One of the good things about being back in Memphis is being around muscians again. I’m not talking about professional musicians–of which there are many here–but just your average, everyday, I’ve-got-a-guitar-and-an-idea musicians. I love just sitting around on somebody’s deck, especially on hot summer nights, hammering out totally average versions of truly beautiful songs. I…
Read MoreHere’s something we all need to talk more about: eros in the classroom. I was reminded of this just recently by an excellently written article in The American Scholar by Yale professor William Deresiewicz entitled “Love on Campus.” (If you haven’t read the piece already, please stop and read it now. The references follwing will…
Read MoreI need your help. This fall I will be teaching a General Humanities-type course that has a mostly prefab syllabus, which I can make minor alterations to, but not many. Basically, I can add things, but can’t take any away. The course is pretty labor-intensive as it is designed, and if I were a student…
Read MoreRecently, I’ve begun to notice that several of my friends and acquanitances are secretly adherents to some form of self-actualization philosophy/practice or another. Since most of my friends are over-educated, they tend to be more discreet about these allegiences than your average everyday schmo, but once the topic is breeched, I find that they can…
Read MoreIf you’ve heard me talk about Memphis for any length of time, you’ve heard me talk about Wild Bill’s (pictured above, Bill standing in the doorway). After Junior Kimbrough’s Place burned down in 2000, Wild Bill’s became one of the last surviving “juke joints” in the Delta. It wasn’t much bigger than a large living…
Read MoreYou can stash this little bit in your “Most Grossly Under-Reported Stories” file. Last November, the Justice Department reported that there were a record 7 million people behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. That means roughly 1 in every 32 adults in the United States is somehow in…
Read MoreI had a couple of friends (also philosophers) down to visit this past weekend and, over coffeee one morning, we found ourselves discussing the relative merits and demerits of the popular road-trip game “20 Questions.” (You can play against a computer in an Artificial Intelligence version of the game here.) Since one of my interlocutors…
Read MoreThis may be one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. But, then again, I tend not to know my limits…
Read MoreRobert Gordon (author of one of my favorite books, It Came from Memphis) once said that Memphis “could be easily mistaken for a town of doughnut shops and churches.” So, I’ve decided to apply Gordon’s formulation to the other places I’ve lived. If you cuurently live, or have previously lived, in any of the following…
Read MoreIt is hotter than hell here right now. Hotter than Georgia asphalt. Hotter than a harlot in church. Hotter than a June bride in a feather bed. Hotter than the devil’s underwear. Hotter than a $2 pistol on the Fourth of July. It’s August in Memphis. It’s hot. And it’s humid, so the heat is…
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