Newscoma

There are ridges in Whites Creek.The fall leaves make the sides of the hills look like they are on fire which is a beautiful sight to see, I assure you.

The grocery store is smaller than the one in Hoots, and though I’ve already been to Tony’s Foodland twice, I’ve already had conversations with lovely people stocking the shelves and the lady this morning who had to enter roughly nine coupons as Squirrel Queen and I waited patiently. (Sidenote, I needed a toothbrush because I shared mine with Mrs. Wigglebottom, whom I would share pretty much anything with as I adore her.)

There is a place down the road called the Blarney Stone Pub and Grill. After work yesterday, SQ and I headed there to pick up some sort of appetizer as we hadn’t eaten. The grill was somewhat of misnomer as the burly bartender said to us, and I quote, “We may have some grill stuff later on when momma gets here about 6:00.”

How can you not be smitten with his honesty.

He was busy watching Jerry Springer with the regulars, one whom they called Hot Dog, who sat quietly and drank a Mountain Dew. Another man in a trucker’s hat was grumbling at the screen about hookers (which I believe was the employment choice of one of the women in the episode.) On the wall, there was a score of 100 for how clean this place was. Even the ashtrays had the paint on the bottom of them scrubbed off to clean perfection.

You never know what you are going to find. Especially when you aren’t looking for anything in particular, sometimes you can find special, wonderful things.

Squirrel Queen and I headed off to see what else The Creek had to offer as we waited on our kind and generous hostess Aunt B. to return from a day at the mines. (Because, you know, Aunt B. works in the coalmines of Nashville. You didn’t know that?)

The next stop was a place called Friends. SQ was hesitant to go inside but I’m always up to see what is what so she conceded to check it out.

“HEY FRIEEEENDS!” a man shouted from the back of room. Thus the name, I assume. I must say that this place is one that my pal Dirk Diggler would probably put a stamp of approval on as he loves juke joints as much as I do. We learned within about 10 minutes his name was Barney. What a lovely man he was as he showed off his place of business. He owned the joint and welcomed everyone who entered the door. Friends is a place that is much larger than it looks and  he asked us to play pool.

“My girlfriend is in the back,” he grinned. “She can make you something to eat.”

We were going to Ri’chards a bit later, so we declined the offer but his enthusiasm still remains with me today. I have no idea why I’m somewhat in love with places like Friends. Maybe it was Barney’s wonderful greeting as we opened the door. As we left, Barney was helping a woman who was on crutches prop her foot up on a stool so she would be comfortable.

Ri’chards is hidden away with a carefree joie de vivre atmosphere that has history that B. can tell you regarding The James Gang. Of course, any place with that kind of story is very groovy in the book of Coma. The beignets were scrumptious and being that I’m annoying to my buddy, Smiley. I sent him a picture of them because they were amazing. I’ve never known a food critic before, so I find that is my job to tell him of things that he most likely already knows about. I’m always behind on the food learning curve, campers. And Nashville Restaurants has a review here if you are so inclined.

As you can tell, I’m kind of in love with Whites Creek this morning. Not to leave any stone unturned, SQ and I had breakfast at Big Mama’s Kitchen before I headed into the day job. All I can say is : YES. We apparently met Big Mama, who is only open in the day hours. The small cafe was filled with a hodge-podge of antiques that made the place warm and inviting. She was a slight woman and talked to us of small towns, my T-shirt (I was wearing the picture of a local milling company from Hoots) and asked us to return for lunch, where the plate of the day is smothered tenderloin. Her smile was vibrant.

And, the Tiny Cat likes me, as I like her. (Bloggers from around the state are introducing me to the world of cats. I am becoming a cat convert.)

I fall in love too easily, don’t I?

I have laughed until I cried over this one from Probably Bad News.

Don't Drink In Front Of The Bird, It Makes The Dog Mad

It’s the little things that give me so much joy.

