My very favorite gift shop is actually the one on the ROOF of the Vatican. To climb the dome of St. Peter's you can take an elevator to the roof before you do the climb. On that roof is a TINY gift shop, mostly filled with rosaries, saint cards, and holy water. And staffed by nuns. It was very charming and not tacky, and I loved telling people that the rosaries I had gotten them came from the roof of St. Peter's.
I was traveling with someone very afraid of heights so I never made it to the dome. This just means that on my NEXT trip (this time with my family) I will absolutely be going to this gift shop!
Same. I'll throw a theory out there - I think heightening fandom lunacy is another terrible result of the 2020s' loneliness epidemic. People in general don't make 3D, in-person connections as much, or as well, or as often, as we used to. So, in the absence of that, people clutch onto media (fictional relationships, parasocial relationships, etc) harder, and grab on when they see other people do it too. I think it all feels like some kind of connection to them, and we're all starved for that.
So true. I also think it's in part because we've become a consumer culture so much--what you're consuming, what you buy is who you are. Supposedly. (It's not). So when something goes against that grain, people get reactive.
Seconding this--and also blaming the total lack of accountability faced by keyboard warriors. Say these things to a person's face and there are repercussions...type it on the internet and then forget it, there are no consequences (or so very few as to be meaningless)
I'll "yes and" with the fact that many of the "worst people on the internet" are actually bots or sockpuppets run by the dozens as an online influence campaigns by Russia/China/North Korea. Not only are they hateful in their own right but they also change the norms around what online discourse looks like so real people start deciding it's OK to act like that too. (And genAI is only going to supercharge that capability...)
So true! It really has become the newest (and maybe most efficient?) form of warfare over the last decade. Thank you so much for this - you've reminded me to go learn more about it.
I moderated some forums for The OC and Veronica Mars in the mid-00s and some of my fellow fans were a bit crazed but twitter and the like have made it so much worse. Just watch the thing and find some folks who want to talk about it with you. No need to really hate on folks who can’t really control what happens.
I stumbled across a Reddit for The OC, and new fans are discovering the show - great! But, the old debates are getting even angrier now? Maybe it's a Reddit thing.
Oh no! It was bad enough in real time when folks argued about who the better ship was Ryan and Marissa or Seth and Summer. I don’t know if I want that new take in 2025. So long as Oliver is still hated I’ll be fine.
For the record I think you did a great job moderating the Carter/Abby and Luka/Abby debates on TWoP lol! Things got heated (I still laugh about how people argued over Luka telling Abby she was "not that pretty, not that special," to the extent that they had to actually abbreviate it to NTPNTS!) but we knew we had to not be psychos about it. No threats, no ad hominem attacks, and never ever start a post with "um."
I was actually thinking of that while reading your post just a sentence or two before you mentioned it, since that was (oddly) my first internet shipper war experience... And quite a civilized one really.
Mine was Spike/Buffy/Angel - I was a regular on a very thoughtful, friendly Buffy message board while the show was airing, but once season six kicked off, factions emerged and the board went downhill. Which was fascinating, because the rupture was basically all caused by one person who joined that year and was just... not a very measured person. The board owner wouldn't kick them off, even though that one person would fight ANYONE about ANYTHING but especially about her ship of choice, so a lot of the original posters then fled to LiveJournal to get away from the one person...
But LJ was worse, in the long run, because there strangers would go looking for fans to fight, and leave absolutely *hideous* comments on otherwise innocuous fandom posts. The experience was the beginning and the end of my online fandom life, to be frank. It was a fun few years until it went up in a thermonuclear blast. And that was more than two decades ago.
I admit I can be guilty of expressing overly harsh opinions. I try to stop myself and imagine if my coworkers read my opinion could I defend my tone. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I try for 90 % reasonable. Being shouty won't serve this world.
You’re reminding me of one of my LJ friends (RIP to her) who was often times horrible to other people but also someone so quotable and worthy of early memes that I miss her so much. Just her takes were wild and I’m sad that I miss that.
