After the meet, Bridget, Sebastian and I ventured downtown to Gus's Fried Chicken, where the daily special is always chicken. Hands down, this is the most amazing fried chicken one could ever eat. I am usually appalled by people who live in Memphis or who have lived there for over a year's time who have not visited this amazing establishment. For starters, it's a hole in the wall, old fashioned, one-room restaurant. It's not fancy by any means. The cups, silverware and plates are plastic. But I swear to you, it's the most amazing chicken.
As we were waiting in line, the waitress asked two adolescents to kindly stop propping open the door because it was allowing cold air to enter the restaurant. We were standing by the jukebox next to the door. After the waitress made her request, these two moved out of the way and allowed the door to shut. A new patron, a twenty-something female stepped in and propped the door open; she wasn't able to hear the waitress's request. You would think in this social scenario, that these two youngsters would kindly say something like, "Excuse me, Miss, but the waitress just requested for the door to remain shut." I mean, to me, this seems like the logical step in this situation, right? Apparently not, as the two blockheads said nothing, but instead just stood there. I stepped in and relayed this message to the woman, because clearly I felt this was the appropriate thing to do. Has civilization really lost its ability to function? What the hell is wrong with people?
Anyway, a few minutes later we were seated. I ordered an appetizer of fried pickles, which are a southern delicacy of sorts. Gus's fried pickles are my favorite - the breading is most delicious, however, you have to be careful as to not burn the roof of your mouth when you bite into one of these things as the result could be painful.
I ordered my usual feast - 2 pieces of white meat with a side of fries and a side of beans. The chicken comes on a piece of white bread, which I am convinced exists solely to mop up the grease from the chicken. (Friend Coleman eats this bread, it's his favorite part of the meal. He's clearly insane but most of us already knew this.) Anyway, the chicken did not disappoint. Just the right amount of flavor in the breading paired with the juiciest chicken which created a mouth-watering delight with every bite. Oh my goodness.
In all seriousness, I dream about this chicken. It's soooo good. I used to eat it at least once a month. I'm not sure how I can go another four months without it. No chicken will ever taste better to me. If you're in Memphis and you're reading this, please go to Gus's tomorrow and eat the chicken. It will be worth it. I promise. And send me a picture. Please.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Memphis Trip, Recap 3
I was up decently early Saturday despite the lateness of the previous night. I had lunch with my friend Betty Kay. She said she felt like time went by pretty quickly since I was last in Memphis so I guess that's a good thing. We had a fun time catching up and pondering what the future might hold in our uncertain lives.
After lunch, I headed over to the University because the track team was hosting a meet throughout the day. You may recall that I worked with the track student-athletes while at Memphis so this happened to be a nice way to see many students in one setting.
Just about every student was shocked to see me. I was continuously greeted throughout the day by phrases like "Oh my God, Carol!" or "Carol, I can't believe you're here!" or "Carol, what the hell are you doing here?" It was pretty funny. In all honesty, I sort of felt like a small town celebrity. People wanted to hug me and talk to me and inquire about my life. Maybe this was my proverbial fifteen minutes of fame? Who knows, but it was a delight to see everyone.
My favorite comment of the weekend came at the meet. I ran into a former student, Brian, who I worked with for 3.5 years. He and I used to have some great chats in my office and I got the sense he missed those conversations. He greeted me with a hug and then said, "Oh, so you're not pregnant."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
You may refer to a previous post where I did, in fact, know this would happen. I knew someone out there would think I up and left my job because of some unwanted, unplanned pregnancy. As I noted earlier on the blog and as I know for certainty, I am not carrying a child. I may have put on a few pounds, but I am definitely not expecting. I found this whole conversation with Brian absolutely hysterial. He definitely gets the award for comment of the weekend.
There was another moment at the meet that was particularly striking to me. You see, because we live in the real world, it's expected that we're not going to like everyone and everyone isn't always going to like us. I am a realist so I always knew this to be true. There was a student on the track team who I worked with for a few semesters and you could say that he and I didn't "click" all the time. It was okay, though, because we found a way to make things work. I ran into him, and it was actually a pleasant moment. Without saying so, he basically implied he had a fond appreciation for what I did and he actually missed me being around to help him. He's one of those I had a sense would "miss me when I was gone." It's not that I want to hold this power over someone, but it is the case that he really didn't know how good he had it until I left. I got the sense a lot of my students felt that way, some because they told me so directly but others just by how they said certain things or talked about their current situations.
