From: artbutcher

Please Stop With the Emails and the Texts

yes i won the wingoff
yes i hosted the wingoff that i won
yes i handpicked the judges
i picked judges that would be objective
see after several years
i began to see hamlett and alan
for what they really are
cheats
i am not saying
i am just saying
but i will say this

they were not judges

and

i won the wingoff

oh and here are some reviews
of some of our favorite
memphis people
young at art
may not be an appropriate title
as some of these peoples
were slanging their wares on the corners
before avon barksdale
was even famous


oh yeah
i went and saw
west side story last night
pepe was beautiful
one of the shark girls wasnt wearing any underwear
that was exciting
she was one of the few
out of high school

i think there is some behind the scene romances going on
that should be a new reality series
the theatre peoples that do it with each other
because your god knows
the art people aint doing it with each other
actually
the art people aint doing it with anyone
poor art people

poor art people
poor people that read this blog
i have to end this post now
as i just had
what some would call
a breakthrough
i can not post
what i just wrote
as it is probably
that greatest thing i have ever written
and i have to save it
save it for my may show
i know may is along way away
but believe me
it is worth the wait
and on the bright side
you will probably forget
all about this blog post before may
and you will still think
it is the greatest thing ever
that is how fucking hot it is
here is a list of people that i mention
in the rest of this post that you will not read
but will hear about in nine months

the georgia
david lusk
anna "cowboy bright" rossi
steve cohen
emily walls
taurus "from fifth grade"
marjorie baker
john weeden
carissa's stuffed cabbage
the judge
kilgore trout
anita "the first black girl i did it with"
richard deacon
matt saunders
otto berchem
richard prince
and eddie vedder

Posted by dwayne

From: The Chockleys

Generation Gap

A couple of months ago, some coworkers and I attended a brainstorming session with a few of the ad wizards from Red Deluxe. Much of the discussion revolved around marketing to "Millennials," which is a fancy term for Generation Y, the group immediately following my beloved Generation X. During that meeting, as we discussed texting and IMing and online shopping and cynicism, I looked smugly around the room at all the Baby Boomers and thought, "Yeah, Gen X can hang. We know about that stuff." I may be (almost) 35, but I'm not totally out of it.

Or so I thought. After learning about what market research had to say about these kids, I started observing them a little more closely. On the surface, things didn't look so different. Then, in quick succession, I had an email exchange with one twentysomething and an IM exchange with another that suddenly alerted me to the main issue separating X from Y.

Grammar.

Now don't get me wrong- it's not that the Millennials sound like cavemen, or that the MTV generation speaks only the Queen's English. No, when we talk to each other it's all the same. The difference comes when we try to communicate in the aforementioned cool, hip ways. That’s when I realize just how out of touch I am.

Gen Y: how was your weekend
Gen X: Mom kept the kids Saturday night, so Chip and I went out to dinner. Then we got stuck sitting next to a table full of kids!
Gen Y: haha thats crazy. where did you go

It’s worth noting that most of my texting and IM activity involves other people my age. We craft carefully worded sentences, full of punctuation and capitals, and even correct ourselves if a typo slips through. Sure, we throw in a BRB or LOL every now and again- we’re not opposed to acronyms. We spent most of high school writing notes (an old-fashioned precursor to texting) that included phrases like BFF and LYLAS. But we also started each note with ’Sup- not sup- because we demanded an apostrophe to hold the place of those dropped letters.

Thirtysomething: You can work a desk job while he works on becoming a professional photographer.
That's my plan, but with writign.
Me: You're off to a good start there.
Thirtysomething: Ha! I misspelled "writing."

The Millennials don’t have these standards. They zoom through an instant message without so much as an accidental brush against the shift key. No apostrophes, no capitals, no shame. In a recent attempt to hold my own with someone younger, I tried to type in the style of the day- a bunch of letters, no punctuation- but found that I couldn’t. I would try so hard to not hit the shift key, but then accidentally I would, and it looked even more dorky that some words were correct and some weren’t, so I went back and edited the IM so that it was uniformly wrong. Are you kidding me? I quickly went back to my normal patterns. I'm sure the youngster I was chatting with was picturing a gray-haired old lady typing away on my end, but that’s just how it will have to be. I can't give up my commas.