I had to pause reading this just to comment and cackle at the copy attached to the hot priest calendar--"It is a collector’s item, sought after and appreciated by those who wish to have a deeper connection with Rome and the Vatican. Perfect as a gift or a keepsake to cherish, the Calendario Romano 2026 will add a touch of charm and mystery to your everyday life."
This is pure perfection, and whomever wrote this is definitely familiar with the term Father Whatawaste.
The hot priest calendar strikes me as very sketchy. It's fine for Fleabag and the fandom, but Catholics shouldn't lust after a priest (I am lapsed). Reminds me of my beloved Sister Michael rolling her eyes at that priest in Derry Girls. Heh.
The calendar is not sold through proper Catholic/Vatican channels, but is readily available at souvenir stands. So it's not like their target audience is practicing Catholics.
I bought one and saved it for my book club's white elephant gift exchange. It was the only thing that year that got snatched multiple times, which delighted me!
That is exactly the gift shop I came here to mention! They have an amazing selection of...basically everything. We bought art, honey, t-shirts, stickers, and earrings there.
Must be a botanic garden thing! The Chicago Botanic Gardens gift shop is one of my favorite places in the whole world. It smells lovely, is full of beautiful, fun, and sometimes silly things. I never skip a visit, even if I don't always buy something.
I concur! I love botanical gardens, and I love supporting them via spending money in their gift shops!
I haven’t been to Coastal Maine’s yet, but my mom, sister and I have been talking about taking a quick Maine trip this summer and I get reciprocal admission to most through my NYBG and Wave Hill memberships.
One of the (many) joys of the Coastal Maine Botanic Garden gift store is the Maine made ceramic fish. I have many of them in different colors scattered throughout my garden and they always make me smile. You can mail order them from the CMBG and they make great presents.
I bet you're right! The gift shop at Longwood Gardens (NW of Philadelphia) is spectacular - we go twice a year, for summer and Christmas, and both time it's one of my favorite parts of the trip (and the gardens and restaurants are also absolutely wonderful!).
We went to Longwood a few years ago and it was amazing- both the gardens and the gift store. I would love to go back there some day in December to see all their holiday lights.
Oh, it's so worth it - you have to book quickly after they release tickets (November I think?) but if you get a ticket for twilight, it's magical. And they have a few stands throughout with boozy hot chocolate. And the gift shop is full of the most stunning tree ornaments, on top of all the usual goodness. Truly worth a trip. (I'm not sponsored by Longwood Gardens, I promise)
We adore Longwood. Have been there on July 3rd for the past 2 years for the Fireworks and Fountains night and my son loves it. Want to return in the fall with my sister and in the winter to see the lights.
Related - I love the gift shop at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago's western suburbs. At Halloween they have a "glass pumpkin patch" that is beautiful and their Christmas decorations are stellar. I visit every time I go.
If you happen to ever be in Florida, Bok Tower Gardens are LOVELY, and their gift shop and cafe are an absolute delight. (Florida is, well, something, right now, but there is still beauty and good here. <3)
A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and his bestie went down to Jack Brown's to get certified as seaplane pilots, and I tagged along just to get some January warmth in my bones. I took myself to Bok Tower Gardens one day and loved it so much! I got a pair of leaf earrings that I wear in the depths of winter to remind me of warm weather, and a magnet with his grandmother's saying, "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it."
There are a load of people on AVClub (which I did not know still existed) bitching about how it isn't recapping every episode of The Gilded Age so I've put a DWB plug in the comments. They don't know what they're missing! But hopefully some will come here and find out.
Christ the Redeemer had a cute little gift shop right before the final set of stairs up to the statue. It had mini statues covered in brightly-colored velvet(een, more likely), and some other knick-knacks.
I bought a hot pink statue, which has led to my Rio 2016 friends using Hot Pink Velvet Jesus as an exclamation, and a couple four-leaf clover charms, one for my sister and one for me.
When we went to Rome Pope Francis had just been elected and I bought several very nice wood rosary beads that had 'his crucifix' on it. At some point I gave mine away to my sister - and am now thinking maybe I need to track it down and buy it again. I don't think the either of the wood ones in the on line gift shop are the ones I bought - and I couldn't quickly find it on eBay.
