I'm a Foodie

As I'm combing through my tracker, it becomes apparent to me that many of my new readers are finding me because we share a mutual admiration: food!

Here are just a few of the culinary searches that have found my blog lately:

• Memphis downtown brunch Sunday
• Downtown Memphis food delivery (good luck with that)
• Egg Keish
• New England style hot dog rolls available in calif (see - I'm NOT the only one!)
• Downtown Memphis grocery
• Dan Mcguiness restaurant Memphis menu
• Sakura Sushi Joyce Roll (this roll really is famous!)

That's it!

On a side note, someone else also searched for "Adam Garrison from RPI." Adam, someone's looking for you.

Procrastination

The title says it all. Today was virtually unproductive... I really need to make my way back home, so that I can actually focus on what I'm supposed to be working on.

To make matters worse, Myspace is having issues, so I couldn't even zone out reading profiles.

I did however get caught up on the news. Here's a small summary:

Lindsey Lohan is apparently facing problems with her latest film "Georgia Rule." She hasn't been showing up to work because she has been 'sick' lately. The CEO of the production company producing the film wrote her a very direct and somewhat threatening letter to tell her to stop partying or else.

Florida millionare Jeffrey Epstein reportedly solicited teenage high school girls for massages... and more. I read the entire 22-page affidavit on The Smoking Gun and was surprised by the similiarities in all of the girls' stories. Then, I looked up the news articles on the case and I was even more surprised by how much Epstein's lawyers are trying to play down the incidents (there were many). I suppose that's what lawyers are paid for, but anyway... Even stranger is that some of the news outlets aren't even covering this story. From reading the affidavit and other news articles, I learned that Epstein recently tried to give the police department in Florida a huge monotary gift. He has also given large gifts to political organizations in the past and has close ties with an ex president, etc. The last odd thing I will mention here is that the girls were all recruited from one high school and each girl would be paid for recruiting additional girls. Now that this story has broken, I wonder how odd it will be for all of those kids to go back to high school in a few weeks. Good luck in jail JE.

I just learned that religious guy Mel Gibson was arrested today in Malibu for DUI. He was driving early this morning along the PCH at a high rate of speed. I used to take the PCH every day to Pepperdine and it's definitely NOT a place to be fooling around... it's super curvy with lots of traffic, construction, mud slides, random people with surfboards, etc. Oh yeah, then there's that whole ocean factor. The last thing you'd want to do is lanch yourself into the sea.

NBC had a story on tonight about American Apparel founder Dov Charney. Around a week ago, I was a fan of American Apparel and their socially responsible practices. Dov's currently facing sexual harrassment charges from 3 different employees of American Apparel. Actually, I believe he has settled with 2 of them, and the last one is pending. Charney claims that in a creative environment, more explicit things are bound to come up-- he runs a marketing company after all. On the other hand, has he gone too far? I would vote yes on this. BoRyan's company faces ethical dilemnas on the topic of what's decent (because they publish dating advice), but they would never dream of having to address the kinds of things that Charney is accused of (and admits to) doing. Included in the laundry list is coming to work in his underwear, only. He also enjoys sleeping with his female employees... describing women's body parts using words like those that rhyme with 'hunt'... conducting a meeting in only a "c*ck sock"... masterbating and receiving oral sex from his female assistant in front of a reporter from Jane Magazine... and more. The lady who is suing him was reportedly asked by him to masterbate in front of him when they were discussing whether or not she'd get a raise. From the interview and his admission to all of these things, I'd say that it's clear-- reality has left his building. During the interview, he even stuck out his tounge a few times when questioned. Is this what happens when the company you founded makes $250 M in profits during the first 3 years?

Jada Pinkett Smith has reportedly seen Baby Suri. In a report published today, she said that she and her husband Will visited Tom, Katie, and Suri at their 90210 mansion. She said that among other things, Suri has black hair just like Tom and Katie. Well, thank goodness... because, you know, I was really worried. :-)

Prince is getting divorced from his wife of five years. I honestly didn't realize Prince was married... maybe I'm just not dialed into the Purple Rain generation enough.