It’s hard to believe I have children who are even younger than the Millenials. What will their catchy nickname be? How will Red Deluxe market to them? Will they grow up using apostrophes? One thing is for certain- I will have to work pretty hard to stay a step ahead of them. It’s clear that I’m already falling way behind.

Posted by Stephanie

From: Paul Ryburn's Journal

BBQ Fest rumors

All right, below are the rumors I’ve heard about BBQ Fest. Keep in mind that all of the below are RUMORS and not anything I’ve confirmed with Memphis in May:

- The festival will be downsized next year. This one is almost certainly true, as construction will begin on Beale Street Landing, and that will cut into the amount of space they have available at Tom Lee Park.

- In order to compensate for the reduced space, the rumor is that MIM plans to reduce the number of teams. I keep hearing that they intend to eliminate some of the smaller teams. Not sure if that means just the Patio Porkers, who are by definition smaller teams, or if it extends to the smaller teams competing in the Big Three (shoulder, ribs, whole hog) as well.

- Another rumor is that they plan to make it more corporate, and one way they plan on doing this and also getting rid of the smaller teams is to raise entry fees considerably. I’ve heard the number $5,000 thrown around more than one time, but again, that is all hearsay. In one case I heard $15,000. The idea, I’ve been told, is to raise it to a number high enough where it would be very hard to enter without heavy corporate sponsorship.

- Another rumor is that they want to make it more of an international competition, with teams from the US and around the world. Therefore, it’s been rumored that the competition will become an invitation-only event, with some current teams grandfathered in and with teams who finished near the top in previous years’ competition receiving automatic bids.

- There’s also a new governing body that sanctions the contests, Memphis Barbeque Network. Prior to the first of 2008, Memphis in May was its own sanctioning body. Rumor is that since MIM wants the event to be more reflective of a world championship, they’re going to start inviting teams from other circuits, e.g. KCBS, FBA, etc. Problem is those circuits are a completely different format, don’t do on-site judging, and don’t cook MIM-style BBQ anyway.

Again, all just rumors, but I’ve heard this so many times (and a couple of times, from people connected to the aforementioned Memphis Barbeque Network) that I figured it deserved to be posted. If these rumors are incorrect, Memphis in May deserves the chance to refute them.

If this turns out to be true, it sounds like MIM is going to royally screw up one of the best festivals ever. Hate to see it happen to one of my favorite tube top-watching events of the year. Perhaps Memphians will react by boycotting their other events, Music Fest and Sunset Symphony, en masse.

Will keep you posted as I hear more. E-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com if you’ve got anything.

From: Born-Again Hippies

To: God, Re: George Carlin

Dear Lord,
Please look after the soul of one George Carlin, who probably passed customs and should be coming your way about now. I know he vehemently denied Your existence, going so far as to say, "There is no God, none, never was," but I know these folks are your favorite kind. Besides, any one soul who brought so much laughter and cheer to so many others is deserving of favor, and he was merely railing against the God he was taught about in Catholic school, rather than the God he talked about in his act; "The Big Electron," The Sun, Joe Pesci. His indignation was about organized religion's version of God; the vengeful, white bearded, invisible man in the sky who's spying on you all the time and who decides the outcome of athletic events. But anyone as observant and perceptive as George Carlin saw the larger frame surrounding the smaller picture, so he never claimed to be an atheist, just a pragmatist. And anyway Lord, he's already been in front of one Supreme Court.

My friends and I who grew up in the sixties thought George Carlin was the funniest man alive. After his first album release, teenagers were quoting from his routines, like "The Wild Willy West Show on Radio WINO, (Wonderful WINO, in Western Walla Walla)," or "Al Sleet, your Hippie Dippy Weatherman, (Today's high? Whenever I get up)." When the times grew turbulent, we were delighted to see Carlin take off the coat and tie and grow his hair long. He was one of us, and he was still funnier than hell, deconstructing language and pointing out oxymorons like Jumbo Shrimp, and Military Intelligence, so that you can't hear some absurd phrase without thinking of him. How many times has someone thought, "That would be a good one for George Carlin?"

And the older he got, the more outrageous he became, and we loved him for it. No subject was beyond examination; Cats and Dogs, Baseball and Football, Religion, Advertising, and a lot of humor that was just plain crude. But God, could he make you hold-your-sides laugh. After he became famous for his "Seven Words" routine, he updated the list on his next HBO special, unrolling a long scroll and naming in rapid fire diction every slang term ever used for any known body part or bodily function, and I was left, doubled over in the chair, gasping for breath. But he was also a deep thinker, and agree or not, he could provoke you to consider another point of view. He claimed he didn't do political humor, but his comedy was deeply political and often radical. Lenny Bruce may have opened the door, but it was Carlin who came through.

