by Lexine

Scenes From The Super Bowl Experience!

I missed the Super Bowl festivities when they last visited the Bay Area ten years ago (and I bet it was major as it was Super Bowl 50🤦🏻‍♀️). But they’re back here again this year, and this sorta-kinda casual handegg football fan was not going to miss it this time!

Take a pic with your team’s helmet! Naturally, the Niners helmet had a long line.
Kaiser Permanente’s fun booth–the first exhibit I checked out.
One of the workouts event goers get to do (this one being a “balancing and racing” game!

If you go to Kaiser Permanente’s exhibit at Yerba Buena Gardens, be prepared for a workout–literally! They’ll have you “stretch” while answering Bay Area trivia (you’ll know when you see it), then you’ll be racing on both an exercise bike and balance board, and then you get to relax after with some breathing exercises. I usually take a walk to ease the adrenaline rush from the racing exercises, but I was determined to get my Kaiser swag (which you get after completing the entire run) in the end. (I got a drawstring backpack–which proved useful during my time there–plus pen and a stretch band.)

One of the many Super Bowl LX displays at the event (with lots of flowers)
The Field Goal game
One of the endurance games.

I got a kick out of seeing the child going up against their parent in those endurance games (like the one in the last pic). The child always outran their parent. 😆

History displayed at the NFL Museum
Mementos of 49ers player George Kittle
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Gold Jacket, signed by some Hall of Famers.
The ways to make the iconic Wilson “The Duke” football
Sewing a football
Lacing up a football
Inflating a football!
A menu from one of the many food vendors at the place. Gatorade Water is $9 a bottle!
My $19 salad! That’s SFO pricing! *grumbles*

I thought I would avoid paying the skyhigh fees for food at the place by bringing some factory-sealed chow (just some meat-and-cheese sticks). I had to throw it out at the entrance gates as outdoor food was not allowed. (Security didn’t catch my sugar-free candies, however.) I ended up paying SFO prices for a salad (that would’ve been $6 at Safeway) as my late lunch. 👎👎

You can bring water to the event, but it’s best to bring a disposable plastic bottle over a metal tumbler (in case they tell you to toss the tumbler). You can always refill the bottle at one of the many water fountains they have.

The football used for the very first Super Bowl.
All the footballs used in Super Bowl games.
Rings, baby, rings
A close-up of the Super Bowl champion ring for the SF 49ers (this one from 1995, when they won their 5th championship)

I tried to check out the Pro Bowl game that was going on that evening, but the place reached its capacity limit by the time I got in line, and so there are no pics of it. (Funny, I saw a replay of that game later that night, and when I was in line to try to see it–which was during the early part of the 4th quarter–there was plenty of seating!) I ended up getting in line for the Super Bowl Rings exhibit, which moved quick, thankfully.

Display of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, awarded to winners of the Super Bowl.
Close-up of the trophy.

The line to see the prized Lombardi trophy however, was one I chose not to get into. It was still long and slow-moving by the time I left at 9PM. You’d think I’d be bummed out, but I saw it up-close years ago. And if you’re wondering about the fluorescent-colored (?) windows, they probably used it to deter people from taking pics of it for free. Didn’t stop me and others, though!

Eagles player Desean Jackson (middle) at the autograph booth
Close-up of Desean Jackson

Lines were also long AF at the autograph booth.

By the way, the amount of Bosa Niners jerseys I saw that day was enough to make me gag. Wearing a Bosa jersey these days tells me everything I need to know about them. (Kids are exempt but blame the parents who have no problem with their kids repping a MAGA clown.) At least I saw no Buttkiss, er, Butker Chiefs jerseys that day.

A pod chair massage booth called Relax Your Tight End. Free seat cushions for attendees.
NFL Helmets!

After taking over 13K steps around Moscone Center, I kind of regret not sitting in those pod massage chairs.

Yours truly (sans face), posing the house down in front of all the NFL Helmets.

Some tips for visiting SBE:

–use a clear, plastic bag or backpack if you want to bring some of your stuff to the event. If you’ve ever gone to a sporting event recently, the bag guidelines are very similar. Also, no outside food or drink, but you can bring a disposable plastic water bottle (emptied out) inside.

–be prepared to spend a buttload for food if you get hungry during the event!

–get your bathroom break in before standing in those long lines!

–if you’re buying merch, all the vendors are cash-free, the big NFL Store (on the 2nd floor of Moscone) included.

–take BART x 1000. Entrance to the event gates on Howard Street is only a 10-15 minute walk from the Powell Street station.  There are even signs from the Powell station that will direct you to the event.

A sign for people who want to go to the Super Bowl Experience event, seen at the BART station on Powell Street
Another sign for people who want to go to the Super Bowl Experience event, seen at the BART station on Powell Street

Don’t be those anti-BART fools that will pay way too much for special event parking five blocks away from the event! Then there’s also the toll bridge fee plus godawful SF traffic to factor in. My BART roundtrip between the Macarthur station (Oakland) and Powell was under $10, and parking after 3PM at Macarthur was free.

