so, i would like to say...

it is a beautiful day in dixie.
yessir.
so i'm doing laundry.
exciting, i know.


on a completely unrelated sour note:

to all the people at molly's monday night, (lovely margarita monday, i might add) if there was something on my face, or i didn't have pants on or something, could you please just tell me next time instead of being so rude as to just stare me down.
in the oh so eloquent words of Mr Pee Wee Herman, "take a picture, it'll last longer."

*feels a little paranoid*

*HONK*

so memphis is the honking-ist place i have ever been.
you will honk at anything.
THEN whatever you honked at, will find a way to honk back.

then i heard there was a law against honking.

interesting, very interesting...

magical sweet potato goodness

the arcade is awesome.

# 1

first time i'm saying this.


it's hot.

it's 11:00 pm and its 82 degrees fahrenheit.

i'm not from here, so i can say that.

holy fuck, i can't wait til august.

dear crack-heads,

please stop breaking into my and my room mates trucks.
we don't have guns, jewelry, or anything of value that you could steal to get your crack on or whatever it is you do.

however, it is a little sad that you don't find the 3 boxes of pottery in the bed of my truck to be of any value. i made it all. it's hand crafted art for god's sake!

i would like to thank you for not actually breaking anything though.
next time, however, could you shut my truck door all the way because my dome light runs my car battery down, and it would also suck if it rained.

also, a shout out to the crack-head who broke into roomie's truck a few years ago and stole the $18 radio shack tape deck, but left the $400 camel hair sport jacket. mad props, yo.

go fuck yourself,

a midtowner

and here's a great big cracked rock for ya

tornado!

sike!
it was just the sirens practicing.

however, i awoke this morning thinking,
"hey, i have been here about a month and haven't heard them once."

roomie says "hey erica, why is the floor so clean in this spot here?"
erica replies "well, in my efforts to practice for the WNBA, i tried to throw a coffee filter full of grounds about 3 feet into the trash can, and my results of 'practicing,' i was reminded that i probably will never be a sucessful basketball player."
rommie, "cold, cold reality"
*sigh...

oh and a note to the motherfucker who tried to break into roomie's truck:

fuck off.
-e

there were more things i wanted to say in this blog in general, but alas, my short term memory is at a loss...

end transmission

under the red hot moon

so last night in a hungover stuper we went to the bbq shop(?) i think that was the name of it. its by pizza hut on madison.

it was pretty good. we decided that at our bar we would have ribs and you could dip them in your beans. that's it. no sauce.

today, i think, is the crawfish fest at overton sq.

i'm tired of typing and don't have much to say.

end trans.

dear midtown bars,

here are 2 drinks that i enjoy and think others might also.
they are not difficult, or have crazy ingredients.



Gummy Sharks

2 oz vanilla vodka
6 oz Pepsi cola

Pour the vanilla vodka into a collins glass half-filled with ice cubes.
Top with Pepsi, stir well, and serve.

i saw one recipe where they garnished it with mint leaves.

no, no, i mean, come on. we all know the real garnish should be dismembered gummy bears.

(not that i ever expect a garnish...)

Milwaukee Lunch Box or Lunch Box

1 shot amaretto
75% of a cheap american beer
topped with orange juice

serve over ice in a pint glass or bigger

i SWEAR it tastes just like Red Hawaiian Punch

As title game time nears, nervous tummy the norm

By Geoff Calkins

Monday, April 7, 2008

SAN ANTONIO -- Derrick Rose walked to the podium, whispered something to Memphis coach John Calipari, then disappeared for the rest of the day.

"He said his stomach is bothering him," Calipari said.

To which Memphians everywhere can answer: We know how he feels!

Stomachs bothering you this morning, Memphis? Maybe doing somersaults? Palms sweaty? Head swimming with hopes and possibilities?

At 8:21 this evening, the Memphis Tigers will play the Kansas Jayhawks for the national title.

How can anyone read that sentence without feeling a little jittery? Memphis in the title game? Memphis with a chance -- a good chance -- to win it all?