Pamela Anderson is getting married to Kid Rock very soon. How exciting! Honestly, they are the perfect white trash couple... oh the tabloid stories they'll make!

Thursday Thoughts.

Yesterday turned out to be much different than I had originally anticipated. First of all, my little brothers slept through their tennis lesson. I was left driving around their school trying to locate them... only to find out later that they were still in bed.

I ended up spending most of the day chatting it up with my grandmother. I now know all the latest gossip on everything and everyone. :-)

This morning, I woke up relatively early and worked on my projects for most of the day.

This evening, I went to dinner at a place called Harry Bear's that's known for it's great fried peaches. I had an "old fashioned cheese burger" and of course, fried peaches.

After dinner, my parents and I went on an unplanned shopping trip for school supplies. We got 4 fun things for each of their 4 grand children. They're just fun little things to complement their existing school supplies.

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Also of interest lately seems to be all the crazy elections around here and in TN. One of the big races in Oklahoma this year was the governor's race. Two days ago were the primaries and I heard quite a lot about this race in my family especially because one of my little brothers is dating one of the governor's daughters. She's a great girl; she once helped to critique one of my web sites. Anyway, my brother is very into the whole thing. Yesterday, he even wore a campaign t-shirt out to lunch. Luckily for everyone, it looks like the governor is going to win again. Here's his campaign site.

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Lastly, I received an e-mail yesterday that tax free week is coming up soon in TN, just in time for back to school. Be sure to look up the dates if you haven't already.

An Early Oklahoma Day.

I'm up early today because I'm going to make the 1 hour trek to Shawnee to visit my dad, grandmother, and brothers. My brothers have a tennis lesson this morning at 9 AM, so I need to leave in 30 minutes to make it to see them.

I'm not sure what else will be on tap today, other than possibly worrying about being behind on my work.

Yesterday, I had a fun time with my niece and nephew in the morning. We spent a good chunk of time drawing on the sidewalk with chalk.

Then, my brothers Chris and Nick picked me up and we went to Bricktown for a few hours. It should be noted that they just recently turned 16, so this was the first time they've driven me. They were actually very good drivers - safe, calm, but aware of their surroundings, and the speed limit. Now, I can only hope that they drive that way when someone over 18 is not in the car with them.

We went to see Superman Returns. Considering that I almost never check out fantasy flicks, it was pretty good... I was surprised. After the movie, we had dinner at Spagetti Warehouse where we ate, of course, spagetti.

That's it for now - I'm off to tennis.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig...

After 8 hours of driving, I made it safely back to Oklahoma City. In case you didn't know / weren't sure, I grew up in Oklahoma; I'm a 6th generation Oklahoman in fact.

Anyway, I had an excellent drive and only stopped once - at about hour 6.5. This was a huge accomplishment, not only for my body, but also for the SUV I borrowed for this trip. It got surprisingly good gas mileage today.

Waiting for me when I came in were my niece and nephew, Sean and Savannah. They're visiting Oklahoma from Georgia for the entire month of July! Sean is 5 and Savannah is 4. This year, Savannah will be in pre-K and Sean will be in Kindergarden. She told me approximately 10 times in the hour and a half that I saw her that "pre-K is going to be very cool" and "I'm going to pre-K starting next month!" :-)

She also spent quite a bit of time telling me how scared she is of my big Raggedy Anne doll. She sits in my childhood bedroom on a chair my grandfather made for me. She explained that the red yarn hair reminds her of Chucky. She just doesn't understand why anyone would want to play with a Raggedy Anne Chucky doll! hehe.

The crowning moment to the evening came when I found out that she doesn't sleep in her own bed by herself yet. She has been sleeping between my parents since she arrived. Because this was her solution to having to go to bed, I tried to tuck her in to their big bed at around 11:30 PM. She took the bait until she realized that I would be leaving her to go to my very own big kid bed. At that, she started wailing about wanting to stay in my bed with me.

Woa - wait a second... what's up with kids these days? lol.

