Memphis Flyer 12.8.22

SHARA CLARK Editor SAMUEL X. CICCI Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors TOBY SELLS Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor ABIGAIL MORICI Arts and Culture Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers

GENE GARD, ASHLEY INSONG, COCO JUNE, PATRICIA LOCKHART, FRANK MURTAUGH

Contributing Columnists

AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

BEASLEY

CARRIE

Senior Art Director CHRISTOPHER MYERS

Advertising Art Director NEIL WILLIAMS Graphic Designer

JERRY D. SWIFT

Advertising Director Emeritus KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, HAILEY THOMAS Senior Account Executives

MICHELLE MUSOLF Account Executive

CHET HASTINGS

Warehouse Facilitator

JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution

THE MEMPHIS FLYER

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I went to Walgreens a few days ago to buy toilet paper. I go for the store brand because it’s decent quality (not the unfortunate shred-while-you-pull-it-off-the-roll kind) and a decent price (not the costly who-pays-this-much-for-TP kind). I was happy to see the four-packs on sale for $1.99 instead of the usual $4.99, so I grabbed a few. Thing is though, the four-packs used to be six-packs. And pre-Covid, those store-brand sixpacks were $5.

Pondering this gave me flashbacks to the early days of the pandemic when everyone went insane over toilet paper — ordering in bulk online and clearing shelves in a frenzy as soon as stores restocked. I recall folks announcing on Facebook when they found the stuff, as if they’d struck gold, alerting the rest of us where we might find some if we went right now. Added to the stresses of a new deadly virus, the acquisition of masks, not knowing when it’d be safe to see our friends and family, and wondering if we should sanitize our groceries and mail, we now had to worry about what we were going to wipe with. I found myself counting squares and then painstakingly folding said squares into smaller squares to ration. (I’m still mad at y’all for that.) Rationing toilet paper. That’s so 2020.

That flashback reminded me of an article I read back then on medium.com. In “Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting,” author Julio Vincent Gambuto wrote: “ … as the country begins to figure out how we ‘open back up’ and move forward, very power ful forces will try to convince us all to get back to normal. … Billions of dollars will be spent on advertising, messaging, and television and media content to make you feel comfortable again.”

Everything that’s happened since 2020 has been like a smudge on glass. The timeline is so blurred, with a dotting of Covid variants to zap us back into confusion every now and then. It’s like 2021 didn’t even happen — it simply sits somewhere between The Collective Trauma and The Grand Reopening.

In that April 2020 essay, Gambuto also talked about a sort of awakening: “ … what the crisis has given us is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see ourselves and our country in the plainest of views. At no other time, ever in our lives, have we gotten the opportunity to see what would happen if the world simply stopped.

“… If we want to create a better country and a better world for our kids, and if we want to make sure we are even sustainable as a nation and as a democracy, we have to pay attention to how we feel right now.”

I listened closely to how I felt at that time. Took a lot of walks on quiet streets, made all my meals at home, adopted healthier habits, sat with the space and time to process all the big, loud feelings that surfaced. I believe a lot of us paid attention — to our personal lives, our jobs, the media, the healthcare community, the government response. We saw more clearly what was and wasn’t working — careers, relationships, societal structures.

Office meetings were traded for Zooms, birthday parties and graduations for drivethrough celebrations — no more hugs or handshakes. As the community sacrificed for the safety of others, solidarity grew. “Stay Home” and “Quaranteam” banners splashed across profile photos. When we weren’t affixed to clocks or schedules, we took up new hobbies, fought for causes, and protested injustices that stood exposed under the spotlight. A magnifying glass was held to the healthcare system, the economy, essential workers, and all the things that made the world tick.