I am sitting in Chez Coma sneezing as the end of Harvest has kidnapped my nose and is holding it hostage. Oh hay bales, you mysterious intertwined bundles of hell that kidnap my soul each year.

On the other hand, dear farmers of Hoots, thanks for feeding all of us because that is cool.

I have been thinking a lot about getting older this weekend. I guess it’s allowed sometimes. My late mother’s birthday was on Nov. 8th. I usually have a bit of a mortality check around this time of the year. On the way to Nashville, I noticed there is so much more gray in my hair than I even realized.

Now here’s the big secret. I love it.

I think it’s sexy and groovy. I don’t mind that I’m getting older. Yeah, I don’t heal as fast I used to but I’ve  earned everyone of those bad boys by being a complete spaz for the last 44 years.

I think it’s glorious.

Now with that said, you freakin’ kids get off my lawn, I need a nap.

I love this painting.

Love, Newscoma

On to the story of where I saw this. I’ve been fortunate enough over the last few years to be invited by wonderful friends to attend Artrageous in Nashville. We always have a wonderful time as we roll through the streets of Nashville looking at some very impressive art. Now, I’m just going to say it, my friends Badger and Squirrel Queen, who flirted with getting a degree in art history back in the day, know a hell of a lot more about art than I do.

I like what I like and that’s about it on my level of art appreciation. I appreciate art, but occasionally I see something that moves me.

And this piece of art got me from the Rymer Gallery.

Gabriel Mark - Dionysis & Ariadine Oil on panel 48" x 36"

I have no idea why certain pieces of art affects people differently. I think my favorite part of this painting is the man at the bar, working and oblivious to the interaction of the couple drinking margaritas.

That’s the beauty of Artrageous, it raises money for Nashville Cares and it’s a wonderful time where people just come together and have a good time. You get to see so many different artists presenting their work and theircreative efforts being appreciated and enjoyed. Could I ever afford this painting? The answer, unless the lottery gods look down on me and decide that I need a huge amount of money, is no.

But I don’t need to own it.

I just need to dig it. And I do.

Holy CRAP!

I just realized it’s almost Thanksgiving, that this year is almost over and I still dress badly.

Hold me.

There are a few things about Hoots that make me smile. On Friday, I met up with  Realtor Mom, The Engineer, The Grad Student (who soon will no longer be a grad student but a Grad) and KK for awhile where we laughed and joked around about life in general.

Then I saw Dirk Diggler, who is still going to take me to see the dog grave and who tells stories better than anyone.Please encourage Dirk to get a camera because he needs one to take the various sundry things that he only sees.  I want to write about the time he met Grandpa Jones (which is hysterical and sweet) but I don’t want to bork it up because it is so good.

I am proud to also announce that Squirrel Queen has covered her last football game of Aught Nine and will be taking a few days off to rest her weary bones.

All of these things have had me thinking about connections. The Internet is great but one-on-one conversations about various things are really nifty. Without these  social outings, I couldn’t tell you about Mr. Jimmy or describe the rolled eyes from people I know when I talk about taking pictures of toys in bars.

I talked to Vibinc yesterday, who is in Miami on the road, and I think he’s more than ready to come home. I have had jobs where I traveled before and personally I like them, but I also don’t know what it’s like to be on the road for weeks on end either. If you are in Memphis, let me tell you something. A debate between Adrienne Pakis-Gillon and Brian Kelsey would be a good thing. As Democrats, do we really want this thing to go down without a fight? I say no.

I’m on the road next week myself. I actually need to be as I have felt a bit geographically challenged myself. And for those of you that have been interested in the Rural Broadband story below, I’ll keep updating you on what I’m learning if you are interested.

No real words of wisdom (when do I ever have those) but that life is as groovy as we allow it to be.

One last thing, if you blog, go look at faintgraylines‘ picture. It is pretty accurate, don’t you think.

I haven’t really done an AAP lately mainly due to the fact that I meet some very interesting people and it’s hard to know where to start.