I heard Jerry Seinfeld say that Carlin recently spoke of being relieved that this season's current death wave seemed to have passed him by, but he ended as part of a troika with Bo Diddley and Tim Russert anyway. I think he might have liked the company because, although the three men excelled in vastly different arenas, they all shared a singular defining passion about what they did. But Carlin's sudden death was similar to when Johnny Carson died; there was no time in advance to consider a life without him. You could prepare for Richard Pryor, but Carlin? And in the middle of this political season so rich with humor? He didn't "pass away," or "expire, like a magazine subscription." He up and died.

If I said that I feel like I lost an old friend yesterday, George Carlin would have thoroughly mocked that, since we were never in the same area code, so far as I know. In the 1984 HBO show, "Carlin on Campus," George said, "I believe in live and let live, and if anybody doesn't believe that, we'll take him outside and shoot the motherfucker." (Excuse me Lord, that was one of the seven). On this occasion he might say, "Go ahead back to your blog (and he would make exaggerated belching noises since the word is funny), and if it makes you feel any better to write a little something about me, have at it." So I did. And I will remember George Carlin with gales of laughter, and hope he is now in the process of being pleasantly surprised. In the name of Joe Pesci, we all say....

Amen

Posted by Sputnik57

From: BEEB

Earnestine & hazel's

Earnestine & hazel's, originally uploaded by medusahead.

After the photo shoot...and the soul burger.

Posted by Melissa

From: My Midtown Memphis

Crispin Glover at Black Lodge and new coffee shop in Crosstown area

Crispin Glover, the really creepy/interesting actor, will be making a few appearances at Black Lodge Video later this summer. Here is the info from Black Lodge themselves......

We are proud to announce probably a once in a lifetime event for most of us....

An Evening with Crispin Hellion Glover. He will bring his traveling 1 man show to Memphis for 3 nights only on August 5th, 6th, & 7th.

You will be be able to hear him speak, and see 2 of the films from his 'It' trilogy that Crispin wrote, directed, and funded. Followed by a Q&A with Crispin, and a booksigning will bring the evening to a close.
This section below is a rather "enthusiastic" summary of Glovers roles over the years. George McFly from Back to the Future is my favorite...
The dark clouds of mediocrity forever looming over the city of Memphis will part for 3 days in August. We warmly welcome Rubin Farr (Rubin and Ed), Layne (River's Edge), Cousin Dell (Wild at Heart), Willard Stiles, Andy Warhol (The Doors), Jimmy from Friday 13th pt. 3, Danny (Lynch's Hotel Room), Arlo (The People Vs. Larry Flint), the ominous train passenger from Dead Man, Lucas (At Close Range), Roy (Nurse Betty), Bartleby ("), and George Mcfly! into our seconds from suicide lives for a few days.

The entire event will take place at the Palace Cinema off of Summer Ave. on Old Summer Road. 5117 Old Summer Rd. to be exact. It's the theatre that used to be the old Fare 4. Right next to the now burned and closed roller rink if anyone's memory goes back that far. They have been very cooperative and supportive with the organization of this event. We're very pleased with their accomodations, and extremely grateful for their participation.

Due to the strong adult themes and just general slightly messed up nature of his 2 films being screened, you must be 18 years of age to enter the event. NO EXCEPTIONS.

We'll release the ticket price and the date they'll start being sold soon. TICKETS WILL ONLY BE SOLD AT BLACK LODGE VIDEO. You won't be able buy tixs for this at the Palace Cinema. If you'll be coming in from out of town to this, email me here in as much advance as possible, and we'll work something out in getting you your tickets.

And we'll give you the same disclaimer for the event we were given by him. IF between now and then he's offered an acting job or something else he can't turn down and it forces him to cancel the dates- he will most definitely make up whatever dates missed.


So I don't live in the Evergreen neighborhood anymore, but I still think that's one of the nicer neighborhoods in the city, so I like to keep up with things there if I can. There is a little bar on the corner of Watkins and Overton Park that has been a variety of things over the last few years. The first thing I remember it as was a restaurant called Lupe and Bea's, then it was Club XYZ for a few years and was home to the CRAZIEST bathroom ever in existence (it basically looked like you were Alice falling down the rabbit hole), and most recently it was an AA meeting house. Well according to my sources it's now going to be a neighborhood coffee house called The Edge. Should be open soon and it's a great addition to the neighborhood. I hope they keep the bathroom like it used to be.

