Tag: New Year

A Whole New 901

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date January 3, 2024

Did you read about that cool thing happening in Memphis? We’re sure you probably did somewhere (maybe here), but did you actually go out and do the thing? No? That’s all right, we get it. Routines are important. They provide a warm blanket of security and reliability in what’s been a chaotic couple of years.

But there are just so many cool things happening in Memphis, and so many other cool things to see. And you’ll feel much better for having experienced them, we promise. So instead of reinventing yourself for the new year, make an effort to step outside and see some of the new experiences our city has in store. Our reporters did that, looking at new ways to interact with the Mid-South in both personal and professional capacities.

Let the Sun Shine

Reporters don’t clap.

Impartiality is the heart of what we do. I’ve never given to a political campaign or posted a candidate’s sign in my yard. I’ve never sought a board seat or even been loud and proud about any nonprofit. If I had to cover them later, my impartiality would be in question and I couldn’t do my job.

But there is one issue reporters can get behind without question: transparency. Sharing information with the public (and for the public good) is what we do. Bringing light to facts is why the Tennessee Open Meetings Act is sometimes called The Sunshine Law. It’s also why The Washington Post adopted its first-ever slogan in 2017: “Democracy dies in darkness.”

In this analogy, Memphis is pretty dark now. The process to get public information now is so broken that we might as well not even have a system at all. Getting public records takes months. Getting an interview with city administration officials (especially with the Memphis Police Department) is nigh on impossible. If you have a question about an important issue, you get a bland statement instead and should be happy about it.

I’ve whined about this for ages. That’s not a good look.

Next year, I’ll work to put my complaints into action. There are numerous groups I can support as a reporter, the Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, for one. I can also continue to file open records requests and get peskier in my media requests of public officials.

Reporters don’t clap. They should push. And I aim to do just that.

— Toby Sells

T.O. Fuller State Park (Photo: Justin Fox Burks)

Memphis Road Trips!

I made a recent foray to T.O. Fuller State Park, which has great walking trails and natural areas spread over the hilly terrain of a former golf course and environs. Afterwards, on a whim, I started driving south from the park on Boxtown Road, and when I reached Sewanee Road, I just kept driving south. It was a route I hadn’t driven before and it took me through Boxtown and some interesting, ruralish parts of the city we’d never imagined existed.

It got me thinking about how many parts of the city I’d never seen, and how easy it is to just take a “road trip” without leaving the city. If you live in Midtown, venture out of your comfort zone and take Jackson Avenue north to Egypt Central and turn right, then turn right on New Brownsville Road, which soon becomes Old Brownsville Road, which takes you through some parts of “suburbia” you probably never knew existed.

Here’s another good one: Quince from East Memphis to Winchester. Also, Chelsea Avenue, from north of Downtown to the outer I-240 loop is a very interesting drive. And don’t sleep on Warford Street. Take it north off of Jackson until it turns into New Allen Road and from there goes deep into the north Memphis hinterlands.

Explore Memphis! It will open your eyes — and kill a couple of hours.

— Bruce VanWyngarden

Get a makeover from one of Memphis’ beauty professionals. (Photo: Kayla Frazier)

Glam Up

Some of my most formative memories involved all things glitz and glamor. My parents regularly treated me to silk presses at the hair shop, and I earned my first authentic Hannah Montana wig after a Libby Lu makeover at the mall.

I grew up during the peak of the beauty guru phase on YouTube. Before influencers condensed their hours-long beauty routines into bite-sized videos on TikTok, we were treated to in-depth videos helping us to perfect bold cut creases and mermaid wand curls. With this being said, I mastered the art of doing my own makeup, as well as a few other beauty-related things pretty young.

It’s a habit that I’ve practiced since I was 14, and 10 years later I’ll still opt to try my own eyelash extensions or blowouts. It’s mostly out of convenience, but recently I’ve been enamored by the immense amount of talent in the beauty community in Memphis. While it’s easy to look up a quick DIY video, it’s also nice to be pampered and let the professionals handle it.

For the new year, I’m hoping to have more beauty services done by local artists and professionals.

“We have so many talented and professional people who love what they do in our community,” says Kayla Frazier, a local makeup artist in Memphis.

Whether it’s a trim from A Natural Affair Beauty Lounge or a makeup look perfected by Frazier, I’m looking to leave my beauty needs in the hands of Memphis’ top professionals.

— Kailynn Johnson

Become the next pinball wizard at Crosstown’s Flipside. (Photo: Chris Mccoy)

Play Some Games

The music was perfect as we entered Flipside, Crosstown’s pinball bar. The jukebox was playing “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol, an anthem from the golden age of coin-op arcades, 1983.

During the pandemic, my wife LJ and I spent many hours playing simulated pinball on our iPad. When Flipside opened, we wanted to get back to the real thing. Flipside is part of a trend of places that are more than just watering holes, offering games to accompany your pizza and beer. With a Black Lodge membership, you can munch on totchoes while you play any console game from the last 30 years or take a whirl on their vintage cabinets. (I recommend CarnEvil, the scary-clown-blasting queen of the light gun games.) Nerd Alert, a classic video game arcade, recently announced they were moving from Cooper-Young to Collierville so they could expand and add more games.

Flipside is all about pinball. On a typical winter evening, families, teenagers, and grown-ups tried their hands at classic machines like The Six Million Dollar Man from 1977, and those of more recent vintage, like the much-in-demand Foo Fighters table. I got distracted by constructing the perfect arcade playlist at the jukebox, including Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love,” and Madonna’s “Get Into the Groove,” while LJ fed tokens to the whirring, clanging machines. Turns out, playing real pinball, with all of its imperfections and foibles, is different from simulated ball physics on an ideal surface.

But with a Gotta Get Up to Get Down in the drink holster, pinball is still a blast, no matter now bad you are at it.

— Chris McCoy

Step outside and meet your friendly tree neighbors. (Photo: Alex Greene)

Get to Know Your Tree Neighbors

One simple, homespun way to put a new spin on the old familiar routines is to look for signs of a parallel universe coexisting with your perceived world. Suggested starting point: the secret lives of trees. Just outside your door there awaits (for most of us) a strange new world, complete with altered time scales, coded messages, and otherworldly beauty. You only need to look up, then recall that a tree’s roots grow as deep as its branches grow high. A root system really is a parallel universe, right under our noses.

Furthermore, according to authors like Suzanne Simard or Peter Wohlleben, all these limbed giants that make life in Memphis what it is, from summer shade to ice hazards, are talking to each other down there. Threads of fungi connect the roots of trees over acres, sending nutrients, hormones, and even alarm signals from tree to tree in sprawling interactive networks. Maybe it’s time we at least learn these talkative neighbors’ names.

Pair that with ecologist Doug Tallamy’s concept of a “homegrown national park,” composed of the sum total of all our yards, trees, and gardens laid out in a patchwork across America. It’s really a call to our imaginations, to envision each yard as a mere segment in a gigantic ecosystem, humming with communications between its species — a veritable Tree Nation. No wonder so many of our arborists, neighborhood arboretum enthusiasts, or followers of the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council have that special smile of those who glimpse the invisible threads of life in our midst.

— Alex Greene

No New Year’s resolutions required for *this* good boy, he claims. (Photo: Abigail Morici)

Who Let the Dog Out?

My mother is embarrassed of me. Plain and simple. She says she can’t bring me anywhere. Could it be the fact that I jump on nearly everyone I meet? Or that I pee when I’m excited to see people? Or that I pull and pull and pull on my leash? These are just mere quirks, dear mother. That’s what I told her the day I convinced her to (finally) bring me with her to Crosstown Concourse, my puppy eyes finally working. I’m a charmer, what can I say?

We started at Madison Pharmacy, an errand for her. I jumped on the counter, simply to say my hellos (also in hopes that there might be some treats, alas there were none). We then trotted past the ladies getting their nails done and I sat in one of the chairs outside the Gloss Nail Bar, for attention of course. I got some oohs and aahs, and the ladies asked if I wanted to join them. But I wasn’t falling for any tricks. No one will ever touch my nails. (Hear that?)

And then we walked and walked to the red staircase, and I wanted to go upstairs and my mom said no because she was scared I’d pee on the artwork in Crosstown Arts. She has no faith in me, I tell you. I let some people pet me and I was so good, so pretty. Even some kids pet me, and they made fun of my name. (And my mom just let them! She even agreed that my name is silly, and I’m over here like, woman, you were the one who named me Blobby. Blobby?!)

And then — oh this is the best part — we got MemPops — well, I got MemPops. I got a Pupsicle. I ate it in, like, four seconds. Count it: One. Two. Three. Four. And bam. Gone. Did I chew? No one will know. But I know that I’m going to be begging to go to more dog-friendly places in 2024. It’s going to be the year of Blobby in Memphis. — Blobby

Our writer pictured at Zoo Lights just moments before wipeout. (Photo: Courtnee Wall)

Skater Boy

My after-work routine has turned into a bit of a predictable cycle once I turn off the computer monitor at my remote “office.” Perhaps the TV might click on to replay the day’s soccer highlights or to host a quick play session of Mario Kart. Maybe there will be a restaurant visit or a stop at a brewery (probably Wiseacre HQ or Crosstown) followed by a coerced viewing of Big Brother on Paramount+ (you know who you are). It can all feel a bit rote at times, so I began to think of other things to do that could spark just a little extra bit of joy.

Thoughts quickly turned to some of the activities that 10-year-old me enjoyed doing, and in the spirit of the cold winter season, I slapped on a pair of skates and found myself stumbling about the miniature ice rink at the Memphis Zoo Lights.

As I swished (struggled) across the ice like a Mid-South Michelle Kwan, it felt almost freeing during the moments I wasn’t sticking my blade into the ground, crashing into the wall, or trying to avoid other relapsed ice skaters. In need of a new hobby to scatter the winter doldrums, I expect to lace up at least a couple more times, my own mortality be damned. The rink and dazzling lights at AutoZone Park’s Deck the Diamond event made for a pleasant Downtown holiday experience, while I’ve heard the Mid South Ice House is the best year-round option to sharpen my blades of glory. For now, this skater boy is bidding “see you later, boy,” to 2023.

— Samuel X. Cicci

Tags 2024, Black Lodge, blobby, dog friendly, Flipside, Glam, Makeup, Memphis, New Year, pinball, Road Trip, see you later boy, Tennessee Open Meetings Act, TO Fuller State Park, Trees

Letter From The Editor Opinion

New Year, Same Me?

Post author By Shara Clark
Post date January 4, 2023

Any day is a good day to start anew. (Photo: Behnam Norouzi | Unsplash)

Happy New Year, all, and welcome to 2023! Did y’all eat your black-eyed peas and greens on New Year’s Day? I made a big pot of collards and cabbage, a pan of cornbread, and a pile of peas in hopes of ushering in some luck and money, although when I think back on literally every other year I’ve done this as an adult, I can’t recall any particular instance where it might have made a measurable difference. “Remember that one time I won $10 on a scratch-off? Had to be those peas!” said no one, ever.

Regardless, each year will have its highs and lows, and luck — good or otherwise. I’m not so sure how much a plate of food will alter that. This go-round, I even followed the “don’t do laundry on January 1st” rule, although I read somewhere a few days ago that it’s actually supposed to be the last Friday of the previous year and the first Friday of the new year that are avoided. Oops, I guess. Will someone I love die because I washed my clothes on the wrong day? Gosh, I hope not. What happens if I don’t eat my greens on the right day? To me, all these superstitions merely add to the stresses and expectations we place on ourselves when we turn the page on our calendars.

“New year, new me!” people proclaim. There’s nothing wrong with setting resolutions and fixing your sights on goals. In fact, data exists to explain why it’s healthy to do so. A quick search shows that, among other things, reflecting on the prior year and aiming for changes and/or planning to drop bad habits and create good ones gives us inspiration, hope, and a sense of responsibility as we face our next rotation around the sun. But I think it’s important to be realistic and honest with ourselves — and not to burden our brains with all the things we think we’ve been doing “wrong” in the last year or so.

In this first issue back after the holiday break, we’ve always done some variation of a “New Year, New Me” cover story — wherein we ponder ways in which we can better ourselves with physical activity, staying hydrated, reading more, drinking less, putting down our cell phones, discarding clutter, all that stuff we say we’re gonna do but often abandon after the first week or two. This time, our staff put a little less emphasis on the “new me” part and focused on ways in which we can more fully embrace our city — by further exploring interests, picking up new hobbies (or dusting off old ones), or stepping a little outside of our comfort zones (or living rooms or favorite bars or zip codes) — and discover parts of Memphis we may not have known existed. And perhaps in the process uncover parts of ourselves that have been hidden or dormant, to reinvigorate and renew our lives in ways large or small.

