Kathleen's space

withdrawal

That's what I (and maybe you?) will go through over the next few weeks. I won't be posting until after Jan 2 because I leave for Morocco tonight and if all goes well, I'll be leaving my laptop at home. So Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday (to me) and Happy New Year!

shoes

There are shoes and then there are shoes!

This is my shoe next to one of Shaq's.  I honestly don't think this photo does justice to the difference in size, but it's the best I could get.

More on Memphis

Beale St. That's the place to go at night. I had never heard of it before Memphis and honestly wasn't that impressed with what I saw, especially because I was made to drink wine out of plastic cups (in one place it was as bad as a dixie cup). You'd think I'd know not to drink that wine but unfortunately I had some wine with dinner so didn't know that when I said - i'ts ok, I'll drink from a DIXIE CUP!?! And unfortunately the people I was with didn't say - Kathleen, that might not be the best wine.

I made up for the bad wine with a glass (made of glass) of Sant Supery last night - that's a mighty fine wine from CA. I've been to the vineyard so think it's even better than it might be.  A guy at the restaurant commented on my wine - He said, that's a great wine, what is it? I said, if you don't know what it is, how do you know it's great? Obnoxious response, yes, but what kind of a comment is that?  He said he noticed the legs on it. He was right, it was a good wine, a strong, but nice wine.

I have digressed to wine drinking when I started out writing out Beale St. The home of the blues.  I can't believe I'm writing this but we didn't even see/hear any blues played that night. We did get to go to several different bars and had a good time with dueling pianos and more.

What was interesting to me was two things - for being such a famous place, it was kind of dead in terms of people and second thing is that I can't believe that people still smoke in the bars in Memphis. ugh. I took the first bit better than the 2nd. I don't mind when places aren't packed, and actually prefer it that way. I hate smoke, though.   

Anyway, here's some neon from the street.

 

  

                                    

An ideal, but very unhealthy, breakfast

This was my breakfast on Sunday in Memphis. This is fried chicken, mac & cheese, baked apples and the side (which isn't here in the picture) of fried, green tomatoes.

I'm now trying to make up for this with healthy eating but it's hard when I'm still in hotels and will be until the weekend...and then I'm only home for a few days before heading off again. But forgetting my clogged arteries, I have to say that this breakfast was one of the best I've had in a long time.

Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, TN. I'm going to Graceland

Elvis, the king, the legend and a really bad interior designer!  I got the chance to go to Graceland yesterday and arrived in a limo, no less.  We went after a pretty good lunch at a famous place here in Memphis -- Rendevous. I must admit that the ribs didn't impress me -- at all. But the sausage was OUT OF THIS WORLD.  The rest of the group was laughing at me because I got so excited about the sausage, but it was good.  Apparently the pulled pork was quite good too but I somehow didn't get any (nice crowd, not sharing with me, huh?)  Anyway, Graceland. The shag rug on the ceiling, the homage to Elvis -- EVERYWHERE -- the mirrored staircase, pretty crazy decorating overall. And not only did we feel the Elvis spirit, hear his music and learn about his life (through rose colored glasses, I might add - nothing negative, nothing shady -- only the good stuff), but we also had a star sighting -- we saw Pauly Shore...see if you can see him in the pictures below.  We ended our Graceland tour at the gift shops -- I say shops because there were TONS of them. Noone said this wasn't a business. It is.  I got myself a magnet for my fridge as I do when I visit different places and was surprised on the way home by a gift -- an Elvis key chain with my name on it. Very kitch, very funny. 

         

                                    

Memphis

I got to Memphis yesterday. Flew in from Miami. Remind me never to take a Sat am flight during the holidays again! I have to do it again from Miami next week but after that, never again!  The amount of tourist travelers, going home or wherever with a ridiculous amount of luggage and no sense of how to travel well, was outrageous.

First impression of Memphis? Fedex capital. There were at least 40 planes in the airport as we flew in and while that was pretty impressive what made it even more so was the fact that there were maybe only 3 UPS planes. 40 to 3. FedEx land. 

On the local news last night they made a big deal about FedEx - apparently they're laying people off too.  No local layoffs planned, but it still made the news. 

After that news, I switched to watch A Year Without a Santa Claus -- ignorance is bliss, no? 

Dying on the streets of NYC

In today's paper, there's an article from which I learned the following:

• In 1990 there were 365 pedestrian deaths recorded -- that's one per day, folks

• In 2007 that number went down to 136, thankfully

• More men than women die on the street. Oh invincible ones, you're not as invincible as you think!

• And lastly, New Yorkers were twice as likely to have been killed by a car than at the hands of a gun or knife.

Lesson for the day: Be careful on the streets of NYC!!

NY in the rain

I always forget how horrible NYC is when it rains and I actually have to go somewhere. I'm in a taxi right now, on my way to Laguardia airport. I'm in a taxi NOW but it took me at least 20 minutes to get one. In NYC you can't call a taxi so I waited on the corner, in the rain for all that time. And what really irks me is when people come up and stand in front of you, thinking that's cool. OK, I admit that I've been known to do that but not to someone with a suitcase. I mean really! I have a plane to catch. And what really gets me is that there was a couple and she must've felt bad because she kept looking back. And when she did, I was looking right at her saying:. yeah, that's right, beeyatch, I'm waiting for a taxi. I really hope she can read lips! And then a nice girl who was also waiting, but obviously respecting the order, said - Maam, Maam, and pointed out a taxi that was letting off their passenger. And so I thanked her profusely and am writing to you now from the warm, dry taxi.

It's so cold in NYC today

that on the way to work I saw a dog shivering, shaking in his boots, doing the hustle.  The poor thing couldn't sit still.

mad

Yesterday I took the 6 train. I got on in the high 50s and got off just a few blocks from my apartment. And I got mad because when we were all streaming out of the train (and when I say 'all', you should picture a lot of people - it was packed), we witnessed a pickpocket gone awry. I'm not mad that the older gentleman caught the younger guy, got his money back and managed to hold onto his jacket for maybe a minute, yelling police! Police! I'm mad that that guy thought it was ok to pickpocket in my hood. I felt violated in a sense; the safety shield of my neighborhood shattered in an instant due to one jerk who couldn't keep his hands in his own pockets. Now, every time I get on the subway I need to be extra careful and watchful for potential robbers.