I was amazed of all the great art at the Vatican - I didn't expect that. Also all the painted arches, doors, ceilings it was just gorgeous. And I think in a way it kinda stole the thunder of the Sistine Chapel for me - because yes it was amazing but I was on overload from everything else.
yWhat I was amazed about is that the Colosseum has heavy trafficked streets on all sides of it. I assume dit would be surrounded by empty fields.
So I still meet Game of Throne "fans" who are furious like 6 years later. I appreciate the frustration when something you liked becomes not so great (see X-Files, alas). And it can be fun to let out strong opinions about not so serious things like a show or a movie. But it is also so off putting in the RL. I still remember I was obnoxious about a Geoffrey Rush film, Shine, to the point my friends shunned me for an hour at a party. As they should have. I suspect my opinion still holds up but I was unrelenting and rude.
I think unfortunately that there are legit funny writers like Heather & Jessica who can skewer a show and internet commentators who are shouty and stay shouty and the temperature rises up and up and up. And Reddit and Substack are not healthy opinion places at all.
Seriously Heather & Jessica have once again carved out a civilized place on social media. Substack comments are intense and rude on other stacks.
LOL. I had such strong opinions on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit that my family, who had to listen to my rant still are afraid to mention that movie a decade later. But I never went and yelled at Peter Jackson about it!
Having a strong opinion on the Hobbit is very rational. He had enough money, he didn't need to split a tiny kid's book in three and make it wildly violent. It wasn't LOTR.
But also, we can just choose not to watch it (or watch it again) without being nuts about it.
My mom volunteered at the hospital gift shop in my hometown for years, so when she came to be with me in NYC for one of my surgeries at Mount Sinai, the first thing she did was check out the gift shop, LOL. (She was favorably impressed.)
It always amazes me how some of the larger museum gift shops can be so disappointing, while the oddball-museum shop are so much better.
I will never understand making death threats, especially for fictional situations. IT'S NOT A REAL THING. And that's what a lot of people immediately jump to. Not a rant, not vowing to quit watching forever, a death threat. Yikes.
OMG I will be channeling Blair and Jo all day long now. I may even put on my roller skates and leg warmers and zoom around the house until Mrs. Garrett yells at me.
Big reveal here: My actual name is not RunsInPink—that’s just the screen name I use for NOT making death threats when a room full of TV writers who ought to know better mess up an ending ; ) My real first name is Daphne, which means that for my entire life I have been denied souvenirs like keychains, mugs, pencils, etc etc etc sold in gift shops everywhere. I’ve learned to live with this—if the Broads were ever to have a drink at my house, I’d serve it with a monogrammed napkin—but after multiple visits to Rome, I am still deeply salty that you can buy a tiny David (who, for the record, isn’t even IN Rome) on every street corner… but the only Daphne I’ve ever found was just a magnet. Tchotchke manufacturers of Italy: THERE’S A MARKET FOR DAPHNES! I go to visit her every time I’m there—she’s magnificent.
I’m a Caitlin of a certain age (i.e. I was legal to drink before my name started becoming common/popular in the US), so I definitely felt this growing up. Each time I’ve seen something with the less-than-common name of a kid I know, I buy it for them for that reason.
Another birth name Margaret here, and even though I started going by Meg at a young age, I hardly ever found anything with either name. I still remember that unique feeling of being twelve and continually thinking "They don't have my name here, either" on a cross-country trip where we hit soooo many tourist stops.
Yeah, I've always been Maggie not Margaret, but I would look for both and never find either. My siblings both have common names, so they were everywhere.
I have a very unique name (though I started going by my much more common middle name around age 10) and my brother (only 14 months younger) has a pretty common name and I can never get my mom to explain why she did that. Definitely no souvenirs with my first name on them anywhere, though I did recently find the remnants of some pencils with my name in gold foil that my mom must have custom ordered at some point, pre-internet.
A great aunt gave me a set of pencils with my name in gold when I was a kid, and I found a source online in the early aughts and bought a set for the daughter of someone I worked with, whose name was Zuleyka (so needless to say, she'd never had anything with her name on it, and was thrilled).
