstitious. I will be wearing the same jersey I’ve worn all playoffs.

So, anyway, that’s usually why I watch at home. Mostly because I have to control myself around the general public and I don’t have to do that at home. I might or might not yell at a the TV, talk back to the announcers (my go to is “shut up, Collinsworth, you’re an idiot”), and insult the intelligence of the refs…

So what am I making? really, really bad for you (but mostly clean!) sausage balls.

I’ll make my own bisquick out of wheat flour (yay clean eating), then combine it with two pounds of sausage and cheddar. Then I’ll bake them in little balls and they will be delicious.

That’s okay, as all the cross-fit, paleo girls who are coming to the party are saying that the Super Bowl is a diet “cheat day”. I’m down with that. I’ll probably go to the gym tomorrow so I don’t feel like a total pig because I can guarantee some stress eating will happen. It’s the Patriots. I’ll indulge my tendency to stress eat a little tomorrow, since there will still be no retail therapy.

So I’m a solid month into the Total Money Makeover. And I’ve already goofed.

Here’s how, so you can avoid rookie mistakes like this. I get paid on the 15th and 30th. So I did my budget based on that. But I neglected the whole surviving from the 30th to the next paycheck thing. So I had budgeted to have used every last cent of my paychecks on the 15th and 30th during the month of January.

See the problem?

I would have had no money (I mean NONE) until February 15th. So I added something new: flex money. On the 30th, I will pull out $100 to cover anything that there isn’t money left over for until the next paycheck comes and I can replenish the envelopes.

I’m sure this “flex money” will eventually not be needed as I get better at planning ahead and sticking like super glue to my budget. But until I adjust, this is just how it’s gonna be. Plus I can use the flex money to cover things like baby shower presents and bridesmaid dresses (I’m going for my 6th trip down the aisle NOT wearing white.) instead of having to figure them into the budget every month as they come up.

Yes, I just found out like ten minutes ago that I would be bridesmaid dress shopping on Monday night.

So I guess I better go easy on the snacks at the Super Bowl. There is NOTHING worse than trying on bridesmaid dresses when you’re all bloated and feel gross. I mean, some of them are hideous enough as it is. You don’t need the added bonus of bloating and grossness to add to the chances of trying on some truly awful dresses.

I actually enjoy dress shopping and there are some really wonderful dresses out there, but I have never been dress shopping for these things where I didn’t try on at least ONE dress that was hideously ugly. Seriously, what bridge puts her friends/family in dresses like that????

Guys, the movie 27 Dresses was only mild hyperbole. There are some really bad dresses out there. And some really regrettable wedding choices. Can I just elope please? ~~(can someone just ask me out, please???)~~ 😉

In all seriousness, I am very happy for my cousin, and hopefully we will get good dresses. I haven’t had any truly hideous ones, just a few that weren’t my taste. Though I’ve tried on some doozies (including one that we now refer to as “the shiny poop dress”).

I’ll try to find time to break down the game before tomorrow, and if not, there will be either a euphoric post next week or a post next week about the glories of hockey and baseball with a side of depression.

And I know I said I’d review Sons of Liberty. You have to actually watch it to review it…I’ll get to it eventually. It’s chilling in the DVR. So when I watch, I will review.

For now, Go Pats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s a video from Jimmy Kimmel that is hysterical followed by some blatant homerism and gifs.

#doYourJob #OnToSeattle #onToSB49

I Resolve. Sort of.

January 27, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

So, dearest blog, what’s new?

Other than my SUPER long rant about that-which-shall-not-be-mentioned-about-balls, I’ve neglected this blog.

First year teaching = less of a life than grad school. I didn’t think that was possible, but it is.

But it’s January, time for the oh-so-trite resolutions. Note, I still have my resolution to lose weight. I went through Christmas without gaining any, which I think is a win. So that’s still there, but I’ve learned to do baby steps with my weight loss goals. I don’t really count that as a “resolution”.

One resolution I’ve had is to be more organized. The other is to do Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.

To do these, I knew I needed some supplies:

For my budgeting and organizing, I chose an Erin Condren planner, a cute binder (thanks Hobby Lobby!) and a bunch of Pinterest printables. I would list them all but I honestly don’t remember which ones I ended up using and which I did not. They’re all on this board:

Follow sara’s board Organization Compulsion Disorder on Pinterest.