But as we opened back up, we sought those missed comforts, flocking to restaurants, bars, and stores as if we’d been released from solitary confinement. As quickly as the empathy grew, it vanished. Now there were too many customers, not enough employ ees, longer wait times, product shortages, increased prices — camaraderie exchanged for complaining, selflessness for selfishness.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

POLITICS - 8

AT LARGE - 10

SPORTS - 11 COVER STORY

“WINTER ARTS GUIDE”

BY ABIGAIL MORICI - 12 WE RECOMMEND - 17

MUSIC - 18

AFTER DARK - 19 CALENDAR - 20

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 21

BOOKS - 23 ARTS - 24 FOOD - 25

NEWS OF THE WEIRD -26 ASTROLOGY - 27 FILM - 28

CLASSIFIEDS - 30 LAST WORD - 31

Now that “quarantine” and “lock down” are no longer part of our daily lan guage, you’ll still find me pausing on my walks to trace the veins on a fallen leaf. But the background’s noisier now. The grind outside is rougher somehow. Much like a colony of ants whose hill has been disturbed, we’re scrambling, trying to get back to a place — a “normal” — that no longer exists.

As I fold my laundry and glance at the stash of old masks hanging behind the dryer like some relic of the plague, I can’t help but think we’ve all just moved to pretending it never happened.

But it wasn’t just your imagination. We’ve all been lulled back to sleep. As we near a new year, remember how you felt when the world stopped. Let the alarm rouse you. Time to wake up.

Shara Clark shara@memphisflyer.com

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

Memphis on the internet. YO HO-HO-HO!

{FUTURIST

By Toby Sells

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Battery Belt, Hydrogen Hub

Tennessee will further ingrain itself in the Battery Belt and help develop a Southeast Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (H2Hubs) thanks to federal investments in clean energy.

Porch pirates are freely sailing the city’s holiday seas, if the wave of social posts are to be believed.

e Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will fund two major initiatives here to push battery manufacturing for electric cars and more, and make hydrogen power more accessible for consumers and businesses.

Worried about that 60-inch, plasma screen television you ordered on Cyber Monday? Amazon, UPS, FedEx, and USPS all allow you to direct your shipments to secure locations for pickups.

WALK LIKE THE …

e city nally got its NFL team last weekend in a YouTube video by e-sports gamer TDBarrett. In his virtual NFL season on Madden NFL 2023, the Carolina Panthers relocated to Memphis, led by quarterback Baker May eld. In their rst game, the Egyptians beat the LA Rams 28-3.

Tennessee is already well established in the emerging Battery Belt, with areas in the South and Midwest expected to get economic jolts from producing power cells for electric cars, homes, and power grids. Ford’s Blue Oval City will house on-site battery maker SK On to make the lithium-ion battery cells for Ford’s F-150 Lightning trucks. GM and LG Energy will build batteries in Spring Hill. Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant began assembling its all-electric ID.4 in July.

e

e IIJA contains $2.8 billion to support new and expanded facilities to process the raw materials (like lithium and graphite) for battery production. e bill also supports facilities to build battery components and nd ways to recycle battery components.

“Clean hydrogen hubs will create networks of hydrogen producers, consumers, and local connective infrastructure to accelerate the use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier that can deliver or store tremendous amounts of energy,” reads a statement from the U.S. Department of Energy about the program.

In 2003, then-President George W. Bush touted the future of the “hydrogen economy.” Some environmentalists claimed the speech was a greenwashing dodge to avoid tightening fuel economy standards. e tech — hydrogen fuel cells — existed, but the national infrastructure to deliver power for them did not. Not a nger, it seemed, was li ed in the country to forge Bush’s hydrogen economy.

“Producing advanced batteries and components here at home will accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to meet the strong demand for electric vehicles, creating more good-paying jobs across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said when the funds were announced in October.

ree Tennessee rms were awarded more than a collective $491 million from the government with private investment valued at a total of over $1.6 billion. Microvast, Novonix Anode Materials, and Piedmont Lithium — all in Middle or East Tennessee — won federal investment.

e funds were awarded as President Joe Biden launched his American Battery Materials Initiative. It aims to accelerate the development of the country’s battery supply chain.

e Tennessee Valley Authority announced last ursday it joined with other Southeastern utilities to respond to the federal government’s $8 billion e ort to develop H2Hubs.

California is, really, the only state with anything resembling real hydrogen infrastructure, with 62 retail hydrogen refueling stations open. e state has $10 billion in funding available to grow its hydrogen economy and plans, also, to compete for one of the federal H2Hub grants.

Making hydrogen o en (but not always) includes the use of fossil fuels, most commonly natural gas. However, when consumed in a fuel cell, hydrogen produces only water. is makes it attractive to utilities and others with de-carbonization goals.

