Two Miles of Empty Beach...

Welcome to what will likely be a series of blogs that will do nothing but reaffirm your belief that I am a somewhat spoiled, over indulged 1%’er with first world problems. But I write what I know about, and so should you.

We arrived on this little slice of heaven called Kauai yesterday after spending a glorious weekend in the East Bay area with my friends Laura and Steve.

Cal Berkeley. You can buy a sweatshirt even if you can’t get in..

Here is a picture of them that I took from the hills above Berkeley.

We went there on our Saturday morning jaunt because I had to have some type of college swag that lets people think that I am bright enough to go to a school like Cal Berkeley when I actually went to Penn State and Temple. Well, what I really needed was a snazzy sweatshirt and why not kill two birds with one stone Plus, my husband and son wanted nothing to do with going there with us…Whatever.

I have told you about Laura before, and her husband is a secret agent for the government. I am not sure I can tell you that or not..so don’t tell people I told you.  One of the things I like best about Laura is that she let’s me sit in the front seat when we drive with Steve. That is a good thing, because, well, he drives like I do. We both agree that most people driving should not be on the road, except us.

So Steve graciously drove, and I navigated and we made it to Berkeley on a glorious morning. The boys were busy breaking into various private golf clubs before picking up our nephew from the airport.

We did everything one expects you to do in Berkeley, which includes, but is not limited to…get a little lost, express shock at the multitude of homeless people, buy swag and eat Indian food.  We had this great lunch at House of Curry..just off Telegraph near the Greek joint. Slow, but wonderful. I checked in there on Yelp if you need more details.

I bought a very sporty number, a blue zip up Cal jacket that would come in handy later when we dined on the waterfront in Sausalito. Here is a picture of Laura and I, notice my obnoxious untamed mane covering up her lovely face. That is another reason she is great, she could care less about how I look or if my hair gets in the way of her beautiful face. She knew me when I didn’t comb my hair, wore ratty sweatshirts and didn’t use deodorant.

Well, we may not be rocket scientists, but I can promise you one thing we all learned during our trip to Berkeley…one is required to drive a Prius to live there. Jesus, Mary and Batman there were a million of those ghastly cars there. Everyone driving around quietly, looking morally superior..we were in a 14 year old Volvo wagon that Steve and Laura bought IN SWEDEN…its electric blue and probably has been to more Dead shows than all the Prius.es.es.es…(we are trying to figure out the proper plural for Prius..we cannot come to a final answer..perhaps there is none, but since its highly unlikely I will ever have one or two of them its not a big issue. Below is me me just pointing out the obvious…if you look closely you will see I am representing Philly with my Flyers shirt on..

For future reference I will use Priae as my plural for Prius. Capeesh?

Fast forward…dinner in Sausalito…great views, brutal parking and a quick drink with my old beach mate Tracey and her man Rodney at Wellington’s. We had dinner at Salito’s, which despite mixed Yelp reviews (yes, yes, I checked in there too), was just fine; especially since I was not the person who got the whole tray of drinks spilled on her by the poor waitress…


If its Sunday, it must be Stanford..

We were able to safely retrieve our nephew and he willingly (well, had no choice) but to join us on our journey south to Palo Alto. We enticed him with a promised trip to In-N-Out Burger and well, he had no other choice. I am okay with TJ going to Stanford, then I can visit him and Laura all the time.

Clearly, Stanford is the country club of universities. That place was so pristine and clean and amazing that, well, I felt rather unattractive. Its like, the un-Berkley. Here are the guys letting me take their picture. It was nice of them to let me do that.

I would show you a picture of TJ and I, but frankly, I was not wearing my Wonderbra – so I am not pleased with how I looked. I did, however, buy a very nice white Stanford shirt, which will come in handy when I play squash in the fall. People will wonder, “Is it possible that she played squash in college at Stanford?”

Okay, here it is, I made it small so I look smaller.

After catching up with a former colleague for lunch at Calafia Café (while the boys ate at In-N-Out Burger) – oh, I did not Yelp, not professional… we decided that rather than do the San Fran thing, that we would go down to Half Moon Bay and do the Mavericks thing..

Mavericks..from the Shore

The Arms family cannot surf, Powell used to before me, I know this because there has been a surf board in our basement for 16 years.

We are, however, huge fans of surfing movies, not just Lilo and Stitch…we love all those surf movies..Riding Giants, Step into the Liquid…you get the picture. We also like to read books about that stuff. I highly recommend the book, “The Wave.” It came out last year, trust me on this one.

