Tuesday update

I got my COVID booster yesterday. Piece of cake. I went to the window at Walgreens pharmacy, handed them my vaccination card, and filled out and signed an 11-question form. A couple of minutes later, a pharmacist came out and asked me to sit in a chair and roll up my sleeve. There was a split second of discomfort (I wouldn’t even call it pain). She put a Band-Aid on me, handed me back my updated vaccination card, and that was it.

All three times I’ve had thoughts of, “Ow, I’m going to get jabbed with a needle. Do I really want to go through with this?” But I’ve gone through with it anyway.

A split second of discomfort (or even a second of pain) is preferable to a week on a ventilator followed by massive hospital bills.

That split second of discomfort is worth it because it means I can sit at the bar at Bardog every Saturday all winter long without worrying that I’m transmitting the Omicron variant to my friends.

My arm is sore this morning and I feel ever so slightly “off,” but my body’s reaction to the shot so far is less severe than the first and second doses.

Tigers on national TV alert: The Memphis Tigers host 6 Alabama tonight at 8 at FedExForum. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. It’s the first White-Out of the season, and they ask that if you go to the game you wear a white shirt. First 5000 through the gate get a free white Memphis State T-shirt.

Penny believes this will be “a beautiful week” for the Tigers. Um. Penny. If your team beats ranked Alabama or ranked Tennessee, you’ll earn the right to look back and say it WAS a beautiful week. But after 4 losses in a row to inferior teams? You sound like Butch Jones calling your guys “champions of life.” Stop it.

Out in The Edge, Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe will be closed all week, for the best of reasons – they’ve received a massive catering order from Amazon! Congratulations to Chef Tam on that achievement. She’ll reopen Saturday the 18th for brunch with live music and mimosa towers.

Just announced: New Edition will bring The Culture Tour to FedExForum Sunday, March 13. Charlie Wilson and Jodeci will also perform. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 AM.

Downtowners who are fans of the New Wing Order food truck, it’ll be parked at Cordelia’s Market tomorrow evening from 5 to 8. Chipotle lime wings are this month’s special flavor.

The Grizzlies made a statement with a 35-point victory over the Philadephia 76ers last night at home. What that means for the standings:

  • The Grizzlies (17-11) retain sole possession of 4th place in the Western Conference
  • The Grizzlies are 3 games back of 3rd-place Utah Jazz (19-7)
  • The Grizzlies are 1 game ahead of 5th-place L.A. Clippers (16-12)
  • The Grizzlies are currently avoiding play-in scenarios by 2.5 games, leading 7th-place Dallas (14-13) by that amount

Bardog is giving away a Crosstown Brewing Co.-branded rolling beer cooler, a $180 value. All you have to do is purchase a Crosstown beer to enter. Drawing will be 10 PM on New Year’s Day and you must be present to win.

Know what I just realized? Christmas and New Year’s are on the worst possible day of the week this year, Saturday. Here’s how many people will spend the period from December 20 to January 7:

  • work work work work work
  • get nagged by relatives; get gifted socks and a sweater that doesn’t fit
  • work work work work work
  • pay a $50 cover to watch drunk douchebags pick fights and go “Woooooo!”
  • work work work work work

Three weeks without a normal weekend is torture.

Dont’cha hate when your phone goes BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEP to notify you of an Amber Alert in Sevierville, Tennessee, hours away? Well, for the first time in memory yesterday, an Amber Alert relevant to Downtowners was issued. A 17-year-old was abducted just northeast of Downtown at Thomas and Chelsea. A friend of hers got away and notified the authorities. Update: The girl has been found and is safe. The abductor has not been caught.

Surprise, surprise: Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl is in trouble with the NCAA again. He’s suspended for two games for failing to control the actions of assistant Chuck Person. Person is accused of taking bribes to attempt to steer top recruits to the Auburn program. Auburn basketball has been put on 4 years probation.

From ABC 24: The Mississippi River bluffs do NOT protect Downtown from tornadoes

StyleBlueprint has a list of the 12 most epic breakfast sandwiches in Memphis. Representing Downtown: The Rooster at Sunrise Memphis, Avocado Toasted Egg in the Hole at By the Brewery, Breakfast Sliders at Bardog Tavern, Cheddar Chive Biscuit with Pastrami and Egg at Backlot, Pimiento BLT at Edge Alley, Jalapeno Cheddar Bagel with Prosciutto, Egg, Cheese, and Spinach at Crazy Gander Coffee Company. No other Memphis neighborhood can claim to be home to half the sandwiches on the list.

Happy Monkey Day to my friend Roscoe!

Sigh… I have to get on a Zoom call with support staff from writing site Medium today. We’re going to attempt to obtain the IP address of someone who stalked me on that platform (and for whom I have previous screenshot evidence of him stalking me on Twitter and Insta). If we can trace that IP address back to a top-level Internet domain, I will know whether he used a work computer. This was not what I planned to spend my day doing, but it happens when you’re Internet famous.

I wasn’t planning to get out at all today, but I may go out this evening just because I’m a little curious to see what will develop. Back tomorrow with more news.