I feel like my mom got those same pencils for my sister and I, because I just had a very clear childhood flashback when I read your comment. Mine were navy blue with gold letters.
My husband has a super common name, with the super common spelling of said name, and I am shocked he could never find his keychain in the trinket stores - even as a kid!
I have definitely noticed a change over the years from the Stevens and Jessicas to the Jaylyns and Jaxons.
I'm anna, and growing up there was never anything with my name on it. my sisters are sara and molly and their names didn't show up much either (we're in our 60s)
I was never able to have anything with my name on it until I went to France when I was 16. There were Micheline items everywhere and you bet I brought a selection home. My souvenir cafe au lait bowl with scenes of Paris is on my bedroom shelf.
My husband (not named Daphne!) feels your pain. He owns a tiny souvenir license plate from when he was like 10 because it's the only thing he has EVER found his name on.
I was the only Abby in my elementary school but then it became a popular name in the early 2000s and I've taught quite a few Abbys over the years which is always a little surreal after being the only one for so long.
I’m friends with a 91 year old violet. We volunteer together at a place with lots of little kids, and about a decade ago she was very shocked to all of a sudden hear a lot of caretakers calling her name.
I just read this article that said names have about a 100 year popularity cycle. It’s because people start naming their kids after their grandparents, and all the old names come back in fashion. At the preschool I work at, we have a lot of Hazels, Pearls, and Millies, all of which I would consider old lady names.
Go to the Buffalo Bill Gravesite in Denver. That giftshop has something with your name on it- everyone with non-common names in my group emerged with something with their name on it. It was insanse.
The reopened Frick in NYC has a small but beautiful gift shop with big windows that overlook the grounds. I got my British Garden Expert MIL a book of the new porcelain flowers that fill the museum. STUNNING
My very favorite gift shop is actually the one on the ROOF of the Vatican. To climb the dome of St. Peter's you can take an elevator to the roof before you do the climb. On that roof is a TINY gift shop, mostly filled with rosaries, saint cards, and holy water. And staffed by nuns. It was very charming and not tacky, and I loved telling people that the rosaries I had gotten them came from the roof of St. Peter's.
That's where I got my rosaries, too! I felt like they were OFFICIAL.
!!!!! I wish I’d know that was there! (We did not climb that particular dome.) - J
And there's a coffee shop too! My husband bought me a cappuccino for being so brave inside the dome (where I had a panic attack).
I was traveling with someone very afraid of heights so I never made it to the dome. This just means that on my NEXT trip (this time with my family) I will absolutely be going to this gift shop!
I loved Heather’s piece at the end!!
Same. I'll throw a theory out there - I think heightening fandom lunacy is another terrible result of the 2020s' loneliness epidemic. People in general don't make 3D, in-person connections as much, or as well, or as often, as we used to. So, in the absence of that, people clutch onto media (fictional relationships, parasocial relationships, etc) harder, and grab on when they see other people do it too. I think it all feels like some kind of connection to them, and we're all starved for that.
So true. I also think it's in part because we've become a consumer culture so much--what you're consuming, what you buy is who you are. Supposedly. (It's not). So when something goes against that grain, people get reactive.
Seconding this--and also blaming the total lack of accountability faced by keyboard warriors. Say these things to a person's face and there are repercussions...type it on the internet and then forget it, there are no consequences (or so very few as to be meaningless)
I'll "yes and" with the fact that many of the "worst people on the internet" are actually bots or sockpuppets run by the dozens as an online influence campaigns by Russia/China/North Korea. Not only are they hateful in their own right but they also change the norms around what online discourse looks like so real people start deciding it's OK to act like that too. (And genAI is only going to supercharge that capability...)
So true! It really has become the newest (and maybe most efficient?) form of warfare over the last decade. Thank you so much for this - you've reminded me to go learn more about it.
This is a reasonable primer: https://www.csoonline.com/article/574767/propaganda-in-the-digital-age-how-cyber-influence-operations-erode-trust.html
Joan Donovan is a leading scholar in this space and has written a book (full disclosure, I have not read it): https://joandonovan.org/
Thank you SO much!