Anyway, clearly we can see how this turned out. :-) Fortunately, I don't put too too much weight in the attention getting freakouts that kids do. I'm fine with them, I just don't tend to respond to them much. So, as you can see, I'm having my quiet time with my blog instead.

Goodnight.

~~Waving Goodbye to Memphis~~

I'm on my way out of Memphis today. This is my final post from the bluff city.

I just wrapped up my lunch at Cafe Francisco and I'm about to jump onto I-40 headed west.

I'll be on the road for around 8 hours today, so if you want to chat, give me a ring.

Until next time!

AngieD

Days 14 and 15 – Reflections

The past two days have been busy ones, full of thoughts of change and possible decisions.

Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the day driving from apartment complex to apartment complex as I mentioned in my previous post. It was extremely hot at 105 degrees. But, the good news is that I was able to pick up all of the information that I needed. And, on an interesting note, my old apartment in Memphis is coming back open at the same time I would probably be moving. I told the complex though that I would really need to find a new unit. That’s just too weird.

Afterward, I went to dinner with Jessica at Le Chardonnay. Le Chardonnay is pretty much my favorite place in Memphis. They have an incredibly extensive wine list, it’s very dark and cozy, and they have wonderfully prepared food. I had wine to drink, baked brie with pesto as my appetizer, and then stuffed chicken breast with fettuccini and asparagus. It was great! Afterward, Jessica showed me her wonderful new apartment in a great part of Midtown Memphis.

Today was also an apartment hunting day. Angie and I met up at 10 AM to tour one apartment downtown. Then, we headed over to the Farmer’s Market. The Farmer’s Market was great – all sorts of nice flowers, fruit, music, etc. I even ran into one of my friend’s from FedEx who was playing with his band there. (I should note that this is a different friend and different band from my previous post).

Then, Angie and I headed to Midtown to have breakfast at Brother Juniper’s. Brother Juniper’s is ranked as one of the best places to eat in Memphis, so we had to go. I must say that it turned out to be really good, so I’m glad we went. It reminded me of my grandmother’s house or something similar… and the food was excellent!

Afterward, we toured another apartment and I drove around looking for more. All in all, I have found around 4 places that I would consider. Although they’re probably 20% higher in price than what I paid before, they’re the same price as what I’m paying in LA. So, although I’m not excited to pay LA prices in Memphis, at least it isn’t more.

In case you were wondering also—I’m not sure if I’m moving back, really. Honestly. I just happen to be a super planner… always looking way into the future around every turn. And, since it looks like I may have to make some quick decisions, I want to be prepared for whatever may happen.

Oh—and on one last side note: I cannot believe that so many things downtown have been converted to condos. I mean, on one hand, I’m glad that downtown is doing so well and that people are so interested. On the other, it’s the businesses that I like downtown and when they turn themselves into condos, it doesn’t help. For example, I tried to visit my very favorite art gallery in downtown Memphis today. I’ve always wanted to buy a piece of art there and I’ve always just been waiting for the right time. Well, you guessed it—it was turned into a freaking condo sales office. The same couple owns it, but its changed over to condos. I felt so sad to see it! Although, I suppose that condos are selling better right now than art. I hope however that they will eventually switch it back. And, I hope the other art galleries I saw on Hulling will too. That was my favorite part of Memphis.

Good times... great ammenities.

Wow, this afternoon I went and looked at the apartments in Downtown Memphis (note: it was ~105 degrees today in downtown). I had forgotten about all of the amenities they offer to residents! Some of them are just so over the top that they’re laughable if you were coming in from anywhere else, with any other expectations. They’re nice, really nice.