–a duh tip: buy your tickets in advance. I almost did so this past weekend (when tix were $42 on the day I wanted to go), but I ended up buying tix same-day, which cost me $50. 😤 And if you can, go there…tomorrow instead of Friday and Saturday. (I was gonna say “go there on a weekday”, but I’m a little late in this as it’s Wednesday night already.) Tickets will also be more costly on Friday and Saturday. ($70 for general admission on Saturday!)

I don’t know how often the Bay Area hosts the “biggest sporting event of the year”, but even if you’re not the biggest football fan (like me), the SBE is still a fun event to check out. (On a personal note, in the span of a year, I like how I got to see the NBA All-Star festivities, the Hockey Hall of Fame, the World Series (albeit on TV) in a city I was vacationing in, and now SBE.)

 

by Lexine

This Cool Poem (BHM 2026 edition)

It’s the start of Black History Month today, and this poem just seems more relevant than ever. As the kids say, 10/10, no notes. Langston said what he said!

*******

Let America Be America Again

Langston Hughes (1901 – 1967)

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.

O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—

Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!

*************

Poem courtesy of poets.org 

ETA: It’s fitting that his birthday is on the same day as the start of Black History Month.

by Lexine

Gia

I first heard of Gia Carangi in 1999, in the book Models: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women by Michael Gross. That led me to finding an old Vanity Fair article on her, which led me to getting her biography Thing Of Beauty by Stephen Fried. Safe to say, I was fascinated by her. She had a look that drew me in, but she led a life that made me sit down and read all about it. A rough childhood that saw abuse, neglect, and a divorce from her parents. An adolescence where she would discover her true self (and sexuality). A fast rise in the modeling industry–a feat considering that blue-eyed blondes a la Christie Brinkley and Jerry Hall were the standard. A top model by nineteen, only for her vices and inner demons to get the best of her, resulting in her freefall from the industry by 22. She would be one of the first notable women to perish from AIDS in 1986 at just 26 years old. Yet amidst all the cautionary tales about models, hers still remains one of the more memorable.

I actually read about Gia first before watching her biopic starring Angelina Jolie. And seeing that she was openly bisexual intrigued teen me then, as I had begun questioning my own sexuality at the time. I knew I was attracted to guys, but girls started piquing my interest. (The movie was a double whammy for me when I would also find out that Angelina herself was also Bi.) I’d eventually come out as Bi in my early 20s, and to this day, Gia is one of my Bicons. She was attractive, problematic, and tragic, which all made her to be iconic in my book.

Today would’ve been Gia’s 66th birthday. 🕊️ And while I knew she was a major Blondie fan, TIL she appeared in the “Atomic” music video!

 

by Lexine

Wednesday Random Thoughts

So….WordPress starting doing this for those who want to write using Classic Editor…

…and I’m not a fan of it! I have to use a pop-up window to write my nonsense here now?! Booooo! Bring back the full-page Classic Editor!

***********

For those on Bluesky: has anyone noticed an uptick in angry/ignorant accounts lately? Especially when it comes to politics? This past weekend alone, in regards to the second murder by ICE (let’s call it for what it is–a murder) in Minneapolis, there was so much ignorance coming from so many accounts (many of whom claim to be “anti-Trump”, and some coming from countries that have their own issues), I swear, the amount of accounts I blocked may have surpassed the amount of followers I currently have. It was *that* bad. There was even one account stirring up antisemitic bullshit on the victim (read it if you dare); that’s the kind of stupid shit you’d expect to see on Elon’s Nazi Bird app. But, nope, that’s Bluesky today, and it blows chunks. Did I mention that if you call out the Dem-bashers or the “watermelon crowd” (as I like to call them, IYKYK) on their bullshit, your account could get tagged labels and placed on block lists that could suppress your engagement/visibility? I’ve seen two accounts of this vein get unfairly suspended. Christ almighty. The site wasn’t this bad a year ago. 

Safe to say, I plan on not posting there as much from here on out. (My work-in-progress just yelled out “yaaay!”) It helps that I can’t be on the internet when I’m at my day job and that I’ve hit a busy period with work and non-work stuff. It also helps that I don’t see social media as a big necessity in my life. If you can believe this, I’ve only been doing SM for the past three-and-a-quarter years, and I’ve witnessed the births and enshittifications of Twitter, TikTok, IG, and Snapchat throughout my adulthood. (I signed up for Twitter in the summer of 2022, and IG shortly after, and I initially used both platforms to promote my book.) With the site seeing an uptick in ignorance, antisemitism, and Dem-bashing for clicks, could I be witnessing the enshittification of Bluesky in real time?

Also, if they block you, block ’em back. ‘Nuff said!

