Wrong Holiday

 Have I mentioned my Terry Francona PC on this blog yet?

For a while I accumulated Francona cards on a whim, picking up a couple here and there when shopping at places like Cardbarrel and BaseballCardStore (rip). Evetually I decided to add him to my PC player list. Terry wasn't a star(rarely even a starter), played in the 1980s, and retired before there were 20+ sets a year. I thought a Francona career collection would be fairly simple and affordable.

Hasn't quite turned out that way. I still need a couple basic singles:

1982 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1983 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1984 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1985 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1986 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1987 - Donruss, Fleer, Topps
1988 - Score, Topps
1989 - Score, Topps, Upper Deck
1990 - Score, Topps, Upper Deck

Then there's O-Pee-Chee (need 1982, and 1987), Leaf (need 1985), and the Traded/Tiffany/Traded Tiffany sets (need most of those.) I might try to pick up his minor league cards but I am not messing with all those Brewers police issues. 

I don't have any cards of Terry's dad Tito Francona - unless you count the 1985 Topps Father/Son single. Might try to pick up some Titos, too. 

Father / son duos have been on my mind lately as I've been cataloging my card collection. We're all familiar with the Griffeys, the Bondses, the Hulls, the Currys, and so on. In recent years the McCaffreys, Guerreros, Bichettes, Witts, and Tkachuks have been in the spotlight. 

Cross-sport father-son duos have piqued my interest as well. 

Pat and Patrick Mahomes are the obvious ones. But did you know Wayne Gretzky's son played minor league baseball?

Popeye and Seth Jones are inteteresting. I may have mentioned this story before, but here it goes again. While the elder Jones was playing for the Denver Nuggets his son Seth saw their arena-mates the Avalanche playing hockey and took to the sport immediately. Popeye sought out the Avs' captain Joe Sakic for assistance on getting Seth started as a hockey player, and... 

It worked out pretty well. So, to summarize: Iconic hockey great's son = minor league ballplayer. Journeyman basketball player's son = NHL All-Star, Olympian, and Stanley Cup Champion. 

The sports world is full of countless father / son combinations. We’re even seeing the rare father / daughter combo once in a blue moon.

Some bloodlines are known immediately, like when the top of the MLB Draft includes Matt Holliday's kid and Reggie Willits's kid. Some sneak up on you. Have you ever seen an athlete with a name that sounds vaguely familiar and thought.. I wonder if they're related to that player I remember as a kid? 

There’s also the inverse of that- like when you come across a player from the past and connect them to a current star.

I've got some old WLAF singles saved for nostalgia and curiosity; no one but me is going to have any interest in 35 year-old cards from a long-dead league. Except .. looking closer, I noticed something. A quarterback with a familiar last name.

I flipped it over, saw that Mark Maye was from North Carolina, and learned that I have a card of Drake's dad. Which reminds me - I've also got a junk wax-era card of Jared Goff's dad. (And you probably do, too.) 

🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

The sports card portion of this post is over but I thought I'd summarize my dating app experience since this is Love Day and all (hail Lord Huggington!)

I was on Hinge for about six weeks, and was well-prepared for the lack of likes and interest. Nearly all of the testimonials I read from regular guys said that dating apps are "pay to win" and "will destroy your self-esteem" Ha! You assume I have any to begin with!

 

But yeah, it was unproductive to say the least. I did not pay for a subscription and felt no need to do so. Is that why I managed a mere two likes on my profile pics and one like on my prompt answers? I doubt it, but who knows. 

My initial plan was to feed the algorithm by scrolling through profiles and clicking the heart next to any pics or prompt answers that I vibed with. If I could think of something to say I'd leave a comment with my like. Probably 'liked' at least a hundred things and commented 15 times. 

There was one woman who said she loved Ted Lasso and asked if the reader is a Ted or a Roy. I left a nice long comment stating I'm a Roy and .. she liked my profile. We had a connection! Except.. when I followed up it was gone. She must have unfollowed me immediately . Maybe because I have kids?

I think I mentioned that local taco-lover I was on the fence about? I did message her, and .. nothing. For the most part I tried to stay local. But 'local' to me also means New York City, and.. whoa. Sooo many women way over my head. I usually don't care - they're all Type A with "growth mindset" listed among their green flags. But there was one woman who didn't have any corporate speak in her profile, didn't seem like an influencer type. Still way out of my league, but I took a shot because...