Here are a few of the amenities offered by the apartments that I toured:

• Two clubhouses
• Five pools with large sundecks
• Hydro-spa
• Saunas and steam rooms
• Indoor racquetball, basketball, and volleyball court
• Social activity room – TV & billiards room
• Three tennis courts
• Lush landscaping
• On-site car wash / car care center
• Wrap around patio, deck, or sunroom
• Gas Fireplace
• Vaulted ceilings
• Ceiling fans
• River or pool views
• Crown molding
• Built in microwaves
• Garden tubs
• Tiled entry foyers
• Washer and dryer in unit
• Kitchen island
• Controlled access gates
• Executive business center
• Fitness center
• Garages
• Mountain bikes
• Free movie checkout
• Movie – media theatre room
• Sand volleyball court
• Walk-in closets
• Faux granite countertops
• Arched entryways
• Computer desks
• Hot tub
• Gas grills
• Basic cable
• Wireless internet

Keep in mind that not every apartment offers all of these, but most offer at least half of the list. It’s a little crazy, no? But really… who doesn’t want a free washer and dryer, and a 24 fitness center?

Thinking...

Alright, first off, I'm tired today! Angie and I stayed out late last night playing trivia. I would have thought of sleeping in this morning, except that the refridgerator is supposed to arrive today now.

So, I'm going to have to find a way to shake off my tired thoughts and get to work... eventually. :-)

For now, I'm pondering a little over Memphis. I came to visit to see how I feel about the city in its current state. Overall, things are looking good, but there are still a few concerning things...

• Religion is a huge part of the culture here. My issue isn't with the religion, but it seems that when it becomes such a part of life, there are often dividing lines between different groups of people. That's the part that I don't like.
• It's hot. This week, it's been over 100 degrees every day. Lucky for me, I don't mind it much, but still... it's hot.
• The bugs. This point is actually a little unnerving for me. Almost every place I have ever lived in Memphis had a ton of bugs (spiders, mosquitos, roaches, ants...). They like it here because it's so warm and humid. Anyway, to make a long story short, they like to bite me-- a lot. It's just an added thing to have to remember to put on bug spray when I leave the house...
• Racial tension. There's always been a lot of racial tension in Memphis. Clearly, this is in part because the Civil Rights Movement happened here. It's a VERY important issue. Unfortunately, the day to day tension can be very uncomfortable. Twice since I've been here, I ended up in the 'wrong' part of town. I would be okay with that, but both times, a stranger spotted me, identified me as someone who wasn't where I was 'supposed' to be, and then took actions to try to scare me. That's unfortunate. I'd like to hope that the tension is there is because Memphis is experiencing growth and positive change.
• Crime. I've heard about the crime rate skyrocketing this year from everyone. It seems to be one of the main topics of conversation these days. Two of my friends had their houses broken into this year; one of them twice. I've been hearing about shootings and robberies... tying folks up in their homes... being hit from behind walking down the street. It's terrible. I'm not sure how to interpret it though, because I keep hearing that crime's up all over the country. What's the deal?
• Housing costs. The price of an apartment downtown has gone up significantly since I left two years ago. This would really make more sense to me if the job market here had grown significantly... or if employers were suddenly paying 30% more... or maybe if there had just been a huge influx of residents moving into downtown. However, none of these things seems to be the case. I'm going to be checking out a place on Saturday that's for rent for $1200. That's how much I pay in Santa Monica. Except, in Santa Monica / LA, there are tons of jobs and companies and I'm within walking distance of the beach.

As my friends know though, Memphis is my favorite place... so don't assume by my thoughts above that anything has changed. I'm just milling through my observations.

Lucky 13

Today was definitely one full of unexpected things.

First, Shane's appliances never showed up. In the meantime, beautiful flowers arrived from BoRyan - thanks! :-)



Then, Jessica showed up with lunch for me!

After that, Angie invited me to dinner. We went to TJ Mulligan's downtown and I had stuffed, fried mushrooms - which you'll see a photo of below. After eating a ton and having 3 drinks each, we settled in for a game of trivia. Being just the two of us and our first try, we did pretty well. Although all of the final rankings weren't revealed, the third place team got right around 100 points and we had 83. I think that we might have come in fifth at the end... we got the very last question right and wagered the entire 20 points, so that helped.

Day 12 - Memphis Adventure Continues...

Today was actually a pretty boring day, thank goodness! I had a few phone calls... a few e-mails... and then I was finally able to work on my own projects a little!!