So I got my binder ready, I used cardstock and my circle cutter to make tabs for financial things, for health things, and for my to do lists and grocery lists.

Then I got Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover from the library. I read it cover to cover. It was a very interesting read, actually, not at all what I expected. And it kicked. My. Butt.

Man.

I thought I was making decent financial decisions. And then Dave tells you this and tells you why this is the truth and it makes sense and it’s totally a “duh, why didn’t I think of that before!” kind of thing. Granted, not everything was like that, but he lays it all out, logical and without any nonsense or business-ese mumbo-jumbo.

So now I’ve got a budget for the first time ever (shocking, at 28, I know, but true!). I’ve also got envelopes with cash and I’m not allowed to use my debit card. I’m focusing with gazelle-like intensity on getting rid of my debt (the book explains that little nugget…) and it’s…hard.

I mean, really, really hard. I wanted a “Do Your Job” t-shirt from the Pats pro shop (here…it’s wonderful, fits great and is super soft!) so I had to sacrifice ordering lunch with my fellow teachers for the entire month. I cut my grocery budget so I could buy things for my classroom. I know I have money and I can’t spend it because it’s earmarked for my debt.

It sucks.

Like, a lot.

A whole lot.

But what’s getting me through (other than my super-cute binder) is the idea that after next month, this debt will be gone, and by April this one will be paid off and the car is done by this and student loans will be done in two years. TWO YEARS. How many people can say that? Though I might have to stretch mine out to five because I work in a low-income, high-need area and can get some of them forgiven. But those are questions for when my Student Loans are my only debt and I can start saving for a down payment and become a homeowner.

For reals, y’all.

That’s an awesome thought. But I’m not going to deny it’s hard. I’m going through a lot of things right now where my prayer is just “Jesus, you take control”. I’ve even found myself singing the line “Jesus take the wheel” whenever I get down about my singleness (not too often) or my debt issue (more often) or my weight (almost daily).

What was it that they say in The Princess Bride? Oh yeah “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something”. And that’s totally true but not true. Yes, there is a lot of pain in life. Some small, some soul crushing, but it’s there. I try not to let it get to me.

I usually have a sunny outlook and disposition, and really, the things that pain me are totally what you would call #1stworldproblems. But they’re still problems. And that’s why I’m trying to constantly say “Jesus take the wheel” because when I drive, I drive like a crazy grandma who can’t stay on the road and is likely to wreck the car before I get to my destination. So it’s better if someone with a little more experience and grace takes over. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Oh no.

Not for this girl.

I am a straight-up, Monica Geller style control freak. I mean, I have a planner where I write down LITERALLY everything I have to do. From dentist appointments to making my bed to laundry. It all goes in the planner so that I have a schedule and I know what I need to do.

Yes. I am that bad. But it is helping. And being this crazy organized is helping me get through my first year of teaching (halfway there!!!!!! wohoo!!!) and it is helping with the whole budget “no you can’t buy that” thing.

Why am I struggling so much? I’ll tell you. My default stress things are shopping and food. I can’t shop because I’m on a budget. Gizelle-like intensity and all that. And I don’t want to do food because I’ve worked too hard to get where I am and I’m not going back.

My solution: reading, working out, cleaning, and Pinterest. Whichever one strikes me at the time. It’s not perfect, because sometimes all I want to do is go to target and buy myself a cute shirt or a pair of workout shorts. But I have to tell myself “no”. I’m 20 days in to the whole Total Money Makeover. I’m not used to it yet, but I hear it gets better. And easier.

Just like my TV watching. I used to have, like ten shows that I never missed. Now? Now I’m behind on Big Bang Theory (I’ll catch up this summer), I have the final 5 episodes of White Collar still in the DVR ready to watch. I just caught up on Once Upon a Time over Christmas break, and I’ve got two episodes of Gallivant and four episodes of The Librarians chilling on the DVR. Not to mention I’m an entire season behind on two shows that I usually kind of keep up with. But I’m not dying to see them or freaking out because I don’t know. I guess grad school and 1st year teaching have kind of…broken me of my TV habit. That, and a bunch of my shows ended last year (White Collar, Psych, Burn Notice).

I will be watching Sons of Liberty which I DVRed and will eventually get to. It comes on too late for me to watch it live (#teacherlife) but it looks really good. I’ll review it hopefully by the end of the week.

