RiverBeat Music Festival, the new festival to be held in Tom Lee Park the first weekend in May (you know, like Memphis in May’s Music Fest used to be), has announced its 2024 lineup. Jelly Roll is sure to draw some of my friends there. The Fugees and Odesza will be the other headliners. One-day admission will be $95, with three-day passes for $248.
Very sad to hear of the death of a Downtown visionary. Jeff Sanford was the leader of the Center City Commission (now Downtown Memphis Commission) when I first started blogging. Much of the development we take for granted these days would not have happened without his hard work. Thank you, Jeff. You always treated me with kindness and respect.
If you knew, loved, and/or admired Jeff, there will be a memorial service for him on Saturday, March 18 at 11 AM at the Halloran Centre.
Max’s Sports Bar will hold its first crawfish boil of the season this Saturday. These are Glaze’s crawfish, the best boil in town, and they come with corn, taters, and sausage that are also cooked in the boil. The price for crawfish this year will be $15 for one pound or $28 for two. The price includes the sides but they are not included in the weight.
Max’s doors will open at 11 AM on Saturday and the first pot of crawfish will roll off about noon. My advice: Get there by 11:15 if you want seats inside. The first boil of the season at Max’s is always a huge South Main celebration.
There’s trivia at the Brass Door tonight at 6:30. Get there early for their 4-6 PM happy hour.
The I-55 bridge will close from Sunday, March 10 to Sunday, March 24. They’ll be doing work on the 55/Crump interchange. Use I-40 as your alternate.
Today is National Oreo Cookie Day. Yummm, one of my favorites.
There’s a new history tour of Downtown Memphis that focuses on women.
Hilton Garden Inn across from the ballpark is hiring a food & beverage manager.
The Grizzlies are on the road at Philadelphia tonight at 6:30 Central. TV: Bally Sports
Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology now has Penny’s Memphis Tigers in the final slot of Next Four Out. Back on the bubble, but the team still has plenty of work to do in Sunday’s game at FAU and in the AAC tournament next week.
Action News 5’s latest 5 Star Story looks at Memphis 901 FC’s upcoming season.
Local artists, the Renasant Convention Center wants to showcase your work.
Technology and engineering educators are meeting at the convention center the rest of this week.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high this week. Interestingly, gold hit an all-time high this week too.
Crave Cheesecakes has opened at 523 S. Main.
Zio Matto Gelato seeks a server.
Beyond the Stars Dance Competition comes to the Cannon Center this weekend.
Spiñorita comes to Eight & Sand Lounge in Central Station Friday night.
Tonight is the drawing for the Boston Beer Co. fire pit and beer cooler at the Flying Saucer. It’ll happen at 7 PM.
Brandon Lake’s Tear Off the Roof Tour, featuring Doe and special guest Jon Foreman, comes to the Orpheum tonight. Tickets are $39.50-$100.00.
Okay. Let’s talk.
Does this post seem unusually long and relaxed compared to most of my recent ones?
That’s because I’ve decided to stay out tonight. Which means I don’t have to get to the Union Mission (and to the front of a long line) by 2 PM to check in for free.
Which means I had time to get my MacBook this morning, bring it to the Cossitt Library, and compose this post at my leisure. As opposed to rushing around composing a post on my phone, publishing it, then getting errands and lunch done in the 3 to 5 hours a day not at the Mission or walking to and from the Mission.
I know it scares some of my friends when I stay out on the Downtown streets all night, but now and then it’s worth the danger to be around my friends and have access to Wi-Fi for up to 15-17 hours in one day.
I have a feeling that my path to a more permanent living situation and back into the world of work will involve one or more of those long days/nights out.
Since I have some spare time, let’s address a couple of personal subjects.
How am I doing?
If you want to know how I’m doing, in more detail than I go into on this blog…
The best way to find that out is to ASK ME. I don’t have a cellular plan right now (I hate talking on the phone anyway) but you can contact me on email (paul.ryburn@gmail.com) or Facebook Messenger. Note that, as I said earlier, most days I’m only on the Internet between about 8 AM and 12:30 PM, today being a planned exception.
The next best way is to ask someone who lives in Memphis and who has been around me multiple times in the past 30 days (that number is significant because I started staying at the Mission 30 days ago).
But PLEASE, don’t ask someone who lives out of town! They don’t know. Which leaves them to rely on a combination of hearsay and projection of their own issues onto me.
Drinking
It’s 12:34 PM Wednesday, March 6 as I type this. The last time I had any alcohol was Sunday. The Cossitt Library was closed and I needed to hop on the Saucer’s Wi-Fi. Plus my friend Christina was bartending and it was a pleasure to catch up with her. While I did those things I had 2 beers (admittedly, one was high-gravity, so call it the equivalent of 3 beers if you like).
Saturday, March 2 I drank as well. I had 4 beers as I celebrated being at one of my favorite hangouts with dear friends. The beers were consumed over a period of several hours and there were no shots.
The time before that when I consumed alcohol was Monday, February 26. It was the last day prior to today that I stayed out and didn’t check into the Mission. About 4 I went to the Flying Saucer to use their Wi-Fi, knocking out 3 Pint Nite beers while I did. Then about 7 I walked to another spot to meet one of my best friends, consuming 2 PBRs and a pimiento cheese burger.
The days when I didn’t drink in that period – the majority of those days – I didn’t have cravings for alcohol. I missed being in my fav places with my fav people, but I didn’t miss the feeling of being buzzed.
I asked the friend I met the night of the 26th if, in her opinion (because she’s someone I respect a lot), I needed to go to rehab. “No, Paul,” she replied. ‘You make some silly decisions sometimes. But you don’t belong in rehab.”
So there you have it. If what I just described sounds like the image of a raging alcoholic, by all means, judge away.
(Disclosure: Given that tonight is a night out, there’s probably a Saucer happy hour visit in my near future)
Every night at the Mission, we have chapel at 6. There are often guest preachers from churches around the Memphis metro. Monday night we had musical entertainment from a singer/guitarist who I believe was named Brother Lance.
“Don’t never let nobody… get your spirit down,” he sang.
That resonated with me.
Last week I unfriended some people on Facebook. Not a lot – I could count them on the fingers of both hands. And to be clear, it’s not like I hate them now. It’s not that I never want to hear from them again.
It’s just that recently, words they have spoken – to me or to others – have got my spirit down. And that’s not what I need in my life right now.
So I decided to put them on hiatus until I get to a different place in my life.
I hope they understand.
As for the rest of you, I appreciate your love and support. Say a prayer for me. I’m gonna get through this difficult time in my life. I feel like there’s a reason I was meant to go through this.
Right now, though, I think I’m gonna walk over to Walgreens and have my own National Oreo Day celebration.
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