Tonight, I went to Dixie Cafe with one of my favorite co-workers from my last job. It was so great to see her again and to hear about everything that's been going on.

Sounds like the same people and a lot of the same projects...

Oh yes, and as a side note, I had chicken fried steak! I'm not able to get that in L.A., and although I don't think it's as popular in Memphis as in Oklahoma City (my hometown), it's still available, so I had to go for it. I had it with creamed gravy and mashed potatoes and corn -- and rolls. Lovely!

On another side note, I saw on CNN today that Ms. Rice has reversed the decision asking those stranded in Lebanon to pay to be air lifted out. Good job!

Well, that's about it... I should go-- tomorrow's the big day... I'm receiving a fridge and stove for my friend tomorrow morning. I'm staying with him while I'm here and I'll be here bright and early to greet the shiny appliances.

Memphis: Day 11

Yesterday was my 11th day in Memphis and it was a hot one; 100 degrees to be exact. But, since I was in air conditioning for most of the day, I didn't notice it too much.

After sleeping for around 10 hours to try to revive myself from the past few days, I was able to make it up to work.

Then, I headed over to Owen Brennon's for a business meeting. It was one of those meetings where although it is strickly business, you've never actually met the person in person before. I found myself smiling and asking random men if they had the same name as the person I was meeting. That part was fairly uncomfortable to say the least. Once I finally found the person however things worked out well.

After the meeting, I called one of the most interesting sets of people I've met with since I've been here and asked to set up a second meeting. Unfortunately, they aren't available until Monday and I was scheduled to leave on Sunday. Long story short, I'm staying at least one or two additional days in Memphis to meet with them.

Of course, if anything comes of all these meetings, I'll eventually reveal exactly what's up... but for now, just know that things are going well. :-)

The last thing that I did last night was go to dinner with my friend Reena. We went to my favorite sushi place, Sakura in Germantown. She wasn't sure why it was my favorite until all of our food came out... they have all sorts of specialty rolls, including the Joyce Roll. It's completely non-traditional, but it's GREAT!

And, it was great to see Reena too! I was explaining to someone the other day that she's my friend in Memphis who I have seen in the most number of different places. We've been to Arkansas and Florida together and I got to see her while she was in California too.

After dinner, I came home and chatted with a friend from Oklahoma who is thinking of moving to LA to make it as a photographer. I unfortunately was forced to dash his dream some... as he has a 6 person family to support on his income and LA is just not the land of money, as I think it's possibly portrayed to be. For example, my tiny 1 bedroom apartment is more than his entire 3 bedroom house's mortgage. I really hope he listens... but either way, my apartment is available for him if he needs to hang out for a few days.

Lastly, I went to sleep. My days have been so unexpected and so intense lately, that I've started having these incredibly detailed, long, vivid dreams. They often include some sort of confrontation. I suppose my body is using the downtime while I'm sleeping to process everything unexpected that's been happening to me while I'm awake.

Alright, that's pretty much it for Day 11. Let's hope Day 12 is productive.

Am I Missing Something?

As you can see, it's 4 AM and I'm awake. I've been so warn out lately that I went to bed around 9 PM last night... then of course, I woke up at 3 AM.

Since I've been up, I decided to get caught up on the news. I noticed another blog post about the current evacuation of US citizens in Lebanon and was quite surprised.

I prefer not to go into too much detail here, but I found this statement from the US State Department:

"The Department of State reminds American citizens that the U.S. government does not provide no-cost transportation but does have the authority to provide repatriation loans to those in financial need. For the portion of your trip directly handled by the U.S. Government we will ask you to sign a promissory note and we will bill you at a later date. In a subsequent message, when we have specific details about the transportation arrangments, we will inform you about the costs you will incur. We will also work with commercial aircraft to ensure that they have adequate flights to help you depart Cyprus and connect to your final destination."

Maybe I'm missing something. When I was a kid, I suppose that I always pictured this sort of thing to be "free." Kind of like calling the fire department when your house is on fire of the police when something has gone wrong. You know, something paid for by taxes. Taxes are a little like an insurance policy on these things I'd think...