With that being said, it’s time to start gearing up for the Super Bowl. #GoPats #OnToSeattle #DoYourJob

So much awesomeness right now, with the Pats in SB49, the Bruins finally playing well, and baseball is coming soon (pitchers and catchers report 2/20!!!!) so I’m one happy sports girl right now. As long as no one brings up balls…

A Lot of Hot (and Cold) Air: My Take on "Deflategate"

January 25, 2015June 21, 2015 / Sara / Leave a comment

I have kept my silence all week. But no more. I can’t. This week has made me question any faith in humanity I have and has ripped to shreds any remaining respect I had for the news media. That’s well and truly gone, now.

First, I am a Patriots fan. Die hard. And I am so excited for them to play in their 6th Superbowl with Brady and Bill B and watch my 7th Patriots Superbowl (remember, there was life before Brady…1996. They lost to the Packers). I expected this week to be full of discussion on the awesome matchup between the Seahawks D and the Patriots offense. Instead, I have been subjected to the most insipid, ridiculous, non-story ever. Let me also say that if the EVIDENCE (remember that stuff?) comes out and proves the Patriots guilty of tampering with the balls, they deserve the fine stipulated in the rules.

May I also add that the NFL clearly needs to monitor this whole game-ball situation more closely as Aaron Rogers (see the story here) admits to over-inflating his game balls. And Brad Johnson PAID someone to tamper with the footballs for the SUPER BOWL (read that story here) so this is kind of a league-wide issue. And it’s been going on for a while (Brad Johnson played in the Superbowl more than 10 years ago).

Now, I will address the rantings and ravings of the lynch-mob media/fans that are determined to hang the Patriots for the slightest infraction because of “Spygate” (insert sarcastic shudder) and now the unending vitriol that is “Deflategate” (insert eye-roll).

Let me be clear. What the Patriots did filming the Jets sidelines was WRONG. It was wrong because the league sent out a memo following the 2006 season saying “stop doing it”. Up to that point, ALL the teams were doing it. Don’t be naive, you know it’s true. Moving on. They were wrong, it was cheating, and they shouldn’t have done it. They took their punishment and we all should have moved on.

But let me also be clear, Bill never once lied or covered it up. And to back it up, here’s an article from September 14, 2007, which contains quotes from Bill Bellichick: (this is what you call evidence, ladies and gentlemen)

Belichick, however, accepted full responsibility “for the actions that led to tonight’s ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused.”

“I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career,” Belichick said in a statement issued by the team. “As the commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week’s game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress.” (original ESPN article here)

He owned up to it. Immediately. So you really can’t say that Bill Bellichick is a “liar”. In fact, I dare you to find me a time where YOU CAN PROVE, with FACTUAL EVIDENCE, that he lied about doing something or not doing something.

In the same article, Gooddell (who needs to be fired so badly for his mishandling of virtually every “scandal” during his tenure has been atrocious) stated that the Patriots received no material advantage for doing that. As for the “supposed” filming of the Rams walk-through, here’s the Boston Herald’s retraction statement:

It reads: “On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walk-through on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walk-through ever existed.

Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walk-through before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.

The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error.” (read more here)

So those of you who are still on that, it wasn’t real, it didn’t happen, it’s over, please move on.

Since then, the Patriots have done NOTHING to incur the NFL’s ire. Nothing. Except, of course, win. Which we all know that winning breeds contempt and this whole ball-deflation witch hunt is just that: contempt. over-blown nonsense and contempt.

Because I am a rational human being, I like to look at things logically. So lets do that, shall we?

“fact” 1: 11 of the 12 Patriots balls were found to be under-inflated by 2 lbs PSI. Let me say this, it’s from ONE SOURCE (unsubstantiated) and just look at how the whole “Rams filmed! We have one unsubstantiated source that says so!” fiasco turned out for the Herald. Not so good. I mean, being realistic, how is it possible that the footballs were under-inflated by EXACTLY 2 pounds each? And was it 2 pounds from 13.5 PSI? Because the acceptable range is 12.5-13.5 PSI. Is is possible that the one UNSUBSTANTIATED source wasn’t correct? Gee…that never happens. (eye roll…I need to stop being so sarcastic, it’s hard to write that way.) In Bill’s Best Press Conference Ever (keep reading for more on that) he stated that what they do to affect the TEXTURE of the ball artificially raises the PSI by 1 lb. They found that once the balls moved from inside the building to the oh-so-lovely 50 and below, freezing rain conditions that were in place Sunday night for the AFC championship game, the pressure in the ball equalized and lost 1.5 psi. Once they brought the ball in and let it set for a bit, it had come up .5 PSI, leading to an overall loss of 1 lb. Now, that’s assuming that the balls were properly inflated to between 12.5-13.5 PSI once they went off to the refs to approve them. That is up to the refs to determine, NOT the Patriots, thus the onus is on them, not the team.