So as we wound over the mountains on Rt. 92, the temperature dropped 25 degrees, the fog and clouds rolled in and the Priae disappeared, and were replaced by dudes with pick up trucks. After a fairly vomit inducing ride to the ocean we were greeted by a surfer’s worst dream…a flat sea. But that was okay, we were staying on solid ground.

So we headed out to Pillar Point; which is the jumping off spot to head out to Mavericks. Below is a picture of the memorial set up for Mark Foo. He is a famous surfer who died surfing Mavericks on December 23, 1994. This is a really dangerous place – another surfer, this one from down the road in Kalaheo, Sion Milosky died there in March 2011.

Also according to Wikipedia, Gerard Butler almost died there while filming a movie  called Chasing Mavericks. Its coming out in the fall, and it will join the Arms Family Surfing Film collection.

The picture below pretty much sums up Mavericks.

Dangerous place for kids

Kids being DangerouS

I am pretty sure my brother and his wife will no longer let me take their son on vacation after tempting him with Stanford, climbing on dangerous jetties and feeding him In-N-Out Burgers.  We also made a quick stop at the famous Mavericks surf shop..and now I have a Mavericks Invitational Tee Shirt..girl cut!


Life is an upgrade waiting to happen..

I made an investment in my happiness on our day of travel, I upgraded my husband and I to first class. It was not expensive, it gave the boys a chance to sit together and watch movies on the ipad and for us to having meaningful adult dialogue.

Bahh haa haa..I crack myself up. Powell was dead to the universe before the plane took off.

But I had what one could only classify as an indulgent breakfast, a cheese omelet covered with pulled kalua pig..Yep, who needs bacon when you can have pig Hawaiian style for breakfast. Being that it was 7:20 am – I did not have a drink with my meal. I realize it was tea time in London, but, a girl has to have some rules.

The flight was a non-event, and being the over privileged girl that I am, I always know what side of the plane to sit on so I can see the beach house as we come in for the landing (the right side).

It was a pretty boring arrival in Kauai…and that is how we like it.


Boobs and Sharks

I am going to go a little rogue here and steal from my husband’s facebook post. This is his eyewitness account..

“Wow, the first few hours in Kauai have been exciting. And the topless girl on beach isn’t even the highlight.

There were two surfers in the water and I was in the surf with TJ and Hayden. So, three people on the beach, one topless, but tough to make out how old. Five in the water. (He is a numbers guy).

The two surfers, a guy and girl, get out of the water in a hurry and wave us out. He has been bitten in the foot by something, probably a small shark.

So surfer girl runs a mile to get their truck (Pam note- up a big hill!) to evacuate the dude. The topless girl now has her cover up on and has a towel around the guy’s foot. Pam and the boys are grabbing the first aid kit from the house.

So we apply peroxide and pressure and the boys help get the surfer guy up the beach to the truck his girlfriend (Pam note – what a cool chick) just brought.

Turns out the topless girl is a redhead from Seattle and about 25 years old.”

Well, that pretty much sums up yesterday.

Of course, here is why I named this post Two Miles of Beach…

This is dead in front of our house. She was actually sitting on the grass. Really, honey, two miles of empty beach and you sit right in front of the house?

Cannot wait to see what is awaiting us when we get to see the Olympic coverage 12 hours after it happened…Shhh..don’t tell me.

PS..the Flyin’ Hawaiian and Let’s Eat

I was a little bummed to hear about the trades of Shane Victorino (a local brudda from Maui) and Hunter Pence – to our west coast rivals. Life is sweet out there. I hope the Giants get you a Prius, Hunter, and I hope the Dodgers love you as much as we did, Shane.

Both class acts…

Crap, there are literally 20 people on the beach, I should just be in New Jersey if this keeps up.

LONDON!!! This is not about the Olympics..it's about me!

I didn't think one thing could get me so inspired, as to get up at 6:15 am on a Saturday morning..but hot damn if I found it..My toothbrush!  This is not any old toothbrush, this is a BRITISH toothbrush that I bought back in May 2003 when I went to London with my friend Melissa.

My friend Melissa is very cool, and she puts up with me..we met at work when we were both in cubicle hell in banking.  Sometimes you meet your life long friends when you are battling the forces of evil together..If you have spent any part of your career in banking, you know what I mean.  I won't post a picture of Melissa, because, well, she is now a famous celebrity and I want to keep her anonymous.  So, Melissa may not even be her real name.