It's a little surprising to me that first off, we've been spending so much on war and other things, yet we can't help our own people out of a bad situation. This for some reason reminds me of what happened in New Orleans. I seem to remember that all of the people with money were able to get out, yet those less fortunate were completely abandoned.

Abandoned has been the word I've seen used in a lot of other blogs on this topic.

The other thing that seems odd is how other countries, including France and Romania, are paying for their citizens to leave-- no promissory note needed. You would think that we could at least do that. I for one hope to never be stranded in such a precarious situation, as clearly things seem more uncertain each day.

Am I missing something?

Update: After writing this post, I found in this ABC article (http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2202177&page=1) that apparently we have also been dragging our feet on executing the evacuation process for Americans. And yet, it appears that other countries have been on the ball.

Here's a snipit:

The State Department has said there are about 25,000 Americans in Lebanon, but a smaller number — about 15,000 — had registered with the embassy as living or traveling in Lebanon.

One of those Americans, Susan Jreige of Boston, told ABC News, "Everyone's very anxious."
"Especially when you don't know what will happen to the situation … if you can't get out," she said.

Back home, her father told us he is also anxious and upset.
"We tried to reach the government, the State Department, the White House to try to get them out," Bill Audy said. "Every other country in the world has been evacuating their citizens."

Again, am I missing something?

Day 9 & 10 - AGAIN!

OH MAN! Just as I was about to publish my post for days 9 and 10, but IE reloaded and lost the entire thing!

I'll have to sum up the short version for you now....

Day 9: Woke up late; Missed brunch; Went to a political debate; someone at the debate recognized me from Paul's blog.
Day 10: Woke up on time; Business meeting; Saw old friends; Lunch with Jessica; Game night pending how tired I am

I've been more tired lately than expected -- probably because I've had less relaxation time than planned.

Pants Optional?

Alright, one last thing I forgot to mention...

As I was driving to the resteraunt last night, I passed a man who caught my eye. He was standing on the street, accross fom the Orpheum Theatre-- and he wasn't wearing any pants!

At first, I wondered if I was missing something. Nope, he had no pants.

I thought he might be homeless, but the rest of his outfit seemed relatively nice.

He wore black leather shoes and a blazer with a houndstooth sort of a fabric. It was pulled down lower in the front than the back, I suppose to cover himself. On his head was a big fabric thing, made up to look like a decorative ornament. He also wore a purse and was behaving in an extemely odd way.

Someone pointed out later that the head ornament was probably his pants... and I think they were right!

On the Eigth Day in Memphis...

Alright, this is my evening post. My day seven post contained details from this morning, but tonight also turned out to be good...

The new Majestic Grill turned out to be great! We had 10 guests in all. I tried the pork tenderloin and really enjoyed it. It came with mashed potatoes and fried onions. Afterward, I had a tiny keylime pie. For a photo, check out Paul's blog.

We even had a chance to say hi to Patrick O'Reilly which was nice. He teased me for not coming to see it sooner, but gees... I did travel all the way from CA. :-)

Lastly, we headed to Swig for more martinis with a swirl of drama. Although Angie and I had planned to go to Raifords, we opted for bed tonight. We were both exhausted. Maybe next Saturday, but hey-- 2 AM isn't bad!

Snow White & the Seven Days of Memphis

Alright, so I'm completely running late for dinner, BUT I want to take a moment to write a little about my seventh day in Memphis (yesterday). I'll also take a moment to give today's update thus far.

Yesterday was a great day! I met the new Exec. Directors for both Emerge Memphis and Mpact Memphis. I got a chance to chat about what's changed, what's improved... things in progress, etc. In addition, I received a great tour of the building and was able to meet quite a few of the business owners there. As a side note, Emerge is expanding their space, so if you have a small business idea, this would be a great time to get downtown to talk to them.

After my meetings at Emerge, I took myself on a tour of Memphis. I always enjoy seeing what's new and changed. I drove all around downtown, then up through Midtown. Most of my favorite places are still around, plus a few more that I'm looking forward to trying.