Posted by Ryan

From: Midtown Stomp - A Memphis Wine Journal

Wine Tasting

This just in:

Joe's Wines next big tasting will be held at the Vine, 1819 Madison on Thursday June 26th, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Cost to attend is $35 per person. They will be pouring a selection of wines from around the world, with each station focusing on a particular region (Austria, Washington, California, etc....) If you would like to purchase tickets, please stop in the store, 1681 Poplar or call 901.725.4252. With gas prices so high, why not skip your vacation & come to a wine tasting instead?

From: The Gates of Memphis

RDCRSSFTW!

The Riverfront Development Corporation has a new web site. It looks good and, more importantly, it's built on a dynamic, open-source backend -- the Wordpress blogging platform -- and has RSS turned on.

This is a progressive float forward for the Riverfront folk.

Hopefully they'll add an event feed for their calendar soon. And I bet Wordpress will allow them to map previous web pages to their new locations, so they don't lose any of their Google Juice.

(Geekery, yes, but systems are possibilities. If you have a web site that is so static that you need a programmer to update, you won't update it much unless you're a web programmer. No updates mean little communication which means less promotion and less transparency. Of course, you still have to update but for those inclined not to communicate, Wordpress takes away the ease of use excuse.)

I hereby nominate the person(s) who made this happen to tweet, blog and lead the RDC master planning process.

From: Dining With Monkeys

Lemongrass Sushi and Thai--Nashville

Thanks to Steph for keeping DWM cosmopolitan!

Lemongrass Sushi and Thai
7108 Hwy 70 South
Nashville, TN

During a recent trip to Nashville, we were trying to figure out an interesting place to go for Saturday lunch that would satisfy the palates of both my vegetarian in-laws and my chicken-nuggetarian son. (Our other restriction was that we didn’t want Mexican, since we already had sweet potato burritos planned for the next day.) My mother-in-law came up with the perfect solution: Lemongrass, a Thai and Sushi restaurant that was located directly behind a McDonald’s!

Chip and I hit the drive-thru and then joined the rest of the family at the restaurant. It was clear from the minute we walked in that this place was a little too sterile for our children. Their simple greeting of “Mom! Dad! McDonald’s!” reverberated through the nearly empty dining room. “Inside voices!” I stage-whispered, for the first of about a thousand times. But even my stage whisper seemed loud in this place, so I tried not to worry too much about it.

The kids went about the task of clogging their arteries while the rest of us looked over the menu. One side was all Thai food, and the other all Japanese. It was hard to decide! My in-laws both picked something Thai featuring tofu, but I didn’t catch exactly what. Roy liked his better than Sherri liked hers, that’s all I can really tell you. They also got an order of spicy tuna rolls, which were delicious. Chip ordered a sushi sampler platter, which featured simple rolls made with very fresh ingredients. I got a crabstick and an avocado nigiri from the a la carte sushi menu, and Pad Thai noodles with chicken from the other side of the menu. All of it was great. Chloe tried the tofu, ate all the avocado nigiri, and had a significant helping of the pad thai noodles. For the Thai dishes we ordered, they brought us a selection of spices, peppers and oils so that we could tailor the heat in each dish to our individual tastes. This also provided the afternoon’s entertainment, since Chip ate some sort of pepper that almost caused his head to explode. Hee!

But aside from the food, how was the experience? Well, our waiter was definitely new and more than a little on the slow side. Since it was kind of a quiet restaurant, my kids’ normal voices really stood out. By the end of the meal, made a bit too long by our slow server, my kids really seemed disruptive. If we had been in a noisy chain restaurant they would have blended in fine, but in this environment their restlessness was really conspicuous. However, since it was a Saturday afternoon and the service was iffy, I didn’t feel guilty about it. The kids did the best they could.

I’d speak to the prices, but my generous father-in-law picked up the tab so I don’t really know if it was reasonable or not. (From what I remember of the menu, nothing seemed too expensive.) Lemongrass is definitely a place we will visit again. There is something for everyone to enjoy, even if some of it came from the drive-thru next door.