Yeeaahh.... all I got was a new crush out of that. And obviously she didn't reply. 

I didn't need to see any more. 

Happy Love Day everyone!



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12 Days of Christmas Day 3 - Bundy Sunday

On Christmas Eve 1992, my mom and I stopped by my sister's apartment. Her boys were little - the oldest had just turned six - and maybe there was a visit from Santa Claus that she wanted us to be a part of, I don't remember. All I know is that my sister gave me my gift a day early, for a very good reason:

She wanted me to have the Married... With Children Christmas special in time for Christmas! I had first started watching the Bundys before I was allowed to - Mom would not let me watch when I was 10, but by the time I turned 12 she gave in.

< pause >

To put that in perspective, my wife does not like our 10 year-old daughter watching The Simpsons or Bob's Burgers. Personally I think most Simpsons episodes are harmless and I only let her watch PG-rated eps of Bob's Burgers (when mommy isn't home  ;P ) 

< play >

That Christmas morning I started a tradition - I'd wake up around 7 a.m., throw on pajamas or sweats or whatever, and open gifts with Mom. That would take about an hour as she almost always bought me 17-25 presents (I counted.)  By 8 a.m. Mom would be ready for her coffee and breakfast, so I popped in It's A Bundyful Life and watched it until my aunt visited. Once she saw what I was watching, she'd hasten her walk to the kitchen.

   

I didn't always understand what Al was going through and some of the dirty jokes were over my head when I was 12. (David Faustino began playing Bud at that same age, and he didn't get the jokes, either.) But I kept watching new episodes every Sunday, and I kept watching this episode every Christmas morning.

< pause >

As I mentioned before, Christina Applegate was one of my first celebrity crushes. I had planned to do a BCA post featuring Christina, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Angelina Jolie, and another Celebrity Crush champion, Taryn Southern. Perhaps next year. 

In case you were wondering, Anna Kendrick went wire-to-wire and kept the CCC belt throughout 2019. Her only challenger this year was :checks notes: ..Riley Voelkel.

< play >

It's A Bundyful Life follows the same plot line as the classic film It's A Wonderful Life, in which a guardian angel shows our protagonist what life would be like if he were never born:

Al's guardian angel is played by comedian Sam Kinison. Naturally, his assignment backfires as the Bundys - er, Jablonskys, are much better off without Al. 

Interestingly, Ted McGinley plays Peg's would-be husband Norman Jablonsky in this episode. The show runners must have been impressed with McGinley's performance since they kept him on the show full-time as Marcy's second husband, Jefferson D'Arcy. 


After a few years of watching this episode every Christmas morning I knew nearly all of the dialogue and began to recite it aloud. That's when I realized that I should probably give it a rest for a while. I haven't seen it in quite some time and if I can find a way to watch it again this Christmas I'm going to try. I do have a few seasons of Married... on DVD and this might be one of them, but I have no idea what I did with my VHS copy.


Do you have a favorite Christmas episode of a TV show you watch/watched? 


Thanks for reading!


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The Celebrity Crush Championship Belt

I was a big fan of Bill Simmons back when he wrote great articles for ESPN (Grantland was fantastic..I've lost interest in The Ringer.) One of the topics I particularly enjoyed was the Championship Belt series. If you're not familiar with it, you can see examples here and here. Basically, the premise is: you're the champ until someone beats you. 

I thought it would be a fun exercise to try this using my favorite female celebrities over the years. Who was my favorite and when, and what led to them losing their title? Let's start with the first year I had any interest in the opposite sex... 

Champion: Jennie Garth
Reign: 1991-1992

Beverly Hills 90210 was a few years above my age group, but that didn't stop the girls in my fifth-grade class from obsessing over Jason Priestly or Luke Perry may he rest in peace. My sister-in-law is related to one of the supporting actors on 90210 (Joe E. Tata), and between her family ties, the "water-cooler" talk at school, and Jennie Garth being all blonde and gorgeous, I was enjoying the teen soap opera as much any female fan.

I can't recall anything specific about Jennie's character but I do remember buying a couple packs of 90210 cards and searching stores for a Jennie Garth poster (don't think I found any..they only had Priestly, Perry, and Shannen Doherty) I even wrote a TTM letter to Jennie and got back some fan club gibberish on reddish pink paper..but no autographed photo.