Now that we’re past the holiday pressures — to buy this, do that, go there — let’s resolve to ease into whatever it is we want to achieve in 2023. (A study done by the University of Scranton says only 8 percent of folks follow through with resolutions anyhow, so why not set the bar a little lower and go up from there?) Of course, I’d like to be in better shape, to lose some of the weight I gained last year, see my friends and family more, etc. But I won’t promise myself that I’ll keep a daily journal or meticulously fill out and follow a weekly planner or count calories at every meal. I will, though, reiterate the suggestion I offered in my last editor’s column of 2022: Be gentle on yourself. Goals are good. Self-discipline is great. But don’t let a lack thereof push you into a state of self-loathing or unrest. Take it one step at a time. There’s no starting gun signaling the beginning of a new race, and there’s no finish line at the end of a certain month. You can be the same “you” you were last year if you want (we actually love you just the way you are). And you can begin anew any day or time you wish.

Tags Letter from the editor, Memphis, New Year, New Year's Resolutions

Cover Feature News

New Year, New Memphis

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date January 4, 2023

There’s a whole new Memphis out there. It waits for you just outside your everyday routine, somewhere just a few streets away from those four or five places that comprise a personal rut you might not know even exists.

Routines are fine; humans thrive on them. But their comfort can shield you from having a bigger, fuller Memphis experience. For example, if you’ve ever talked with your bartender about the new-colored urinal cakes at your favorite watering hole’s de-watering hole, it might be time to try that new place you heard about at work.

Memphis is a big place with something for just about anyone. This year (in lieu of piling on with New Year’s health tips and habit breakers), we want to help you — encourage you — to go out and rediscover this amazing city we call home.

Our writers did just that. They opened their eyes a bit wider, went hunting Memphis (and sometimes beyond) for that niche thing they love, tuned into that vibration here, discovered that whole new Memphis, and will carry it with them into 2023. — Toby Sells

Disc Golfin’

College was the last time I laid hands on a disc golf disc. I only bought some discs back then because my buddy was crazy about the sport, he wanted me to go with him, and I wanted to drink beers outside.

I thought it was silly. Grown men throwing Frisbees into a basket. Frrrp. Please. And I was scolded for calling it a “Frisbee” (some copyright dispute, I was told) and for “not taking it seriously.” Well, I played a few times that one summer, drank some beers, quit when I lost two discs ($20!) in a pond, and relegated my other discs to a box in the attic.

Many, many years later, I found myself at a park with a disc golf course last fall in Roanoke, Virginia. I saw folks throwing and it looked more fun than scrolling Reddit while my kids hit the playground. I approached a player, curious to know if I could buy discs somewhere close. The guy opened his bag, pulled out two discs, handed them to me, and said, “It’s a fun game. You should play.”

Of course I told him I couldn’t take them, but he insisted and walked away before I could protest any further. I was and remain gobsmacked. My family and I played, and the afternoon sparkled with this brand-new way to spend time together. Thank you, kind stranger. Sincerely.

Back in Memphis, I immediately dug my old discs out of the attic and started digging on the internet. I was so happy to find that the city is rich with great courses, all of them just waiting for me to explore.

The sport has taken me off my beaten path (work, home, Boscos, Memphis Made) to Kennedy Park in Raleigh, Sea Isle, down in the hollers at the Shelby Forest, Shelby Farms, and to the All Veterans Golfplex tucked away off Airways surrounded by warehouses and factories. It has shown me around a town I’ve lived in for nearly 15 years.

Disc golf has become my cardio, my mental health medicine, my vitamin D source, my cure for doom-scrolling, and my outlet to beat the winter blues. It’s given me a reason to connect more with my buddy from college and to even shop at Outdoors Inc.

Disc golf hasn’t changed my life, but it has made changes to my life. They’re good changes, too, including the way I see and enjoy my city. — TS

Shopping at M-Town Market

I listen to a lot of old music. We can blame it on my Glee obsession, but you’ll likely hear me listening to Elton John’s take on “Pinball Wizard” on repeat in my car while wearing a shirt featuring the Rocket Man himself (bought brand-new from Urban Outfitters).

Graphic tees have long been a staple in my wardrobe, and while I can usually find what I am looking for online, these are often pieces manufactured this year, which lack the authenticity and nostalgia that make the item worth loving. I had long been a fan of thrift store finds such as Gilmore Girls box sets and old books, but I never had luck finding any cool and curated pieces. However, it turns out that I was just looking in the wrong places. Instead of focusing on big-name thrift stores, I learned that I could shift my focus to local vintage accounts on Instagram.

I found Grind City Vintage on Instagram, late in 2022. The store specializes in vintage clothing and shoes, and uses Instagram and Instagram stories as a way to conduct business. While Grind City Vintage is a business of its own, the owner, Jay Williams, also operates the M-Town Market with Studio 901. The market is hosted at least four times a year by 20-50 vendors, and shoppers can find vintage shoes and clothing.

“Our focus is vintage sneakers, and fashion as well,” said Williams. “Streetwear, stuff like that where it’s a lot of dope brands and local vendors that have done really well at our events but also have their own following.”

Williams also said that he and his team pride themselves on giving local vendors and brands an opportunity to put their brand out there, which he said makes them stand out from other markets. — Kailynn Johnson

Put on Your Pointe Shoes

I took my first ballet class this September — well, not my first ballet class ever. I dabbled in the art form when I was a wee one, before I could tie my own shoelaces or knew how to carry the one when adding big numbers. I also retired from the art form when I was a wee one. (At that point, I could tie my shoelaces and add big numbers.) I couldn’t tell you why I stopped going to class; I just did. I also couldn’t tell you what made me sign up for a beginners’ class this September at Ballet Memphis; I just did. Was it a need to relive my former glory days? A need to move my ever-sedentary body? A need simply to leave the house? All of the above?

Regardless, I went, seemingly just because, sans leotard or tights or ballet shoes, and danced in my socks. And I went back, week after week, in socks. I learned pique and rond de jambe (which I thought was spelled Ron de Jon until now) and tendu (which I’ve been mispronouncing “fondue” in my mind), and surprisingly, I’m nowhere near being en pointe. I kid, I kid; there’s not a chance in this lifetime that I’ll ever be en pointe, but for someone who’s a teensy bit of a perfectionist, being bad or, even worse, mediocre at something is a bit outside of my comfort zone. And boy, oh boy, is it freeing just to have that permission not to be good, to try and to fail, to feel a bit silly. It’s fun and challenging, physically and mentally, and every now and then, I get to feel like a graceful ballerina, and who doesn’t want to feel like a graceful ballerina, just because? — Abigail Morici

Never Too Late to Take a Swing at It

Decades ago — just how many I’m almost ashamed to say — I invested a not inconsiderable portion of a payday in the purchase of a brand-new set of golf clubs: all the irons and woods that one should have, plus a nice leather bag to carry them in. At the time, I had played just enough golf to think that if I ever learned to hit a ball off the ground cleanly, with either iron or wood, I might be halfway good. (I could drive off a tee fairly well.) Beginning at the age of 13, I had played only sporadically over the years, and I assumed that, armed with my new tools, I’d be out on the links fairly often.

For shame! I have never used those clubs, never played another round. The bag, burgeoning with all those shiny, still gleaming implements, has sat in various closets and garages ever since. The bag and clubs have functioned as an ornament of sorts, an aide to wishful thinking about what I still resolved to get out there some day and do.

Twice recently I have called up my friend and former Arkansas Gazette colleague Ernest Dumas over in Little Rock and been informed by his wife Elaine that he was out playing golf. I’ve been around a while, but Dumas is even older. He’s pushing 90, in fact, and when I finally got him on the phone, he informed me that his goal, which he’s managed to achieve once or twice, has been to shoot his age.

Basically, he took up the game upon retirement, and it now fills a fair share of his days. As a sport, golf is famously short on kinetics but long on fresh air and, even if one uses a cart, walking.

As it happens, I was in the hospital for a spell of late, and fresh air and walking would both serve as admirable therapeutics as I seek to regain at least a facsimile of my erstwhile energy and stamina. New year? New me? In a word: Fore! — Jackson Baker

Before his travels, Chris McCoy visits Tommy Kha’s banned self-portrait as Elvis at the Memphis International Airport. (Photo: Laura Jean Hocking)

Get Out!

Remember back in the dark days of 2020, when you were stuck inside your place while diseases ravaged the land? You vowed that, when all this is over, you would visit all the places that you wanted to go, but couldn’t. Well guess what? Now is the time to make good on that vow. Covid is still around, but you’re all vaxxed up and, when necessary, masked up. Gas prices have fallen from their Ukraine War peak. Amtrak just got a big funding boost. And the Memphis International Airport has that new terminal smell. (Don’t forget to take a selfie with Tommy Kha’s banned self-portrait as Elvis.) It’s time to get out of town, if only for a little while.

One of the great things about Memphis is its location in the middle of the continent. A day’s drive can get you to the Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, Dollywood, or Dallas. Go on a hike at Dismals Canyon in Alabama. Swim and ski on Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. Shop Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. Visit the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

Go to a New Orleans Saints game in the Superdome. Follow Taylor Swift’s concert tour. Go where you want to go. Stay as long as you can. Have fun. Expand your consciousness. You’ll find things you love about your destination, and things you miss about Memphis. As the old saying goes, it is only through travel that you come to know your home for the first time. — Chris McCoy

MonoNeon, master of many sounds (Photo: Fender)

Contain Multitudes, Music Lovers!

If any sector in Memphis is prone to trap people in self-imposed silos, it’s the music community. Perhaps it’s because we internalize music so deeply that our very identity becomes bound up in it. “And now you find you fit this identikit completely,” sang Elvis Costello many decades ago, and that concept rings true today, as we embrace our respective identikits in dance clubs or concert halls. And that’s fine, as far as it goes; we all need to find our tribe, our people. But don’t sleep on the city’s musical diversity while you’re doing so. Stepping outside of your comfort zone might just be the wake-up call you needed.

Meanwhile, plenty of music creators have been breaking down the boundaries for some time now. Blueshift Ensemble, classical players from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, have collaborated with artists as diverse as Don Lifted and Mark Edgar Stuart. Recent supergroup Salo Pallini specializes in what they call “Progressive Latin Space Country” on their upcoming album. Al Kapone is forging a new path that combines rap with heavy, heavy blues. The Unapologetic collective, who take pride in their offbeat hip-hop, are just as proud of this year’s Nobody Really Makes Love Anymore by Aaron James, a straight-up emo tour de force. And then there’s MonoNeon, master of funk, jazz, gospel, indie rock … and the kitchen-sink sounds of George Clinton.

As Cory Branan recently told Glide Magazine, “Why limit myself to a certain genre? Whatever a song wants to wear is fine with me.” Maybe fans just need to catch up with the performers. “If I had to stand there and play acoustic singer-songwriter music all the time,” says Branan, “I’d be bored out of my mind.” — Alex Greene

Get hustled at Nerd Alert’s arcade. (Photo: Michael Donahue)

Game Somewhere Else!

Rather than slide into the mind-numbing antics of reality TV or the thinking-person’s prestige series, my preferred method of unwinding after work is to toss down my coat and briefcase and fire up the ol’ Switch, PS5, or PC, and enjoy my evening as anonymous online 13-year-olds scream obscenities into voice chat and teabag my digital avatar’s lifeless, pixelated corpse.

It’s all in good fun, but despite advanced technology that allows players to connect with others from all over the world, gaming — whether it be board, card, or video — is always more fun playing in person. After all, if you can’t look into your friend’s eyes as you crush them piece by piece, and watch as their joy and enthusiasm slowly tilt toward shock, exasperation, and, most sweetly, utter dejection, then what’s the point? Luckily, if you know where to look, there are ready-made communities of gaming aficionados that will help you break out of the hobby’s somewhat solitary shell.

My favorite “discovery” has been Board to Beers, an elusive setup that convinces me to travel beyond the East Parkway line for a social call. Memphis’ first board game bar is a delight, home to owner Taylor Herndon’s collection of 400+ eclectic board games, some of which will leave players both entertained and scratching their heads. We tried out one fan-operated game that involved plucking sushi ingredients out of the air with chopsticks. Another, called Icecool, involved flicking penguins around a little board. That fact that you can curve and jump the penguins led to many out-of-board shenanigans, and some throbbing fingernails.

On the digital side of things, I flock to Nerd Alert in Cooper-Young, where I can almost guarantee some hustler is sitting on the Street Fighter II machine, waiting to grind me into dust before I can even get a hit in, and delivering a beatdown so bad that it feels like I’m actually getting kicked in the face by Chun-Li. But on a friendlier note, there’s always some rando available to help you tag-team the original Mario Bros. and rack up a high score. I may never get their name, but for one night, anyone can make a new friend.