**********

Saw this recently…

Source

I’m sad to see this. Just eight years ago, the brand was valued at a billion dollars, and given the quality of her products then, I saw why. PMG has some top-quality stuff. Motherships 1 and 5 (which I own) are my desert island palettes, their lip glosses are divine, and their OpuLust lip glosses and LustTrance lipsticks remain two of my most-missed discontinued products. I first saw the brand at the Third Street Promenade Sephora in Santa Monica nine years ago, and I balked at the $125 (?) price tag of her eyeshadow palette (in this case, Mothership 1). Then I tried it on for myself, and…I kinda got why it was pricey. (I still don’t believe eyeshadow palettes, no matter how high-quality they are, should not cost that much. I think $80 would’ve been a more reasonable selling price for her Motherships.) 

By the way, how is PMG filing for bankruptcy, but not that flopping brand from that plastic lesser (I’m not saying her name here) that’s sold at Ulta, Macy’s and Nordstrom? Or is her family suppressing those stories from the public? No one I know doesn’t wear or buy shit from that brand that’s collecting dust in stores these days. 

*********

I attended some MLK Day events in SF last week: 

A speech at Yerba Buena Gardens. I’m unclear over who the speaker in the center is, as I just arrived in the area when this was happening (Nancy Pelosi, maybe?)
Rally signs
KCSM Jazz 91’s MLK event, “Music and The Movement”, featuring some of the radio station’s personalities
An MLK Jr. quote sign outside Oracle Park

I originally went there to see the KCSM event. They first showed a documentary on the radio station’s 60th anniversary, and while it was pretty interesting, I felt like it went on longer than it should. I can always watch the doc at home; it’s not often do I get to see a live, informative discussion on jazz music and how its messaging & history ties to the principles that MLK Jr. stood for. 

Tiffany Austin, who performed after the discussion, is a very good singer, by the way! 

**********

I need to go watch Netflix soon. Not only for Heated Rivalry, but now for this: 

The trailer for "Reality Check: Inside America's Next Top Model," a docuseries about the controversial reality competition series, is out:

— Phil Lewis (@phillewis.bsky.social) 2026-01-26T21:34:22.994Z

**********

The Macarena. Independence Day. The 72-10 Chicago Bulls team. Mariah’s “One Sweet Day”. They all turn 30 this year! And I was there to witness it all when it originally happened! *pops a Werthers* 

Nowadays, doing the Macarena would trigger those ICE fuckers. 

**********

Another throwback: Google Photos showed me that seven years (and two days) ago, I was at the NHL All-Star Game and events! 

At SAP Center in San Jose, CA, for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game! Taken 1/26/2019.
The ginormous Shark head seen in Sharks home games
Sharks collectible swag (all featuring former Sharks player Brent Burns)
My seats for the game
Close-up of the players. The Metropolitan Team (white jerseys) beat the Central team (black jerseys).
Old me with the Stanley Cup!

It was my first time seeing the Stanley Cup in person! And to see my guys Crosby, Letang, and Lundqvist on the ice at the same time? 😍 They all played for the Metropolitan team, which won the All-Star game. 

Ya know, every time I see these throwback pics of me from the 2010s, two things come to mind. One: I sorta-kinda miss my natural black hair (it’s been dyed red for the past six years). And two: I really don’t miss how big I was then. 

**********

the first 3 words you see will define your 2026 😭MoneyNew car Pussy

— Uncle pablo from Miami (@pablostjohn.bsky.social) 2025-11-24T20:47:50.488Z

I got “money”, “ass”, and “travels”. So far, this is eerily accurate. Right now, I’m making good money working my ass off from my work travels.  (I’ll eventually post about my day job here; I’m approaching 15 years into my profession this summer.)

*********

I can’t bring myself to eat let alone buy Dubai chocolate. It’s not sugar-free, for one. And after reading a wild article on (I kid you not) “Dubai port-a-potties” a few years ago, I refuse to touch that sh-,er, stuff!

*********

Some of my most memorable life events took place in a year that ended in a 6. I plan on doing some throwback posts throughout this year on what was up with me in the years 1996, 2006, and 2016. (Not 1986, though–I was only 1 going on 2 then.) I got some stories to tell! And may 2026 give me something fun and memorable. 

by Lexine

A Friendly January

The cast of Friends, on US magazine, January 1996

When I started posting vintage magazine covers here, I didn’t have a January entry as I started this thing in February. It didn’t take long to find a cover to complete the year of entries, and seeing this image has me thinking two things. One: remember when US magazine was a monthly entertainment title and not the tabloid rag that it devolved into? And two: that cover is as mid-1990s as you can get. I can smell the CK One perfume insert from here.

Also, RIP Matthew Perry. 😦

Credit for the image goes to this eBay listing, which has more pics of what’s inside

by Lexine

Home, 2026

I thought I wouldn’t be doing my New Year’s tradition this year, given the rain that was in our forecast for yesterday and today. But it cleared up at midday and I was able to take my walk. Compared to last year’s image, it was nice seeing patches of clear skies and a bit of sun, after the dreary storm we just had. Could that symbolize something for this year? We shall see.