Thanks to the Summer Olympics and Sports Illustrated For Kids I spent the next year obsessed over world champion gymnast Kim Zmeskal. (For purposes of this post I'll call her a "sports crush" and skip over her.) It was around this time that I was also sneaking around my mom to watch Married...With Children. Soon I had turned my attention to another blonde Kelly..

Champion: Christina Applegate
Reign: 1992-1994

Once my mom finally allowed me to watch Married...my sister bought me a VHS copy of the Christmas special as a gift, and at one point I taped notebook paper over all of the cast(and Buck) except for Christina so that I'd only see her. I also stopped saving my allowance money for a Joe Montana rookie card when I saw an autographed Applegate 8 x 10 hanging up in a comic book store.

Even though I was still a hardcore fan of the Bundys in 1994 (and beyond) Christina lost her Crush crown to an unlikely contender..

 Champion: Winona Ryder
Reign: 1994

Nothing made sense in 1994. The Rangers were Stanley Cup champions. The World Series wasn't happening, and I was crushing on an ingenue actress with a pixie 'do. Winona Ryder was indie-cool, but she was also critically acclaimed for her on-screen performances. I binge-watched the entire Winona Ryder filmography in the summer of '94, after a video store clerk chose her as "Star of the Week." 

It had been years since I'd seen her in anything anywhere, until my wife and I started watching Stranger Things. Winona forever!

Well, maybe not forever.. Ryder's short reign at the top of my crush chart ended when Pulp Fiction was released and my best friend John and I both drooled over..

Champion: Uma Thurman
Reign: 1994-1995

Uma was destructively gorgeous, she was almost too hot to handle when she wasn't wearing that Mia Wallace wig. My best friend and I collected cutout pictures of her like baseball cards (he even stole a copy of Details from his school library.) I watched some of Uma's early work like Jennifer 8 with John, and Dangerous Liasons with my real-life crush Jessica, who was obsessed with Keanu Reeves at the time.

In my freshman year of high school I started crushing on a six-foot tall senior girl named Liz because she resembled Uma Thurman. I also started drifting towards another blonde celeb..

Champion: Jewel
Reign: 1995-1997

It sounds strange to me now, but I was a huge fan of a frickin' folk singer. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Jewel had a unique and captivating voice - and her videos were sexy as hell. I did have a poster of her on my wall and I did drool over her obvious physical gifts but! I also played my Pieces of You CD regularly and I saw her perform at the Oakdale Theater in Connecticut with my girl friend Gretchen (who at least one guy assumed was my girlfriend.) 

In the late 1990s there were a few contenders like Mira Sorvino, Renee Zellweger, and Jenna Elfman that I really liked, but none that rose to the level of a top-tier celebrity crush. Until the teen soap opera wave returned with Dawson's Creek..

 Champion: Michelle Williams
Reign: 1998-1999, 2002

Where have you gone, Jen Lindley? I was all about blondes back in the day, and Michelle Williams was exactly my type. Her bad-girl Dawson's Creek character was not a fan favorite, and it's a sharp contrast to the characters she plays today. I'm pleasantly surprised that Michelle emerged out of the collective of WB-era hotties and became an Academy-award-winning actress...but I do miss her Maxim days.

I think I still have a copy of this mag in my closet

Champion: Katie Holmes
Reign: 1999-2001, 2003

I'm not going to get too specific here. Throughout the Dawson's Creek years I alternated between the sexy siren and the girl next door. Katie Holmes didn't strike my fancy at first; she sort of grew on me over the years. Speaking of the Girl Next Door...

Champion: Elisha Cuthbert
Reign: 2004

Yeah, so...funny story. I was in Chicago with the aforementioned bestie and his brother (also a lifelong friend of mine) when I saw a stand-up promo for this film - and Elisha - for the first time. You know that old cliche about a gorgeous woman having the ability to stop traffic? Well, when I saw this/her I literally tripped and dropped my wallet. It was kind of embarrassing, but it physically forced me to see the film in question (which was pretty good) along with other things Elisha was in, such as 24. Sssh! Don't tell anyone I started watching that because of Kim Bauer.

My Cuthbert "crush" wasn't like most of the others on this list. There was very little substance behind the surface-level hotness (and she dated Sean Avery ffs.) I wouldn't say she was champion by default, but it wasn't All That difficult for a teenager to take her title...