This is the closest I have to experiencing satisfaction, knowing that I did make an impact and knowing that it is finally being appreciated. I guess I needed some of this affirmation. It helped give me some more closure that in some way I needed.
The track meet was rewarding, as was catching up with all sorts of students throughout the weekend. I'm so glad I had the chance to do so. I always said I would miss the students and the people in general, and that's certainly true. I miss their stories and I miss seeing them grow. I'm just thankful for the small moments I had to reconnect. It was really a rewarding afternoon.
After lunch, I headed over to the University because the track team was hosting a meet throughout the day. You may recall that I worked with the track student-athletes while at Memphis so this happened to be a nice way to see many students in one setting.
Just about every student was shocked to see me. I was continuously greeted throughout the day by phrases like "Oh my God, Carol!" or "Carol, I can't believe you're here!" or "Carol, what the hell are you doing here?" It was pretty funny. In all honesty, I sort of felt like a small town celebrity. People wanted to hug me and talk to me and inquire about my life. Maybe this was my proverbial fifteen minutes of fame? Who knows, but it was a delight to see everyone.
My favorite comment of the weekend came at the meet. I ran into a former student, Brian, who I worked with for 3.5 years. He and I used to have some great chats in my office and I got the sense he missed those conversations. He greeted me with a hug and then said, "Oh, so you're not pregnant."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
You may refer to a previous post where I did, in fact, know this would happen. I knew someone out there would think I up and left my job because of some unwanted, unplanned pregnancy. As I noted earlier on the blog and as I know for certainty, I am not carrying a child. I may have put on a few pounds, but I am definitely not expecting. I found this whole conversation with Brian absolutely hysterial. He definitely gets the award for comment of the weekend.
There was another moment at the meet that was particularly striking to me. You see, because we live in the real world, it's expected that we're not going to like everyone and everyone isn't always going to like us. I am a realist so I always knew this to be true. There was a student on the track team who I worked with for a few semesters and you could say that he and I didn't "click" all the time. It was okay, though, because we found a way to make things work. I ran into him, and it was actually a pleasant moment. Without saying so, he basically implied he had a fond appreciation for what I did and he actually missed me being around to help him. He's one of those I had a sense would "miss me when I was gone." It's not that I want to hold this power over someone, but it is the case that he really didn't know how good he had it until I left. I got the sense a lot of my students felt that way, some because they told me so directly but others just by how they said certain things or talked about their current situations.
This is the closest I have to experiencing satisfaction, knowing that I did make an impact and knowing that it is finally being appreciated. I guess I needed some of this affirmation. It helped give me some more closure that in some way I needed.
The track meet was rewarding, as was catching up with all sorts of students throughout the weekend. I'm so glad I had the chance to do so. I always said I would miss the students and the people in general, and that's certainly true. I miss their stories and I miss seeing them grow. I'm just thankful for the small moments I had to reconnect. It was really a rewarding afternoon.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Memphis Trip, Recap 2
Amazingly, I woke up pretty energized Friday morning. I anticipated it would be a fantastic day, and I was certainly correct. Around noon, I headed off to my old office building to meet up with some folks for lunch. These are some great ladies, let me say. For starters, they appreciate me for the total goofball that I am so that always helps. We had a pretty calm, casual lunch at one of my favorite places near campus. Always a pleasure.
Around 2pm, Bridget and I headed off to Bosco's, a bar in midtown that brews its own beer. Bosco's is great when the weather is nice because they have a fabulous outdoor patio. Since the weather was beautiful - sunny skies, crisp air, about 75 degrees - we had a lovely early happy hour. We drank there until 7pm, enjoying the weather and dishing on the latest gossip. I admit it, I'm not ashamed. We gossiped and swapped stories and shared some laughter for a great part of the afternoon. A little later our friends Kristen and Tia joined us before we headed off to Corky's for dinner.
Corky's is a Memphis staple food, known most for its bar-b-que. I am a big fan of their pulled pork so that's what I had. In all honesty, Memphis does have the best bar-b-que I've ever had, and I enjoy this pork no matter what. Not to mention, it's actually cheap as hell for the helping you get. When you can add some hush puppies on the side, what can be better than that?
