You know what I’d rather forget? Donald Trump. I’d like to forget that he currently sits in the Oval Office, guzzling Diet Cokes, downing McDonalds cheeseburgers, drooling over Fox & Friends, and firing off barely-literate tweets. I’d like to forget the circus he manufactured leading up to his 2016 election, and the dumpster fire he’s…
Read MoreI live in Memphis, so summertime makes me think of heat. Hot heat. Sticky heat. Unrelenting heat. Oppressive heat. The kind of heat that you can’t escape and you can’t recover from, despite the fact that you spend most of your time between May and September mad-dashing from one air-conditioned place to another air-conditioned place….
Read MoreDolly Parton has always been a idol of mine, partly for her gifted-by-God voice and incredible songwriting ability, but more so for her uniquely Tennessean flavor of sass. She was born in the southern end of Appalachia, raised in poverty as one of 12 children, brought up in the Church of God, married only once (to…
Read MoreOnce, when asked to explain the meaning behind the title of his 1984 mega-hit “Purple Rain,” His Royal Badness replied: “When there’s blood in the sky– red and blue = purple. Purple rain pertains to the end of the world and being with the one you love and letting your faith/god guide you through the…
Read MoreFor five straight years, from 2011-2016, I dedicated the entire month of June on this blog to the #30DaySongChallenge. Each day, I would select a song in response to a daily prompt, and then post it here along with some (long or short) account of why I chose that song for that day’s prompt. Music…
Read MorePictured: Chic Jones, legendary Beale Street singer The Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP) will be holding its annual meeting in Memphis this year on October 19-21. As a native Memphian, I’m excited to share my city (the 901) with all of you who will be attending. There are so many hidden gems in this…
Read MoreIt’s funny how quickly pop songs start to sound “old.” In order to figure out what I was listening to this time last summer, I’ll admit that I had to consult iTunes and a couple of music blogs to see what the top tracks were for June 2015. In almost every case, my first thought…
Read MoreOk, at this point– I’m writing this on June 37– I’m already six days behind on the 30 Day Song Challenge. I was just about to give up and call it quits, but then I remembered that I’ve been doing this for a long time and, even if this year’s iteration ends up being the…
Read MoreI won’t ever get married– partly because I object to the state institution of marriage, but also because I’m old and ornery and too attached to my own independence now– so today’s prompt is a bit of a strange one to answer. For the record, I love weddings, I love couples who pledge their lives…
Read MoreMost of the kinds of music I like– blues, gospel, country, rock n’ roll– are better heard live. I don’t know if this is true of all genres of music. I’ve heard my jazz-loving and classical-loving friends speak of some of their favorite albums as if the recording were absolutely perfect, as if no “live”…
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