Champion: Amanda Bynes
Reign: 2004-2007

Ooomph. This one hurts. Like, it physically hurts to be reminded of just how funny and talented and girl next-door gorgeous Amanda Bynes was. It hurts to remember the days when her contemporaries were getting wasted and Amanda insisted that she'd never end up as tabloid fodder like them. It hurts to remember how much I enjoyed her movies and TV shows, especially What I Like About You..which also starred my first celebrity crush, Jennie Garth.

It hurts to know that she just turned 33 (still younger than the Current Crush Champion) and that she's spent the past decade as a cautionary tale. Damn. Let's move on.

 Champion: Kristen Bell

Reign: 2007-2009, 2018

Who doesn't love Kristen Bell, am I right? Looking back, it's fascinating to me that she became such a big star and that I became such a fan. The first time I saw her, Veronica Mars had just started on the WB or CW or whatever and she was on Conan talking about hockey. That's about all the incentive I needed to check out her show. 

Of course I became a fan of it, and her. But unlike the other blonde puck bunny on this list Kristen stuck around because she's good in everything, she's always an entertaining interview guest, and as the kids say, her and Dax Shepard are #relationshipgoals. The Good Place was a big reason why Kristen reclaimed her spot as my favorite actress after losing her crown nearly a decade earlier.

  

I honestly can't remember if I had any celebrity crushes in 2010 and 2011. I liked Olivia Wilde, Zooey Deschanel, and a couple others but not enough to award anyone the Championship Belt. So until something jogs my memory let's say that it was vacated for a while.

Champion: Jennifer Lawrence
Reign: 2012-2017

What can I say about Jennifer Lawrence that I haven't already said on this blog? Well for starters, I probably wouldn't have seen her in X-Men:First Class if it wasn't for the sub-plot about the Cuban Missile Crisis. She looked so different in that it's as if it was filmed five years before The Hunger Games. It's kind of strange to think she was "cute" once. 

The other thing I can say is that I didn't get tired of her "act" as some people have. I don't agree with everything she says or does, but it bothered me how quickly the wave of public opinion turned from "She's unrefined and relatable. I love her!" to "She's immature and overrated. I hate her!" It's true what they say, they build you up just to tear you down.

J-Law has taken some blows (some self-inflicted) but she's got more staying power than anyone on this list - with the possible exception of Kristen Bell. I'm amazed that she's only in her twenties; there's still so much ahead for her.

That said, she did lose a bit of zip off her fastball by 2017, just enough for the Crush crown to be claimed by..

Champion: Taryn Southern
Reign: 2017

I'll admit, I was about eight years late to the party with Taryn. I spent all of '17 catching up, only to find out she's not fun anymore. It's probably for the best. She's too damn stunning to be that funny and chill. 

Before I get to the current champion here's a Southern song that sort of fits the occasion:

I say "sort of" because I'm not the stalker type. Also, the irony of this track is delicious.


Anyway...this post has been long enough, yes? Let's get to current events here. In 2018 I wasn't as focused on any one in particular as I was in '17. Kristen Bell held off Katherine McNamara and Melissa Benoist mostly on reputation and personality -- which went a long way toward awarding the Championship belt to..

Champion: Anna Kendrick

Reign: 2019-

I've mentioned this before, but I like Anna for a lot of the same reasons I like Kristen. There have been times when the belt was awarded to a smoldering, statuesque blonde but overall it often stays with a woman who has talent, personality, and an approachable attractiveness. Could Kendrick hold on to the belt into 2020 and beyond? Sure. Then again, maybe Kristen or Jen will reclaim the crown. Maybe Brie Larson wrestles it away from AK. Maybe I will outgrow this whole charade altogether. Lol..not likely :)

If any of you read this incredibly long post, I hope you enjoyed it. My next post won't be for a few days but it will be a contest! Anyone who comments on this one will automatically be entered, as a reward for reading all the way to the end. So share your thoughts and stories about your favorite celebrities for a chance to win some free cards!

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

~

More Mail...and more..

I know I've been posting every day - and slacking off on commenting - but I got two more packages in the mail today and I want to acknowledge them before I finish off Sports Card Tour.
 
Chris, author of the blog Nachos Grande, offers up a trade stack for anyone who sends him a set filler. I should try something like this; no one seems to have any singles I need. I had been pulling some cards for other traders and found two that Chris needed. Perhaps I could have waited for him to fill the trade stack but I was already packaging up PWEs so I claimed this:

I thought Parker Bridwell didwell last year as a rookie with the Angels, and I like the 2018 Topps set, so it was a nice two-for-one trade.

