Memphis, TN
November 4th thru 10th

Sunday
In celebration of Katherine’s birthday Truk planned a surprise birthday bowling party for her. To anyone who may question the wisdom of a bowling party, relax…, Katherine loves to bowl. The party was well attended and everyone seemed to have fun. My bowling acumen was a bit off which shames my Middle America roots. If you want to know how much Erie likes bowling, just think of the old TV Show Rosanne. Its storylines regarding bowling live accurately depicts my hometown. When the gang gets together to bowl we take names that match our alternative personas. Some go with old stand by’s while others go with a “porn” name developed by using your middle name a street you once lived on. Either way when your combine the bowling and the company it’s a good time.

Guess which is Pete's name.

Later on I met Baruch to watch the Cowboys/Giants game at BW Three’s.

Tuesday

I caught the Memphis Tigers vs. Richmond Spiders basketball game at the FedEx Forum with the Big Kat Ronnie. It was the second round of the Coaches vs. Cancer preseason tournament. The Tigers play could be described as lethargic at best. Richmond ran an efficient “Princeton” style offense. The offense basically has the center operating as the distribution area at the free throw line. It was made famous by Pete Carril the legendary basketball coach at Princeton, ergo the name. Memphis eventually pulled away from the Spiders and won 80 to 63. One thing is for certain is this; Derrick Rose is the real deal. We have hyped some players such as Dujuan Wagner (Where has he gone?) and Darius Washington who were very good but the Rose kid is good as advertised. He is one of the quickest players I have ever seen play.

Derrick Rose being Derrick.

Thursday

Tonight I had the privilege of attending the Facing History and Ourselves Benefit at the Peabody Hotel. The key note speaker was actress and oral historian Judith Sloan who acted out stories of individuals in her exhibit on immigration, CROSSING THE BLVD. This exhibit uses photographs, stories, and sounds to intimately portray the lives of new immigrants and refugees living in the culturally diverse community of Queens, N.Y. The performance was amazing. If you want to get know real stories of immigrants you can get the book which is awe inspiring. I ran into a bunch of old friends at the dinner. One of which was the Hardy Thames, an old colleague from my Bridges days. Here is a copy of his speech he gave about Facing History and his student Khadija Hassan who also spoke. Khadija was in one of my groups of FutureBuilders about four years ago. She has an amazing story of her struggle to escape the Rwandan genocide. Here is column about her by Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas. (You must read this!) I have been working with Facing History in one way or another for over ten years. Twelve years ago when I was mid year replacement at Bishop Byrne the principal Neddy Brookshaw recommended me for the program’s training session. I will be eternally indebted to her for that. Facing History has been the one common thread at every one of my teaching stops.

Friday

After teaching school and basketball practice I met up with Truk at the Rhodes’ pub, the Lynx Lair, for a ping pong match and a couple of pints of Guinness. Truk bested me in a best of five match. We were closely matched in talent but Truk pulled away in the fifth set. The new pub is quite nice and the Guinness was well poured. Anyone who is a lover of the “black stuff” will know what I mean by that. Let’s put it this way. I you order a Guinness and get it quickly the server does not what they are doing. In order to ensure a full pint ready when you are finished drinking the current pint one should order it about half way through. That’s just my opinion. We called it early due to our cooking gig at the Rhodes vs. Sewanee football game the next morning.

Saturday

I rose from slumber this morning at 6:15am to meet up with Truk to head over to Rhodes. This Saturday at the Rhodes vs. Sewanee football game was the faculty/staff appreciation cook-out. Truk as a Rhodes employee and alumnus got me involved last year and I was lucky enough to get asked back to the cooking crew officially. The crew led by Bud, who works in the alumni office, cooks authentic gumbo, red beans and rice, sautéed shrimp, and jambalaya. How authentic you ask? Well Joby (99’), from Dulac, La said that the shrimp that we peeled and cooked on Saturday slept in the Gulf on Wednesday night till his uncle, who is a shrimper, caught them Thursday morning. I did was do what was I was told. I peeled shrimp, cut chicken, and drank Bloody Marys. The food was on time and well received by the faithful faculty/staff/alumni/fans. I had a great time and hope to go it again next year. I enjoyed multiple naps the rest of the day while watching football.