And, of course, a shout-out to Black Lodge, which has its own board game rental plan and plenty of other competitive programming like the armored fight club. (That’s out of the question for me, but it sure is fun to watch.) Gaming doesn’t always have to be a solitary endeavor; in fact, there are plenty of places around town that will welcome new players with open arms. — Samuel X. Cicci

Say Thank You. To Everyone

Not a day shall pass this year without my offering up a heartfelt thank you. I say thanks to scads of people all the time, but it’s often perfunctory, sometimes begrudged, occasionally sarcastic. I’m perfectly happy to maintain my current level of loving snideness, but I find myself now — running heedlessly into 2023 — to be in great need of snark-free gestures.

Just as one utters grace before meals (for those who still perform that quaint ritual), I’m thinking how fulfilling it would be to take a few moments during the day to shine a light when Providence smiles.

Of course, it requires some real thought. It’s never worked for me to make a list a couple of days before Thanksgiving of the nice people and good fortune I’ve encountered. I’m too busy with preparations for holiday stuff and stuffing to add in a few dollops of gratitude for a year’s worth of good deeds.

How much better, then, to make it part of the quotidian routine along with eating, cleaning, meditating, exercising … well, I guess I can target those last two items for future resolutions.

Anyway, my intention will be to think well and truly of the people and institutions and energy going on all about and give them recognition. My list, which was too much ignored over Turkey Day, includes, for example, kudos to the artists who have made Concourse B at MEM a splendid gallery, and to the UrbanArt Commission that wrangled the project. In fact, just in the area of fine arts alone, we can have gratitude for what’s being done at Crosstown Concourse, the Metal Museum, the Dixon Gallery & Gardens, the Brooks (present and future), and in Orange Mound.

We live in a place that deserves all manner of thanks and respect. Great water, thrilling sports, sublime music, perfect water, natural wonders, caring people … well, you get the idea. And amen. — Jon W. Sparks

Tags Ballet Memphis, Disc golf, Golf, M-Town Market, Memphis, Memphis gaming, Music, New Year

Cover Feature News

New Year, Screw You

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date January 5, 2022

Welcome to the Flyer’s first cover story of 2022.

Traditionally, the first cover story of the year is our “New Year, New You” feature — a collection of small steps to take toward self-improvement. We’ve written about dry January, reading more, getting outdoors, taking up a hobby, learning to meditate or play an instrument or how to do yoga. In short, over the years, we’ve covered a lot of ground with this feature. Last year, buoyed by a vaccine rollout and a naive hopefulness that closing the door on calendar year 2020 would make some sort of difference, we embraced optimism in this space. This year, though, we decided to focus on what we’d like to leave in the past.

So instead of hopefully embracing a new hobby, we’re kicking bad habits to the curb this year. We’re saying “screw you” to everything we don’t want to carry into the new year. If you, too, are feeling a Marie Kondo-esque urge to simplify your life, let this list of bad habits, addictions, and annoyances be your guide.

Leave Your Comfort Zone

My new life coach is Luca Paguro, the Italian child/sea monster star of the film Luca.

Last year, the world watched as Luca swam, crawled, walked, biked, and fell outside of his comfort zone. It wasn’t easy. If it were, Disney probably would not have made a movie out of it.

Luca is a hardworking, responsible sea monster child. He listens to his parents and does his chores without complaint. Still though, he’s curious about the world above the water, the one place he’s not allowed to go or even talk about. Like Reba McEntire before him, Luca wondered, “Is there life out there?” If so, how did he fit into it? Did he at all?

He drags himself to the edge of his comfort zone but can’t quite stick his head out of the water. He’s yanked out of it all by Alberto Scorfano, another sea monster child who’d become Luca’s friend and out-of-the-water mentor.

Alberto teaches Luca to walk, and that ain’t easy for someone who’s only swum his entire life. Luca fails and fails again but eventually (and awkwardly) finds his footing. That’s where Luca’s magical journey begins.

That’s really where all magical journeys begin — outside of the comfort zone. Yours. Mine. Everyone’s. Nothing new happens inside your old routines and habits. So, if you want change this year, you have to — have to — do something different.

Do you want to start a YouTube channel? Want to travel? Want to write? Want to lose weight? Want to play piano? Want to cook? Want to garden? Want to get a better job? Want to save money?

Every single one of these journeys begins at the same place, that spot right outside your comfort zone. It’s going to feel weird and probably not great in the beginning. That’s how you know it’s working.

If Luca had stayed inside his comfort zone, he wouldn’t have met new friends, ridden a bike, played soccer, tasted ice cream, eaten pasta, climbed a tree, ridden a Vespa, ridden a train, fallen in love with learning, gone to school, or won the Portorosso Cup (spoilers, sorry).

Be like Luca this year and leave behind your comfort zone. — Toby Sells

Screw the Screens

If you picked up this issue of the Flyer from a newsstand and are reading it in all its ink-on-paper glory, I salute you. Too few these days remove their eyes from digital devices often enough to read things in print. To be fair, I’m equally pleased with those of you visiting this article via our website — we know that’s how many folks consume information, and we’re happy to have you stumble upon memphisflyer.com to read this online. My desire to leave obsessive screen time behind in the new year has more to do with mental and physical health, and the ways in which we interact.

Did that status update receive any new likes in the past 20 minutes? Did I get a new email? Is there a text message I need to respond to right away? It seems, especially after enduring varying levels of isolation throughout the pandemic, I’ve spent the majority of my time shifting through screens — laptop for several hours of the work day, phone while doomscrolling social media in the evenings, occasionally switching to the iPad to play some time-wasting game, television to binge-watch the newest season of That Show Everyone Is Talking About.

Not only does it create a sort of time warp (is it really already 11 p.m.?), but it steals from us precious hours we could spend outside in nature, visiting friends or family, crafting, creating art, turning the pages of an actual book, pursuing our passions, learning, growing. Too much screen time is believed to increase anxiety, contribute to short attention spans, and can make it more difficult to fall asleep. In 2022, I hope to avert my eyes more often — put away the screens and be present in the real, tangible world. — Shara Clark

Leave the Grind Behind

There was a time when reading the above section headline would have made me roll my eyes right into the back of my skull. “Leave the grind behind? That’s fine for you, Mr. Moneybags, but some of us have to grind to survive,” I would have thought.

If you have a similar response, I get it. For some people, the “grind” is the only way to keep the lights on and food on the table. Heck, I started working when I was too young to legally clock in, getting paid “under the table” to fetch and carry young orange trees at a plant nursery, and I continued that workaholic trend, holding down two jobs for most of my life so far.

That said, many young Americans have internalized the belief that everyone needs a main hustle, a side hustle, and some kind of monetized hobby at minimum. So for me, saying “screw the grind” doesn’t mean quitting doing the work necessary to survive. It means that I don’t have to say “yes” to every odd job and freelance gig that comes my way. For years, I worked at the Flyer, at another business on nights and weekends, played (usually paying) gigs, and took on whatever landscaping, yard work, house-sitting, pet-sitting, and freelance writing or editing gigs came my way. I felt, as Bilbo Baggins tells Gandalf, “like butter scraped over too much bread.”

Because the grind is what brought me here, I won’t hate on it, but I’ve come to realize that it’s not something to be prized in and of itself. It’s a means to an end, or a necessity of circumstance, not a personal identity, no matter how good it feels to be needed.

So if you’re feeling like Bilbo’s butter, I hope you can find time to take a breath. I hope you can make more room for yourself in your life and can step out from the shadow of your job or jobs. There’s more to you than your career or passion project. — Jesse Davis

Get Over Yourselves

Every year around the time when the numbers on the calendar tick up by one, we are called on to find ways to improve ourselves. Increasing our self-esteem, we are told, is the way toward happiness and greater productivity.

Well, look around you. Is it working? We’ve been gassing ourselves up for years now. Is the world a better place because we have better opinions of ourselves? Quite the opposite. Look no further than the damned pandemic — and really, can you look at anything else? There’s a whole generation of people with so much confidence in the innate superiority of their immune systems that they think they don’t need a vaccine — which, make no mistake, is an actual miracle of science — to help them avoid the deadliest disease in a century. How’s that working out for them? Badly. But they don’t care because to care would mean acknowledging the fact that they are not all that.

Instead, we should all get over ourselves. Accept the truth that you are a mistake arising from a mishap built on top of an oops. On the cosmic level, your imagination is not adequate to conceive of your insignificance. Nothing has any meaning except what you imbue in it.

Does this sound bleak and horrifying? It’s actually liberating. That racist who thinks the color of his skin makes him better than you? Who cares what he thinks? He comes from the same genetic slop pond as the rest of us. Stressed about the big deadline coming up at work? Relax! Your work will crumble into dust long before the sun expands and reduces the Earth to a cinder. Unlucky in love? Look at all those miserable married people, then redefine “luck.”

When we all accept that we are garbage, maybe we can make our dumpster more livable. In the immortal words of Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, “This don’t matter. None of this matters.” — Chris McCoy

Screw You, Musical Tribalism!

We all know the smug certainty of those who proudly refuse to “get” a whole genre of music or dismiss you for not knowing certain groups. These people, real or imagined, often live rent free in our heads. Like a High Fidelity character in overdrive, it’s that guy who “only likes the Ramones,” or can’t believe you’ve never heard so-and-so. I even embody that to some. “Oh, you know, I’m not hip like you.” If they only knew!

But, as Tower of Power once asked (“Oh no, not funk!” I hear someone exclaim), “What is hip?” The proliferation of the hipster stereotype in today’s culture is really just a marker of the bewildering plethora of music now available. None of us can keep up with it. Yet these imaginary, bearded oracles supposedly can.

The blunt reality is, no one can. You don’t need to wear your records like a badge, and no one cares about your pure aesthetic. Contrary to lay opinion, there is no Memphis version of High Fidelity. Some from the suburbs often confess an insecurity about browsing this city’s brilliant record shops, and the first thing I tell them is: That smugness is illusory. That clerk behind the counter? I happen to know she digs free jazz, rap, old country, punk, and funk. And on rainy nights, maybe even a little classical. Give up your FOMO and move on. Crates of undiscovered records stand before you: Get to digging! — Alex Greene

Screw Fear of Covid

Yes, I know, the OmiGOD! variant is sweeping the country, making more people sick than ever before. But you know what? If you’re vaxxed and boosted and get it, your odds of being hospitalized are next to zero. You probably won’t even get very sick, if at all. Yes, the number of infections is way up, but the number of deaths is way down. With very rare exceptions, Omicron is not killing vaccinated people. So be one of those people.

This is not March 2020, when we had no medicines, no vaccines, and no real knowledge of how to fight Covid. Those days are gone. We now have incredibly effective vaccines available to keep us from getting Covid, and new meds and treatments to fight the disease, if we do catch it. And we have a president who believes in following the medical science instead of recommending bleach, hydroxychloroquine, horse meds, and magical thinking in a nightly dog-and-pony show.

“The hiding-in-our-basement-behind-the-pile-of-sandbags moment has come and gone,” says Andrew Noymer, associate professor of population health and disease prevention at the University of California at Irvine. “If the rationale is that there’s Covid outside the door, well we’re going to be hiding in our basement forever, because there’s going to be Covid next year, and the year after that.”

Exactly. Predictions are that a wave of Omicron is about to sweep the country, but we know what to do: Make sure you’re vaccinated and boosted, mask up in public spaces, and avoid large gatherings when a wave is passing through. But we also need to recognize that Covid is becoming endemic, meaning that it’s likely to become a recurring disease, like the flu or a cold, and — except for the very elderly, the immunocompromised, and the ideologically stupid — the rest of us are going to have to learn to stop being so afraid of it. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Quitting Coffee (Well … Kind Of)

Since my routine was to drink about three or four cups of coffee before I even got in the shower each morning, I thought maybe I’d place less emphasis on coffee this year.

The first thing I do in the morning is make a pot of coffee in my electric stainless steel percolator.

The last thing I do before I go to bed is clean my electric stainless steel percolator.

If there are just four cans of Chock Full o’ Nuts on the shelf at the grocery store, I buy all four — just in case they won’t have any the next time I need it.

I asked for — and got — a stainless steel stove-top percolator for Christmas. No electricity needed. So, if the power goes out, I can still make coffee on my gas stove. Providing I have water.

I was at a dinner party around the holidays and one of the hosts knew I would select the coffee-flavored gelato from the selection of gelati during dessert. They know.