This toothbrush if very special,  because I only use it when I travel..which must mean I am traveling - which for those of you who know me even remotely know me, it's kinda my thing.  It's why I work, so I can travel...However, I am not in London.  I am visiting my BFF who I have known since I knew how to have a friend, Laura.  As you can see, as women age we often have issues with facial hair.  Her situation is more under control than mine. This is us last year when we were hitting up wineries all day with her brother David and my husband, Anonymous.

She lives right near this magical little place called San Francisco, technically she is in the East Bay, which means you don't freeze your ass off here in the summer and the traffic is a little better. She has lived here a long time, off and on...I have been here A LOT..but I don't love her because she lives here, I love to visit San Fran because she is here..and its half way to Kauai..

My parents know Laura, I know Laura's parents, my dad calls Laura "Twinkle Toes" because she used to tip toe around and was a ballet dancer.  He calls me Bertha Big Butt, or used to..that's okay, its a term of endearment in my family, we are Italian, so we respect a lady with round thing in her back..

Wait..I have lost my way..

Arghh, I was supposed to be writing about London, and "Melissa" and my toothbrush.  Okay, so back in May 2002, my friend Melissa and I decided we were going to London to see plays, do tea, see history, and well, SHOP..we travel well together, which is good.  So when we arrived in our terrific little hotel right across from the V&A - I realized I had forgotten my toothbrush.  If there is one thing Melissa will not tolerate, its a wing man with bad breath.  So we navigated our way to a little drug store type place and went to buy a toothbrush, the first one I grabbed I took right up to the counter.  Having just come off an overnight flight, sitting in business class, which meant free drinks, I was a little woozy.  The kind person behind the counter said to me - are you sure you want to buy a toothbrush that costs this much? It was $10...I would put the symbol in for pounds but I can't find it, but the exchange rate was about $1.45 to one pound, so it was about a $18 toothbrush, with VAT and all that.  Sheesh...so I wandered back and got a much cheaper model, which is the one I still travel with today.

My First Trip to London...and My Eric Clapton Crush

This was my second trip to London, the first time, I went after college and stayed a bit with my friend's mum and at a scary hostel in London.  I was in my Eric Clapton huge crush phase. The year was 1992, actually twenty years ago this year.. A boyfriend in college turned me onto Clapton (I can't say my boyfriend because, well, there was more than one).  I became a little obsessed, well, a lot obsessed, not about my boyfriend, he is a fine upstanding man, but about Eric. So, as all good obsessed gals do, I saw him at a bunch of venues, including Alpine with my friend Betsy (featured in an earlier blog), but this is Clapton nirvana..24 Nights at Royal Albert Hall.  So, for my twenty something birthday I parked my little blond butt in a swivelly seat (that is a made up word, but if you have been to RAH, you know what I mean), and was prepared to be in the Sunshine of His Love, to be his Layla, to have him tell me how wonderful I looked tonight.  But this is the year he decided to embrace the blues, and it was his tryout period for songs that would eventually show up "From the Cradle."  Now, I am going to say something which will probably lower your esteem of me, but frankly, I am not a huge blues fan.  There, I have said it.  It's okay, once in a while, but its not my go to music.  But it was still a great trip to London. Here are two hot pictures of that sexy music man..Stay hot, you old codger!

London-Modern Era-2003..and a new musical man 

Let me cut to the chase because this is getting long. Melissa and I went to every department store, and my biggest mistake was not buying a phone with a camera in it.  This was 10 years ago, and camera phones were still cutting edge.  I thought, who the hell needs a camera in their phone, I have a camera??  Well, when I saw the 6' 5" cross dressing trans-sexual who looked like he had gotten his clothes from the Ab-Fab girls in Selfridge's - I knew I had made a fatal judgement call.

The best thing about traveling with Melissa is that she is as organized as I am, and we both like to plot out all the things we want to do, and do them until we drop dead. So, we picked up a Time Out London before we started hitting the free wine and guess who was coming to London with us?  BRUCE!!!! Bruce was playing the Crystal Palace, which is outside of London.  Well, because Melissa and I play the same game of pretending the dollars and pounds were interchangeable - we decided to find ourselves a ticket agent and score tickets.  Of course we paid a fortune, but this was his first tour post 9/11 - and it was The Rising Tour..and well, people were still digging America back then.  

Actual Picture from that show..

Seriously, Melissa and I had a great time, its really different to go to an outdoor show in London. Just a few pointers - start time is completely nebulous, open seating is random, and wow, when that Concorde takes off overhead, its LOUD...It was my first Bruce concert, and on that day, it was awesome to be American girls in London.  We finished up the night by heading back on the train to London.

