Paul Ryburn’s Journal

Just looked at my site tracker, and my blog has had the most hits of any day this week. Unusual for a Friday, traditionally one of the slowest days. Funny how that happens when you put ho’s at the top of your page. There were a lot of hits from Autozone, which I [...]

So last night, I was talking to my friend, former student and blog reader Melanie, who was one of my ho’s for the last Pimp and Ho party…

Hang on, let’s post a pic of the ho’s.

…There ya go. Melanie is the one on the right. She’s put blond highlights in her hair since this pic was [...]

Dear George,

I’d like to try and explain the gas crisis in terms you can understand.

I’m not going to talk about single mothers, or poor people, or black people, or the elderly on fixed incomes. Instead, I’d like you to imagine, if you will, a group of fraternity guys. Can you see them, dressed in [...]

If you’re considering contributing to the Katrina relief effort, you might want to do it through the Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation – they’ll match your donation. See details below. Thanks to my friend Amy for forwarding this info to me.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, donations of cash and goods are pouring into [...]

Tonight I went to the Flying Saucer for their weekly trivia contest. Competing against teams of two, three, five, even six, I signed up alone. But at the end of the night, Team Professor Paul came out on top, and I found myself holding a free bar tab. A few questions that I [...]

“Eastbound and Down’ by Jerry Reed. Particularly, the line “we’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there.” The Dempseys played it in their set Friday night and it got stuck in my head. I went home and downl- er, bought it, and I’ve been playing it over [...]

South Philly is now open. It’s located on Peabody Place just east of Third Street, in the same building as Hooters. Haven’t been there yet, but I got a copy of their menu yesterday at the Southern Folklore Fest and it looks good – philly-style cheesteak sandwiches. Will be interested to see if [...]

Hurricane Housing is a site that lets people in the Southeast offer hurricane victims a free place to stay, and lets people displaced by the hurricane search for housing. You can post how many people you can house, whether you have pets, whether or not you smoke, whether you know of temporary work in the [...]

Last night I was out with some of my neighbors, and one of them commented, “Paul, you should keep a list of stuff going on around town on your website.” He went on to flatter me by suggesting that the city should rename Second Street “Professor Paul Parkway.” Since I am susceptible to flattery, [...]

If any New Orleans/Gulf Coast refugees currently in Memphis are reading this… feel free to contact me if you need info about the city, how to get around, where to find services. Sometimes it helps to talk to a [...]