I have come a long way since the time I used to buy a cup of coffee every night on the way home from work. A large cup. But since we’ve mostly been working from home, I drink my own coffee at night at home.

For the past few days I’ve been limiting my coffee to four cups in the morning. I look forward to each one instead of slamming them down. I admit, I do wake up faster when I slam them down. I seem to move faster and get more things done.

So, I’ve just about finished my fourth cup of coffee today. I’m done. But maybe I’ll have one more cup because this is the first day back at work since my vacation. And because there’s snow on the ground. But maybe I won’t. Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t. — Michael Donahue

Resolved: De-Politicize the Virus

The oddest bit of news from the year just passed was the report that Donald Trump confided to a crowd of his friendlies that he’d had a booster shot — and was booed! Have we not been accustomed to believing that anything the Donald emotes is gospel to his minions? In fact, is it not part of our own catechism, we of the non-Trumpist majority, to draw connections between the former president’s actions in office (or lack of them) and the spread of the seemingly endless coronavirus malaise? So what’s up here?

It’s worse than we thought. Not only has political factionalism intruded into matters of health and wellness — a problem that is, in theory, correctable — but the disbelief in reality has become an illness more lethal and intractable than the troublesome Covid-19 spores themselves, and one wholly beyond the borders of ideology. Quick fact-check: Who is more antagonistic toward the principle of vaccination, Robert Kennedy Jr. of the sainted Democratic clan or the recently deposed ex-president? The answer is the former. Upon occasion, Trump has actually been heard to take credit for the quick emergence of vaccines, via Operation Warp Speed.

The fact is that common sense, even in matters of survival, is in short supply. People smoke, they drink too much, they drive too fast, they burn fossil fuels because, in the short run, it seems inconvenient to them not to. The Republican Party, by and large, has weighed in against mandates for masks because it is now, and always has been, easy to score political points against an abrupt call for hard discipline. People resist having to take cold showers.

If there is a high side to the current ubiquity and rapid spread of the Omicron variant, it is that at some point, a truly common peril becomes undeniable. One way or another, everybody “gets it.” And the virus becomes so universal as to erode all these self-serving political barriers. While we still can, let us make it a firm resolution to hasten agreement on the point. — Jackson Baker

Tags 2022, coffee, COVID, grind, Memphis, New Year, New Year's Resolutions, Omicron, screentime

Opinion The Last Word

The Year of Magical Thinking

Post author By Jesse Davis
Post date January 7, 2021

CREDIT: Jesse Davis

My girlfriend Sydnie and I have a tradition, picked up from a time one of my bands played an unpaid gig at a New Year’s Eve party half a decade or so ago. In a scene that’s increasingly hard to imagine now, roughly 10 months into this pandemic, the band and partygoers crammed into local filmmaker/illustrator/personality Mike McCarthy’s attic amid low-budget movie props and spinner racks of underground comic books, for the entirety of the mercifully short set. We were so close to each other and not a mask in sight! Those were the days.

After the set, McCarthy bade everyone grab a suitcase — or guitar case — for a countdown-to-midnight promenade around the block. Our host claimed that the walk was a New Orleans tradition that guaranteed prosperity in the coming year. Since it was so weird and whimsical — and since I made a little more money playing music the next year — I decided the tradition was both charming and effective, and I made up my mind to adopt it. So, every New Year’s Eve just before midnight, Sydnie and I grab suitcases and champagne and jog around the block listening to fireworks and car horns.

That is, until NYE 2019.

Jesse Davis

Can our hopes for the year fit in a suitcase?

Syd was in Idaho visiting family. Though I had been on the first leg of the trip with her, I hopped on a flight back to Memphis right after Christmas, so we made do with a midnight phone call. “So we skip a year. What’s the worst that can happen,” I probably thought to myself, “a global pandemic and the emergence of latent autocratic sentiment in the Republican Party? Gimme a break!” Now, I’m not taking credit for all of 2020, but Syd and I made damn sure we walked around the block this year. But did you? Did you wear your lucky underpants? Did we all eat enough black-eyed peas and collard greens to turn this thing around?

It sounds pretty crazy when typed out in black and white, which is how I’ve felt for most of the past nine or 10 months, as people, whether ironically or honestly, shook their fists and cursed 2020. I’m pretty sure 2020 didn’t close rural hospitals or sow anti-science sentiments in Tennessee. Though it’s not the year, I do think many of the travesties of 2020 have a common root. Namely, that we don’t want to face facts. In fact, there’s an alternate fact for every scenario! Australia and California were aflame, not because of climate change, but thanks to improper sweeping of the forest floors. Black Lives Matter protesters weren’t exercising their constitutional right to protest to demand fair treatment from law enforcement, they were anarchists agitating to bring down the state. Maybe 352,000 Americans have died because of COVID, or maybe it’s a Democratic plot to tarnish Trump’s spotless record. And, boy howdy, without Democratic interference and baseless witch hunts, nothing could have brought down our Fearless Leader!

This choose-your-own-adventure approach to history has gotten out of hand, and we in Tennessee are among the worst offenders in a nation of conspiracy theorists. It’s why our COVID numbers are so high, why our leaders don’t feel they have to do much of anything to protect or serve us. Governor Bill Lee can wash his hands and sidestep any responsibility for combating the coronavirus as long as his office keeps sending out emails about how hard he’s praying. Senator Marsha Blackburn and incoming Senator Bill Hagerty can vote against our basic economic needs as long as they steadfastly refuse to accept the reality that President Trump lost the election more than two months ago, instead, persisting with baseless claims of election fraud.

I had hoped 2021 would be the year when I would write a little less about disinformation and conspiracy theories in this space. I even had a downright hopeful column about overcoming distance written and ready to go. But that was before a suicide bomber blew up an RV and parts of downtown Nashville near the AT&T building, apparently because he believed conspiracies about 5G internet. That was before The Washington Post released an audio file of the president of the United States pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” votes, like a scene out of the cheapest, clumsiest Goodfellas knockoff.

We can’t just tally and retally votes until we achieve a result we like. Neither can we contain a disease by ignoring it, or put off combating climate change until it’s convenient for shareholders. Some things can’t be spun.

Will 2021 be yet another year of magical thinking, of hanging our hopes on black-eyed peas and New Year’s traditions and conspiracy theories? Or will we finally, mercifully, admit that many of our problems are of our own making — and, thus, within our ability to change?

Jesse Davis is the Flyer copy editor and book editor.

Tags black-eyed peas, conspiracy theories, magical thinking, Memphis, New Year, New Year's Eve

Cover Feature News

New Year, New You: Ways to be Your Best Self in 2021

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date January 6, 2021

CREDIT: Alex Greene

I don’t know how much more excited we can be to say goodbye forever to 2020. Here we are, in a brand-new year — all shiny and sparkly and brimming with potential. The Flyer staffers have some ideas on ways to grow and thrive in 2021. Here, we offer them up for your consideration.

Alex Greene

Take Time to Make Time for Music

As 2020 was in its final throes, I spoke with Steve Selvidge, guitar-slinger extraordinaire, and he observed: “With technology these days, streaming music is daytime whatever, just put on something that’s rockin’, get the dishes done. But for me, vinyl is the nighttime thing. It’s the kids have gone to bed, decompressing, and talking about the events of the day, and what are we gonna put on?”

What indeed? Of course, Steve is a fellow performer, and we’re known for taking time to make time for music. But music is so omnipresent these days that, for most people, it’s strangely devalued. We have the power to soundtrack every moment, and many of us do. But a soundtrack is designed to play second fiddle to moving images, to washing dishes or to that endless scroll. I fall prey to that mindset myself.

To break out of that matrix, I make a conscious effort to settle into a space by the hi-fi and just listen. No devices, no flickering screens. Just me, the lamplight, and the sounds of my favorite players. If you take the trouble to make it happen, with a streamed playlist, a CD, or — still the best — a vinyl long-player, you will find spaces opening in your imagination that render all the anxious scrolling meaningless, so much chaff in the wind. Meanwhile, the beats, harmonies, and melodies, given their proper time and space, can resonate with nuanced emotions deep within. They are heavy, they are solid, they are sound. — Alex Greene

Maryjoy Caballero | Unsplash.com

Move More

It’s too damn cold outside right now for the lovely walks I enjoyed so much last spring and summer, which kept me sane in the throes of The No-Good, Horrible Year. Until we get longer days and first blooms and that warm kiss of the season change, we can find new and different ways to move more.

I’ve never been much of a gym person, but I have quite the collection of Tae Bo DVDs. You know, the taekwondo-inspired workout that was huge in the ’90s, hosted by master motivator Billy Blanks. I have very much enjoyed working out solo in my own home through the years, and it was especially beneficial over the course of 2020 — for both physical and mental health. I dropped some pounds and gained some sweet serotonin boosts.

You probably don’t have a Tae Bo collection, but there are tons of free workouts available online via YouTube and Facebook and Instagram live. Kroc Center of Memphis, YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South, and the Downtown Memphis Commission are just a few of the local sources for free virtual workout sessions (yoga, boot camp, barre, kickboxing, and more). Tune in and get your body movin’ — it’ll feel real good, I promise.— Shara Clark

Do it Yourself, and Do it Now

He who hesitates is lost, goes the saying, and that holds for she and it as well. Lost or not, the perpetrator of procrastination is certainly destined to fall behind, and only rarely is this strategically useful.

While Shakespeare’s immortal anti-hero Hamlet mulled over several other existential dilemmas in the famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, certainly the issue of timely and forceful action was paramount. Avenging his old man was only secondary; the real point at issue was that Denmark was by rights his own kingdom-to-be; all he had to do was work up a sweat, commit to a risk or two, and take it away from Claudius the usurper. But he balked, and paid for it.

Rarely do our own timidities and postponements confront matters of such pitch and moment. But they sting all the same. The floor stays unswept; the book remains unwritten or unread; the romantic opportunity evaporates; the dream job, sans your completed application, goes to somebody else. T.S., buddy. Pick up the damned broom!

There are both disadvantages and advantages to our cybernetic age. But one of the latter is the ready accessibility of D.I.Y. instructions online — governing almost the entire range of needful actions you’ve been putting off. Surely you’ve already discovered that waiting for somebody else to do it for you is either futile or too expensive. And one thing leads to another: The habit of successful initiatives orders the mind for more of the same. Before you know it, you’re self-reliant. It ain’t Denmark, but it’s something! — Jackson Baker

Get Your Head in the Game

In the immortal words of Troy Bolton, you gotta “get’cha head in the game.” The best way to jump into the new year after the horror show that was 2020 is to have some fun, blow off some steam, and inject some gamesmanship into your rotation.

Start by checking out some organized sports (when it’s safe to do so, of course). Socialize and get a workout in at the same time by signing up for a local soccer league, or harkening back to your high school P.E. days with some Thursday night kickball action. There are plenty of options out there, and if sports aren’t your thing, there are plenty of casual and beginner leagues to sign up with (for now, tennis makes for a great social distancing sport).

Looking to keep things indoors? Set up a weekly board game night to stay connected, and hone that competitive edge. Outwit your friends in a game of Settler of Catan, hoard all the wealth in Monopoly, or make things personal in a chess duel. With a little bit of ingenuity, it’s easy enough to set something up over Zoom.

And if that’s not enough, head over to the digital frontier. Video gaming is a great way to stay engaged with far away, out of town, or just plain unavailable friends, and there are lots of options even if you don’t want to invest in expensive equipment. Try out some Jackbox Games over the phone for a casual opener, or engage in Clue-like, murder mystery shenanigans in Among Us. But if you have the equipment, there’s no substitute for the catharsis of crushing your closest confidants in an intense round of Mario Kart. They probably deserved it, anyway. — Samuel X. Cicci

Total Reboot

It’s time for a reboot of self. This upcoming year is well-situated to accommodate a mental initializing (exorcizing) and a physical revamp (exercising). But all this better/healthier blather of resolve is nothing without a nice systemic overhaul. The promise of a new year is only fulfilled when changes include not only what’s gained, but what’s axed.

It’s vexing, for example, when a shiny up-to-the-minute laptop is acquired and then the end user migrates everything from the old drive to the new. No. Have patience and take time to evict the clutter. Those unreadable files from the previous millennium will likely not reveal deep thoughts or significant histories.

Understand that I am not really talking about computers here. This is the ultimate inside job, the better nature cultivating patience, saying “no” kindly to the insistent voices in culture, refining gratitude, paying attention, caring thoroughly. Also, updating passwords and deleting what’s in the Trash queue.

I’m inspired to reboot because, since SCS started instructing at home a few months ago, my first-grade granddaughter has been coming by three days a week with tablet in hand to work the class. It’s eye-opening. She grasps things with alacrity and makes astonishing observations. These sessions are a priority, for her sake of course, but especially for me. And I want more, which means eliminating distractions elsewhere.