London is a good city for me, because I generally have problems staying up past 10 pm, but with the time change, I was game for staying up at least until midnight, plus I was full of American Bruce Juice! So we hit the Hard Rock Casino in London..why? Because its the only damned place to get a drink after 11:00 in London.  Jesus, people..take a lesson from Spain, the party just gets going there at 11!!

Guess who we saw there..no not Bruce and Patty, not the queen or any famous princes, nope, among the partying Americans and Middle Easterners we saw a real celebrity...

Ali G!!!

Yep, Ali G..or Borat, or whoever he really is, or someone who looked just like him.  I could go on and on about London but here is a short list of what I think you should do..

• See plays - no need to get dressed up and you can eat and drink while watching them - its so not Broadway, its just part of their everyday life- you can get half price tix the same day.  We saw Stones in His Pockets (terrific) and a crappy play with the Ross from Friends in it, but it was still fun, because we had wine.
• Westmister Abbey, The Eye, Victoria &Albert, castles - just do it all.  Tower of London is fun too..just see all the touristy stuff - its why you are there.
• Do not let Italian men buy you champagne at the Mandarin Hotel unless you are with a wingman and have a code word.  Harmless old coots.
• The food does not suck, so don't bitch about it.
• Harrod's, Selfridge's, et al..way cool. Though the Diana/Dody thing in Harrod's is creepy.
• Do tea - high tea with all the accouterments at least twice.
• The restaurant at the top of Harvey Nicks is great..
• Watch a lot of AbFab before you go.
• Take the tube, but ride in a cab - and take a picture of yourself in a London Cab.
• FOR GOD'S SAKE LOOK THE OTHER WAY WHEN YOU CROSS THE STREET!!

And finally, say hello to the Queen..this one..

NOT THIS ONE....

Cheerio...of to go enjoy San Fran..where I may see one of these queens.  That is going to be a great conversation with my son and nephew..

My Penn State Life...23 years after I left Old Main Behind..Part 2

Well, this is part 2 of my Penn State journey...this is one that started about 23 years after I left behind Old Main, fraternity parties, The Lions Den, The Skellar, and nutty roommates...I am going to flash super forward..to September 2011..

An amazing thing happened in the fall of 2011, my kid decided not to play soccer anymore..if any of you know me (yes, most of you do), you know that I am not a fan of travel soccer and soccer in general.  Mostly, I hate traveling sometimes 2.5 hours so my kid can kick a soccer ball around with other kids who are in his same ability level.  Really, you are telling me that I have to travel to Scranton to find some other kids that are B level players??  Long ago I vowed that no matter how much I loved my son, if it was soccer and involved a toll, a bridge, or the turnpike, I was not going..if its lacrosse, its a whole different ballgame.  All of a sudden we had open fall weekends...can you say ROADTRIP?

Penn State v. Temple - Saturday September 17, 2011

A group of my PSU FB fans started chattering about getting together for the Penn State/Temple game at Lincoln Financial Field...what could be better, the two schools that I matriculated from heading to the gridiron..and I could drive there in under 30 minutes..spectacular..Well that game was more like SPOOKTACULAR...Penn State absolutely sucked...but that did not stop me from tailgating.  Here are some pics from that lackluster performance..well, tailgating pics..

Aoatoa Polamalu - tailgate host with the mostess

Pam and Johnny Blue

Alpha Sigs, tailgating of course

Now, here is a weird blank space here that I cannot figure how to get rid of or format...so please for give me...I am really blond.  So here is a random picture to fill the spot.. Great flip flops...picked them up in South Carolina last year.

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It was during this awesome tailgating the plan was hatched for the Arms Family to head up to State College the weekend of October 7th to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Betsy and I running on the football field at the Fiesta Bowl..and the National Championship game.

Back to State College - The Weekend of October 7th..

Somehow I convinced my husband and son that it would be fun to come up to Penn State with me and help me relive some of my fondest memories with some of my oldest, and now, hairless friends.. We sat in a traditional State College traffic jam, but found our lovely little apartment and headed out to take in all key, essential Penn State things.. Here is a picture of a 3 month old TJ and I during Arts Festival, 1998...the best thing I can say about this picture is...that 14 years later - I think I am better looking than I was then..

So...first stop...of course...The Nittany Lion..