 
Actually it was a six-for-two trade since Chris tossed in some extras. I definitely needed the Mo Vaughn, and possibly the Pena. Chris, thanks for the trade!
 
Dennis (Too Many Verlanders) has also been checking wantlists and sending care packages..though he's sending many more cards to many more collectors. I saw my name on his list a couple days ago but couldn't find the time to comment until this morning. This afternoon his mailer arrived:

Dennis included a note that said he'd had some luck finding Red Sox at his local card shows..

25 more cards for my Red Sox collection..and one Robert Brooks Elite insert for my Packers box. This is at least the third package he's sent me and I think I've only hit him back once. Shame on me!
 
Dennis, thanks again for another generous gift!

I had to stop by the bank for work today and so I popped into Little Shop of Comics for my monthly supply of penny sleeves and Topps baseball cards. (They didn't have Supergirl in stock) Here's a couple scans from my two packs:

Yeah Jeets. Every time I see Tanner Roark's name I feel obligated to pronounce it like Matthew McConaughey in A Time To Kill. Also, I cannot spell McConaughey correctly without looking. [not scanned: Brandon Kintzler]

Oh sure, now I pull a Keon Broxton card. Gee thanks, Topps. Jose Ramirez is a beast but I don't think the hobby has caught on yet. The top edge of the Eickhoff is rough cut, almost like an O-Pee-Chee card from the 1980s. [not scanned: Jared Hughes]
 
I'm officially caught up on trade packages and thank-yous. Nothing but Sports Card Tour posts for the rest of the month....




Today is my 13th wedding anniversary and so I’m going to steal an idea from one of Gavin’s old posts... not going to link it because then this text wouldn’t be hidden ;)

I'm often reminded of just how special and indispensable my wife is, especially on our anniversary, and this morning I tried to picture my life without her. It was horrible. I would be absolutely lost without D..and I know this because I was absolutely lost before I met her.

Here’s a list of 13 girls who weren’t the one... girls who made my heart swell and burst..girls that had far too much control over my self-esteem and in some cases didn't even know (or care) ... girls that made me feel like I’d never find that special someone. Until I did..

Jessica C...my first real crush..she was like the all-American girl next door: blonde hair, blue eyes, long legs..really sweet..the two of us were voted "most caring" in junior high, and some of our friends thought we should have been a couple..but she was way out of my league..never acted like it though....she was so supportive of my writing, and we used to work on stories up in her bedroom while listing to The Cure or Carly Simon or whatever..she sent me a postcard from Florida once..I think I still have it - and the wallet-sized yearbook picture she gave me...I wanted to marry that girl when I was 13..we drifted apart after junior high..I only saw her once after that..heard she's a teacher now..and married...
 
Lauren F...probably could have dated her if the timing was right..but I got played by her cousin, who was supposedly my friend...Lauren was the point guard on the girls' basketball team..small but athletic..a grade behind me..we had passed notes in the hallway and our friends used to meet up at the park after school..I was told she was single and so I asked her out..she wasn't single, cousin lied to me..but then a week later she told me she was having problems with her boyfriend and asked me for advice..I should have told her to dump him and date me....
 
Annie P...she was in Lauren's 7th grade class..they were teammates but Lauren was the better player..Annie was prettier though..she had long dark hair and a really cute face..looked amazing in that catholic school skirt..I went for a walk with her one night at a dance party..knew I didn't have a chance with her but I had to try...saw her on Facebook a few years ago and she looked exactly as I'd expect..I'd say "The Girl Got Hot"..but she never wasn't hot...
 
Liz B...six-foot tall senior girl I crushed on freshman year..best way to describe her would be "Uma Thurman with braces"...we had one class together and I somehow gathered up enough courage to say "hi" on a semi-regular basis..even got her a Valentine's Day card because I was absolutely bonkers..she thought it was sweet though...the summer after she graduated I saw her at a street fair downtown and nearly short-circuited..I may have said "hi" to her..I may also have taken a picture of her when she wasn't looking...

Liz L...yes, there were two hot blondes named Liz in my school..this one was in my grade..she was a cheerleader but didn't look very cheerful in drama class..first time I saw her she wore a black leather jacket and a scowl on her face like she was badass..one day after lunch she followed me in the hallway and struck up an awkward conversation with me..I shrugged it off afterward.. but then during a fire drill she approached me with her friend..said the friend liked me..I shrugged that off, too..I was more interested in her...