So it is a change of priorities, not a revolution. More of a change in administration, if you will. The quotidian stays in place — I am not restless. But I’m done with being in a hurry. And I bet the wife and kids are gonna love it! Maybe. — Jon W. Sparks

Fizkes | Dreamstime.com

Take Mental Health Seriously

There was a second, parallel pandemic in 2020. Depression and anxiety rates spiked alongside COVID cases. The numbers are striking.

“COVID-19 and Life Stressors Impact on Mental Health,” a study published last September by the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the number of people reporting depressive symptoms tripled from April 2019 to April 2020. Later studies would find that was the year’s happiest point; a CDC survey in late July showed a whopping 41 percent of respondents were depressed. Correspondingly, the suicide rate is up (although it’s unclear at this point by how much) and more than 81,000 people died of drug overdoses between May 2019 and May 2020, a new record.

If 2020 was the year you learned to take hand washing seriously, 2021 should be the year you learn to take your mental health seriously. With everything that’s happening, if you aren’t anxious, you aren’t paying attention. Unplug occasionally — our messed-up world is still going to be there, even if you log off Twitter for a couple of days. Exercise, like yoga or running/walking, can help take the edge off, and also improve your sleep habits.

If your anxiety is spiking, mixing with depression, and interfering with your functioning, know you’re not alone. The first line of defense is talk therapy, so find a therapist who can help turn things around. From there, they can help you find other medical interventions, if needed. If you’re in the darkest of places, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is (800) 273-8255. For Spanish speakers, it’s (888) 628-9454.

Even if you’re not depressed and anxious, watch out for your friends, neighbors, and family. If someone close to you is withdrawing or showing signs of strain, reach out to them. Tell them they’re not alone. — Chris McCoy

Michael Donahue

Learn to Cook

Before the pandemic, my kitchen skills included baking a killer country ham and yeast rolls from scratch, and making the cream sauce and hollandaise from the old Justine’s restaurant.

But none of these were something I’d whip up for a quick dinner.

My box of recipes I’d collected for decades wasn’t a lot of help, either. Recipes included Thomas Jefferson Ice Cream, Huckleberry Cobbler, and 14-Day Sweet Pickles.

So, when everything was locked down, I had to quickly get acquainted with my kitchen because I’d eaten just about all of my meals except for breakfast at restaurants for years. I began with pasta, which I mixed with chicken and fish. Then I got into different types of vinegar and spices. I steamed beets for the first time.

I realized there are so many things I’ve never done in the kitchen.

I’ve branched out to different recipes. If you look around, you might find an old cookbook at your house. I have a few of my Mom’s. But you can find everything you want — recipes and videos — online. My favorite quote from a recent story on baker Sara Embrey, was when she said, “Thank goodness my mother taught me to read. So I know how to read a recipe.”

Best of all, you can call a friend or relative who knows how to cook. I’ve found they’re more than happy to help you. — Michael Donahue

Jeepers Media

Reuse

Memphis put the recycling program on hiatus due to COVID. Reusing is a form of recycling. Why not pivot for the time being?

My grandmother was the master of reuse. Every other month or so, my mother went to her home and threw out all the old Cool Whip containers and such in her kitchen cabinets and replaced them with Tupperware. This went on for years. The Tupperware remained untouched and the reused containers were back.

One day, near the end of my grandmother’s days, I visited her. On the bedside table was a Cool Whip container with “cookies” written on the top in my mother’s handwriting.

My four-foot-tall, 80-pound, 95-year-old grandmother had raised three families; my grandfather’s younger siblings when their mother died, her own, and an uncle’s three kids when their mother died. She was the first child in her family born in the United States. She lived through the depression with immigrant parents. Her mother never learned English. Waste was not an option.

It took her a while, but she finally taught my mother this lesson. I think this is a lesson that I’ll take into 2021. Especially since things might be tough for a while. Maybe one day I can pass the lesson to my nieces and nephews. The same ones who recently threw away a perfectly good chair that I curb-shopped from their home. It’s not quite ready for the landfill yet. And neither are my Cool Whip containers. — Julie Ray

Bruce Vanwyngarden

Learn to Live Outside

The safest place to be during this pandemic we’re experiencing is outside. Which is easy and natural when you’re taking a jog or biking or walking your hound. But not so much if you just want to sit around and visit with your friends and family. Indoor gatherings can be dangerous. And if you’re not moving, hanging around outdoors in the winter can get chilly. That’s why you might want to consider creating an outdoor living space — a “room” with lots of fresh air.

It’s not that difficult. All you need is a porch or patio or backyard space with places for people to sit and a heat source (or two). And it wouldn’t hurt to have a barrier against the wind, which can be as simple as the side of your house.

Any kind of deck chairs or camp chairs or outdoor furniture will work for seating. As for heat? There are many kinds of portable firepits available; just add wood and voila! Instant campfire.

But firepits can be hazardous on a wooden surface or even in a small yard in the city, so if you’re setting up an outdoor space on your deck or porch, I’d suggest purchasing a portable heater of some sort. Options include electric coil heaters, electric oil-filled radiators, or propane fueled towers, like the ones restaurants use. Find the option that best fits your space and budget, and you’re ready for company — the host with a great outdoor living room. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Read More

Last year I was given a stack of 12 books with the challenge to read one a month. For this challenge, the only rules my godmother — who, since I was little, has given me enough books to fill a small library — gave me was to finish at least one book a month and to read only one book a month. I would be lying if I said I thought the rules were a good idea. I’m an avid reader and plow through a couple of books a month, so the thought that I would be limited to one per month felt wrong.

But then I sat down to read.

For the first two months I was skeptical. I wanted to read more, and I came close to picking up another book and walking away. But then the world shut down. And as I found myself sitting in my apartment looking for things to do, the time that I spent reading and reflecting became more and more impactful. In the time that I needed it most, I found inspiration, escape, and hope in the pages of books. So for the new year, take the time to stop and read. — Matthew J. Harris

Jesse Davis

Don’t Stand So Close to Me

At least until June or July. I feel like I’m cheating a bit here, taking the most obvious option, but if there’s one thing Tennesseans need to do better in 2021, it’s practice social distancing. As I write these words, we’re the national hotspot for new coronavirus cases per population.

True, the numbers from Memphis and Shelby County reliably show that we’re usually best in the state at slowing the spread of the disease, though we can always aim to be better. The good news is that the end is in sight. Even now, frontline healthcare workers are being vaccinated. But it will be a while, likely spring or summer ’21, before the general population is in line for those sweet, sweet shoulder jabs.

So let me be the one to say let’s all keep our cool, at least until the summer. Of course, I’m not talking to the people who have to expose themselves at work, who’ve borne the brunt of this pandemic. I’ve had so many jobs where I had to physically be somewhere to make a pizza or move a few hundred packages, so I recognize that it’s a privilege to be able to work from home.

And I’m not talking out of one side of my mouth while I party it up in private. I’ve had exactly one friend over one time, and I set up chairs nine feet apart in the backyard. We drank and caught up. It wasn’t exactly the same as porch beers after band practice, but I was happy for the company anyway. Then we got a little too much company, when my neighbor ran over, maskless, and tried to high-five us both. Maybe it’s a low bar, Memphis, but just don’t be that guy. At least until July. — Jesse Davis

Quit Talking Shit and Commit

Want to lose weight? Want to get a new job? Want to start that YouTube channel?

You can do all these things. Only you stand in your way. But you have to quit talking shit and commit.

C’mon folks, I’m no guru and I ain’t trying to be one. I don’t have the answers, especially in 2021. But I do know one thing. If you want change, you have to do it. No one is going to do it for you. No one is even going to give you a roadmap.

Take a breath this year and clean off your mental worktable. Pull out that goal and plop it down. Yes, it looks daunting sitting there, but remember other people (people not as smart as you) have done it before. You can do this. You will do this. Commit.

Find out what it takes (you probably know already) and take your first step. It’ll be weird and probably hard and it’ll make a mess of your regularly scheduled program. This is called “stepping outside your comfort zone,” and that’s where the magic happens, baby.

Look a’there! You got the hard part out of the way. Take the next step and the next 100 steps. — Toby Sells

Do It Yourself, and Do It Now

He who hesitates is lost, goes the saying, and that holds for she and it as well. Lost or not, the perpetrator of procrastination is certainly destined to fall behind, and only rarely is this strategically useful.

While Shakespeare’s immortal anti-hero Hamlet mulled over several other existential dilemma in the famous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, certainly the issue of timely and forceful action was paramount. Avenging his old man was only secondary; the real point at issue was that Denmark was by rights his own kingdom-to-be; all he had to do was work up a sweat, commit to a risk or two, and take it away from Claudius the usurper. But he balked, and paid for it.

There are both disadvantages and advantages to our cybernetic age. But one of the latter is the ready accessibility of D.I.Y. instructions online — governing almost the entire range of needful actions you’ve been putting off. Surely you’ve already discovered that waiting for somebody else to do it for you is either futile or too expensive. And one thing leads to another: the habit of successful initiatives orders the mind for more of the same. Before you know it, you’re self-reliant. It ain’t Denmark, but it’s something! — Jackson Baker

Tags 2021, commitment, exercise, gaming, goodbye 2020, home cooking, listen to music, Memphis, New Year, New You, outdoor living, procrastination, read, recycle, reuse

Cover Feature News

New Year, New You: Ways to Reinvent Yourself in 2020

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date January 9, 2020

CREDIT: Illustrations by Greg Cravens

Resolutions. We’re supposed to have them, right? Become a better you in the new year! Exercise, save money, eat right! Those things are great and all, but we’ve laid out a few other ideas to help start your year off, as James Brown says, on the good foot. Godspeed.

Clear the Clutter

Last year, as I prepared for a move, I’d poke my head in the spare room and scan the piles of stuff that had accumulated. After living in the house nine years, it had become a catch-all. Thrift store scores, stacks of old magazines, clothes I no longer wore but couldn’t let go of. Each time I surveyed, I panicked. Why did I have so much stuff? Where would I begin in sorting this mess? The thoughts overwhelmed me. I avoided the room like the plague, until I couldn’t anymore.

Illustrations by Greg Cravens

I’d bet many of you have the equivalent of my old spare room. Maybe it’s not a whole room, but perhaps a closet or a junk drawer, the backseat of your car or a garage. Studies have shown that clutter creates stress — giving us heightened cortisol (“stress hormone”) levels, preventing our ability to focus, triggering avoidance measures, and hindering creativity.

Let us not carry so much stuff with us in 2020. Start with baby steps, setting aside, say, 20-minute increments to target one area. Ask yourself: Do I really need three ice cream scoops? Have I worn this jacket in the past year or two? Am I ever actually going to collage with these magazines I’ve held onto for a decade? Pack up the items you no longer need and donate them to a local charity. (And don’t leave the donation boxes in your trunk for months. Finish this task!) If the items hold no value, close your eyes (like I did) and throw them in the trash where they belong. Then ride the wave of clean-space satisfaction.

While you’re at it, declutter your digital life, too. Too many photos saved in your phone, taking up its memory? Back them up, maybe even print some of them, and “delete all.” It’s okay, they still exist. Are you a perpetual unread-email offender? Hell, if you’re not going to read them: 1) select all, 2) de-lete! Do you have 1,700 Facebook friends and only communicate with 50 of them? Does their existence on your timeline cause you to frequently roll your eyes or quietly assert “Idiot!”? Click that unfriend option.

Tidy up your physical and digital spaces and kick off the new year with a clean slate. — Shara Clark

De-Program

I knew I had a problem when I dreamed in a Reddit scroll.

My dreaming brain did its thing — stress at work or wonder in a fantasy land. But it was all formatted in the too-familiar structure that included a heading, a catchy title, and a post. I woke feeling shamefully programmed, kind of like these lines from MGMT’s “TSLAMP” (Time Spent Looking at My Phone):

“Find me when the lights go down

Signing in signing out

Gods descend to take me home

Find me staring at my phone …

I’m wondering where the hours went

As I’m losing consciousness

My sullen face is all aglow

Time spent looking at my phone”

A wave of developers — the people who brought the world everything from Facebook to push notifications — have publicly admitted that they designed apps and phones to hook customers using the same brain pathways as gambling and drugs. I wanted to de-program from all that toxic fuckery. Here are some things that worked for me.

Check your screen time — Quantifying the issue allowed me to see it fully, plainly, and start reducing it. This method is a bit like counting calories, though. It can be tedious, but the unfiltered data about your relationship with your phone is right there … on your phone.