I moderated some forums for The OC and Veronica Mars in the mid-00s and some of my fellow fans were a bit crazed but twitter and the like have made it so much worse. Just watch the thing and find some folks who want to talk about it with you. No need to really hate on folks who can’t really control what happens.
I stumbled across a Reddit for The OC, and new fans are discovering the show - great! But, the old debates are getting even angrier now? Maybe it's a Reddit thing.
Oh no! It was bad enough in real time when folks argued about who the better ship was Ryan and Marissa or Seth and Summer. I don’t know if I want that new take in 2025. So long as Oliver is still hated I’ll be fine.
Ha. Yes, it seems Oliver still sucks. Right now it seems very Marissa v. Taylor as the "best" for Ryan.
Oh that was happening as it aired so that’s not new. I’ll always be Team Taylor.
I always felt a bit bad for the people who quit after they killed off Marissa because they missed the absolute delight that was Taylor Townsend.
The difference between S3 and S4 Taylor is so worth the watch! Also that S4 Chrismukkah episode!
For the record I think you did a great job moderating the Carter/Abby and Luka/Abby debates on TWoP lol! Things got heated (I still laugh about how people argued over Luka telling Abby she was "not that pretty, not that special," to the extent that they had to actually abbreviate it to NTPNTS!) but we knew we had to not be psychos about it. No threats, no ad hominem attacks, and never ever start a post with "um."
I was actually thinking of that while reading your post just a sentence or two before you mentioned it, since that was (oddly) my first internet shipper war experience... And quite a civilized one really.
Mine was Spike/Buffy/Angel - I was a regular on a very thoughtful, friendly Buffy message board while the show was airing, but once season six kicked off, factions emerged and the board went downhill. Which was fascinating, because the rupture was basically all caused by one person who joined that year and was just... not a very measured person. The board owner wouldn't kick them off, even though that one person would fight ANYONE about ANYTHING but especially about her ship of choice, so a lot of the original posters then fled to LiveJournal to get away from the one person...
But LJ was worse, in the long run, because there strangers would go looking for fans to fight, and leave absolutely *hideous* comments on otherwise innocuous fandom posts. The experience was the beginning and the end of my online fandom life, to be frank. It was a fun few years until it went up in a thermonuclear blast. And that was more than two decades ago.
I admit I can be guilty of expressing overly harsh opinions. I try to stop myself and imagine if my coworkers read my opinion could I defend my tone. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. I try for 90 % reasonable. Being shouty won't serve this world.
You’re reminding me of one of my LJ friends (RIP to her) who was often times horrible to other people but also someone so quotable and worthy of early memes that I miss her so much. Just her takes were wild and I’m sad that I miss that.
carter and abby were a couple? I do not remember this, though I do know that I stopped watching at some point
I had to pause reading this just to comment and cackle at the copy attached to the hot priest calendar--"It is a collector’s item, sought after and appreciated by those who wish to have a deeper connection with Rome and the Vatican. Perfect as a gift or a keepsake to cherish, the Calendario Romano 2026 will add a touch of charm and mystery to your everyday life."
This is pure perfection, and whomever wrote this is definitely familiar with the term Father Whatawaste.
The hot priest calendar strikes me as very sketchy. It's fine for Fleabag and the fandom, but Catholics shouldn't lust after a priest (I am lapsed). Reminds me of my beloved Sister Michael rolling her eyes at that priest in Derry Girls. Heh.
The calendar is not sold through proper Catholic/Vatican channels, but is readily available at souvenir stands. So it's not like their target audience is practicing Catholics.
Something tells me that Carmela Soprano would be really into that calendar. "He's a spiritual mentor!"
I bought one and saved it for my book club's white elephant gift exchange. It was the only thing that year that got snatched multiple times, which delighted me!
The gift shop at the Coastal Maine botanical gardens is magnificent
Oooohhh…
That is exactly the gift shop I came here to mention! They have an amazing selection of...basically everything. We bought art, honey, t-shirts, stickers, and earrings there.