From: only in Memphis

Homie Depo

This city has so many great small businesses. Special thanks to Fudge for finding this one on Summer Avenue.
Homie Depo shares a parking lot with Taqueria Guadalupana. That way you can get your taco on after you shop for some hoochie wear.

Posted by Melvis

From: The Soundcheck & the Fury

Wands for hands: a novel excerpt

A bit from my novel, "The Very Last Night." Tammy Miles is talking about her girl, Lucy, the pale, plain-faced, skinny-as-a-broomstick girl who has Billy Heavens mesmerized down in the nothing-doing Mississippi town of Roost:

Tammy Miles waved her cigarette like a child with a sparkler. She was smiling and laughing, telling Miss Annie about Lucy.

“She’s tall and skinny like her daddy and wild like her mama and she’s got my love for fancy ways of saying things but she’s her own thing, too. She got things in her we didn’t put there. She’s tougher than me. She can fend. She don’t fold. I seen her slug boys and separate fighting dogs, one about to maul the other and Lucy just reached in and said something sharp – she’s got a mouth on her, my girl – and they just stopped what they was doing. Lucy, Lucy. You can see clear to her bones how tough she is. She’s skinny and plain faced and she knows it, but it’s like she’s got wands for hands, the way she can cast a spell. She can make even dirt poor Mississippi a place worth living – if you know where to look. She knows. She got leads on buried treasure and towns that was lost to history. Can even pick a lock, my girl! Ain’t so hot on boys, leastways she ain’t found one that she likes in that special sort of way. She’s particular that way. I never was.”

Tammy Miles sighed. She snuffed one cigarette and lit another and watched the flame on the match until it liked to burn her fingers. She let it burn, a little. She didn’t know why. The frown on her face looked like a prop from some dramatic staging of a lesser tragedy.

Posted by David Williams

The Pesky Fly

The Courtship of Eddie's Hulk Father

Nobody

Makes

The Movies

I want to see

ever.

sigh...

posted by PeskyFly

From: 55-40 Memphis

Summer hiatus

Like I've said before: There certainly will be racism. But when it appears, it will be called out vigorously and quickly. Sexism, as we have seen, would be chuckled at and dismissed as a guys-will-be-guys thing.

That is one big reason why Barack Obama was, and is, more electable than Hillary Clinton. It's amazing to me that TGW never saw the incongruousness of decrying all the misogyny and sexism, yet still claiming that she was the more electable.

It's going to be a long, cathartic summer. If racism bubbles to the surface (as indeed it will) and gets fully examined and openly discussed, rather than pushed down and buried for the sake of PC, that's a very good thing. We could achieve more progress in the coming months than in all of the 40 years since Martin died.

There has never been a better time to elect our first black president, and there was never a better candidate to be the first. I didn't feel that way in 2006 or 2007. I do now.

With that thought, I am going on summer hiatus.

From: Secret Agent Mom

Hundalasiliah!

I was just going to do a straight-forward Top 50, but a) that's a nearly impossible task in light of 30+ years of recording, and b) I can't resist an opportunity for at least a little exposition. And so, in honor of Mr. Nelson's 50th birthday, I present
Ten Top Fives About Prince Songs!

I. Five Partyingest Songs
5. Trust
4. D.M.S.R.
3. 1999
2. Housequake
1. Let's Go Crazy

II. Five Least Embarrassing Political and/or Spiritual Songs
5. Planet Earth
4. The Cross
3. 4 The Tears In Your Eyes
2. Pop Life
1. Sign O' The Times

III. Five Filthiest Songs (Darling Nikki barely makes the Top Ten, Mrs. Gore)
5. 319
4. Head
3. Sexy M.F.
2. Erotic City
1. Come

IV. Five Loveliest Songs
5. I Wish U Heaven
4. Still Would Stand All Time
3. Take Me With U
2. The Arms of Orion
1. Forever In My Life

V. Five Least Justifiably Popular Songs
5. Batdance
4. Diamonds and Pearls
3. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World
2. Cream ("Sh-boogie-bop?" Seriously?)
1. U Got The Look

VI. Five Saddest Songs
5. Condition Of The Heart
4. When U Were Mine
3. Purple Rain
2. Nothing Compares 2 U
1. Sometimes It Snows In April