“fact” 2: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are LIARS and CHEATERS and they ALWAYS WILL BE (I feel like I should add “nah nah nah nah nah naaaaaa” at the end of that one). Well…that’s not true. Bill owned up to the filming. He never once denied it, and doesn’t deny it to this day (see: 1/24/15 press conference, we’ll get to that gem later…) Tom Brady was never even implicated in the whole “Spygate” nonsense.

People like to bring up baby-momma Brigit Moynahan as proof of TB’s shadiness. Let’s set that record straight, too:

Moynahan was in a three-year relationship with screenwriter Scott Rosenberg.^[2]^[46] She dated NFL quarterback Tom Brady from 2004 until December 14, 2006. Her representative confirmed their split to People in December 2006, stating that they had “amicably ended their three-year relationship several weeks ago”.^[47]

On February 18, 2007, Moynahan’s representative confirmed to People that she was more than three months pregnant and that Brady is the father.^[48] In August 2007, she gave birth to a baby boy.^[49]^[50] In a July 2008 interview in Harper’s Bazaar, Moynahan discussed her willingness to raise her son as a single mother.^[51] Despite media reports that Moynahan and Brady have an acrimonious relationship, it was revealed that the two have maintained a civil relationship since the birth of their son.^[52]

So…there’s no proof (I mean real, factual proof, not trolls on the internet) that either of them is a liar. So when they said Thursday that they had no knowledge of the issue with the balls, we have no reason to believe otherwise. (see more info here).

“fact” 3: the deflated balls give the team a competitive advantage. It actually gives the team a competitive disadvantage. I’ll post the link to the article and the video that ESPN has since taken down (not sure why that is…oh yeah, guilty Pats means better ratings…)

Here’s the article. And the video:

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/VZ_S8F3mKFE&source=uds

I’m getting irritated even writing this, because it is 100% a non-story that has been %1000 blown out of proportion by the media. The Patriots actually played better in the second half with the properly inflated balls (which, when tested after the game, had not lost as much air, thus eliminating the theory that they were tampered with in any way).

And all of you crying about the “pro QBs being able to tell”, let’s break that down, hmm? Sure the ones on ESPN who have reasons to hate the Patriots (Brunell, seriously?) are all going to say they can feel the difference. In his presser today (what a fountain of information that was!) Bill said that the QBs couldn’t tell with any consistency which balls were inflated 2 lbs lighter, and couldn’t tell the difference AT ALL when on deflated by 1 lb or less.

Now onto the ACTUAL facts of this story.

Fact 1: We have not heard from the NFL’s investigation and DATA (details, evidence, choose your own synonym) about:

a. how deflated the footballs were (exact amounts for each football – come on, were they all really deflated EXACTLY 2 lbs? ALL 11 of them?)

b. definitive evidence that the weather COULD NOT have caused this drop in PSI OR definitive evidence that they were tampered with.

c. There’s all these reports that the “Ravens told the Colts” or that “Mike Adams noticed it in November”, but I can’t find evidence (actual evidence, not “a source” from an article written after the AFC Championship game) of either thing actually happening. And I do mean NO EVIDENCE. Nothing. I looked. I’m thorough like that. No actual word from the NFL on any of that, and I feel like that would have been reported to them (and leaked to us) if it was true.

Fact 2: The Patriots played BETTER with the properly inflated balls. BETTER. If they were trying to cheat, and if, as all the lynch-mob has been screaming that “they’ve probably done this for years!”, then don’t you think they would have known that under-inflated balls are not so good? That’s been my question since the beginning. It makes absolutely no logical sense, especially given the EVIDENCE (there’s that darn word again…)

Fact 3: apparently, the refs inflate the balls, because they were handed two them 2.5 hours before the game and the Patriots asked for them to be inflated to 12.5 PSI (the lower end of the scale). That’s the chain of custody, so once the Patriots hand the balls over to the zebras, I say it’s on the zebras. It’s not exactly shocking, the refs did NOT have a good playoff run, making major, game-changing mistakes in pretty much every game.

