Charles Barkley on George magazine, February/March 1996
I have this issue! Got it for $1 at Half Price Books a while back. Sir Charles looking like George Washington ready to hit the hardwood sans jersey caught my eye, but knowing Barkley and how opinionated he is, I had to read his (dated) interview. Here’s a snippet of it as he talks with the late John F. Kennedy Jr. about (among other things) wanting to run for Governor of Alabama (his home state), and what he thought about the OJ Simpson verdict:
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. 😆
Like many real ones with social media these days, I have joined the land of blue skies. I haven’t abandoned the right-wing cesspool known as Twitter just yet, although I may consider it if I get more followers on Bluesky than Twitter. The Bluesky app also needs some work, but I must say: it’s soooooo refreshing to see a social media site not bogged down by its MAGA manchild owner, vile right-wing trash, algorithms that are obviously drunk, and dumb bots. Here’s hoping the site stays the course and doesn’t devolve like Twitter.
I’m also on Threads and still have my IG. I got a TikTok but I haven’t touched it for a year now. (I’m just not a TikTok girl.) In the hierarchy of SM posting, Bluesky now gets first dibs on my short-form nonsense, then Threads, and, if I feel like it, Twitter.
My Vegas birthday trip pics will be coming shortly. I’ve posted some on my socials a few weeks ago, but I got a lot more pics and a whole lot to say about them!
I travel for my day job a few times a week, and some of the things I’ve been seeing on the digital billboards when I take 880 North back home…😒”Be Kind”? “Choose Love”?? What in the sappy Etsy boymom hell is that? Many people in this country certainly weren’t kind at all at the polls two weeks ago!
Meanwhile, that parallel universe is looking more lovely by the day. We’re all looking forward to what the Kamala administration will bring to this country after her landslide election win two weeks ago, the House and Senate going blue, Trump and Elon finally going to jail, the racists/misogynists/Nazis all staying pissed on their Truth Social accounts, and next summer bringing us the release of Xtina’s newest album and the Batgirl movie. *sighs*
I think I found THE cold-weather fragrance…
…and THE scent for femme fatales, divas, and the bad girls your mother warned you about. In other words, MY kinds of scent! It’s a few steps above Black Orchid, which I also own, and that’s all I can say because I’m not well-versed in describing fragrances and its notes (and that’s something coming from a novelist-by-night).
Someone send me back to Vegas for the next seven months with a $15,000/month stipend to cover lodging, food, gas, bills, my rent back home, and miscellaneous. I only say this because the Penguins aka my hockey team won all their games while I was in Vegas. Superstitions and all that.
I’m really gonna miss Rafa. It was only a matter of time before he hung up his racket for good. The first time I saw him play was Wimbledon 2008; I tuned in after getting curious over the whole Nadal-Federer rivalry going on then. That Men’s Finals match, honey…talk about an intro! I enjoyed watching him play ever since, and he was the total package: talented, class act, and, yup, a hottie. 😘Him and Federer defined one hell of an era in Men’s Tennis that I doubt can be topped any time soon. Happy trails, Rafa! 🫶
Ending this post with a song that will go multi-platinum in the households of young women fighting against the emboldened, yucky incels. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll know!
Today marks the 10th anniversary of this hit, this home run, this MOMENT that sent the Giants to the 2014 World Series! They would go on to win that World Series, the day before my 30th birthday, and that win was an amazing, albeit unexpected birthday gift. (I thought they’d lose that Game 7 to the Royals.) This sports fan got FED during the 2010s, honey. Giants Dynasty, Warriors Dynasty, the Pens going back-to-back…it all makes up for the ongoing drought my teams are currently having. At least I’m not a Buffalo sports fan. (I had to say it.)
I’m saddened to hear that TNT will no longer carry NBA games after the 2024-25 NBA season, meaning no more Inside after this season. Not sure if the Inside crew will start something new with NBC or elsewhere, but that deal is proof that all good things eventually come to an end for the sake of money. For a long-time fan of the show, to quote Chuck, it’s turrible.
I’ve enjoyed the sport for 15 years and counting, and if you’d like to know why I got into it, blame the Pittsburgh Penguins.
During the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, I made an unserious $10 bet with my then-friends that the Penguins would win the Cup that year. The bet was made during the Eastern Finals, and I had been impressed with them after seeing them play for the first time against the Capitals in the Semifinals. (I had no clue how legendary that series would become over time. What an intro to hockey for me!) After Game 5 of the Finals, I thought I would lose my $10 for good. All my other friends placed bets on the Red Wings to win, so during that Game 7, I was feeling both good and nervous. After that Game 7, I became $50 richer. 😊(And to think I was close on betting on the Sharks that year. They had the best record in the league but got bounced in the first round, proving the Presidents Trophy winner curse real again.)
I’ve stuck with the Pens since 2009; they’d become quite the winning team since then, with the exception of the last few years. Although the Sharks are second–you best believe I got FED during the 2016 Stanley Cup Finals. I’ve also enjoyed non-NHL games, such as the IIHF World Juniors and Winter Olympic hockey. Tomorrow marks the start of the NHL season and yours truly will be seated for it!
I would’ve posted this on my socials yesterday, but various things kept me from doing that. Plus, I keep losing followers on IG/the bird app (was it something I said?), so looks like I’ll be posting exclusives here first, haha. (I also happen to be gaining followers here, much to my surprise.)
From the Willie Mays Experience pop-up museum, across the ballpark. Went there before heading over to the event.
Outside Oracle Park. The event was free to the public.
Turnout was decent, though I expected more fans. This is Willie Mays we’re paying tribute here! Probably the Monday afternoon start time kept some people away from the event. (It was also an off-day for the Giants.) The second pic is one of the many tributes to the GOAT around the park, as well as a tribute to another Giants great, Orlando Cepeda, who passed away a week after Mays. (Side note: go after the evil ones instead of the good guy legends, Grim Reaper!)
Some of the guests at the tribute. I didn’t expect to see former President Bill Clinton (1st pic), Spike Lee (4th pic), and members of the championship teams like Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Sergio Romo (all not pictured) there. Jumbotron pics are of (from left to right) Michael Mays (Willie’s son), Barry Bonds, and Juan Marichal (2nd pic), and former President Barack Obama (3rd pic).
Michael Mays, giving the last speech of the tribute to his dad.
You’ll be forever in our hearts and forever missed, Mr. Mays! 🧡🖤
You’ll be forever in our hearts and forever missed, Mr. Mays! 🧡🖤
Lex Writes On 