After dinner, we headed to Celtic Crossing for the remainder of the evening. As I noted, I love this bar. There's always an eclectic crowd of people and usually good music. I will note, though, that the service is sometimes really bad. It's good that we all have working limbs because it was definitely easier to get our own drinks at the bar.
A few friends and the golfers joined us for what turned into one heck of an evening. Again, we shared a great deal of laughs, dishing on people, remembering some old memories of ridiculousness and, of course, making new memories.
Sometime after 1am, the DJ started playing music like Regulate by Warren G and No Diggity/No Doubt by I don't even remember who and other early 90s hip hop/rap music. I think Phil was impressed by my knowledge of these songs, as I was singing each lyric in some giddy drunken state. Appropriately, I made Phil request Baby Got Back and the DJ so inclined to humor us with this madness.
It is a rare occassion when Celtic Crossing becomes a dance party, but this so happened to be one of those evenings. For starters, Rachel was hammered and loving every minute of her dancing. Bridget loves when these things happen so obviously she had a good time. Phil is a pretty impressive dancer, by the way, and certainly entertained me with his skills. I think at this point Mark was off somewhere hitting on someone - it wouldn't be a complete evening if he wasn't. I'm not sure what Sebastian was thinking at this point, but we had one heck of a time. Mark was located for the 80s music by Journey and such, and we definitely had a good time belting out some tunes.
Bridget and I calculated that we put in a pretty solid 12-hour work day of drinking. At 3:30am, it dawned on me that the last time I was out this late was also with Mark and Phil. It's probably a good thing I don't see them every weekend because I'm not sure my liver can handle it. I miss days like this. Pure absolute enjoyment. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I think my abs still hurt from laughing so hard.
Around 2pm, Bridget and I headed off to Bosco's, a bar in midtown that brews its own beer. Bosco's is great when the weather is nice because they have a fabulous outdoor patio. Since the weather was beautiful - sunny skies, crisp air, about 75 degrees - we had a lovely early happy hour. We drank there until 7pm, enjoying the weather and dishing on the latest gossip. I admit it, I'm not ashamed. We gossiped and swapped stories and shared some laughter for a great part of the afternoon. A little later our friends Kristen and Tia joined us before we headed off to Corky's for dinner.
Corky's is a Memphis staple food, known most for its bar-b-que. I am a big fan of their pulled pork so that's what I had. In all honesty, Memphis does have the best bar-b-que I've ever had, and I enjoy this pork no matter what. Not to mention, it's actually cheap as hell for the helping you get. When you can add some hush puppies on the side, what can be better than that?
After dinner, we headed to Celtic Crossing for the remainder of the evening. As I noted, I love this bar. There's always an eclectic crowd of people and usually good music. I will note, though, that the service is sometimes really bad. It's good that we all have working limbs because it was definitely easier to get our own drinks at the bar.
A few friends and the golfers joined us for what turned into one heck of an evening. Again, we shared a great deal of laughs, dishing on people, remembering some old memories of ridiculousness and, of course, making new memories.
Sometime after 1am, the DJ started playing music like Regulate by Warren G and No Diggity/No Doubt by I don't even remember who and other early 90s hip hop/rap music. I think Phil was impressed by my knowledge of these songs, as I was singing each lyric in some giddy drunken state. Appropriately, I made Phil request Baby Got Back and the DJ so inclined to humor us with this madness.
It is a rare occassion when Celtic Crossing becomes a dance party, but this so happened to be one of those evenings. For starters, Rachel was hammered and loving every minute of her dancing. Bridget loves when these things happen so obviously she had a good time. Phil is a pretty impressive dancer, by the way, and certainly entertained me with his skills. I think at this point Mark was off somewhere hitting on someone - it wouldn't be a complete evening if he wasn't. I'm not sure what Sebastian was thinking at this point, but we had one heck of a time. Mark was located for the 80s music by Journey and such, and we definitely had a good time belting out some tunes.
