I barely got 8 hours into the New Year – not even one-one thousandth of the way in – before I got reminded that I have an abundance of wonderful friends. Yesterday I put on the blog that I hadn’t planned to go out all weekend, but might be coaxed out for some blackeyed peas and greens. About 8 I got a text from my friends Dennis and MaryPat: “We just cooked some! Would you like to meet us outside our condo and we’ll bring you some?”
Look at Perjorie T. Roll eyeing those greens! For those not from the region, blackeyed peas and greens are a Southern tradition, said to bring you good luck in the New Year. The peas represent coins, and you’re supposed to eat 365 of them, one for each day of the year. The greens represent paper money.
The main abundance this brought me, though, was not financial prosperity, but an abundance of time to get back into my writing on Medium. I published a short form story (150 words or fewer, about the peas and greens), finished a 10-minute-read story I scheduled for the middle of next week when more people will be reading, and got three other stories started. I plan to do more writing on Medium this weekend and may not leave the house until work Monday morning.
Here’s a piece of good news from COVID Act Now – R-nought, the replication rate of the virus, is down to 0.90 in Shelby County, where we need it to be for the virus to start dying out. I am not sure how that measurement is affected by the shortage of testing over the Christmas holiday, though, so in actuality, the reading may be higher. Better than pulling up the site and seeing 1.25 though.
From Food & Wine: The customer is not always right. For some reason the pandemic has caused restaurant customers to take on a sense of entitlement like you wouldn’t believe. Nothing like 25% capacity and 150% attitude from those who are filling your tables.
Fun presidential fact: Assuming Jimmy Carter lives another 18 days, he’ll become the first president to be alive 40 years after leaving office. Knowing Carter, he’ll probably go on a build for Habitat for Humanity to celebrate.
Another fun presidential fact: Joe Biden will be 78 when he’s inaugurated. On that day he’ll be 78 days older than the age of the oldest president at the time he left office (Ronald Reagan, 1989).
I had a good dream last night: It was late in 2021, although not so late that the weather had turned cold. I walked up to the newly-opened (by then; it’s not open yet) Memphis Made brewery at, um, the edge of The Edge District at Madison and Lauderdale. The stupid health restrictions were over and I sat at the bar with good friends. After a couple of beers, we walked down The Ravine, the railroad-spur park bisecting The Edge, to get pizza at Slim & Husky’s and see the Ja Morant mural up close.
I hope that dream becomes a reality! I wonder how tall Ja Raffe will be by the time that happens?
Here’s a great story: In 1996, pro wrestling manager Downtown Bruno, working the Memphis territory, bought third-generation rookie Flex Kavana a vehicle. Kavana, who’d been sent to Memphis by WWF talent developer Pat Patterson, was only making $50 a show and needed reliable transportation to make it to his appearances. The following year, Kavana was promoted to the main roster, where he changed his name to Rocky Maivia. Later he shortened the name to The Rock. Recently The Rock paid the favor by buying Downtown Bruno (who went by Harvey Wippleman in the WWF) a new Ford F-150.
With my Kindle Unlimited subscription, I’m currently reading The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence by security consultant Gavin de Becker. de Becker has protected celebrities, presidents, Congresspeople, and Supreme Court justices. The book is mainly aimed at women to get them to pay attention to fear signals. Since intuition is a frequent topic of mine when I write on Medium, I thought it would be a good book for me to read.
So, anyway, I read a section about 16 indicators that indicate a man may engage in spousal abuse. As I read through them, I thought, wow, I know men who do some of these! And I don’t mean deviants; I mean, men who are considered fine, upstanding pillars of society.
Anyway, if you’re a woman, and you’ve ever been in fear of your life, whether it’s due to a relationship partner, a casual date, or a stranger, you might want to give this book a read. You won’t get bored; de Becker is almost as good at telling stories as he is protecting clients.
Action News 5 interviewed Westy’s owner Jake Schorr on how impossible it is to make a living thanks to the stupid 25% capacity put on restaurant indoor dining in Health Directive 16.
The health department did not find any violations as it made the rounds New Year’s Eve. No businesses were closed.
Char Magnifico and Vintage rock the heated and wrapped stage at Momma’s tonight, 6:30.
The Grizzlies got a W over the Charlotte Hornets last night, 108-93. Memphis is now 2-3 on the season.
That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.