A random confession about t-shirts

I'm oddly particular about t-shirts in that often they feel like they're strangling me and therefore it can be hard to find ones that are comfortable.  Add to that the fact that I've been going to the gym every day (and thus needing many t-shirts because I'm too lazy to do laundry that often) and you understand why, when I find a t-shirt that fits and is on sale, I buy several at once.

And it just so happens that some of my favorite t-shirts are from Old Navy (love the cotton, love the distressed look, love the fit, etc).   And it also just so happens that the recent batch of shirts on sale were the ones with sports team logos on them.  So I bought a bunch.  Sure, because I live in Charlotte I got one for the Carolina Panthers, but other than that I chose based purely on color and design of the logo.

not me

Which is how I ended up with one for the Indianapolis Colts (blue with a horseshoe), the Philadelphia Phillies (pink/red with a P on it - wearing it right now), New York Giants (blue with NY), and Green Bay Packers (I liked the green).  Notice that there's no theme -- different sports, different types of logos, different seasons, etc.  I'm telling you, I really just chose based on pure aesthetics.

What I didn't really think through when I bought these is that there are a lot of people out there who care very much about their sports teams.  And walking around with their team emblazoned on your chest is an open invitation to chat about it.  While I enjoy all sports and generally understand them all (and played several), I don't particularly have the time these days to stay really on top of things.  Which is perhaps a mistake.

Because almost every day, someone comments on my shirt and asks me things about whatever team I happen to be wearing.  I walked to lunch a few weeks ago and someone shouted at me across the room and gave me a thumbs up.  At first I thought they might know me, might be commenting on my style (which I soon dismissed because I was in full-on author deadline mode) and finally realized that, no, they were fans of the Giants and I was wearing my Giants shirt.

Yesterday, someone asked me how my team did this weekend.  I had to look down at my shirt (Colts) and thankfully remembered Barry Goldblatt had tweeted about the Cowboys beating the Colts so at least I could answer that question.  The day before that I walked into the gym and the guy behind my desk mentioned something about my team and I had to stammer that I wasn't even quite sure who the logo represented (he let me know which was very nice of him).

This post is really apropos of nothing, just that I always find it very lovely how complete strangers become less so when one person is wearing something familiar to the other, especially a sports logo.  But I also feel a little bit like a liar every time I put one of these shirts on -- like I should apologize to those strangers who do start conversations with me only to realize that what they thought we have in common isn't true.

And who knows, maybe they'll make a fan of me yet!

Books -- the adventure begins

I have a habit of giving books as gifts, especially to my nephews and niece.  I was just talking to my sister about what my oldest nephew might want and she suggested his first Hardy Boys.  So I went and looked it up and then I started to remember the books I read at his age.

Encyclopedia Brown.  Boxcar Kids.  Bunnicula.  Nancy Drew.

I'm not going to lie, I actually got a little teary.  Part of it was remembering how much joy I found in reading those books.  But most of it was imagining the worlds my nephew has yet to uncover.  All of these books!  All of these mysteries he has yet to solve, the characters he's yet to meet.

He has so much waiting for him!

Maybe buying books doesn't make me the coolest aunt, but that's okay because there will be those nights when he's reading late (with his lego headlamp) and racing toward the end of one book so he can reach for the next... I just love that in some small measure, I'll be a part of that moment because I helped start him on those journeys.

I can't wait for his adventures to begin!