Start a fire — When I have a blazer roaring in the fire pit, my phone seems like this inconsequential rectangle full of worlds I no longer care about. My brain de-programs in the trance of orange-and-red flame, the smell of burning wood, and all of the merry hisses and pops. Don’t have a fire pit? Head to Loflin Yard or Railgarten. Grab a drink. Turn off your phone and tune out.

Take a hike — Nothing de-programs a digitized brain like the woods. Overton Park’s Old Forest Trail has been a refuge for me since I moved here more than a decade ago. Its many trails are clearly marked, but the trees, vines, and brush grow wildly (more or less), much the same as they did when tweeting was something only birds did.

When I’m hiking, I’m not watching to see how many likes I got on my IG breakfast post. I’m watching the trail, making sure my next footstep isn’t into deep mud or on a rattlesnake.

Dive in — Yes, some phones are now “waterproof” (check tech specs closely there). Yes, some headphones are now fully submersible. So yeah, you might be able to hear The Joe Rogan Experience while lapping the pool, but you shouldn’t. The pool is another de-program zone. In the water, you focus on more elemental things — not drowning, for one. Also, more likely than not, you will be physically separated from your phone.

Lean into all of that. Be in the moment. Your phone will wait. Mine did. — Toby Sells

Stay Hydrated

What affects your heart, kidneys, metabolism, and cognition? Water. And odds are, you’re not drinking enough of it.

The average human body is comprised of more than 60 percent water. In fact, you could say we’re just walking, talking bags of well-organized water with some trace elements like calcium and iron added for flavor. With that much wet stuff sloshing around and catalyzing the chemical reactions we all need to continue walking and talking, you’d think that a small drop in hydration wouldn’t be a big deal.

You would think wrong. If you’re operating at an aqueous deficit of as little as 2 percent, you will start to feel symptoms of dehydration. If you’re exercising or competing in a strenuous sport, your performance will begin to suffer. You might be more prone to cramping, and your reaction times and thinking might get worse. By the time your deficit reaches 4 percent, your body temperature could start to soar, and your heartbeat could get irregular. If it gets worse, you could become disoriented or faint. If you’re chronically dehydrated, things could go south very badly with very little warning. If you’re one of the 7 percent of women and 13 percent of men who have the right kind of body chemistry, chronic dehydration means you’ll get kidney stones. Trust me, you don’t want that.

So what to do? The answer is simple: Drink water. The number that’s been bandied about for years is eight, 8-ounce glasses of water per day. That’s not true for everyone, as bodies come in many shapes, sizes, and exact compositions of trace elements. But it can’t hurt. It’s unlikely you’ll drink too much water, although hyponatremia, a condition where the salts in your blood become too dilute, is no fun.

You can get water from coffee (the diuretic effect is too small to cancel out the water you’re gaining, unless you’re chugging java like Special Agent Dale Cooper on a three-day stakeout), from soups and stews, and from foods like lettuce. Sports drinks, like Gatorade, are useful if you’re exerting yourself or are outside in hot weather, but too much over time will deliver too much sugar. Your best bet is just plain tap water, ingested steadily throughout the day. If you’re thirsty, you’re already getting dehydrated — especially if you’re older. Your urine should be a pale color. If it’s dark yellow, have some water.

The best part of staying hydrated? It’s great for your skin. Drink a lot of water, and you’ll look younger. So make a resolution to hoist a few H2Os in 2020! — Chris McCoy

Get Outside Your Comfort Zone

If ever there was a man devoted to his comfort zone, it’s me. What’s that expression — stay in your lane? I do, and how. I write about music and books and sometimes booze and nightlife, and I spend a lot of time going to concerts or reading, sometimes while drinking. Still, for all my devotion to my familiar routines, the most rewarding experiences from 2019 all came when I mustered the nerve to get outside my comfort zone. I played a new game I thought I’d be no good at, tried cooking a new meal or two, and even went to a health spa while on a press trip. I adopted a kitten despite having unconsciously inherited my dad’s distaste for cats. Turns out, I love cats!

More recently, for the holidays, I took a trip to the mountains of Idaho to visit my girlfriend’s family. In a word, it was terrifying. Everything was cold, and I was surrounded by rugged, outdoorsy types who looked like they’d never heard of Big Star but could ski down a mountain blindfolded. But I was determined to have a good time. I listened to Elvis’ “Blue Christmas” and Otis Redding’s “Merry Christmas Baby,” and those familiar holiday tunes never sounded as sweet as when they reminded me of my home. I read the local alt-weekly, and I marveled at the high desert scenery as we wound our way up steep mountain roads and through Boise National Park. I saw snow and lived. And I’m not talking about a light dusting or flurries that never had a snowball’s chance in hell of accumulating. No, I mean snow up to my knees. I rode an inflated inner tube down a snow-covered mountain. Not only did I avoid breaking an arm or getting frostbite, as I was sure would happen, I had a whole lot of fun.

Sydnie’s family wanted me to ski, but I decided that was a little too much outside my comfort zone. So I decided to take baby steps. I’ll get there, in my own time and after a lesson or two, and I’ll probably fall down a lot, but that’s okay. For a Southern boy who restocks the milk and bread at the first sighting of snowfall, I think I made some serious strides.

So however you do it, get outside your comfort zone this year. After all, all the things you love now were new to you once, too. — Jesse Davis

Get Civically Engaged

Do you want to be more civically engaged in 2020 but don’t know where to start? A Memphis City Council meeting is a good option. There, you can learn about what’s going on in the city and some of the issues that elected officials must tackle. The group meets every other Tuesday at city hall to discuss and vote on things like land use and new developments to utility rates and public transit budgeting.

The meetings are open to the public, and the agenda for each session is published online the Thursday prior. At each meeting, attendees are given the chance to voice support or opposition before the council. For those who can’t make it in person, the meetings are streamed live online.

Another reason to visit city hall is to attend the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) meetings. The board meets the second Thursday of every month and is tasked with investigating allegations of misconduct by the Memphis Police Department. Under Tennessee’s Sunshine Law, these meetings are also open to the public.

Earle Fisher, a pastor at Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church and activist, is often at public meetings. Fisher says his faith drives his civic involvement. “My faith motivates me to fight for social justice and black liberation in a city plagued by poverty, inequity, and political misrepresentation,” Fisher says. “We need more people of good will to be conscious, committed, and connected to what’s going on.”

In an effort to encourage increased political involvement in Memphis and Shelby County, Fisher founded UPTheVote901 in 2017. The nonpartisan collaborative works to empower, educate, and register voters. The group meets once a month, and the meetings are open to the public.

Whatever cause or issue you’re passionate about, there is likely a group created to address it. From the Memphis Bus Riders’ Union to the official Black Lives Matter chapter, grassroot efforts abound.

To find other ways to get involved and see a schedule of local meetings, check out the Memphis Activism Calendar online. The calendar was created to strengthen and unite the activism community. It lists meetings, workshops, trainings, demonstrations, rallies, and other ways to get plugged into social and community activism around the city. — Maya Smith

Find Your Roots

Viewers of the PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Who Do You Think You Are? on TLC find themselves drawn in to family histories of strangers. Admittedly, some are celebrities, but the various grandmas and uncles of these celebs aren’t famous, and yet their stories are often compelling. It might make you wonder if you have some amazing ancestral tales. Chances are you do, but you’ll need to do some investigating, unless one of your more dogged relatives has constructed a family tree with plenty of history and anecdotes.

Still, much of the fun is in looking through past records to see who’s who in your bloodline. There are a couple of ways to get started. Google genealogy sites and you’ll find plenty of options. One of the more popular is ancestry.com, a subscription service. You can build your family tree and research its ever-growing library of data. Be forewarned that there are many variations in so-called facts. Any given ancestor’s name may be spelled various ways, a birthplace may be approximate, dates — birth, wedding, or death — can be all over the place or missing. But if you like puzzles, you’ll enjoy gathering the references and seeing which are likely to be accurate.

Much of the information you get going through these sites is little more than names and dates. You’ll often find places people lived and military services. It’s more of a challenge to find out who they really were. Some professional genealogists and many amateurs gather information that talks about personalities and achievements, and that’s grand if you can come across it.

While you can rely on what someone else has done, there’s lots of satisfaction in doing it yourself. In other words, go talk to the old people in your family and take a recorder. Ask them to talk about themselves (they’ll love that) and about family stories, tales that have been passed on, and who were among the notables. I once visited an elderly aunt and she was happy to unload a big box of photos she’d had stashed away. I made her identify whoever she could until she got tired and threw me out. But I’d gotten a gold mine of information about my forebears and a great appreciation of their lives.— Jon Sparks

Grow Your Own Tomatoes

Growing your own tomato plants from seed is easy. In addition to being able to pick your own home-grown tomatoes, you get a feeling of self-satisfaction knowing they came from seeds you placed in the soil.

My last summer’s crop began with seeds I planted April 1st. The late Gary Barnett, who owned Bi-County Feed in Holly Springs, told me the first of April is the right time to plant tomato seeds. If you plant them too early, the seedlings will be spindly.

You can use a can with holes in the bottom for drainage, flower pots, or peat pots. I used egg shells. Put the shells back in the egg crate after you break them in half. Tear the top off the egg carton. When you’re ready to use them, poke a hole with a pin or a small nail in the bottom of the shell.

I put regular potting soil in each shell, just a little below the rim, and planted three or four seeds in each. You only need a little soil over each seed. I put them in a north window at my office and sprinkled them with water, using salt and pepper shakers filled with water, until the seedlings emerged.

Turn the plants each day so they’ll grow straight. Don’t let the soil dry out. Four weeks later, the compact plants are ready to plant outside. Keep them watered after you plant them. They like water. I still was picking my tomatoes at Thanksgiving.

I’ve had success with Roma tomatoes, which are a determinate variety. This means all the tomatoes basically will come at one time. You also can plant indeterminate varieties. These will keep producing all summer and into the fall.

I asked noted garden expert Felder Rushing about which tomatoes are better than others to grow from seed. “A seed’s a seed’s a seed,” he says. “Seriously. Seed Savers [Exchange] has over 4,000 types of tomatoes, and they’re all grown exactly the same.”— Michael Donahue

Help Others

In your search for the new you in the new year, you may find that helping others might be a step in the right direction.

This might involve volunteering time at soup kitchens or homeless shelters, but sometimes, opportunities may find you. This happened to local humanitarian, entrepreneur, and former musician, Matt White, who received national attention in June 2016 for spearheading Chauncy’s Chance, a fundraising campaign for local disadvantaged teen Chauncy Black.

It all began when Black approached White in a Kroger parking lot, offering his assistance in carrying White’s groceries to his car in exchange for a box of donuts.

“I felt a gentle tug telling me, ‘Buy this kid some groceries,'” says White.

He took Black into the store and bought him $70 in groceries, meanwhile finding out that Chauncy was a straight-A high school student who regularly picked up odd jobs to help his sick mother pay rent. After shopping, he gave Black a ride home, where he saw firsthand how little he and his mother had.

“When we got to his house, I was truly humbled,” White says. “He and his mom had nothing. They didn’t even have beds or furniture … and nothing in their fridge.”

White posted about his experience on Facebook and started a GoFundMe to raise money for a lawn mower for Black so he could earn some extra cash. To their surprise, the campaign kicked off, earning more than $300,000 within a few short months. This afforded Black and his mother new opportunities, like a new home, car, job, and school.

“I never thought in my wildest dreams that this single post would create such a tidal wave of kindness and encouragement from everyone,” White wrote on his Facebook page.

He has since led other online fundraisers, most recently Rick’s Redemption, which has raised nearly $4,000 for a minivan for a local homeless man.

White attributes his connection to God for allowing him to help people like Rick and Chauncy. “I tried to fill a hole with money, music, jobs, and relationships, but I just didn’t feel fulfilled until God pushed me to help others,” he says. — Julia Baker

Embrace Change

There’s something to be said for the idea that the best response when you’ve hit a wall in your personal development is to challenge it with a wrinkle so new that it not only is different from your habitual mode but may actually run counter to your usual practice. Case in point: I have a friend, a well-known local political figure, who, after a lifetime of being a soft-living sybarite, took to soaking in ice-cold bath water first thing in the morning. He reports new energy and a revitalized outlook.

Don’t wear suits? Start dressing to the nines. Conversely, do the jeans and jersey thing if you’re already a Beau Brummel type. Unmechanical? Learn how your car’s motor works. They say that people are, at some level, their opposites. Find that level, and get it to work for you.

