Had a good time at the South Main Trolley Tour last night. It was warm outside (for January – about 55 degrees) and it was nice to walk around without a jacket.
As I was walking down Main I thought I saw Rachel from Rachel and the City. At least I assumed it was Rachel because this was the girl who appears in more pictures posted to her site than anyone else. So I figured I should introduce myself since she called me “the downtown version of her.” Well, it turns out it wasn’t Rachel – it was a friend of hers named Amy. She and her friends laughed, like she gets this all the time. She was very nice about it though. Rachel needs to post a pic of herself on her site where she isn’t dressed up in a Halloween costume.
Hung out for a while with my hairstylist, Silver, whose shop Silver Salon is in the South Main district. Several women have asked me where to go downtown to get their hair cut. “I don’t want just a haircut, I want an experience,” they have told me. Silver is the experience. He has art hung all around his shop, and the guy is more intuitive than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. He has some specials going on (check out his website) and they now offer manicures/pedicures there too.
Had an interesting discussion with one of the art gallery owners. He told me that downtowners look but they don’t buy. He said 60% of his business comes from Midtown and East Memphis and another 15% from tourists. He also said that there are many people who live right down the street who walk past his shop every day but have never come in. I don’t get that. Why would you live in an arts district and not even come in to the galleries?
I feel bad for not buying more on South Main. There are a couple of pieces in Universal Art that I would love to take home, but they’re big pieces. Didn’t see a price tag on the one that was my favorite but I’m sure it was well into four figures. Similarly, I see pieces at Jay Etkin Gallery from time to time that I’d really like to have. There was one last year, picturing flamingos and pigs riding a roller coaster, but it was $3,500. I guess I just have expensive tastes in art. I need to find stuff I like in the $200-300 range, which is the level that I can comfortably afford to spend at the current time. Actually, I’m a member of a young art collectors’ club that Jay’s gallery has been involved with, that teaches its members how to find pieces in that price range, but the person who organized it got promoted and moved to Atlanta so I’m not sure it’s still going on.
The Folk Alliance drew a crowd last night, with a band and mojitos. They packed the place out – but then, given the size of their building, that only took about 15 people.
I learned that the clothing store at the corner of Main and GE Patterson will be American Apparel. I checked out their website and I gotta tell you, I’m not real impressed with their clothing line. I’ll give them a chance once they open though.
So that was last night. No set plans for tonight, just whatever I can find to get into. I’ll probably stop by Swig for at least one drink to check out their ’80s night.
One of my blog readers e-mailed to inform me that she is going out dancing on Beale tonight in a cute new top that she bought – a TUBE TOP. I’d like to think it was my influence that caused her to select a tube top on her most recent shopping spree.
And finally, here’s a tidbit for you pro wrestling fans: The Royal Rumble is tomorrow night, and I’m betting on a longshot: I’m picking Matt Hardy to win the thing. That will give him a shot at the title of his choice at Wrestlemania, and he’ll use it to jump back to Monday Night Raw (he lost a loser-leaves-town match there a few months ago) and get revenge on WWE champ Edge.