Alison H...good lord this girl was adorable..on the outside at least..she was barely five feet tall, bright yellow hair like a sunflower..and freckles..but she was so cold to me..I'd try to talk to her and she'd give me a death stare..couldn't figure out why, all the other girls in our Spanish class were friendly to me....even our mutual friend Gene gave it a try..told her he wasn't coming to their class because he was hanging with his "awesome" friend Chris..didn't work...I overheard a guy on the baseball team telling a story about how a girl named Alison blew him off at the dance..had to be her.. but why would she give him the cold shoulder?

Kristen D...this girl absolutely destroyed me...she approached me on the first day of sophomore year..said she liked my Grateful Dead shirt...we hit it off right away..not related to Lauren, but she played on travel teams with her and people thought they were sisters..kept me hanging on just enough to think I had a chance..then when I got wise and stopped talking to her she'd ask my best bud if I was mad at her...so much drama with Kristen, we were always clashing..I bought her a Grateful Dead shirt for her birthday and gave it to her at the end of class..she was so psyched she kissed me - in front of Alison..she told me she wasn't dating anyone but never said she would (or wouldn't) date me..one day I was walking down the school's 2nd floor hallway, turned a corner, and saw her kissing some dude..stopped talking to her for a while after that, and the cycle began again...when I was on Facebook she found me and apologized for being a "brat" to me..she's a teacher now, too...not as attractive as I thought she'd be...

Gretchen W...I've mentioned her before..she was very artsy in high school..really talented, but a bit troubled..she was in a serious relationship when I met her..in fact the guy she was dating became my best friend in high school..they broke up but G and I stayed friends..when her ex John moved to California I saw a lot more of her..almost asked her out one day..I went to see her perform in a children's play..made plans to go back to her place for lunch afterward but some metalhead dude showed up and she was much more interested in him..she said she would have dated me..maybe if I'd spoken up sooner...she wasn't particularly thin or athletic in high school but ended up being a fitness competitor and personal trainer..it shocked me when I saw her pics...couldn't believe it was the same girl..also not sure if I saw her a few months ago...if it was her, she looked amazing...

Dalaina D...she was originally from Michigan, loved hockey and the Red Wings...met her through my friend Brandon..kinda tomboy-ish back then..I spent a lot of time with her one summer..not sure if anything would have happened but she wasn't dating anyone at the time..one of our friends claimed he hooked up with her..I doubt it though..she moved back to Michigan, got married, got double-Ds, got divorced..haven't seen her since high school but she was in town a few years ago and Brandon hung out with her..he hinted at hooking up with her, too...I wouldn't doubt it...

Natasha G...of all the girls I knew in high school she made the most sense as a potential girlfriend..she was kinda goth-ish, very dark hair and pale..wore a black tank top and jeans like it was a uniform..we spent a lot of time together in drama class and at her house..she saw something in me that no one else saw..we had a lot of deep, meaningful conversations..Brandon really wanted us to be a couple, but Tasha had a lot of issues.. she had been in too many destructive relationships to get involved with someone she loved..she actually told me that..I wasn't as attracted to her as I was to the other girls I've listed..but there was one day at her house..it took every ounce of self-control not to..

Fionna B...my first serious adult girlfriend..if only I knew how to adult at the time..we met online, right after I escaped high school..she had been dumped by her fiancee..her life was falling apart..and we just clicked..it was like a fairy tale..she had crimson red hair, green eyes..very Irish..we had the same taste in music..she was a published author and nurtured my love of writing..my friends could not believe I was dating her..she was smoking hot at first but her mother was dying of cancer and she stopped taking care of herself..also lost interest in me..but then she was my date for my sister's wedding and acted like we were still together...I fought with her a lot, as I had with Kristen, because she'd want everything on her terms..didn't need that once I met D..so I walked away...

Angela P...so here I am, in my mid-20s, in college, in a new state, and I'm in a serious long-term relationship..I don't need to get nervous around pretty girls anymore..I don't need to speak to pretty girls anymore....and then Angela happened..from the second she walked into my Economics class I knew I was in trouble..she was slim and slender..great body but an even better face..really nice smile, freckles, curly brown hair...just gorgeous..she had an aura about her, a confidence that I wish I had - and clearly lacked whenever I tried to speak to her..and just when I had forgotten all about her..she appeared in a major TV commercial...she's not an actress though, I think it was a one-time thing..she married some MMA fighter..as if I needed another reminder she and I were not the same species...