Bridget and I calculated that we put in a pretty solid 12-hour work day of drinking. At 3:30am, it dawned on me that the last time I was out this late was also with Mark and Phil. It's probably a good thing I don't see them every weekend because I'm not sure my liver can handle it. I miss days like this. Pure absolute enjoyment. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I think my abs still hurt from laughing so hard.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Memphis Trip, Recap 1
As I noted, my trip to Memphis was pretty great. I still think I'm reeling in how good it felt to reconnect with so many great people. My first day, Thursday, was an extremely relaxing day. I woke up pretty darn early to leave for the airport at 6:30am. I arrived in Memphis around noon, and was greeted by a shining sun, a cool breeze and my friend Sebastian. The southern air was crisp and I enjoyed the feeling of flip flops on my feet.
Sebastian and I had lunch at one of my favorite Mexican joints. Central PA just doesn't have these types of options, and I was craving some spicy salsa and lunch fajitas - the meal did not disappoint. After lunch, I dropped by the old office to say hello to my former coworkers. I gotta say, it was nice to see the people, but I sure as heck haven't missed that place one bit. I didn't have any sense of nostalgia, and that reaffirmed that I know I made the right deciscion to leave when I did.
I headed off a little later to the practice fields to hang out at soccer practice. I used to work with these guys so I wanted to see as many of them as I could. Practice seemed to be a good option. It was a beautiful day to be outside. When I arrived at practice, they were already in the midst of a drill. Their faces were funny because most of them were shocked to see me but they had to stay focused on the drill at hand, so there was no crazy reactions. After the drill, though, I was greeted by a round of hugs and high fives. Just being around these guys again gave me a great feeling. I really do love a lot of them like family. It's nice to see them working hard and enjoying their sport.
Later in the day, I had dinner with three of the seniors on the team. These three absolutely crack me up. They were three of the first students I worked with at Memphis so we've been through a lot together. I absolutely adore each of them for their own individualized crazy lives and I love spending time with them. I'm excited for each of them and what their futures hold.
After dinner, I met some friends out at my favorite Memphis bar, Celtic Crossing. God, I missed that place. And it was so nice to be able to sit outside at night and drink a few without freezing. I'm over the fact that the golfers promised to go out with me and then bailed at the last minute, I think because Rachel came through in the clutch - she's a champ. More on that later.
Anyway, it was a pretty great relaxing stress-free day in Memphis. Who knew such a thing existed?
Sebastian and I had lunch at one of my favorite Mexican joints. Central PA just doesn't have these types of options, and I was craving some spicy salsa and lunch fajitas - the meal did not disappoint. After lunch, I dropped by the old office to say hello to my former coworkers. I gotta say, it was nice to see the people, but I sure as heck haven't missed that place one bit. I didn't have any sense of nostalgia, and that reaffirmed that I know I made the right deciscion to leave when I did.
I headed off a little later to the practice fields to hang out at soccer practice. I used to work with these guys so I wanted to see as many of them as I could. Practice seemed to be a good option. It was a beautiful day to be outside. When I arrived at practice, they were already in the midst of a drill. Their faces were funny because most of them were shocked to see me but they had to stay focused on the drill at hand, so there was no crazy reactions. After the drill, though, I was greeted by a round of hugs and high fives. Just being around these guys again gave me a great feeling. I really do love a lot of them like family. It's nice to see them working hard and enjoying their sport.
Later in the day, I had dinner with three of the seniors on the team. These three absolutely crack me up. They were three of the first students I worked with at Memphis so we've been through a lot together. I absolutely adore each of them for their own individualized crazy lives and I love spending time with them. I'm excited for each of them and what their futures hold.
After dinner, I met some friends out at my favorite Memphis bar, Celtic Crossing. God, I missed that place. And it was so nice to be able to sit outside at night and drink a few without freezing. I'm over the fact that the golfers promised to go out with me and then bailed at the last minute, I think because Rachel came through in the clutch - she's a champ. More on that later.
Anyway, it was a pretty great relaxing stress-free day in Memphis. Who knew such a thing existed?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Drink, Laugh, Love
I think these three words can best sum up my weekend visit to Memphis: Drink, Laugh, Love.
I chose these words because they share a commonality: abundance.
I definitely drank in abundance, best indicated by my 12-hour workday of drinking with friend Bridget on Friday. It's hard not to put in a workday of drinking when you can sit on an outdoor patio at 2pm and enjoy 75 degree weather. It's also hard not to put in a workday of drinking when you meet up with other friends later in the evening and the bar you're in proceeds to play early 90s hip hop and rap music such as Baby Got Back and Regulate. That obviously makes for a ridiculous time.