Wouldn't you agree?  And TJ does not look like a frightened blob.  He really gets most improved of the two of us..Next stop..the CREAMERY...This is TJ making his selection..sporting his Ashbee Lacrosse jacket though...just in case someone thought he played soccer..

Both TJ and Powell got enormous ice cream cones...I did not...one of the cruel twists of my advanced age is that I am now lactose intolerant.  Yes, yes, I realize that is a bit of oversharing..but I just wanted to explain why I was not imbibing on Peachy Paterno (a real flavor...and STILL ON THE MENU!)

The boys were pretty beat, and really had no interest in drinking French 75s with me at the Adams Apple, so they left me to my own devices..Below, you can learn more about the French 75...from the world's most reliable source...Wikipedia..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_75_(cocktail)

They used to limit you to two a night at the Adam's Apple, but apparently, but when you have a Gold Amex card..you can get as many as you like..I got together with a bunch of buds...with a big shout out to my old pal, Pete...he grew up to quite the admirable adult, we had concerns about his Pepsi and Dominos addiction in college...Here is a picture of him back in his youth..He looks pretty much the same..without hair..

They partied late into the night..I gave up at midnight...and cabbed it to our little apartment.

Saturday October 8, 2011
It was the most glorious morning...the sun was shining, the skies were cloudless.  It could not have been a more beautiful day.  Wow, and let me tell you - tailgating is now a professional sport, not just a bucket of hairy buffalo and hot dogs..Not only was Iowa here to play..but so was the Heisman Trophy..so TJ and I got our pics snapped with it.

Want irony?  That same rag publication SI put forth a very disappointing cover this week.  I shredded it..if you are friends with me on FB..you can see me shredding it.  And below is a modified version of that now shredded cover..We are pretty clever at Penn State with photoshop.

The family came along and joined me on a few tailgates..an Alpha Sig one and a Letterman tailgate.  I saw people that I had not seen in 23 years..It was great to see everyone. Really!

As game time neared we entered Beaver Stadium. The crowds snapping pics in front of the JoePA statue were huge..so we did not wait.  What a regret..

Okay..I am the biggest softie..I cry when I hear my Alma Mater and all my other PSU songs..now they put the words up on the big screen so we don't have to sing "We don't know the God-damned words."  A big improvement, I was a blubbery mess..The Blue Band marched, the dude did his flip (I cannot remember if he fell or not), there was half-time and of course the boys of 1986 came out and were honored..More tears...of happiness...and the story continues...

For the Glory...Part One..How I Became a Nittany Lion

I have delayed writing this particular blog for quite some time, but with a vacation looming its time to release it from its draft status to just putting it all out there.

On August 19, 1984, nearly 28 years ago I arrived in a mythical place called Happy Valley.  I never had dreams of going to Penn State, frankly, it never entered my mind.  As a nice girl from Ohio, I had high hopes of attending UNC or Georgetown, but I got into neither.  I did however get into some great schools in Ohio - like Miami of Ohio and what is now called THE Ohio State University (we called it Ohio State, but apparently they got some complex about being confused with Ohio University - which is frankly a really fun school.)  But I wanted to escape Ohio, get away from everyone, and my parents were moving to Houston, TX...so why not go to Penn State.

My announcement to attend there was met with secret high fives from my typing teacher who was one of our team's football coaches, and many of my friends who played football but were going elsewhere.

So my parents headed down to Texas before school started, so my grandfather drove me up to school.  He dropped me off with a few suitcases, a set of sheets and a case of beer we bought at the distributor as we entered State College. This case of beer thing was my first clue I was in a foreign land.  I had left Ohio, the land of 3.2 beer and all the wine you can drink and buy at a gas station at the ripe age of 18, for a place called Pennsylvania where you are required to either buy 2 six packs or a case of beer, but not much in between..and 21 drinking age.  The only reason I am still able to survive in this bizarre state is that I can quickly dash to New Jersey or Delaware for my seven beers.  Actually, I don't drink beer much anymore..it does not really agree with me..but I digress..

So, I moved into my dorm with my never before met roommate who not only smoked, but ran up a $500 phone bill in the first month taking collect calls from her boyfriend in jail.  She did not make it through September..but by the time she had departed I had been to several football games and a Fixx concert.

Of course, one thing leads to another...and I learned about tailgates, hairy buffalo, grain alcohol (apparently you can't get that in Ohio with your 3.2 beer).  Since I had time on my hands, I immortalized these events with a scrapbook - kind of like a blog, 1980's style..September 8, 1984..clearly I had consumed the Nittany Lion kool-aid...