"Nothing much good happens in Memphis," said forward Robert Dozier, who really didn't mean it like that. But he knows your frustrations, understands what's at stake.

This is about basketball, plainly. And this is not about basketball.

It is about crime and cynicism and our perceptions of ourselves. A team from Memphis winning a national title? Would Memphians even know how to react?

"I'd do seven back flips with one hip coming off the floor," Calipari said. "At least I'd try."

So there's another reason this could be a memorable night: Calipari's victory dance.

Of course, Calipari's hip won't be going anywhere if Rose's stomach doesn't settle down by this evening. His teammates did not seem concerned.

"Derrick eats gummy bears and Starbursts for breakfast, and Twizzlers and honey buns for lunch," said Chris Douglas-Roberts. "It was bound to happen sometime."

Calipari personally served Rose a plate of pasta after Saturday night's win, just to make sure the kid got something healthy in his stomach.

"He didn't eat it," said Joey Dorsey. "He just pushed it around his plate."

Dorsey replayed the scene in his head.

"Maybe he's hungry!" he said.

Everyone laughed at this. It's the soundtrack to the Tigers' trip to the championship game. Constant laughter. From the coaches, the players and, now, the reporters covering them.

Joey, how do you explain your team's improved free-throw shooting?

"I'm not taking the shots," he said.

Har.

Dorsey talked to reporters for half an hour Sunday in what the NCAA calls a "breakout" session. When it ended, he was whisked away in a golf cart.

"I've covered players from all levels, high school, college and pro," shouted a columnist from a national Web site, "and Joey, you're the best."

Dorsey shrugged. As if to say, we've been like this all along. Y'all are just starting to pay attention.

"We're intellectual," said Douglas-Roberts.

Intellectual?

"A couple of guys are very well-spoken," he said, "including myself."

A columnist from New Jersey stopped to ask a Commercial Appeal reporter if Rose could possibly be as humble as he appears. A columnist from Indianapolis said the Tigers remind him of Indiana's undefeated team.

It's as if the entire world is starting to realize what Memphians knew all along.

"This is a dream team," said Douglas-Roberts. "We support each other. We pull for each other. I've talked to enough players around the country -- and I've been on enough teams -- to know it isn't always like this."

Every team doesn't have a transcendent talent like Rose, who blushes -- literally blushes -- whenever anyone says something nice about him. Every team doesn't have a player like Douglas-Roberts, who's as unflappable as his game.

Every team doesn't have Antonio Anderson, who lives to defend, or Willie Kemp, who is happy just to make shots.

Every player doesn't have Dorsey, part man, part toddler, part Hallmark Card.

"I'm emotional," he said. "I couldn't get to sleep at all last night."

Not because Dorsey is nervous about tonight's matchup with Kansas, either. Because he knows it will be his last game with this team.

Win or lose, this collection of Tigers will never play together again. They have tonight. Period. You have tonight to remember them by.

What would you give to see Larry Finch, Larry Kenon and Ronnie Robinson play one more time? Or Andre Turner, Baskerville Holmes and Keith Lee?

This is the last time you will see Dorsey, Rose and Douglas-Roberts on a court together. Playing for a championship.

It is the only way it could have ended, naturally. It is what they wanted all along.

A chance. A chance to show what a little 'ol team from Memphis can do. A chance to play on the biggest night, on the biggest stage and for the biggest stakes.

Dorsey is writing another story for the occasion. As usual, he wouldn't say how it goes. Reporters asked Douglas-Roberts, instead. Any clues, Chris?

Douglas-Roberts smiled and stroked his chin. You know, the way he does.