Must be a botanic garden thing! The Chicago Botanic Gardens gift shop is one of my favorite places in the whole world. It smells lovely, is full of beautiful, fun, and sometimes silly things. I never skip a visit, even if I don't always buy something.
I think it is a botanical garden thing! The Kew Gardens gift shop is also amazing
I concur! I love botanical gardens, and I love supporting them via spending money in their gift shops!
I haven’t been to Coastal Maine’s yet, but my mom, sister and I have been talking about taking a quick Maine trip this summer and I get reciprocal admission to most through my NYBG and Wave Hill memberships.
One of the (many) joys of the Coastal Maine Botanic Garden gift store is the Maine made ceramic fish. I have many of them in different colors scattered throughout my garden and they always make me smile. You can mail order them from the CMBG and they make great presents.
I bet you're right! The gift shop at Longwood Gardens (NW of Philadelphia) is spectacular - we go twice a year, for summer and Christmas, and both time it's one of my favorite parts of the trip (and the gardens and restaurants are also absolutely wonderful!).
We went to Longwood a few years ago and it was amazing- both the gardens and the gift store. I would love to go back there some day in December to see all their holiday lights.
Oh, it's so worth it - you have to book quickly after they release tickets (November I think?) but if you get a ticket for twilight, it's magical. And they have a few stands throughout with boozy hot chocolate. And the gift shop is full of the most stunning tree ornaments, on top of all the usual goodness. Truly worth a trip. (I'm not sponsored by Longwood Gardens, I promise)
We adore Longwood. Have been there on July 3rd for the past 2 years for the Fireworks and Fountains night and my son loves it. Want to return in the fall with my sister and in the winter to see the lights.
Related - I love the gift shop at the Morton Arboretum in Chicago's western suburbs. At Halloween they have a "glass pumpkin patch" that is beautiful and their Christmas decorations are stellar. I visit every time I go.
If you happen to ever be in Florida, Bok Tower Gardens are LOVELY, and their gift shop and cafe are an absolute delight. (Florida is, well, something, right now, but there is still beauty and good here. <3)
A couple of years ago, my boyfriend and his bestie went down to Jack Brown's to get certified as seaplane pilots, and I tagged along just to get some January warmth in my bones. I took myself to Bok Tower Gardens one day and loved it so much! I got a pair of leaf earrings that I wear in the depths of winter to remind me of warm weather, and a magnet with his grandmother's saying, "Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it."
So glad you enjoyed it. It is such a beautiful space, and I own more jewelry from their gift store than I care to admit to. :-)
Omg subscribing to your newsletter is probably the best thing I’ve done all year.
That is a huge compliment, thank you!! We are lucky and thrilled to have you! -H
It is a bastion of humor and sanity.
It's so true. I don't let myself read news most days, and instead fall into Fug and Drinks With Broads.
There are a load of people on AVClub (which I did not know still existed) bitching about how it isn't recapping every episode of The Gilded Age so I've put a DWB plug in the comments. They don't know what they're missing! But hopefully some will come here and find out.
Christ the Redeemer had a cute little gift shop right before the final set of stairs up to the statue. It had mini statues covered in brightly-colored velvet(een, more likely), and some other knick-knacks.
I bought a hot pink statue, which has led to my Rio 2016 friends using Hot Pink Velvet Jesus as an exclamation, and a couple four-leaf clover charms, one for my sister and one for me.
Hot Pink Velvet Jesus sounds like a fun cocktail.
Oooohhh… I don’t know why that never occurred to me, but you’re right! Sounds like something that should involve pink edible glitter😉
Maybe cachaça and a pink Brazilian fruit…
Dragon fruit! But with passion fruit mixed in for flavor.
And also should be added to the band names list ASAP.
When we went to Rome Pope Francis had just been elected and I bought several very nice wood rosary beads that had 'his crucifix' on it. At some point I gave mine away to my sister - and am now thinking maybe I need to track it down and buy it again. I don't think the either of the wood ones in the on line gift shop are the ones I bought - and I couldn't quickly find it on eBay.