I am totally going out on a limb here showing you this next picture..but I am telling a story, and you need all the facts, pretty and not..Yep..I am tripping on Blue and White.

Going Greek..sort of..
But it was not all football, not by a long shot - I decided to go through Little Sister Rush.  The feminists in the room should just step away for a while..but I was just not ready for the sorority world, frankly, I was not sure it was my thing.  It's probably the best decision I ever made in college, from a social perspective...I met my best gal pal from college being a little sister, that would be Betsy..She is a pretty private person, so I will just show you this picture of the two of us...

This is one of my favorite pictures of us - we are at the Fiesta Bowl..yes, the one in 1986 when Penn State won the National Championship, and we were there - and ran on the field, and first drank Corona beer..it was a kick-ass trip to Tempe..but I have 100's of pictures of Betsy and I, but this is my favorite. If you look carefully you will see me sporting Greek boxers, I did, in fact, join a sorority along the way, but it was never quite the same as being a Little Sister at Alpha Sig. (Sorry, KDs - but the Alpha Sigs were a tough act to follow).

Of course, being a little sister lead to a life of being subservient to the brothers of the fraternity, cleaning, cooking and...are you freaking kidding me?  It was a highway to tailgates, fraternity parties, canning for Dance Marathon, friendships with like minded girls, and hanging out with guys who were not ALL trying to get into your pants.  And of course our pledge bolt to Radford College that got snowed out the first time, but when it got back on the calendar is a story worthy of a movie starring Channing Tatum and me..but I digress again..

At Alpha Sig I made great friends, this is me and my Big Bro, Rick at our Little Sister Sweetheart dinner..he got a bottle of Blue Nun for me..it was a ton of fun!  We also used to do things like drink gin and tonics on the roof on hot afternoons and when the weather was not threatening the couches came out into the front yard drank beer and hung out.. Life was damned good back in the mid-80's,

In fact, nearly 27 years later, through the magic of the internet, Facebook etc..I still keep up with my favorite Alpha Sigs..Here I am tailgating at the 2011 Penn State/Temple game with Bill - he is Rick's big, which makes him my big squared...families are complicated...

THON
I would be remiss if I did not share with you that the combo of Alpha Sig/ASA raised the most money for Dance Marathon in 1985 - and the overall haul that year for everyone was a shade over $225k...I am sure you have heard about THON..you know that largest student run charity in the entire universe, which is based at Penn State that has raised more than $88 million for conquering childhood cancer since its inception in 1977. Below is the link if you need to educate yourself..

http://www.thon.org/

In 2012, the kids raised $10.6 million for the Four Diamonds Fund...you read that right...$10.6 million..As a side note, if you see those canners out in the fall/winter - don't ignore them..give them whatever random change you have, before somebody breaks into your car to steal your miscellaneous change.  When JoePa died, the family asked that donations be made THON and the Special Olympics..I sent a very nice check to THON..don't forget to ask me for a check in 2013, I will be back to give you more..

I realize that I have been going on for a very long time here, and I have not even talked much about football...or going to class...but my Penn State was about making friends, making mistakes, making sure your friends didn't do stupid things, protecting them when they did..

The Next Three Years...I will make this quick..
Its fair to same that the next three years were pretty much more of the same but here are some brief highlights..

A New Apartment and a Roomie
I moved out of the dorms...and into a great apartment with my former RA and wonderful friend until this day Kirby. This is a picture of her and her then boyfriend, now husband, at our Dorm Formal.  She goes by her big girl name these days, Andrea, but she will always be Kirby to me.

This is our apartment on Foster Ave across from Acacia Fraternity, and next door to the Commons, which was a condo complex where some football players lived..football players are very useful neighbors, because, well they are tall, and when they stand on a chair they can actually change the lightbulbs in your apartment or you.  We shared a one bedroom shabby ass apartment..but it was ours.  I am fairly certain its the rare college kid today that has to share their bedroom..

Sorority Girl...

I joined a sorority - Kappa Delta - and I made more great friends..we were truly a diverse good looking group of gals, I am still friends with many of them - they have become a group of first class women, mothers, lawyers, marathoners, in public service.. I lived with two of my sorority sisters in this very apartment after Kirby, sadly, graduated.  Both of them no longer speak to me.  One decided she hated me as I was graduating, she hated me so much that when she was moving out near the end of the summer, she took the shower curtain, because she bought it (it was $7.99 at Kmart) - quite a bitter ending.  Well, I am not calling her out, but sweetheart, when you got too drunk and peed in the corner of our bedroom and lost your virginity to one of my really nice friends, I never told people...because I am better than that.  I hope you are no longer that neurotic.   The other one decided I thought that I had no moral compass because of my viewpoints on the whole Jerry Sandusky issue.  He is a creepy ass pedophile who should rot in hell, it was my failure to immediately condemn JoePA that pissed her off.  That's okay.  I haven't seen her in about 20 years, another 20 are neither here nor there.

