Fan or Fanatic? 5 Crazy Pieces of Fan Merchandise

I'm a pretty big fan of sports merchandise- within my eye line right now are three Braves bobbleheads, a Braves cup, a Georgia Tech blanket, and several Georgia Tech cups. I have jerseys for all my favorite soccer teams and other jerseys from places I've traveled. Most people would say that makes me pretty dedicated, but browsing through fan merchandise on the internet, I've realized that I'm far from that. Here are the five most ridiculous items I've seen.

Back in the Pool, One Year Later

Last year, the London Olympics rekindled my love for swimming. It had sort of died out after I got to college and decided I'd rather hang out with everyone in Fitten than keep going to swim club after the first week (which I fully regret, by the way- not that it wasn't fun hanging out with everyone, but I really could have used some regular exercise). But when Olympic trials rolled around last year, I got right back in the swing of things. I was following swimmers on Twitter, watching all the races and the ridiculous "Call Me Maybe" video, but eventually I realized I wanted to get back in the pool too. So, a year ago yesterday, I went back to the Augusta Aquatics Center for the first time.

The It Girl: My Trashy Guilty Pleasure

Last week, I was thinking about what book I wanted to read next, but everything on my list seemed so serious. I wasn't in the mood for historical fiction or dystopian YA- too much thinking involved in both. I wanted something completely, purely mindless. So I picked up one of my old favorite series from my early teenage years- The It Girl.

Throwback Thursdays: Dear Mr. Potter...

It's been over two years since I spent an evening in a Spanish-language movie theater in Sevilla, crying over Harry Potter y las Reliquias de Muerte (Parte 2) and the fact that after twelve years of my life, the series was finally over. The Harry Potter series was and always will be my favorite series of books and movies, and it was such a huge part of my life growing up. Instead of writing an entirely new blog post about it, though, I decided that I would share my Dear Mr. Potter letter, which I wrote two days before the final movie came out.

Trying to get onto Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station in London, Summer 2007.

For those of you who don't know, Dear Mr. Potter is a project run through the Harry Potter Alliance that collected letters to Harry about how the series changed their lives. So many people wrote letters, including other authors and actress Evanna Lynch, who plays Luna in the movies, and many of them were eventually compiled into a book. I wrote mine more for myself than anyone else, as a way to try and put into words what the series actually meant to me. I haven't really shared it because I was really emotional while writing it, but two years after the fact... I'm actually still emotional about it, but whatever. I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Why I Love Crappy Shark Movies

So I have a not so secret confession to make. I absolutely LOVE crappy shark movies. Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Swamp Shark, Super Shark, Sand Shark, Two Headed Shark Attack- I have seen them all and I love them all.  Tonight, Sharknado premieres on SyFy, and in honor of this wonderful event I thought I would talk about why these horrible, predictable movies are so amazing to me.

On Being a Female Sports Fan (or, why it's seriously 100% okay to think athletes are hot)

I've been watching sports for literally as long as I can remember- I was basically born an Atlanta Braves fan, and over the years I've been a fan of far too many sports to list. Thanks to the Internet, I've been able to be part of great communities of fans, particularly female fans, but with all of these communities there have always been those women who want to tell you the right way to be a Real Fan. It happens with every single sport (I'm assuming it also happens in ones I don't care about like basketball and football) and honestly, it needs to stop.

Newsflash: if you like something, you're a fan. It doesn't matter if you think one athlete is hot, or if you proudly support a team, or if you just enjoy watching a sport in general. There is literally no wrong way to be a fan of something, and there is no such thing as a Real Fan.

Watch It Wednesday - Bob's Burgers

Sometimes people recommend me shows and I just think "eh, I don't know." If I had a dollar for every time someone told me I should watch Sherlock because I love Doctor Who more than anything else, I would be rich (and for the last time, no I will not watch it because I have zero interest in anything Sherlock Holmes related, thank you very much). So when Brandy and Jessica told me I should watch Bob's Burgers I was a little skeptical, especially since I've never been a huge fan of Fox's animated shows- I think there are maybe two funny episodes of Family Guy. Luckily for me, Bob's Burgers is completely different and definitely worth watching.