“Hydrogen will be crucial for accelerating the transition to clean power so we can meet the demand for low-carbon energy throughout our region and across the country,” Joe Hoagland, vice president, TVA Innovation & Research, said in a statement.

TVA’s H2Hub coalition includes Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Louisville Gas & Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (LG&E and KU), and Southern Company, along with science and tech consultants Battelle.

These are hoped to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.

POSTED TO NEXTDOOR BY RYLEE SMITH

POSTED TO YOUTUBE BY TDBARRETT

POSTED TO NEXTDOOR BY RON CUCCIA

Tennessee jolts toward clean-power horizon with federal investments.

PHOTO: FORD MOTOR CO.

Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) will push battery manufacturing for electric cars and more and make hydrogen power more accessible.

By Kailynn Johnson

Love Doesn’t Hurt

Memphis nonpro t helps LGBTQ+ victims of crime.

Phillis Lewis is the CEO and founder of Love Doesn’t Hurt, a Memphis-based nonpro t organization that “provides assistance to victims of domestic and sexual violence in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.”

“Believing is one of the most important things,” said Lewis. “I think a lot of people don’t understand how charismatic, how believable abusers can be, and hearing someone’s story and their journey, just because it’s not your experience, doesn’t mean it’s not theirs.”

e Flyer got in touch with Lewis to discuss Love Doesn’t Hurt’s purpose, and the resources they o er for the community. — Kailynn Johnson

Memphis Flyer: How would you describe Love Doesn’t Hurt? Phillis Lewis: We are a nonpro t organization that focuses on providing crisis intervention for victims of crime in the LGBTQ+ community, addressing things such as housing insecurity, food insecurity, and getting individuals connected to resources that are diverse and inclusive to their needs.

All the referrals we make for our clients are with organizations and agencies that we have worked with directly, and we know have a rming and welcoming practices in the work they do.

work with other organizations to build a safety net for the clients we come in contact with, so they have the best chance of thriving a er victimization.

As the founder, was there something you saw in the community that you felt wasn’t being addressed? Or was there a moment or incident that prompted you to make sure certain resources were available?

In conjunction with the crisis intervention part, we also know that the community needs life-hack skills and educational sessions to help in the long run because violence is not just a onetime incident thing. We want to make sure we’re giving people in the community tools, so that way we can lower the risk of victimization in the future.

We do di erent informational sessions to talk about grief, trauma, self-care, and nancial literacy. Next year we will be doing some quarterly cooking classes, as well as quarterly self-care events. Just taking a holistic approach working with individuals is not just one thing that you’re trying to address. It’s usually a web of things, and we are doing our best to

My mother was a victim of domestic and sexual violence, and when she experienced her abuse, it was during a time back in the early ’90s where there wasn’t a lot of protection or a lot of assistance for victims of crime, especially when it came to intimate partner violence. at kind of drove me toward the work. But what drove me toward working with the population I work with, I myself identify as bisexual.

When I started my career at the district attorney’s o ce, I came in contact with a couple of clients, but one in particular had been in an abusive relationship with her spouse. When we referred her to one of the vendors that was on our referral list, instead of focusing on the trauma she had experienced, they focused more on her sexual orientation.

When you are working in social services, you are taught to work in a trauma-informed space — not asking people ‘what’s wrong with you?’ But rather ‘what happened?’ and ‘how can I show up for you in this space to help you heal from the trauma you’ve experienced?’ instead of re-victimizing someone that has already been through something hard enough.

“Believing is one of the most important things.”

PHOTO: PHILLIS LEWIS Phillis Lewis

By Jackson Baker

Bad for Democrats

In Democratic circles, especially progressive ones, it has become something close to axiomatic that the long-running state cycle of Democratic primary presidential preference votes is obsolete and needs to be updated.

Indeed, a preliminary panel of the Democratic National Committee, prodded by President Biden, has now taken preliminary steps to revise the order of early preference votes for 2024, ousting the Iowa caucus altogether, dropping the New Hampshire primary from second to third in the order, and beginning the preference-vote series with South Carolina.