I got a four credit D..had to drop sailing class, stunk at squash, and got an A in Sex Ed..

Algebra 5 - which is algebra for idiots, but a pre-req for business school.  I killed my GPA - in fact, not only did I get a sub 2.0, I did not get initiated into the sorority on time because of that (me and my pal Stacie..love her - but she had a better excuse than me, I was just a dim-wit).  That was the hardest class I ever took.  Before and after that rotten semester I made the Dean's List.. 

Penn State requires that you take some random number of phys ed credits..and be able to swim 50 yards before you graduate.  I took some great classes - lacrosse, personal fitness, volleyball..but three classes nearly killed me, and well, I am more athletic than the average bear..

• Squash - Wally Bahr was teaching that class.  This is the guy that coached soccer at Penn State, he is the father of three NFL kickers (all Penn State guys), and well, I was the worst ever squash player. The ball was different back then, and it took me 25 years to get over my near failure of this class, he gave me a B for showing up, being a good sport, and told me to go hit the weight room or ride the bike, because I was a danger to other players...I still am.

• Sailing - every Penn Stater dreams of a summer spent in Happy Valley taking hard courses taught by hopefully less intense teachers (Comp Sci), taking a sailing class up at the place which name escapes me, and taking sex ed..My friend Gail and I were in this together, and well, I cannot tack, turn, and turned over the boat twice in our first class.  It was complicated..we dropped the course. I rocked out Sex Ed that summer, and passed CompSci..'nuff said.

Bowl Games..

• Orange Bowl-South Beach was a rough place back then.  We had more fun than I can report..however we lost to Oklahoma..
• Fiesta Bowl-as previously mentioned - one of my personal best days ever. Classy Penn State vs. Scummy Miami - if you think we lack class - go back an acquaint yourself with the events surrounding that.
• Citrus Bowl - misery...but its a bowl, and we partied in Tampa.
• Rose Bowl - yep - me and my girl Betsy went to this amazing game..We beat Oregon and should've won the National Championship, but they gave it to someone else.  That year was a double yummy - I went to the Super Bowl a few weeks later!

And here I will jump off the Penn State memory train...because I need to do something productive and write Part 2...thanks for walking down memory lane with me.

It's not always easy being a Flyers Fan...

For those of you who don't know me, which probably all 5 of you do, I am a huge Flyers Fan.  Huge, not as in size huge, but I love them!  Here is me at work when they were in the playoff about two years ago.  I am pretty sure this is two years ago or so, because this was the first of three offices I had in my 30 months in that job.  I was going to a playoff game that night and one of my friends snapped this picture of me..

When I first moved to Philadelphia about 20 some years ago my first night in Philly (well, actually I was living with my friend's parents in Merion) was a Flyers experience...we were in a bar in Ardmore watching a Flyers playoff game (now Brownies 23 East), and as we were leaving a huge bar fight took place and the cops came, people got arrested, it was wild.  I was merely a witness, but sheesh...way to welcome me to the Main Line!!

I went to one playoff game this year - and well, the stunk so bad we left (along with everyone else) after the second period when they were down by 6 or 7 goals - most games you may have 6 or 7 goals total..But here are two pretty fun pictures I took when I was at a playoff game this year, they were playing the dreading Penguins with the hated Sid the Kid.

And this is pretty much how I feel about Sid and the Penguins in general.

Nice look if you can pull it off.

Because we are fortunate enough to be season ticket holders, I feel the need to let the team ownership/management about how well they are doing their job.  In case you did not know it, the owner, Ed Snider, that would be Mr. Snider to everyone, is a big time Republican supporter.  Not that I have any big issues with that in general, but I really don't like to mix sports and politics, unless it's the Olympics - and then it's USA USA USA!! We are all on Team USA!

So, back to the Flyers and me.  In 2008, the Flyers opened their season against our mortal enemies, the New York Rangers.  It would be the beginning of a 10 game losing streak to start the season, which, while bad enough, was not my real issue...My issue was that Mr. Snider invited America's "Favorite Hockey Mom" to drop puck to open the season. Yepper boys and gals, here is the picture..