As the motivational speaker Jim Hemmerling says, “Self-transformation is empowering, energizing, even exhilarating.” It’s also practical. There’s the example of the frog in a pot of boiling water. That meme is usually cast as a matter of the frog being thrust into the already boiling water, in which case he will either escape or the water will slowly be brought to boil with him already in it and he will get himself cooked. In the first case, the frog reacts to sudden, threatening change thrust upon him. In the second case, the frog passively accepts a lethal situation. Let us posit a third case — one in which the frog acts, without outside stimuli, to choose his own environment, proactively, and hops out of the pot on his own to investigate other opportunities.

A side effect of dramatic change is the sense of epiphany that normally goes with it. Not all of us will have an experience akin to that of Saul of Tarsus, who, in a flash of blinding insight, we are told, went from being the persecutor of a new religion to a historic role as its major proponent. But we all will have activated a new animating paradigm of some sort to go with whatever new gestalt we’ve created.

The change need not be monumental. Start cooking your own breakfast, if you don’t already. Leave for work 15 minutes earlier every day. Build in time at the gym. Whatever. And stay with it. By the time the new mode becomes a habit, you will likely find that your mind is now conditioned to look for other useful changes. Keep ’em coming. — Jackson Baker

Meditate

The benefits of meditation, long extolled in the East, are being widely recognized in Western medical research. Gone are the days when middle America viewed it as mere cultish exotica. This time of year, people from all walks of life are adding meditation to their resolution lists, and it’s easy to see why: We all could use reduced stress, greater focus, and the ability to ride out life’s ups and downs with a more even keel.

One clinical trial noted that the simple act of breathing is key to meditation’s benefits, being directly tied to increased levels of noradrenaline, a chemical related to our most intense forms of engagement. It even helps the brain grow new connections, “like a brain fertilizer,” in the words of sciencedaily.com.

For many who consider such a state of mind out of reach, meditation retreats can be a great way to jump-start a new routine. The Memphis area has countless yoga schools and ad hoc retreats, but two in particular jump out if you’d like a little more space.

One is the Magnolia Grove Meditation Practice Center in Batesville, Mississippi. Started some 15 years ago by the renowned Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, it is modeled after his other centers, the Deer Park Monastery in California and the Blue Cliff Monastery in New York. Though one can book personal time whenever they’d like, most visit during group events, such as the silent retreat hosted in the spring (May 20th-24th this year). Other events, like the January 20th-23rd celebration of the Lunar New Year, or “Tết” (an important festival in Vietnamese culture), are scattered throughout the year.

At such retreats, expect to spend mornings meditating in your preferred style with others gathered in the great hall, followed by pitching in with chores and plenty of free time to contemplate one’s breath and steps.

Meanwhile, the Gray Bear Lodge is another nearby space, off the Natchez Trace Highway near Hohenwald, Tennessee. While Magnolia Grove is also a monastery and centered on its own school of Buddhism, Gray Bear is more eclectic. One retreat they’ll host this April is focused on Taoist Healing Sounds. In Chinese tonal therapy, specific notes promote harmony and balance. Other retreats, workshops, and lectures abound.

Sometimes learning how to change your mind, and thus your body, is just a matter of calling “retreat!” — Alex Greene

Tags 2020, declutter, digital life, family tree, grow tomatoes, hydrate, meditate, New Year, New You

Cover Feature News

The Magic 2008-Ball

Post author By John Branston
Post date January 3, 2008

Flyer editors and writers were each issued a new-fangled, high-tech research tool this week: a
Magic 8-Ball. Their first assignment? Create a list of fail-safe predictions for the coming year. Here’s what they came up with. You can’t say we didn’t warn you. — Bruce VanWyngarden, editor

Will COGIC’s Holy Convocation come back to Memphis?

Presiding bishop Charles E. Blake, elected in November, has promised that the 100th anniversary Holy Convocation wouldn’t be the last in Memphis, so the saints will return in 2008.

Even if the 6.5-million-member denomination decides to move the convocation to Atlanta or Los Angeles sometime in the future, they’ll be back eventually. Memphis is the birthplace of COGIC, and there are few higher claims than that. Face it. Even after thousands of years, the Olympics returned to Athens. Magic 8-Ball says: Without A Doubt.

Will Broad Avenue become the new South Main?

Okay, so maybe Broad won’t replace South Main as an arts district, but it may soon become just as relevant an art space with possibly hipper cred. The neighborhood just pulled off its second highly successful art walk, with works featured at Material, Metalcast, LRP Gallery, and other galleries. With the addition of the nautically themed Cove, featuring the décor formerly housed at Anderton’s East, the place has the potential to come into its own. Signs Point To Yes.

If strippers are forced to wear pasties, will crime go down?

We agree with outgoing Councilman Tom Marshall: There is no evidence that pasties deter crime. Nor will banning beer sales in topless clubs do anything to alleviate the city’s rampant gang problems. People will get buzzed one way or another. At least beer is legal. Legislating morality seldom works, says the 8-Ball. In other words: Don’t Count On It.

Will Elvis-mania ever die?

With Elvis Presley Enterprises investing in an expansion at Graceland — and a cleanup for the area around it — don’t expect Elvis-mania to wane anytime soon, even if his once-teenybopper fans require bifocals, walkers, and hip replacements. Ask Again Later.

Will the City Council have a productive year?

With a gazillion new members — some new to elected office, some not — the council will take this year to begin to understand what its job is, what its power is, and where its footing is (not to mention its office). And if there are more Main Street Sweeper-type indictments in the works, it will slow things down even more. Very Doubtful.

Will the Zippin Pippin’s future be resolved this year?

If the Zippin Pippin weren’t a roller coaster ride, it would be the perfect metaphor for one. Ever since Libertyland closed, the city has claimed the Grand Carousel but shunned the Pippin.

The cars were sold at auction, but the wooden structure was never removed from the former park. The ride and the cars were then donated to the Save Libertyland group and added to the National Historic Register. Then the city claimed ownership of the ride, because it wasn’t removed from the property by a certain date.

In December, the City Council was presented with three options for the Fairgrounds area, but, well, see above. My Sources Say No.

Will hometown hotties Ginnifer Goodwin and Justin Timberlake ever hook up?

Though Goodwin reportedly broke up with Chris Klein earlier this year, Timberlake seems to be going strong with Jessica Biel. Besides, if the 2008 ball said “As I See It, Yes” or “It Is

Decidedly So,” Perez Hilton would be posting
it to his blog right now.

Better Not Tell You Now.

Will Memphis and Shelby County consolidate their crime-fighting efforts?

To avoid a power struggle between county sheriff Mark Luttrell and Memphis police director Larry Godwin, maybe the Justice League will step in as the county’s top crime fighters. But things this big move slowly, and the Magic 8-Ball is also slowly turning. Now it says: Very Doubtful.

Will blogger Paul Ryburn move to the suburbs?

The downtown blogger (paulryburn.com) doesn’t just eat and drink downtown. He lives, works, and plays there, too. He helped found a community group against downtown panhandlers and the Residents for a Safer Downtown organization.

But if he hooks up with a suburb-loving lady — maybe a Romanian in a tube top — you never know. Still, the 8-Ball says: My Reply Is No.

Will there be a compelling on-field reason to go to Redbirds games this season?

AutoZone Park is a great place to be in the summer — barbecue nachos in the bleachers, kids rolling around on the bluff, the satisfying crack of baseballs ricocheting off wooden bats.

But, if atmosphere is the primary selling point of minor-league baseball, then a chance to see tomorrow’s stars today is the secondary one, and, in that respect, the St. Louis Cardinals’ threadbare minor-league system hasn’t treated Redbirds fans well of late.

That could change next year, when the Redbirds are likely to boast a real top prospect in the form of centerfielder Colby Rasmus. The 21-year-old, who broke Bo Jackson’s prep home-run record in Alabama, was projected as a Top 50 prospect by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus prior to last season and is sure to shoot up that list for 2008 after hitting 28 home runs and stealing 18 bases in only 128 Double-A games last season. Signs Point To Yes.

Will more local politicians and their associates be indicted?

Local FBI agent-in-charge My Harrison and U.S. attorney David Kustoff have expanded the hunt for governmental crooks beyond the scripted theater-in-the-round of Tennessee Waltz videos into actual graft initiated by the felons themselves.

Two recent indictees are former MLGW head Joseph Lee and former county commissioner Bruce Thompson, each of whom is charged with offenses that in previous years would have been shrugged off as one-hand-washing-the-other politics. It Is Certain.

Will the Grizzlies get better?

The Grizzlies’ slow start this season may seem like same-old, same-old to casual fans, but a closer look strongly suggests the team has played better than its record. In the NBA, point-differential (how many points a team has won or lost games by) has proven to be a better indicator of future performance than winning percentage.

Through mid-December, the Grizzlies boasted the point-differential of a near-.500 team, closer to the even mark than any other losing team in the league, something reflective of the bad luck and poor late-game execution that resulted in a league-worst 0-5 record in games decided by 3 or fewer points.

Also factor in that, because of injuries to center Darko Milicic and point guard Michael Conley, the team had yet to play a single game with its eventual projected rotation, and the Grizzlies are poised to be a team that improves over the course of the season. As I See It, Yes.

Will Grizzlies attendance come back?

After finishing last in NBA home attendance last season, the Grizzlies have crept up a little in the standings early this season, but that’s more a result of other teams doing even worse than the Grizzlies doing better.

Barring a major event (like winning the draft lottery, drat!), NBA attendance is generally more a reflection of the previous season than the current one. So, winning back fans will be a slow process. The real test will be if the Grizzlies can improve this season and generate expectations for the 2008-2009 season.

So, we may start to get an answer to this question in 2008, but the answer won’t be complete until the fall. Cannot Predict Now.

Will conditions at the Memphis Animal Shelter improve?

In recent months, grassroots activists, animal rescuers, and animal advocates have formed a group called Change Our Shelter. They claim adoptable animals are being euthanized for minor conditions like allergies or runny noses, and they want to see the shelter change its euthanasia policies to allow rescue groups to adopt sick animals. They’re also fighting for longer adoption hours, a friendlier staff, and a new citizen-run shelter advisory board. Ask Again Later.

Will Nothing But the Truth be another Memphis-made prestige film?

Memphis has generally had pretty good luck with the quality of its recent made-in-Memphis flicks. The Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line garnered an Oscar for Reese Witherspoon. The still-unreleased Blueberry Nights brought one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the world, Wong Kar-Wai, to town. 21 Grams didn’t quite work, but it paired an elite cast (Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro) with a hot director (Alejandro Inarritu, who went on the make Babel). And that doesn’t even factor in Craig Brewer’s films.

Nothing But the Truth, the recently shot political/journalistic potboiler that’s a thinly veiled roman à clef about New York Times reporter Judy Miller’s role in the CIA leak case, doesn’t boast quite the pedigree. Director Rod Lurie is best known for the overheated The Contender. The declarative title of Lurie’s Memphis-made follow-up suggests a similar lack of nuance. Outlook Not So Good.

Will the Rhodes-Jennings Building come back to life this year?

The 19th-century cast-iron gem that is the former Lowenstein’s Department Store and later Rhodes-Jennings Building on North Main downtown is being rehabbed — again. So, is 2008 the year someone actually moves into the place? With the bad luck this century-old building’s had, the 8-Ball’s staying on the safe side:

Ask Again Later.

Will 2008 be a better year for new Memphis music than 2007?

Amy LaVere broke out big-time and stalwart local artists such as Vending Machine and Harlan T. Bobo released fine records in 2007, but most of the heavyweights on the local music scene took the year off. In 2008, new records from the North Mississippi Allstars and Reigning Sound (based in North Carolina now, but recorded in Memphis) are already on tap, which should get the year off to a good start. Most Likely.

Will a major earthquake strike Memphis in 2008?

Ever since the great earthquake of 1811 shook this area with such force that the Mississippi River flowed backward — well, that’s the story, anyway — Memphians have been nervously expecting “the big one.”

Experts and pseudo-experts have given their opinions, and one year a scientist named Eben Browning even predicted the exact day the quake would strike (December 3, 1990). News flash: It didn’t. We keep hearing that we are sitting directly on the New Madrid fault, so it’s only a matter of time, but the fact is that we are not. The fault line is actually several hundred miles to the west, so even if a quake did run along that fault line, there’s no way to say how much damage it would cause here — if any. Very Doubtful.

Will Target move into the Sears Crosstown building?

Midtowners have been begging for a “big-box” retailer for years, but with the not-in-my-backyard caveat (because of the huge parking lot these places normally demand). The majestic Sears building on North Cleveland has been vacant since 1983 and has changed hands countless times since then. It’s about the only property in Memphis that already has the size, parking, and location necessary for a big-box retailer. But the 8-Ball is waffling: Cannot Predict Now.

Will Pau Gasol be traded?