I think today I might hit up one of my bromances to go and find the picture of the dog that was buried with his master that has on glasses. Why, you may ask? Because it’s just one of those things I need to do where I don’t feel like I’m going nuts. I love Hoots but there are times that I feel very geographically challenged. It’s part of it, you know, but it’s not like I can just pack up the PT and head to parts unknown.

If you were wondering what I’ve been doing lately other than avoiding all the news coverage of Carrie Prejean (who had replaced Jon and Kate for annoying me during my television news time), I’ve been studying up on broadband access to rural counties.

Guys, if you don’t live in your very own Hoots, it might not make a difference. As I do live in a Hoots, it’s extremely important to understand how this is a big deal to those of us here. I went to a meeting last week sponsored by the Businator and listened to some very important developments (and how communities need to be working together) in bringing access to places that may not have it. This is a multi-level affair. One, manufacturing booms are over and have been in west Tennessee for more than 40 years. We have too much offshore (and we even discussed sending our technical intellectual property over seas. Dumb, America, very dumb to just save a little dough.) That’s changing though. I’ll get into that later.

The thing is that the best way to bring an area up by their bootstraps is to look into new ideas and see where they will be in 20 years, not in 20 days. We are a society that thinks short-term a lot of times. If we can look at the positives we have, cultivate entrepreneurship (and not beat people down with negatives or statements like “That’ll never work here”) then we might be able to find new possibilities.

Continue reading →

I occasionally walk into political discussions I want no part of. Usually this is due to the yelling and screaming, but the most infuriating part is when both parties in said “discussion” are saying the same thing.

Invariably, I’ll get the question “What do you think?”

Here’s what I think, cornholios. If you are yelling and screaming at each other, you aren’t listening to the other person. You are giving a monologue to an unwilling audience, who wants his/her’s time at center stage. And you don’t care what I think, quite frankly, you just want me to back you up. Ain’t going to happen in situations like this.  I’ll just take to a chair across the room and contemplate why I own no puppets and why catfish sort of freak me out. Important things like that.

You might find out, if you take one minute out to give the other person a chance to make their position that you have more in common than you thought.

Lou Dobbs has left CNN “to pursue other opportunities,” apparently unaware that standing on street corners yelling about big government and foreigners is kind of a crowded field.

The Shoebox Blog

As I have told you before, Squirrel Queen hates teaching me about nature. I know very little about the outdoorsy life and yet she thwarts my every attempt to learn more.

An average conversation usually begins with me asking what particular animal is lying “asleep” on the side of the road.

Me: What animal is that?

SQ: It’s a dinosaur.

Me: No, really what is it?

SQ: I’m sorry. It’s a penguin.

As you can see, there are issues.

SQ grew up on a farm. My grandfather had a couple of farms, but we never really went out there. I liked to name his cows back in the day after every character on Gilligan’s Island. He had black cows but if you ask me what kind of cows they were, I would come up blank. I know they were just cows although he did have one ginger-colored cow that Homer, the sister, and I named imaginatively Ginger.

He also had chickens, which to this day freak me out. Not as bad as my irrational fear of catfish, but they tended to peck at you. Why did they peck at us? I do not know except that they did and they became my mortal enemy.

There is a beaver dam behind SQ’s mom’s house and I have demanded to go see it for upwards of 13 years now. She refuses to take me. I have never seen a dam before nor have I ever seen a beaver except for those rare occasions that they are “asleep” on the side of the road, which doesn’t count. Of course, the first time I saw an authentic, bonafide capybara at the Memphis Zoo, I sort of freaked out. I like capybaras but I did feel like I was in some sort of alternate universe the first time I saw one of those bad boys wandering around. I don’t think I would freak out if I saw a beaver unless it was holding a catfish.

Then there would be trouble.

There is no moral to the story here other than SQ refuses to share her animal knowledge with me.

I love it when my friends here in Hoots start groovy new blogs.