Kayla M...there are actually two similarly-named girls I met online after I got married..one of them was much younger than me ..and though I adored her, we had very little meaningful contact..the other Kayla was a close confidant for a time..lovely girl with a lovely face and the most gorgeous hazel eyes imaginable...she was a very talented poet..she seemed to enjoy and appreciate my writing though it wasn't nearly as good as hers...we shared deep, dark secrets with each other..including crushes...well, mine was a crush..hers was practically an affair..she was married but had fallen in love with another guy..whom she met online..there was subtext there that, perhaps I was reading too much into...but she maybe hinted that I was her type..and I more than maybe hinted that she was my type..and we backed off because both of us had overcrowded hearts as it was...
 

Those are the unlucky thirteen..the ones that I spent way too much time brooding over. Wish I had done something more productive with that time..like writing a book or something. But it all worked out in the end. :-)


~

Guilty Pleasures

Last week Blowout Cards had a 4th of July special with discounted prices on all kinds of products. I've been dying to bust open some packs/boxes, so I did some window shopping. There was a whole row of old school basketball boxes, from as far back as 1992-93. 2018 Topps baseball was available at a reasonable price, and the best deal might have been a 72-card hanger box of 2012 Topps Football ..for $1.76!

All of that caught my eye, but not as much as a pre-order product: 2018 Cryptozic Supergirl cards.

Scheduled to hit stores next week

As some of you know, I've got a side PC of Women on Cards. It would be ideal to place them in my collection based on their abilities in sports or entertainment (even politics) and I do so whenever possible. But...sometimes I like adding cards of attractive women because they're attractive women. I feel a little guilty about that - hence the title of this post.

So, here's the thing...I don't watch Supergirl. I've seen a few minutes of it here and there, because I happen to think that Melissa Benoist is incredibly cute. But I'm not a superhero guy. Never got into DC Comics or Marvel or any of that. The lady at the local comic book shop knows me as the guy who comes in once a month to buy four packs of penny sleeves (75 cents each!), a pack of Topps baseball (the only sports cards they sell), and a Mountain Dew.

But..if I see this item on my next visit to Little Shop Of Comics...do I buy it?

No, of course not. That would be silly. A pack or two..maybe. And even then I'd feel guilty because I could have used that $6 or so to buy baseball cards. 
 
Having said that, I always get excited when I see a celebrity I like on a trading card. It doesn't happen often.

Jennifer Lawrence appears a dozen times in the Hunger Games card set(s) as Katniss Everdeen. I mentioned those in a previous post. Zero guilt here. My wife knows I'm a big J-Law fan, though lately I've had a hard time reminding myself why. Old loyalties die hard I s'pose. If anything, the 'guilty pleasure' here is the fact that I enjoy teen/YA stories.

Kristen Bell is another longtime fave. Wifey rolled her eyes when I first started watching Veronica Mars - she saw right through my excuse. But a few weeks later, we were both fans of the show and Kristen. It was her idea to go see the Veronica Mars movie in theaters, and she probably watches more of Kristen's late-night interviews than I do.

I don't feel guilty for picking out these promo cards on COMC, and I doubt it would be an issue if I plunked down $25 or so on an autographed K-Bell card...which I don't have to worry about, since they sell for about five times that! 

Taryn Southern might have appeared on American Idol cards had she made it farther in the competition. But then she probably wouldn't have done musical comedy on YouTube and I wouldn't have had any interest in her. I didn't feel guilty about asking Corky to make custom Taryn cards for me..sending them to her TTM wasn't a great feeling, though.

I don't consider Taryn a guilty pleasure - for two reasons. One, because she is/was genuinely funny (and I love funny women.) And two, even though she is probably the closest anyone has ever come to my idea of an absolutely perfect woman.. she doesn't produce interesting content anymore. She's all about science and technology and gadgets that will accelerate the downfall of civilization. Plus she's engaged to a gazillionaire who built a fortune on such things. Bye, Felicia.