The one thing that completely surprised me was this... Picture me driving down South Main Street.... looking at E&H... Gestures... the Civil Rights Museum... when ALL OF THE SUDDEN I'm pinned in from the front and behind by GIANT boats on WHEELS! lol. They were full of tourists and they said something about riding with the ducks. This must be a new thing since I left because I DO NOT remember giant boats on wheels before! :-)

Then I met up with Angie & Charla for dinner at Harry's downtown-- on GE Patterson and South Main. I had my favorite Shrimp Bankok dish. Afterward, we walked across the street to The Cheesecake Corner. I had amazing cheesecake called Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake. It had an Oreo crust, New York style cheesecake, covered in chocolate and cherries... topped off with wipped cream! YUMM.

We stayed until the Cheesecake Corner closed and I went back to Shane's place. Shane was watching this movie called Elizabethtown. I had never seen it, but jumped in during the middle. It was pretty confusing for a while, then about 30 minutes before the end... the main character started going on this crazy tour of Memphis. He stopped by E&H and met the owner... I think he also went to Beale St. and the Civil Rights Museum. It was a completely unexpected turn for the movie to go in... and for that, I may have to see the entire thing.

So fast forward to today... so far, I slept in... Then, I went to Davis Kidd Booksellers to have brunch, do a little work, and buy the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad." I already have this book, but it's not with me... and I want to use it for reference for a few days.

Afterward, I met up with an old friend from Mpact Memphis at Houston's. In Memphis style, the Mayor of Memphis was there and I was able to meet him! How exciting to bump into Mayor Herenton. Where else can you get that? :-) Anyway, I'm very happy that I got a chance to meet up with my friend... He was able to provide a lot of insight on the current state of the city!

Well, that's it so far... look for more in the 8th day post.

Valerie Plume v. The Government

Well, not exactly "the government"... but, how interesting is it that Valerie Plume is suing over the CIA leak that ruined her under cover career?

I look forward to seeing how the entire thing plays out. This will definitely be entertaining and most likely, one of those stories that will be around for a while.

Check out her suit here: http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/iraq/wilsonlibby71306cmp.html

Half a Dozen Days in Memphis

It occured to me this morning that I forgot to post a blog about my day yesterday.

I have been so exausted from this trip that it's unbelievable!

Yesterday, I had two more 'business meetings'. They really wore me out. It's not easy to wear a suit all day and put on your dog and pony show when you're not used to it.

After my meetings, I went to Cafe Francisco for lunch and to take a break.

Then, I came home to work on thank you notes, to run errands, etc. I actually had to take one of my suits to the dry cleaners. I had no idea I'd be meeting with so many people... wild!

Anyway... I've been that kind of tired where you're so exausted you end up staying up till 1 AM, falling asleep on the couch. Today luckily, I slept in some and I'm feeling a little better.

My biggest problem at this point are the leg cramps that I had 3 days ago while I was sleeping. Apparenetly, they're called 'nocturnal leg cramps' and I used to get them a lot. I can't remember the last time I had them, but 3 nights ago, I had 2 bouts with them back to back in my right leg. Since then, it's been a little painful to extend my leg or to walk and my muscles are sore to the touch.

I looked up more details on why this happens and here's what I found. The first thing I noticed is that these cramps usually happen in people over 50. That's always good when 50 is just less than twice your age.

Secondly, people who tend to get them can be in a few categories including: those who have oddly shaped feet, those who don't drink enough water, those who have low blood sugar, and those who have low iron. I can't tell you how excited I am to fit all of those categories. Ugh! :(

I feel like writing an entire post on how frustrating my feet and legs have been in the past 3 years. Its amazing to think that you can have problems like this in your 20's.

Anyway. Good thing its another day... hopefully I'll be back to walking normally soon.

Memphis Magic

Alright-- This Saturday we're going to make a little *Memphis Magic.*

There will be a downtown dinner party and progressive party so to speak.

I think I e-mailed an E-vite to just about everyone, but if you didn't receive yours, e-mail me!

I'll send you an invitation that includes details on when are where we'll be.

:)