I was amazed of all the great art at the Vatican - I didn't expect that. Also all the painted arches, doors, ceilings it was just gorgeous. And I think in a way it kinda stole the thunder of the Sistine Chapel for me - because yes it was amazing but I was on overload from everything else.
yWhat I was amazed about is that the Colosseum has heavy trafficked streets on all sides of it. I assume dit would be surrounded by empty fields.
Isn't that crazy? People in Rome are like, yeah yeah whatever those famous ancient ruins are just background to driving like maniacs.
So I still meet Game of Throne "fans" who are furious like 6 years later. I appreciate the frustration when something you liked becomes not so great (see X-Files, alas). And it can be fun to let out strong opinions about not so serious things like a show or a movie. But it is also so off putting in the RL. I still remember I was obnoxious about a Geoffrey Rush film, Shine, to the point my friends shunned me for an hour at a party. As they should have. I suspect my opinion still holds up but I was unrelenting and rude.
I think unfortunately that there are legit funny writers like Heather & Jessica who can skewer a show and internet commentators who are shouty and stay shouty and the temperature rises up and up and up. And Reddit and Substack are not healthy opinion places at all.
Seriously Heather & Jessica have once again carved out a civilized place on social media. Substack comments are intense and rude on other stacks.
LOL. I had such strong opinions on Peter Jackson's The Hobbit that my family, who had to listen to my rant still are afraid to mention that movie a decade later. But I never went and yelled at Peter Jackson about it!
Having a strong opinion on the Hobbit is very rational. He had enough money, he didn't need to split a tiny kid's book in three and make it wildly violent. It wasn't LOTR.
But also, we can just choose not to watch it (or watch it again) without being nuts about it.
THANK YOU! All of this. :-)
I choose to pretend it doesn't exist.
This is me but with the Tom Cruise Reacher movies.
That's me with wicked
My mom volunteered at the hospital gift shop in my hometown for years, so when she came to be with me in NYC for one of my surgeries at Mount Sinai, the first thing she did was check out the gift shop, LOL. (She was favorably impressed.)
It always amazes me how some of the larger museum gift shops can be so disappointing, while the oddball-museum shop are so much better.
I will never understand making death threats, especially for fictional situations. IT'S NOT A REAL THING. And that's what a lot of people immediately jump to. Not a rant, not vowing to quit watching forever, a death threat. Yikes.
I love hospital gift shops! They often have really good jewelry at great prices!
Are you sure that there is a basement at the Colosseum? Or was someone misleading you in your search for your missing bicycle?
You made me snort laugh my breakfast muffin.
Heh. I'm just shocked I'm the first one to make the basement joke!
The underground level is what she means.
Yes, I meant the so-called "underground." (It is like a vast basement?) - J
I just picture in an Italian accent, "there's no basement at the Colosseum."
OMG I will be channeling Blair and Jo all day long now. I may even put on my roller skates and leg warmers and zoom around the house until Mrs. Garrett yells at me.
Oh nooooo, guess you'll just have to plan another visit so you can smell the Vatican perfume. Tragic.
Big reveal here: My actual name is not RunsInPink—that’s just the screen name I use for NOT making death threats when a room full of TV writers who ought to know better mess up an ending ; ) My real first name is Daphne, which means that for my entire life I have been denied souvenirs like keychains, mugs, pencils, etc etc etc sold in gift shops everywhere. I’ve learned to live with this—if the Broads were ever to have a drink at my house, I’d serve it with a monogrammed napkin—but after multiple visits to Rome, I am still deeply salty that you can buy a tiny David (who, for the record, isn’t even IN Rome) on every street corner… but the only Daphne I’ve ever found was just a magnet. Tchotchke manufacturers of Italy: THERE’S A MARKET FOR DAPHNES! I go to visit her every time I’m there—she’s magnificent.
As a Shanna, I feel this.
I’m a Caitlin of a certain age (i.e. I was legal to drink before my name started becoming common/popular in the US), so I definitely felt this growing up. Each time I’ve seen something with the less-than-common name of a kid I know, I buy it for them for that reason.
I’m a Peggy of a certain age (that is NOT 80), and I also deeply feel this.