VII. Five Kid-Friendliest Songs
5. Uh ...
4. Hm ...
3. Er ...
2. Um ...
1. Starfish and Coffee!

VIII. Five Sexiest Songs
5. When 2 R In Love
4. Superfunkycalifragisexy
3. Hot Thing
2. Anotherloverholenyohead
1. Adore

IX. Five Funniest Songs
5. Vicki Waiting (there's an entire joke!)
4. Glam Slam '91
3. Mr. Goodnight
2. Alphabet St.
1. Bob George

X. Five Songs I Cannot Control The Urge To Sing Along To, Down To Every Exclamatory Noise, Not Already Mentioned Above
5. Raspberry Beret
4. The 1 U Wanna C
3. Little Red Corvette
2. I Would Die 4 U/Baby I'm A Star (required to be played in succession)
1. I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man

Happy birthday to a hometown hero and permanent musical companion. Every stage of my life has had Prince on the soundtrack.



The astute observer will notice that there are a number of albums not represented on this list. That's because those albums are either shamefully forgettable and/or were released during the post-Crystal Ball period when Prince and I were not on speaking terms. We worked it out, though.

From: Squirrel Squad Squeeks

Memphis Farmers Market June Dinner

The June dinner celebrating and supporting the Memphis Farmers Market will be on Sunday, June 22, at Circa by John Bragg. The five course dinner is $65 plus tax and gratuity. The menu looks fantastic, plus 30% of the proceeds go to the Memphis Farmers Market.

Market-Fresh Field Greens and Herb Salad
with Curry-Fried Oyster
Kuentz-Bas, Gewürztraminer 2005, Alsace, France
Iconic grape, intoxicating perfume and spice

Roast Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Jumbo Lump Crab Salad
Minet, Pouilly-Fumé 2005, Loire River, France
Pure, refined, dry French Sauvignon Blanc; zesty, flinty, flowing flavors

Neola Farms Beef Short Ribs Chasseur
Raymond “R” Collection, Merlot 2005, St. Helena, California
Full, fleshy, with classic black cherry and boysenberry flavors

Selected Cheeses from Bonnie Blue Farm
Verget du Sud, South-West France
Plump, time honored blend of Grenache and Syrah

Farmers Market Inspired Dessert Creation — Surprise!
Banfi “Rosa Regale” Brachetto d’Acqui 2005, Piedmont, Italy
Aromatic with a hint of rose petals and raspberries, marries well with chocolate, vivacious and aromatic

Posted by Papa Squirrel

From: artbutcher

I am Trilingual

i went to a mexican restaurant in berlin
and seemed to somehow order my meal
in three different languages
all the same breath

Ich hatte gern uno dos equis cerveza with a lime und eine mineralvasser mit gas and the mexicana con pollo, bitte.

it rolled off the tounge with such ease
as if i were taking
english I
spanish I
german I
all at the same time at a university in china

i got everything i ordered
just like i ordered

the images are a view out the window of the restaurant
which is the gas station across the street
from the hotel we stayed at
and of course
the cerveza

Posted by dwayne

From: theology&geometry

While you were sweating

Holy hell, it got humid fast. I don't care if "quickly" is preferred standard English grammar there or not. When you're talking about humidity, you spit the words out and get it over with and then go back inside and take a bath in iced tea.

Mmmm, iced tea.

Anyway, I would like to sit and write and write about lots of different things, but my eyes are still dilated from the eye doctor this morning and I can't focus on the damn screen. The good news is that my vision hasn't gotten worse in a year and a half. That's unheard of for me. So I may finally be stable enough to consider Lasik. Which means that if I am in a plane crash and get stranded on an island, I won't be the weakest link because I lost a fucking contact lens during the crash. (I know I'm only on the second season of Lost, so maybe that plot device is yet to come, but seriously — where are all my vision-impaired brothers and sisters who would be up the proverbial shit creek were they to land on an island with a pair of broken glasses or no spare contacts? Yes, these are the things I think about when I watch that show.)

More good news: Yesterday I came in to work only to find out that I'd won a Scripps quarterly design award. Yee haw! I got a certificate and everything. I'm pretty proud. I've had a lot of help this year and been given a lot of freedom to create some pretty cool designs, so I'm really thankful for that. Here are the pages that clinched the win:



Apparently the judges really liked the tornado A1. We were sure to include the backstory with the description of the page. (That was the night we had to hoof it to the basement twice and lost at least an hour of production time and they still expected us to meet our regular deadlines. Oh, and it was Super effing Tuesday, too.)