Although the DNC’s reason for dropping Iowa could be blamed on the confusion in determining vote counts that followed the 2020 caucus there, the real reason for discontinuing it and demoting New Hampshire is that both states have virtually homogeneous white populations and as such are alleged to be poor barometers for adjudging the mood of the nation’s highly diverse Democratic constituency.

at’s the reason given for the proposed switch, but it’s a poor reason, and it misses the point of recent history badly. Recall only the Iowa caucus of 2008, which saw Democratic favorite Hillary Clinton overlooked in favor of the party’s unanticipated new sensation, Barack Obama. It is hardly irrelevant that Obama, an African American, was the choice of the nearly all-white Iowa voting population.

He might well have triumphed in South Carolina that year had the Palmetto State, with its large Black vote, gone rst, as Biden and the DNC wish it to in 2024. (Obama did win South Carolina in its accustomed down-the-line vote in 2008.) But such a rst-shot win in 2008 would have merely conformed to local demographics, it would not have signaled, as Iowa did, that Barack Obama’s appeal as a presidential candidate overrode matters of race — the real (and truly progressive) underlying basis for his ultimate victory.

As it happened, Hillary Clinton’s credentials no doubt entitled her to a second look, and she got it a week later, upsetting Obama via an electorate in New Hampshire, famously a swing state, that presumably evaluated both candidates for other than demographic reasons.

e either-or conundrum of Obama vs. Clinton held for much of the 2008 primary year. Tennessee was one of several

states that opted for Clinton, helping keep the nation’s deliberative mind open for a pro tably longish while.

As a matter of historical interest, it should be noted that two of the state’s Democratic legislators — Rep. Jason Powell of Nashville and Memphis’ own state Senator Raumesh Akbari — introduced a bill in 2020 that would have put Tennessee rst in the list for subsequent primary years, but the bill went nowhere, probably due to pressures from the national party.

ere is and was no clear case for letting Tennessee kick o a presidential primary year — at least not for the Democratic race. e state’s Democratic infrastructure is in a shambles and is virtually nonexistent except in Memphis and Nashville, both of which are urban areas that still have Democratic majorities. A GOP primary here might be another story, but even there it would be hard to make a case for Tennessee, no longer a swing state or a suitable harbinger for a national outcome.

Tennessee’s role in the scheme of things envisioned by the DNC for 2024 would seem to be unchanged, with the Volunteer State once again presumably to be scheduled in mid-March or so along with a whole passel of other “Super Tuesday” states.

But the state will probably not, as it arguably did in 2008, have an in uence on the ultimate presidential choice. e proposed new order of Democratic presidential primaries will almost certainly have long since predetermined a candidate acceptable to the party’s established interest groups, and there will likely be no contest to speak of by the time Tennessee votes.

Crucially, whatever preference might be harbored by the nation’s Independents could well remain obscure or unknown until the decisive November election.

PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ENG WONG | DREAMSTIME.COM

e DNC’s proposed re-ordering of the 2024 primary cycle is wrong-headed.

POLITICS

AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden

Same Old Game

Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen a fresh incarnation of a game we’ve all become familiar with during the last seven years. It’s called “Will You Denounce This?” The game begins when Donald Trump says or does something that used to be thought of as outrageous. The media then jump into action by asking any Republican they can get in front of a microphone to denounce Trump. As in: Reporter: “Senator Leghorn, Donald Trump said this week that the United States should bomb Puerto Rico to keep Democrats from making it the 51st state. Puerto Rico is an American ter ritory and Puerto Ricans are American citizens. Will you denounce Trump’s statement that the United States should bomb American citizens?”

Leghorn: “Well, President Trump says a lot of things, and I don’t think any thing is gained from addressing these ‘gotcha’ questions from the media.”

Reporter: “But Mr. Trump is say ing we should bomb one of our own territories, which could kill thousands of American citizens. Surely you don’t condone such a thing.”

Leghorn: “Look, I work for the American people, and the American people are concerned about high taxes, inflation, drag queens, and Hunter Biden’s laptop. The kind of questions you’re asking are irrelevant, premature, and based on speculation.”

Reporter [incredulous voice]: “So you won’t denounce the bombing and kill ing of American citizens by American armed forces?”

