My plans for the summer

Well, the summer is looking very promising. I leave for Greece in 6 days. I haven't started packing yet, but I know just about everything I plan to take with me. One of the few "comforts" I'll be carrying is a small bag of golf discs. A fellow golfer informed me the other day that my golf has reached across the ocean to the Mediterranean. On a separate, but equally exciting, golf note I placed in my first golf tournament this weekend. I placed low, but I placed, won two frisbees too! Back to Greece, it's looking to be a promising trip. I'll see much of Ancient Greece, and as an added bonus there's a topless beach less than a mile from the hotel I'll be in for the bulk of the trip. There will be learning as well, but this opportunity offers much more than a book education. It's total immersion. Greek food, greek customs, greek women. My sister even talked me into the Byzantine rights offered by the Greek Orthodox Church. I'll be back this fall!!!

Wish I had been on Beale Street

So I'm a little displeased that the one and only trek I missed this semester was on Beale Street (a fallacy I plan to correct just as soon as I finish these last few assignments). So instead I'm gonna blog about the end of my semester.
Aside from the mad rush to play catch up, the end of the semester is going extremely well. All of my finals are now finished and, with the exception of E-mailing my final assignment for Honors Inquiry, I have finished everything on my to do list. All of my professors prepared their classes extremely well. I feel confidant about all of them and all A's for the semester is an in-reach dream. I've finished my FAFSA and registered for the fall semester. Also, I'm applying for a tutoring scholarship for the fall. I now know the wang short form of tai chi, some quantum and nuclear physics, more about Memphis, and more French and Spanish than when I began. I am very pleased with the semester and how I am finishing it.

Beale street trek

We were asked in the very beginning when we met up at Local to decide if Memphis had become a tourist attraction and I have to reply with an emphatic yes but only in some degrees. Beale street to me was sad, I walked in disdain from shop to shop looking at crappy souvenairs at exubereant prices. I walked in bars and listened to some live music by famous people. Maybe I didn't find the right store or bar to listen to some good home written music but for me I felt like was just walking around somewhere that wasn't home. Beale street just felt like it was here it wasn't overly interesting or exciting. But riding the trolley, going to some of the art displays and looking at the lorraine motel was nice. I enjoyed the home grown art and the history that was here. I enjoyed getting into a discussion about the art and music that was played, the people we saw. Even though we could see the bright lights of Beale, it was more enjoyable for me to be in the streets outside of it, barely lit up by street lamps.

Old Forest Hike

I love nature, all of it. From the beautiful trees to the grimy mud that feels great in between your toes when you run in the woods barefoot after a light rain. I have grown up in the woods and don't know much when it somes to the innerworkings of the woods. With this hike we learned about trees, animals, the history of the forest itself. We smelled interesting plants and listened to the heartbeat of a tree. The hike became repetitive after a time, which goes to show that the forest is small in size, which disheartens me. Industry is good for industries sake but you have to have a place to go hide from the world and if this is all the ctiy of memphis has to offer in this aspect then it's sad. I do want to go to live in a big city in the future but I still want to be able to go back to my country roots. Even as I live in my plush suburban neighborhood, the one thing that keeps me sane is that when I need my alone time to think and just do some hard labor I am just a short 45 minute drive from munford. In 45 minutes I can go work in a barn, just cleaning or I can go to some woods and cut down some firewood for the house and to sell. I seem to get alot of my thinking done when I am doing repetitive hard labor and can just be by myself and enjoy the solitude. A happy life for me is one where I can work hard physically but enjoy the fast paced life of the city is that too much to ask?

Playing catchup (sun studio/nathan bedford forest park)

I thought the sun studio tour was intersting as much as it was funny. The tour guide knew his information and even though I have grown up in memphis and love music I pretty much have no idea the extent to which it goes. Everyone knows the famous one, Johnny Cash and Presley to name a few but even then I barely know any of Elvis's music and the only reason I know Cash is because I've been listening to it for as long as my parents have been funneling it through their tape player. Even though I learned a good bit of information sun studio it hasn't really pressed me to learn more. The only thing I wanted to learn more about on this trip was the city itself. Since I have started this class I have learned more about the city itself. I have never been to beale until this class or even midtown. As far as the trip to Nathan Bedford forest park, the question that persisted the most was; why is the park under so much controversy? It isn't like it is in the middle of a massive park, and it isn't like it isn't in the middle of a major part if memphis and other than the history that is behind the man. I do not see the reason for the controversy.

not elmwood

I had fun at Elmwood, but since I just wrote my reflector article on it, I really don't feel like saying anymore on the subject. Instead I am going to write about my upcoming trip to the Czech Republic. I'm really excited because I've always been interested in photography and I will finally get a chance to start developing a new skill in an environment full of wonderful subjects and a conclave of professional photographers that I will have the privilege of interacting with. This was also the perfect excuse for me to splurge on a professional camera. Initially I found the mix up with my plans to go to Italy quite irritating, but since become just as excited to about my expedition to Prague. One event I am particularly looking forward to is our visit to a museum made of bones. some might consider it a bit creepy, but I think its actually pretty wonderful. Why are all the most intriguing things buried? Everyone with the least bit of curiosity has some kind of interest with death. It is, after all the only thing no one can speak on with certainty. I am a bit worried about the thieves. Half of the time I'm stumbling around in my own world and these thieves are supposed to be able to steal from the most cautious travelers with out rising suspicion. I'm also a little worried about the Icelandic volcano that has already caused some disturbances in airline schedules. Keep your fingers crossed that the volcano calms down.

The Brad Watson Reading

Overall, I suppose the event was a success. We did, after all, hear a literary reading by a short story writer. But the small things do add up. I liked the author's literary style. His almost plain linguistics were somehow molded into a very articulate model of how literature should be written. He was very plain, very controlled, not at all what I was expecting from the author of a book titled "Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives." My complaints would all be geared toward the way the event was held. The chairs were small, hard and uncomfortable. I'm sure that the author was less than pleased to have his reading interspersed with squeaks and creaks from chairs as his uncomfortable listeners shifted. Also, with the sun beating down from just behind where he was standing, the audience was forced to sit blinded in the heat. This is twice now that the facilities of Burkes Books have proven less than adequate. They really do need a larger store.
On a separate note, dinner at Celtic Crossing was a treat. The food could have been better, but the company couldn't. I thoroughly enjoyed eating, drinking, and discussing poetry with my intellectual peers. I think my favorite part of the night was getting to show my professor something on a poem he had chosen for us to elucidate. It's not often the student gets to do the teaching.