The Tri-State's Finest

Have you ever heard the saying, "Art imitates life and life imitates art"?

In the movie You've Got Mail, a lady Kathleen owns an independent bookstore. It was her mother's and when her mother died she took it over and became the owner. The shop has been open for over 30 years. She goes to the shop everyday and is hands on with the daily operations. When a rival bookstore comes into the neighborhood, she tries everything to keep her business a float. Now of course, there is more to the movie, but I wouldn't want to spoil it.

In real life my mom, Kathleen owns an independent bookstore... a comic book store. It's been her store since she opened it in 1980. She opened it four years before I was born. I grew up in that store. I was there everyday with her until I started kindergarten. I went there everyday in middle school after school and in high school I would help run the place on my weekends and in the evenings. In college, there were days that I ran the store all by myself. My mom though, she goes to the store everyday. She is hands on with the daily operations. She does all of the ordering, up keep etc. When a rival store moved into town and when other stores in the area have came and gone, she has remained a constant.

If you happen to be in Huntington then check out the store. She's got everything from new comics to back issues. If you don't see it, just ask her and she'll see what she can do. If you're in the middle of no where and can't get your comics, call her up. She can do an over the phone order and ship them to you. My soon to be husband has started collecting a few comics and she takes  his order ad ships it to us once a month.

Did I mention my mom and Comic World have been featured in a movie and in a book? Mr. American Splendor did an entire graphic novel on coming to Huntington, shopping at Comic World and meeting my mom. Want to read the novel? Don't buy it on Amazon, call the store and she'll get you a copy! She'll even sign it for you!

Map It!

Two weeks ago I won a giveaway and that made me excited! What made me really excited was the fact that it was for any 8x10 map from Map My State.

Have you heard of them? I hadn't until I saw the giveaway. Map My State offers state, city and country maps. They can also customize anything! They offer two size options when it comes to prints 8x10 and 11x14. The prints come in different colors and can be customized to include something specific. They even offer coffee mugs! The giveaway that I won was for an 8x10 print. I had been wanting something to go in my all white bedroom and when I won this, I knew I wanted it to go in there.

Since I'm from West Virginia and currently living so far away, I knew that I wanted to get my home state on a map. I got the West Virginia print in Grey and white to make my bedroom décor...

The map originally didn't have my hometown of Huntington listed on it, so when Map My State messaged me I asked them if they could include it. Of course they could! And they did! Now it's proudly hanging on my wall. The print got to my house within just a few business days and was mailed in a sturdy container to make sure it didn't get damaged.



Now it's hanging on the wall waiting for it's counter parts. I'm going to order California and Alabama to go on the sides of West Virginia. I'll have my home state (WV), a previous state I lived/worked in (Alabama) and my current state of California. I can't wait to get them, frame them and have them hanging up! And guess what? That's not even the best part of this post... the generous people at Map My State have decided to offer a 20% off coupon code to all Crazy Shenanigan readers! All you have to do is enter the code CrazyShenanigans at checkout.

So what are you waiting for?!? Go get yourself a great map! Trust me! You'll love it. I do!

Buck Wild!

This weekend I finally had the opportunity to watch the new MTV reality show called BuckWild.

Before I share my thoughts on it, let me just say that I was born and raised in Huntington, West Virginia. I was and am a "city" kid. I didn't grow up on a farm or out in the sticks. I grew up on 30th street in the middle of Huntington. I have always had running water, electricity and worn shoes. I've been to smaller towns in West Virginia and I've even been to Sissonville where BuckWild is filmed. When I was in college, I even performed an exhibition show there once as majorette for Marshall so it's not like I've just driven through. I am a West Virginian. I may not live in Huntington anymore but I spent 27 years there, it will always be a part of me. 

When I first heard about the show, it was because the Governor of West Virginia was asking MTV to not to air it. Well..... that obviously meant it wasn't going to be pretty. A few days later people at work started to ask me about it. Everyone here knows I'm from West Virginia. In fact I'm pretty for sure I'm the only person from West Virginia any of these people have ever met. 

I hadn't seen the previews, I hadn't been following it on the news. So I said, well I'm sure they'll just exploit the fact that they are country. Exploit might even not be the right term. I mean is there really anything wrong with people want to ride four wheelers, drive big trucks and set bonfires in their front yard? No not really. Then I finally watched the first two episodes of the show. 

These are kids who just graduated high school, who are out in the real world and don't have a clue what the heck is going on. They don't know what consequences are and they don't have any clue or maybe care how they are portraying themselves to the world. They are also not what MTV would have you believe they are.... some of them are actually very wealthy or I should say their parents are wealthy. They have had good schooling and college educations. ACTING may be involved.

They have parents that are doctors and obviously they were smart enough to figure out how to get on a television show and not only that but be features on the show. They have cameras following them around, of course they are going to do dumb things. They want ratings. They want people to talk about them. They want to get paid! So the next time you tune into the show please remember that not everyone from WV is like the people you are seeing. I beg you.... please. BECAUSE I have spent a lifetime trying to prove to everyone that I meet outside of WV that not every is like these stereotypes.

The Local Ice Cream

You know that saving, "The Grass is always greener on the other side"? Well with the upcoming move to California, I can slightly appreciate that saying. There's a few places around my local town that I will definitely miss once I'm gone. I find it ironic and kind of funny that the things I'll miss most about my hometown is local food places. 

A place that I'll definitely miss frequenting is the local ice cream place, Austin's Ice Cream. 

Austin's Ice Cream has been serving the tri-state for decades. We're talking since the depression people. They hand churn all of their flavors on site and feature around 30 season long flavors with a few special flavors mixed in between. This year's new flavor is Birthday Cake!

Amongst the staple flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and rocky road, they also have creative flavors such as grape pineapple, bubblegum and amaretto crunch. Besides just offering ice cream, they also offer smoothies, shaved ice (snow cones), banana splits and food such as hot dogs. 

I stopped by Austin's the other day and had the chocolate brownie fudge in a cup (you can always get it in a waffle cone) and oh boy! It was good! 

Seriously amazing! I can't wait for my next trip to try out another flavor. Maybe it is a good thing that I'm moving?! Or I might just way 400 pounds. If you ever find yourself in my neck of the woods, definitely check out Austin's Home Made Ice Cream! 

Country Roads Take Me Home

Recently, I've received a few new followers but more than likely some of my followers who have been around for awhile probably are not aware of this as well...I am a West Virginian.

I was born and raised in the state of West Virginia. Now before you go and make the stereotypical WV jokes... just stop right there! I have all of my teeth. I wear shoes. I'm not related to anyone I've ever dated. I have indoor plumbing. I do not live on a farm and no I do not have John Denver's song Country Roads on repeat. Now granted I'm sure there are a few people that fall into one if not more of those categories somewhere out in the world. 

The reason why I wanted to talk about West Virginia today is because I feel like it's often not given the respect that it deserves. Granted when a tragedy takes place in WV people are respectful, kind and show an outpouring of prayers. West Virginia is one of the most beautiful states in the nation. The people are kind, caring and compassionate. We host wonderful seasons for snowboarding, white water rafting, visiting the falls and hiking. When the leaves change it's as if you're looking at a painting. We are also home to many championship teams, athletes and celebrities. Just take a look:

 

(photos via google search wv)

Who wouldn't want to visit?!?

So the next time you think of making a joke or have something negative to say about this state remember all of the amazing things it holds. Oh, if you decide you want to visit remember, we're West Virginia... not west of Virginia :)