As widely reported in the World Wide Media, Philadelphians gave her a less warm welcome than they did the Rangers.  She was roundly booed.  Well, prior to this actually occurring, there was an announcement that it was going to happen.  Being an entitled season ticket holder, I decided to let the Flyers know my feelings about this..Below is the email that I sent to about a half dozen people in the Flyers organization about my feelings about their decision.

From: Arms, Pamela [mailto:parms@upenn.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 2:19 PM
To: Name redacted to protect the innocent
Subject: Sarah Palin dropping the puck

I cannot tell you how disappointed, angry, and offended I am as a season ticket holder (SEC 104, Row 19, Seats 9&10) that you would turn our season opener into Ed Snider’s political endorsement of Sarah Palin and John McCain.  IS NOTHING SACRED????

Are you telling me there isn’t a single hockey mother in all of Philadelphia that is more worthy of this honor than the governor of Alaska?  Not one wife or mother of a police officer, a mother with a son serving our military, or a mother who has volunteered for countless hours in our community for youth hockey?

I was proud to be able to work with the Flyers on December 27, 2007 to have my dear friend Major Steve Piotrowski be honored as a community partner by the Flyers – he got a standing ovation from our grateful Philadelphia fans, and as he serves today in Afghanistan, he brought along the jersey he received and the DVD of that night- that is the type of person that is worthy of dropping our puck.

This will be the first opener I will be missing in quite some time, as I am happy to let my 10 year old non-voting son sit there – and likely boo – in my place.  He will boo, not because of Sarah Palin –rather because he is smart enough to realize his team has sold him out for Ed Snider’s political “crush”.  

Hockey is one of the few pure sports left in this country and Flyers fans are a passionate crowd – I can’t wait to see how this will play in the national media – just another black eye for our city I am sure.

Well, off to Modell’s to see if I can scoop up that Rangers jersey in time for Saturday night….

Pam Arms   

I gotta give it to the Flyers, they are totally a customer service focused organization, they promptly responded..

Thanks for your email.  We certainly appreciate your feedback.

As you are aware, the Philadelphia Flyers held a contest for the ultimate hockey mom. This is not about politics. This is about recognizing her for bringing attention to the sport of hockey. She has brought more attention to our sport in the past two months and is being recognized for her promoting our sport. Her appearance does not mean we support or do not support her political views.

Your comments are important to us and I will certainly share them with the organization.

Being a polite Philadelphian, I responded in kind.

Dear Person I protected your identity:
Thank you for your thoughtful and timely response. Peter Luukko reached out to me as well and we had a really great conversation. If I had to boil this down to a single point, its my great love of Philadelphia as a city and of my fellow Flyers fans that I see not unlike my own passionate Italian family. I would hate for our expressions of like/dislike for any person to be viewed with a jaded negative eye by those who take pleasure in recycling the negatives about the "Philadelphiasports fan." 

I love my adopted city and their teams (being a long suffering native Clevelander), I just see this as not the best decision at this time in the race. 

All my best, I am sure this has not been an easy day for you. 

If you are reading this carefully, you will notice that Peter Luukko reached out to me..actually he emailed me and called me.  Do you know who Peter Luukko is?  Here is his picture..he is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Spectacor.  This guy is a total gem. 

He called me at the office and we talked for a good ten minutes.  Really, the President and COO of Comcast Spectacor called me to talk about my email and concerns.  Clearly, he was toeing the party line, but you know what...I was satisfied, and I let my son go to the game that day.  I am pretty sure he did not boo, because he is classier than I am.

As a postscript, I usually let my son go to Flyers games in our seats.  I am too lazy to go to games on weeknights, I hate the traffic getting out of the Whatever Center, and beer and I don't agree, and the only place you can get a mixed drink is where they also let people smoke.  

But I listen to the games on the radio, or on my NHL app...I am quite a devoted listener, and in fact turn off the TV announcers if its not the local guys and listen to the radio and watch the game.

Hockey season starts in less than three months..are you ready??

Of course, it would not be a Divepam blog if I did not include a picture of a hot Flyer player...sadly, many of the dreamy ones have been traded away...like..Mike Richards

But we still have Danny Briere

Of course there is one player who is just dreamy...no matter who he plays for..Jose Theodore..which is ironically my son's pseudo name...

I bet you thought I was going to put a picture of Eric Lindros here...ehh, he was the original pretty boy..