I spent four days in complete laughter. Honestly, I haven't laughed so much and so hard in such a long time. So many fun conversations, comments, moments - it was just great to be able to kick back and finally relax with former students and friends. I cherish the laughter and the fun.
I also felt pretty emotional at times, in the sense that I really felt an abundance of love. It's nice to have the feeling that my life has been touched by so many wonderful people; it's also nice that these wonderful people share this feeling toward me. It's hard to put to words really, but I feel extremely blessed to have so many great people be a part of my life.
That's just a small recap of the weekend. I'll be reminiscing more throughout the week.
I chose these words because they share a commonality: abundance.
I definitely drank in abundance, best indicated by my 12-hour workday of drinking with friend Bridget on Friday. It's hard not to put in a workday of drinking when you can sit on an outdoor patio at 2pm and enjoy 75 degree weather. It's also hard not to put in a workday of drinking when you meet up with other friends later in the evening and the bar you're in proceeds to play early 90s hip hop and rap music such as Baby Got Back and Regulate. That obviously makes for a ridiculous time.
I spent four days in complete laughter. Honestly, I haven't laughed so much and so hard in such a long time. So many fun conversations, comments, moments - it was just great to be able to kick back and finally relax with former students and friends. I cherish the laughter and the fun.
I also felt pretty emotional at times, in the sense that I really felt an abundance of love. It's nice to have the feeling that my life has been touched by so many wonderful people; it's also nice that these wonderful people share this feeling toward me. It's hard to put to words really, but I feel extremely blessed to have so many great people be a part of my life.
That's just a small recap of the weekend. I'll be reminiscing more throughout the week.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
No sympathy
I have absolutely no sympathy for people like this: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/04/11/polar.bear.attack/index.html
I mean, what did this woman expect to happen when she jumped into a polar bear's habitat? Did she expect the polar bear to playfully lick her face and allow her to pet him? Maybe she thought the polar bear would even be so kind to allow the woman to jump on his back and give her a ride around his habitat. Seriously. What the hell is wrong with people?
I mean, what did this woman expect to happen when she jumped into a polar bear's habitat? Did she expect the polar bear to playfully lick her face and allow her to pet him? Maybe she thought the polar bear would even be so kind to allow the woman to jump on his back and give her a ride around his habitat. Seriously. What the hell is wrong with people?
Monday, April 06, 2009
Justification of Hatred
It's really a sad moment when you come to finally have the proof of something you've known all along. Maybe you waited a long time to actually find the proof even though you know it was out there in plain black and white for years. You could have easily found the truth and had the proof but for some reason, maybe you didn't actually want to be confirmed in your initial belief.
Well I just had one of those moments, and my hatred for a certain two individuals has been justified. I'm not ashamed to admit this hatred, even though I was raised not to hate. In all honesty, part of me is actually glad I'm justified in my hatred. I'm sick of pretending I don't want to be hateful toward these two individuals, and I am sick of the Catholic guilt I experience when I want to hate them but try not to. The bottom line is, from here on out, it's all hatred.
If you're not good enough to respect me the way I deserve after you've sucked the life out of me and I saved your ass a million and one times, then you deserve the hatred I feel toward you.
I believe in karma. One day, I'll reap my reward for putting up with these two individuals' incessant bullshit. I hope these two pricks get what's coming to them. I hope I can be there the day they are pulled from their mighty high horses. I'd like to kick them when they are down.
There's some real emotion. Judge away. I don't care.
Well I just had one of those moments, and my hatred for a certain two individuals has been justified. I'm not ashamed to admit this hatred, even though I was raised not to hate. In all honesty, part of me is actually glad I'm justified in my hatred. I'm sick of pretending I don't want to be hateful toward these two individuals, and I am sick of the Catholic guilt I experience when I want to hate them but try not to. The bottom line is, from here on out, it's all hatred.
If you're not good enough to respect me the way I deserve after you've sucked the life out of me and I saved your ass a million and one times, then you deserve the hatred I feel toward you.
I believe in karma. One day, I'll reap my reward for putting up with these two individuals' incessant bullshit. I hope these two pricks get what's coming to them. I hope I can be there the day they are pulled from their mighty high horses. I'd like to kick them when they are down.
There's some real emotion. Judge away. I don't care.
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