As a fellow Margaret (I'm assuming?), I also couldn't find my name on anything.
Another birth name Margaret here, and even though I started going by Meg at a young age, I hardly ever found anything with either name. I still remember that unique feeling of being twelve and continually thinking "They don't have my name here, either" on a cross-country trip where we hit soooo many tourist stops.
Yeah, I've always been Maggie not Margaret, but I would look for both and never find either. My siblings both have common names, so they were everywhere.
I’m actually a rare “real” Peggy - haha! I always wished for Margaret (although I like my name now; it was just tough with the 7 jennifers.)
Dolly will sing you happy birthday, Margaret!
https://www.bluemountain.com/ecards/birthday/dolly-parton-birthday-time-song-personalize-lyrics/card-3499578
Love this!
AMAZING!!!
Go to the UK-- I got things for our Margaret lots of things with her name on it there.
I can't find my name either and with someone whose sister's name was super common, it always made me sad.
I have a very unique name (though I started going by my much more common middle name around age 10) and my brother (only 14 months younger) has a pretty common name and I can never get my mom to explain why she did that. Definitely no souvenirs with my first name on them anywhere, though I did recently find the remnants of some pencils with my name in gold foil that my mom must have custom ordered at some point, pre-internet.
A great aunt gave me a set of pencils with my name in gold when I was a kid, and I found a source online in the early aughts and bought a set for the daughter of someone I worked with, whose name was Zuleyka (so needless to say, she'd never had anything with her name on it, and was thrilled).
I feel like my mom got those same pencils for my sister and I, because I just had a very clear childhood flashback when I read your comment. Mine were navy blue with gold letters.
My husband has a super common name, with the super common spelling of said name, and I am shocked he could never find his keychain in the trinket stores - even as a kid!
I have definitely noticed a change over the years from the Stevens and Jessicas to the Jaylyns and Jaxons.
So many variations of Brytnii ; )
I'm anna, and growing up there was never anything with my name on it. my sisters are sara and molly and their names didn't show up much either (we're in our 60s)
Oh don’t get me started on my uncommon name (and nickname) being nowhere! But my parents both have odd names too so we’re never finding keychains!
I was never able to have anything with my name on it until I went to France when I was 16. There were Micheline items everywhere and you bet I brought a selection home. My souvenir cafe au lait bowl with scenes of Paris is on my bedroom shelf.
I feel your pain
My husband (not named Daphne!) feels your pain. He owns a tiny souvenir license plate from when he was like 10 because it's the only thing he has EVER found his name on.
My niece has an alternate spelling to a somewhat common name, and I bought a pair of glasses because the frame name was her spelling.
They were a shape I’d like anyway, but I was tickled and sent her the link in case she wanted her own pair.
I was the only Abby in my elementary school but then it became a popular name in the early 2000s and I've taught quite a few Abbys over the years which is always a little surreal after being the only one for so long.
I’m friends with a 91 year old violet. We volunteer together at a place with lots of little kids, and about a decade ago she was very shocked to all of a sudden hear a lot of caretakers calling her name.
I just read this article that said names have about a 100 year popularity cycle. It’s because people start naming their kids after their grandparents, and all the old names come back in fashion. At the preschool I work at, we have a lot of Hazels, Pearls, and Millies, all of which I would consider old lady names.
I have an irrational fear that Daphne will become the hot baby name when I’m 110. I have met more than one dog Daphne, which always tickles me!
(Gasp!)
Lol I have an unusual name too and never saw mine in those souvenir carousels.
If you'd like Dolly Parton to sing you a personalized birthday song, only a little misspelled (Dafne?!), here it is:
https://www.bluemountain.com/ecards/birthday/dolly-parton-birthday-time-song-personalize-lyrics/card-3499578
Go to the Buffalo Bill Gravesite in Denver. That giftshop has something with your name on it- everyone with non-common names in my group emerged with something with their name on it. It was insanse.
The reopened Frick in NYC has a small but beautiful gift shop with big windows that overlook the grounds. I got my British Garden Expert MIL a book of the new porcelain flowers that fill the museum. STUNNING