Aaaand now we're back to guilty pleasures. Allow me to explain how I became a (casual) Katherine McNamara fan. I was writing a young adult novel a couple years ago when I found a discussion topic called "Make Your Mock Cast" or something similar. I didn't know any teen actors but I knew what my characters looked like. And my female protagonist looked a lot like Kat. So I went with it. I browsed her IMDB page, saved a couple pics in a "Mock cast" folder (along with some male actors such as Logan Lerman and Alex Pettyfer) and that was that.

Until she did Shadowhunters. I decided to check her out in the first episode. It wasn't my thing - too supernatural I s'pose. So I didn't watch another episode.. until an article on ESPNW caught my eye. It discussed her training for the show. Is that the same girl? I thought. She looks buff!

I'm a huge fan of gingers anyway (Molly Quinn comes to mind) and now that Kat was a little more grown-up I decided to give Shadowhunters a second chance. And I dig it.

Wifey watched a minute of the first episode with me, after I explained why I wanted to see it. She knew Kat was on my radar a bit - for creative purposes only - and she, too, dismissed Shadowhunters as too weird. 

I never told her I started watching it again. I feel guilty about that. (Btw, Shadowhunters and Supergirl were on at the same time during the spring.)

One more thing...there is a trading card set for Shadowhunters:The Mortal Instruments.

The movie version. No disrespect to Lily Collins but I'm not chasing these any time soon. If the TV series gets its own card set however...I'm going to buy a box. I'm going to chase a KatMac auto, and I'm going to tell my wife it was a box of Stadium Club baseball ;-)



Do you watch any "guilty pleasure" TV shows? Do you have any "guilty pleasure" cards in your collection? Share with the group - we're all friends here!


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Addendum, Epilogue

The topic of card bloggers retiring from their blog and migrating to social media has come up a lot lately. Let me tell you why I would never make such a move...


Friday morning I posted my most recent Sports Card Tour stop, Salt Lake City. I mentioned that Salt Lake City is home to an MLS franchise, a minor league baseball team, and a wonderful girl whom I crushed on for many years.

In the afternoon my wife took the girls to her mother's and I had the house to myself. I'll be there for the Fourth of July cookout by the time you read this, so I saw no reason to go two days in a row. I had planned on scrolling through my blogroll, leaving a few comments, and starting my San Antonio post. 

Instead I decided to check in with that girl....


My previous blog The Pedestrian Writer was a place for me to share some of my story ideas, favorite songs, life lessons, crushes, etc. Some of you have read (or written) blogs that mention attractive women - from actors and singers to sideline reporters to stars of wrestling/fight sports. I did a lot of that, too. But the one girl that really captured my heart wasn't famous.

I'm long past the phase of swooning over a girl and journaling my thoughts. And this isn't the place for that, anyhow. Let's just say that she had a light inside of her that drew me in like a moth. She had a lot of struggles in her life but managed to stay positive and fight for her joy. She was a beautiful person inside and out.

She's mostly gone from the social media haunts I found her on, and I disconnected from them - and her - some time ago. But when I re-read that line in my SLC post I decided to do something I had only done once this year. I checked her Instagram.

She's engaged.

Now I want to be clear here - I'm not jealous. I'm happy. Well, actually I'm proud.

She and I communicated for a while, but we never became friends. I'm socially awkward and terrible at navigating social media. Also I'm married, which added a layer of guilt I won't get into. This is my comfort zone - long form writing. What twenty-something female wants to read blog posts? (She did, once upon a time.)


I looked at my social media experience like it was television. Everyone has a story to tell, and you're joining them in-progress. Choose to follow along, catch up, get hooked - or don't. I was hooked on her story. She even wrote a blog post page called "My Story - From Death to Life" so I felt like I was there from Season One.

Yesterday I saw the ending. She got a better job. She just moved into a house she bought with her fiancee (in SLC). They have a little puppy. 

She has the life I always hoped she would. And they lived happily ever after....



I know that my mind would have wandered her way a lot more often in the past two years, had I not decided to write a blog about sports cards. So you won't see me on Twitter or Instagram or Facebook (and definitely not Tumblr-does anyone still use that?) ostensibly because I'm avoiding poisonous political rhetoric. But secretly? Because I don't want to run into another girl like her.



Obligatory card:

She won't be a Mele much longer.

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Until now, Sports Card Tour has kept me focused on positive thoughts and hobbies. This post doesn't belong here but I needed to write it as a final update on blog posts past and present. If you read this drivel, I'll award bonus SCT points to show my gratitude. 


Tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming :-)


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