"I don't know the other parts," he said, "but I know how it ends."

saturday and for the love of basketball

so the fabulous memphis tigers won and are off to the national championship!

we have been watching the games at old zinny's then of course making our way to the lamp then to east.

saturday we went with all intentions of eating, but by the time we got there, we were both too nervous to eat.

so we had a liquid dinner of pitchers of beer. we went to the lamplighter to "watch" the ku and nc game.

nc didn't even show up for that game.
so we played pool and miss shirley made us a patty melt.

for some reason when going to zinny's east, the drink of the evening always ends up being jeger bombs. i do mean plural too.

then off to bed.
only to wake up the next morning, glad it's sunday, and wishing i had an asprin.

tonight, championship game.
old zinny's.
be there.
wear blue!

GO TIGERS GO!

out and about, -ish

the rommie and i started out last night at the blue monkey.
the overall goal was to get him some dinner.
after 4 rounds of drinks, we head to the lamplighter.
miss shirley makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches ever.
rommie has dinner.
then off to zinny's east for yeager bombs and a coors.

so, i've been to zinny's east before, but out of those several times, i remember 3.
last night, i did remember.
the bartender, however, i don't remember.
apparently, i had met him on a binge of sorts.
roomie did remember.
we argued about meeting said bartender for a bit.
then retired for the evening.

happy friday midtown.

an afternoon at the bayou

so it poured down rain most of the day, only to let up around 2. from then on, it was a beautiful day in midtown.
a friend, her daughter and i all went to the bayou for drinks and some snacks.

there is nothing like sitting outside, drinking a stella, and eating the bayou's stuffed shrimp.
it was awesome.
i also had a cup of their gumbo and the basket of crawfish tales.
i should have stopped at the gumbo.

my friend had the sampler of their "soups"
a bisque, alligator chili, red beans and rice and 2 gumbos.
the chili was the best. it had a great tomato flavor.
second was the regular seafood gumbo
followed by the bisque
i wasn't a fan of the red beans. not their fault though, i'm just not a red bean fan in general.
and lastly was their duck and andouille sausage gumbo.
honestly i didn't really taste it.
i was full.

i'm off for now to see more sights of our fair city....

A "Night Out" in Cooper-Young

The Memphis Flyer

After years of talking about it, members of the Cooper-Young Business Association and merchants in the Cooper-Young Historic District are kicking off a monthly neighborhood night out this Thursday, April 3rd.

The Cooper Young Night Out will take place from 5-9 p.m. the first Thursday of every month. People are encouraged to come out and walk the strip of shops and businesses on Central Avenue, South Cooper and Young Avenue. Most of the 18 restaurants and over 25 retail shops will be giving discounts and specials, and some are even giving away free stuff!

Tamara Walker, director of the Cooper-Young Business Association (CYBA), thinks this will be a wonderful way for Memphians to kick off their weekend and hopes that people will rediscover the treasures that lie in the heart of the Cooper-Young area. The CYBA also wants people to check out the newly opened, diverse shops that have moved into the area. Cooper-Young is home to shops that sell antiques, music, vintage and designer clothing, jewelry, art, pets, shoes, and rugs, and is also the location of some of the most renowned Memphis restaurants and bars.

Taekwondo teachers at Midtown Martial Arts have offered to watch the kids for $5 each on night out evenings from 5-9 p.m. Central BBQ is offering half-price BBQ nachos and beer specials. The Red Room is offering sample hip-hop dance lessons to children and adults from 5:30-6:15 p.m. Both Mothersville and Gents will be administering free massages. Local drummers will perform at Memphis Drum Shop and kids can enjoy a drum circle. Chef Karen Carrier Blockman at Do Sushi has created the Cooper Young Night Out Signature Roll for the occasion. Local musicians will be performing all along the way.

"I believe this will be fun for the whole family. There will be something for everyone," Walker says. "All the business owners are really pumped about this event. Everyone was happy to give discounts and bring musical acts or special authors or artists into their shops to make this night a real draw for the public."

--Shara Clark

so i hope to scoot down there and partake in the festivities, however, the weather forecast is saying like 2-3" of rain all day today and tonight. perhaps it will subside for a bit this evening. i would surely like to get my drink on down at the deli.

being new to the neighborhood, i would love to go tour the shops too. i pass by them, only to eat or drink in the nearby bars and it would be great to actually stop in.