Fact 4: Bill’s presser today was awesome. And telling. What he said was fascinating and you can think he’s lying all you want, but answer me this question: why would he get up there and lie his butt off like that? If it does come out that they tampered with the footballs and he knew about it, that press conference would guarantee him a suspension at minimum and might get him fired. Why would he risk it if he didn’t genuinely believe that this is all a bunch of nonsense and the Patriots did not cheat?

Fact 5: there is adequate scientific evidence that weather could be a logical explanation, not even using Bill’s simulation he discussed today (See the epic presser here, and listen to the Q&A for more gems.). I present to you THREE (yes, THREE) scientific explanations. Lots of math. Lots of science. All the same answer: weather could have done it.

Sciency blog explanation

Teenagers recreating conditions and testing the balls (video)

Head Smart Labs article (you have to scroll down a bit)

But there are some unanswered questions:

1. Why is the NFL moving so slow on this? Is it because they have no evidence or don’t want to admit that it was the officials who goofed? I think Gooddell doesn’t want the scandal on the refs so he’s throwing mud at everyone’s favorite villain. Why Bill B is a villain I’ll never know. He may be the greatest coach ever, so again with the whole success breeds contempt…I guess I could see that. I don’t get it, but I can see how people would feel that way.

2. why weren’t the Indianapolis balls under-inflated? I don’t know. Perhaps Andrew Luck likes his footballs the same way Aaron Rogers does, so that even though they lost pressure, because they were inflated toward the higher end to start, the loss didn’t matter. Or perhaps the Colts footballs were stored in a cold luggage area on the team bus before the game instead of a nice, room-temperature building, giving them time to acclimate to the weather well before being checked and thus, reached equilibrium, or a better equilibrium, to the elements. Maybe they don’t rub the footballs and do what the Patriots do to get them set for TB. Maybe the refs didn’t check the footballs thoroughly. Don’t know.

I just can not even understand how this has become such a big deal. At the most, it’s an over-zealous ball boy or negligent refs and it’s far more likely that the real culprit was the 50-and-dropping temperature and the freezing rain. In any case, the Patriots could have beaten the Colts playing with a beach ball, so it’s a non-issue. And IF, as it’s been claimed by so many “Off With Their Heads!” members of the sensationalist media, that the Patriots have been doing this, why haven’t we heard about it before? Why haven’t we heard from the Chiefs or the Dolphins or anyone else who intercepted Tom Brady this year? Where is the PROOF that the Colts said something in November? Where is the PROOF that this was anything other than the weather?

WHERE IS THE FREAKING JOURNALISM THAT USED TO LOOK FOR PROOF INSTEAD OF FREAKING OUT ABOUT BEING SCOOPED???????

Where’s the ACTUAL journalism? My goodness, the guys who broke the big stories of the last century are rolling their eyes and turning over in their graves. You can’t call this journalism. It’s biased, bitter, sensationalized propaganda at best. Give me proof. Give me something other than quoting each other’s “reports” from “sources” as substantiated facts and do some actual reporting. Dig. Get to the bottom. Because I’m done. I’ve said my piece, I’ve backed it up with evidence, and I’m done. I’ve lost all respect for a lot of media guys I used to love, (Jason LaConfora, you’re still okay)

And one final thought. I know the internet trolls are bringing up that the Ravens suggested the K-Balls were flat during the divisional round. No one touches the K-Balls except when kicking them, they’re shipped straight to the refs. (for more on NFL ball protocol, read here)

One more closing thought, as for other Patriots “scandals”: the formation with a receiver declaring himself ineligible is completely legal. It’s not the Patriots fault the Ravens weren’t prepared to deal with that. 1000 percent legal. So was the Tuck Rule game (at the time – the rule has since changed, but that wasn’t until 2013 and the Patriots knew it back then because they lost a game to the Jets because of it). So don’t bring those up as evidence of the “cheating culture”, it just makes you sound stupid.

And now I’m really done. Drop the mic, I’m out. We’re on to the Super Bowl. On to the Seahawks. Go Pats!

(Transplanted) Nation

Just a New England girl living in a Southern world