Chicago newspaper columnists and a not-insignificant segment of the team’s fan base would like to answer this question in the affirmative, but all signs so far from the team’s new brain trust of general manager Chris Wallace and coach Marc Iavaroni point to no.

Gasol’s presence allowed the Grizzlies to work out a deal this summer for Gasol’s Barcelona buddy Juan Carlos Navarro, a crafty, deadeye shooter who already has become a fan favorite and is currently one of the league’s biggest bargains. Navarro will be a restricted free agent this summer, however, so moving Gasol (without moving Navarro along with him) could make resigning Navarro more difficult.

Ultimately, the answer to this question could be dependent on whether Gasol can break out of his early-season slump and whether the current roster can gel. Ask Again Later.

Will John Daly say or do something embarrassing in 2008?

The fast-living hard-drinking sometime Memphian is way overdue for a blow-up. (We’re hoping for a love connection between Daly and Tamara Mitchell-Ford, but that’s probably too much to hope for.) It Is Decidedly So.

Will some perky food or travel channel host come to Memphis?

And, of course, while they’re here they are contractually obligated to repeat the age-old nonsense about how the city is divided to the point of civil war over the wet or dry preparation of barbecue ribs. Most Likely.

Will Harold Ford Jr. come back home
to stay?

Since he lost his Senate race to Bob Corker, Ford has taken so many high-profile jobs outside of Memphis, sometimes it seems like all the former congressman ever wanted was Shelby County in his rearview mirror.

Outlook Not So Good.

Will Scripps Howard sell The Commercial Appeal?

The CA‘s circulation is tanking hard, labor disputes are ongoing, and recent dunderheaded decisions to move the newspaper’s ad layout department to India and seek paid sponsors for editorial content have resulted in harsh criticism. Scripps recently split the company into print and broadcast divisions, so they’re already halfway there. Signs Point To Yes.

Will the “West Memphis Three” get a
new trial in 2008?

Few crimes have caused as much controversy as the triple murder that took place in Crittenden County in 1993. Three boys tied up, mutilated, and strangled. Three boys arrested. One confession (perhaps). After a lengthy and complicated trial, two boys (now young men) are serving life sentences, one other is on death row.

But hold on. What are we to make of newly revealed DNA evidence that could link one of the victim’s fathers to the crime or reports that the slain boys’ horrific injuries — once thought to be part of a satanic ritual — were inflicted by wildlife after the boys were killed? The West Memphis Three have a hotshot legal team, high-profile public opinion, and, allegedly, DNA evidence to support them.

Even Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines has now joined the chorus of those clamoring for a new trial.

Signs Point To Yes.

Will Gus’s Fried Chicken ever be able to get rid of the smell of David Gest?

Sure, he’s been gone for a while, achieving stardom of a sort in Great Britain, but unwanted Gests have been known to linger where they’re not wanted. Don’t Count On It.

Will the new Music Commission make any difference to the music biz hereabouts?

Our civic leaders never seem to realize that the circumstances responsible for Memphis’ glorious musical past were completely organic. They evolved without a business plan and therefore cannot be re-created with a business plan, especially not one that involves bringing in more business-minded businessmen from more business-minded cities. My Sources Say No.

Will the Tigers win the NCAA basketball championship?

The NCAA tournament may be known for its exciting upsets, but talent usually wins out in the end and that typically means NBA-level talent. The teams with the most (and best) future pros have proven to have a significant advantage over their competition in the drive for the college hoops title.

Tiger fans have taken to lauding the talent on this year’s team, but how does it really match up with other recent title winners, as well as other teams competing for this year’s title?

The University of Memphis currently has three players solidly on the NBA radar: Freshman point guard Derrick Rose is a consensus Top 5 pick. Junior swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts is projected to be anywhere from a mid-first-rounder to a second-rounder. Senior center Joey Dorsey is projected to be a second-rounder, if drafted at all.

Even if you’re optimistic about the pro prospects of Rose, Douglas-Roberts, and Dorsey, the Tigers would be only the second title winner this decade — and third in the past 13 seasons — without at least four players drafted to the NBA.

If the Tigers win the NCAA title, it will mean one of two things: that Dorsey and Douglas-Roberts have enhanced their status as pro prospects or the team itself has bucked a very strong trend.

Don’t Count On It.

Will The Pyramid ever become a Bass Pro Shop — or anything other than an empty, pointy building?

Is it possible for The Pyramid to ever succeed as a giant tackle shop, an aquarium, a museum, or an amusement park? Doubtful. Assuming it legal to sell beer and spirits inside a sexually oriented business, could The Pyramid succeed as the world’s biggest strip club? You May Rely On It.

Will Craig Brewer leave Memphis?

It’s hard to imagine the existence of Memphis’ growing film community without the success of Craig Brewer, the blues-obsessed writer and director whose films have revolved around strippers, pimps, and drunken nymphomaniacs. If local government continues to crack down on beer sales in sexually oriented businesses, will Brewer be forced to move his base of operations to nearby Holiday, Tennessee, where, in spite of the area’s rural Bible Beltness, the booze still flows and the strippers take it off? Better Not Tell You Now.

Will the Huey Burger be named
“best burger”?

After a jillion years of being voted the best burger in town by some local media outlet, possibly the Flyer, the odds of this happening again are pretty good.

As I See It Yes.

Will Democrats retake control of the state Senate?

Encouraged by the special election victory of Democrat Andy Berke to capture the vacated seat of disgraced Tennessee-Waltzer Ward Crutchfield in Chattanooga, Tennessee Democrats are suddenly optimistic about their chances to regain control of the state Senate in the 2008 elections.

But, given the fact that a fresh Republican (state representative Dolores Gresham) is challenging octogenarian John Wilder, the deposed former Democratic speaker, in Fayette, the Magic 8-Ball says: Don’t Count On It.

Will Fred Thompson win the Republican presidential nomination?

Way back in the spring and summer, actor/pol/lobbyist Fred Thompson was all the rage in Republican circles as a potential savior in the presidential race. But since then he has shown up on the debate stage and the campaign trail, and even on TV, a medium which should have favored him, as looking wan, uncertain about his message, and less than resolute.

Worse for Thompson has been the rapid rise of another Southerner, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who seems actually to know what he believes, right or wrong, and whom many are now touting as a more than possible GOP nominee. Very Doubtful.

Does Nikki Tinker have a chance to unseat Steve Cohen?

Tinker, the former Democratic primary congressional candidate against eventual winner Steve Cohen in 2006, is running against him again, and evidently with the same philosophy — that actually taking positions on issues (or even speaking of them) is either bad manners or bad politics.

Meanwhile, Tinker has swapped Amen choruses. Instead of Emily’s List, which went after Cohen in 2006 despite his long-term support of women’s issues, she now has LaSimba Gray and other prominent members of the Baptist Ministerial Association, who hate hate-crimes legislation (except as a club to beat white devil Cohen with).

Does corporate lawyer Tinker have a chance against the incumbent? Ask Again Later.

Is there such a thing as a “good” political action committee?

New Path is a PAC, but it isn’t bound by party affiliation nor is it divided along racial lines. New Path’s aim is to see to it that the best candidates the city has to offer become the officeholders Memphians can be proud of — a real fresh idea. The bywords for those candidates: ability and accountability — something new on the local political scene and something maybe to think about nationally this presidential election year. Signs Point To Yes.

Can I get published?

The 20th annual “Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word” is to be celebrated in Memphis in October. If you’re a writer and would like to be considered as a participating author, send two copies of your manuscript or galley by June 1st to Humanities Tennessee, Attn: Program Committee, 306 Gay St., Nashville TN 37201. Include in that submission a press kit and author bio, then wait to hear. What’s the worst you could hear? My Reply Is No.

Will we ever get to drink beer and watch strippers at the same time again?

The outgoing Memphis City Council voted to table the strip club issue until March, when the new council and its nine freshmen will apparently be forced to decide whether or not gentlemen’s clubs can serve alcoholic beverages and permit consenting adult females to dance au naturel from the waist up. Will the new City Council vote to bring beer and boobs back to our sacred beer and boobs bars? Outlook Not So Good.

Will the rift over control of the National Civil Rights Museum be resolved?

April 4, 2008, marks the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. The site of that assassination, now the National Civil Rights Museum, stands for King’s legacy to the thousands of visitors who come from around the world each year. Locally, though, the museum is the crux of a continuing struggle between factions wrestling about who should be allowed to influence the way the civil rights story is told and who should be represented on the museum’s board of directors.

In this year of special remembrance of King’s impact on our country and reflection on how far we’ve come in the 40 years since his death, will the parties involved with the museum flap bury their differences to commemorate King? Cannot Predict Now.

Will there be peace between Mayor Willie Herenton and the new City Council?

Herenton broke bread with members of his newly elected City Council at the Rendezvous restaurant in November, and, while there were smiles all around, His Honor warned about a “gray line” beyond which lay “certain areas where either branch [could decide] to get into the other branch’s domain.”

Given the mayor’s alpha-male propensities and the heavy Young Turk concentration on the new council, 8-Ball says: Better Not Tell You Now.

Do It Yourself Quiz

by John Branston

Elsewhere in this issue, Flyer writers and editors have made some predictions with the help of their trusty Magic 8-Balls. Here’s where you, the reader, get to make yours.

1) The current buzz phrase most likely to be forgotten a year from now will be (a) aerotropolis (b) political consultant (c) Blue Crush (d) monetize.

2) The next big deal for Memphis that will show tangible progress in 2008 will be (a) biotech zone on the site of the old Baptist Hospital (b) makeover of Sears Crosstown building (c) Fairgrounds (d) Shelby Farms.

3) The Memphis sports surprise of 2008 will be (a) highly rated Tiger basketball team falls short of Final Four once again (b) a new hunting and fishing alliance (c) University of Memphis football team wins eight games (d) the Grizzlies playoff run.

4) The Memphis attraction that will suffer the biggest attendance drop in 2008 will be (a) Graceland (b) Tiger football (c) Memphis Redbirds (d) Memphis Grizzlies.

5) The 2007 news headliner most likely to be forgotten one year from today will be (a) indicted former commissioner Bruce Thompson (b) “sex-plot” diva Gwendolyn Smith (c) strip club owner Ralph Lunati (d) indicted former MLGW CEO Joseph Lee.

6) Which of the following people is most likely to have another 15 minutes of fame in 2008? (a) Mary Winkler (b) Rickey Peete (c) Roscoe Dixon (d) John Ford.

7) The share price of FedEx, which hit a 52-week low of $94 in December, will be how much a year from now? (a) $85 or less (b) $95 (c) $105 (d) $115 or more.

8) Local governments will make ends meet by (a) raising property taxes (b) implementing a payroll tax on commuters (c) cutting services (d) layoffs.

9) The downtown “big deal” that will go away in 2008 will be (a) Beale Street Landing boat dock (b) Gene Carlisle’s high-rise hotel and condos (c) Bass Pro in The Pyramid (d) the COGIC convention.

10) The thing people will be talking about after Mayor Herenton’s New Year’s Day speech will be (a) a surprise proposal (b) the angry tone (c) the conciliatory tone (d) another local news story that will overshadow it.

11) The government-by-referendum idea that will pass in 2008 will be (a) term limits for city politicians (b) no property-tax increase without a referendum (c) both (d) neither one.

12) The next superintendent for Memphis City Schools will have a background in (a) education and Teach for America (b) the military (c) big business (d) Memphis or Tennessee politics and government.

13) Facing public loss of confidence and financial pressure, Memphis City Schools will close or schedule the closing of how many schools in 2008? (a) none (b) five or less (c) five to 10 (d) more than 10.

14) A final decision will be made in 2008 to put the football stadium for the University of Memphis (a) on the main campus (b) on the South Campus (c) build a new stadium at the Fairgrounds (d) renovate the existing stadium at the Fairgrounds.

15) The big news out of the federal building in 2008 will be (a) major new indictments of public figures related to political corruption (b) no major new indictments of public figures related to political corruption (c) a courtroom defeat for prosecutors (d) reversal of Judge Bernice Donald’s desegregation order for county schools.

16) The news with the biggest negative impact on Memphians in 2008 will be (a) sky-high MLGW bills (b) rising violent-crime rate (c) $4-a-gallon gasoline (d) massive foreclosures and falling housing values.

17) Who is most likely to leave their job in 2008 for whatever reason? (a) Tommy West (b) My Harrison (c) John Calipari (d) Willie Herenton.

Answers: 1) b; 2) a; 3) a; 4) d; 5) b; 6) a; 7) d; 8) d; 9) d; 10) c; 11) d; 12) a; 13) b; 14) d; 15) a and d; 16) c; 17) b

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