Date Night in State College, PA

In September of 2008, we had our first date at Mad Mex in State College.  It was really good.  We had wings, guacamole, margaritas, etc.

Each time we come home to visit, we usually try to stop there because they do have some of the best margaritas.  Had, anyway.

We went there the other day and the margarita was kind of sour (more than it's supposed to be) and there were fruit flies around.  

The guacamole was bland, the slices of avocado were brownish, cucumbers were old, the steak was undercooked and tasted old too.  That was just my food.  Scott's rice and beans had clearly been under the heat lamp all day.  

Maybe I've just gotten better at Mexican food at home?  Maybe I've set the bar too high?  Maybe…Mad Mex is just really really really bad now.  

Anyway, we won't be going back.  What a waste.

Then we tried to go to Dunkin Donuts.  It was closed at 8pm.  

I said, "Let's go to Target, kill time before the movie, and get Starbucks."  Because every Target in the history of the modern world has a Starbucks and a set-up that is just designed to suck you in and empty your wallet.  Not this one.  It was the old Target set-up (circa 2001) with a snack bar instead of a Starbucks.  For shame, State College, for shame.

Do you remember these old Targets?  I barely do.

We walked next door to the "nice" grocery store because in my (apparently delusional) world nice grocery stores have coffee shops.  It didn't.

We went to Sheetz for our coffee.  It was awful.  First of all, we used the made-to-order "espresso" bar and it took longer than a 7:30am stop at the Starbucks drive-thru.  Scott's cup was half-full and not what he ordered.  My non-fat caramel latte tasted like bitter sugar water.

Onto the movie theater… we went to see American Hustle.  As soon as we sat down in the empty theater, two guys came in and sat right in front of me.  We moved.  The movie theater screen was showing commercials without actually showing them (just sound), so we figured the next logical step would be for the movie to malfunction and we wouldn't get to see it after all.  

It did function, however, and we were treated to American Hustle.  Good movie, but long movie.  I was getting completely irritated by the end because I was so uncomfortable.  Anyway..it was okay.  I didn't love it but I didn't hate it.  I liked Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence together in movie again (she'll get a nomination of some sort, I'm sure), but Amy Adams was kind of annoying.  Silver Linings Playbook was much better when we saw it last year.  

I usually make it a point to see all the Best Picture nominees and I'm sure this will be in the running.

See any good movies lately?  We used to go to the movies once a week in Alaska.  Now the theater in our town is less than desirable…We've only been once and that was to see Catching Fire.  

Things-to-Talk-About-Tuesday: My alma mater

*Today, I was going to talk about Game of Thrones and how awesome it is.  But something else is really on my heart and in my mind instead.
I consider this to be a post in which I may lose readers.  
I'm not trying to make enemies, but none of us are fans of bloggers who misrepresent themselves.  
This is me representing myself.*

I went to Penn State Altoona.  It's the largest branch campus of Penn State University.  Both Altoona and State College (the University Park campus) are within 40 minutes of my parents' house and the tiny town I grew up in.

(In case you're curious, my reason for attending the Altoona campus was:  I knew I was going to be a teacher.  I knew I wanted to do my student-teaching close to home.  At Altoona, I could do that.  Financially, this saved me a lot of money.  I don't regret it.)

I'm a teacher.  I'm a human being.  Therefore, I think what happened to those children in the 2nd Mile program was atrocious.  Jerry Sandusky should be locked away for the rest of his life and God can judge him at the end of that.  I'm sure no one out there disagrees with this statement.  Those involved in the cover-up?  Punish them.  Do it.  They need to be punished.  I don't care how.  Just punish them.

My elementary school participated in the 2nd Mile program.  We got Penn State trading cards in gym class.    We all collected those cards and traded them with each other.  I still have mine, somewhere, I'm sure.  The gymnasts and football players were my favorites.  We all aspired to be those athletes.  Everyone loved Penn State!  At school, we took field trips there.  We went to the Creamery for ice cream.  When they won the Rose Bowl in 1995?  I was in 3rd grade and remember the hoopla clearly.

Saturdays in the fall revolved around "when's the game?".  Traffic would back up for hours, the whole way to Harrisburg.  You couldn't go to State College to eat or shop on game days because it was so crowded.

I like to think that I met my husband because of Penn State.  While we didn't meet there, we attended the same campus for 2 years (who knows how many times we saw each other on that campus).  We figured out that we actually had an Art History class together.
If he hadn't attended Penn State, and had taken a baseball scholarship to a different school, he never would've moved to my town.  I never would've met him.
Our first date was at a Mexican restaurant on campus.  I'm pretty sure I smelled like tequila for two days after those Mad Mex margaritas.

When we went back to PA last fall, we stocked up on PSU gear at McLanahan's and The Family Clothesline.  We went to a football game.  The game that would be JoePa's last at Beaver Stadium.  Dear Lord, was it a miserable, wet, cold experience!  I hated every second of it!  There was a freak snowstorm.  It was awful.  We did win, though.

Those Illinois fans in front of us were really bad sports.  

While my simple opinion may or may not matter to you, I must say that if you condemn an entire institution over the acts of a few, I think you are wrong.

I hate to tell you this, but there are a lot of sucky people in the military (seriously, I've met some of them and they suck).  Does that mean that the entire U.S. military is bad?  I don't think so.

I think that the people condemning Penn State don't realize that they're not just blaming these horrible men; they're blaming an entire community for something the community had no control over.

I've had hate directed at me just for voicing my opinion as an alumni.  Apparently I'm to be ashamed that I went to a university where this happened.  Sorry, folks.  I'm not.  As one person so eloquently put it, "obviously" I've never had "a child molested by Jerry Sandusky".  Umm, no?  I haven't (and neither have you).  Should I apologize for that?

I feel awful for the current students and the faculty.  They're being targeted by the entire world for something they didn't do.

And to punish the football program?  I get it.  That's the first reaction of most people.  Nip it in the bud and stop the problem where it started.

But man, those football players, who've probably waited their entire lives to play for Penn State, had nothing to do with it.  More kids are just being punished this way.

While you will not hear me defend the men who committed these acts, you will never hear me say anything bad about the institution as a whole.

I am still proud to say I went to Penn State.  
I just really need you to know that.