Leghorn: “Well, of course I don’t per sonally approve of bombing Puerto Rico, but the president is privy to informa tion we don’t have, and he has a right to express his opinion.”

Reporter: “So, if Mr. Trump gets the GOP nomination in 2024, will you sup port him?”

Leghorn: “It’s a long way to 2024 so I don’t want to play that game, but, as a Republican, I will of course support our nominee. Also, Hunter Biden’s laptop.”

So yeah, that wasn’t exactly what happened recently, but Trump did roll out three doozies. First, he vowed that when he became president again, he would pardon anyone involved in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Then, he had dinner with musician Kanye West, who just last week on Alex Jones’ InfoWars, expressed his admira tion for Adolf Hitler and his disdain for Jews. Having this guy to dinner was not

a great look for Trump. But “Ye” upped the ante and brought Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist, anti-Semite, and avowed Nazi boot-licker who makes Ye look progressive.

When word got out about the dinner, the media began a fresh round of “Will You Denounce This?” And they actually found a few Republicans willing to say that Trump was wrong to host these assholes for dinner, including Mike Pence, Chris Christie, and Mitt Romney. Progress, right?

Not exactly. Before the ruckus ensu ing from his dinner could die down, Trump posted the following on his Truth Social network: “With the revela tion of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHT FUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? … A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

No one knows for sure what provoked this latest Trump outburst. Perhaps the weirdness of those Hunter Biden penis pictures coming out via a Twitter story? Surely we don’t need to terminate the Constitution for that, do we? I mean, unless that thing was really huge.

It’s tempting to dismiss all this as the ranting of a delusional fool, but bear in mind that this is a man who could still become the GOP nominee — and that most Republicans are still afraid to stand up to a guy who pledges to release convicted January 6th rioters, has dinner with two Hitler-lovers, calls for the overturning of the 2020 election, and says we should terminate the U.S. Constitution.

There’s an adage that you should nev er play chess with a pigeon because they knock over all the pieces, shit on the board, and then strut around like they won. If the Republicans don’t pick a new king soon, they’re going to need another board. This game is getting old.

If the Republicans don’t pick a new king soon, they’ll need another board.

As the GOP goes through the motions, is real change ever going to happen?

Senior Community

In more than a century of University of Memphis basketball, we have never seen a team like coach Penny Hardaway’s current roster. Particularly in the era of “one-and-done” NBA-bound talent, the Tigers’ collection of seniors — essentially Hardaway’s entire rotation — is extraordinary. In Saturday’s win over Ole Miss, nine of the 10 players who took the oor for the home team at FedExForum were classi ed as seniors. ( e outlier was redshirt-freshman Johnathan Lawson.) Contrast this with the end of the 2021-22 season, when only one Tiger was saluted on Senior Day. at player (Alex Lomax) is once again a senior this season.

senior these days is di erent from what you remember about high school (or college).

How is this veteran roster impacting the culture and competitive strength of the Tiger program? It’s hard to imagine the group being rattled, either by small-scale disappointment (Seton Hall’s buzzer-beating bank shot to beat them in Orlando) or larger issues like a signi cant injury or losing streak. is group has seen a lot. ose nine rotation seniors entered this season with a combined total of 29 college seasons under their belts. e 10 Tigers who played in the loss to Gonzaga during last season’s NCAA tournament had a combined 15 full seasons behind them. Memphis may or may not have the best talent in the American Athletic Conference. But it will be hard to nd another team in the entire country, let alone the AAC, to match the Tigers’ “battletested” metric.

“ ey’re de nitely taking on my personality,” said Hardaway (the coach), a er last week’s win over North Alabama. “ ey really want to win.

ey have chips on their shoulders because they feel like they haven’t gotten the respect they deserve. Coming together as a team, we gained some guys who know how to play and want to win. at’s what you’re seeing.”

ere are a few quali ers to this outbreak of senioritis in the Memphis program. e pandemic restrictions of the 2020-21 campaign (one that ended with an NIT championship for Memphis) led to an extra year of eligibility for college players nationwide. us you see Lomax playing an unprecedented h full season in blue and gray. ree of his senior classmates — Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams, and Elijah McCadden — are also enjoying that “ h-year senior” classi cation. And no fewer than six of the nine seniors in the Tiger rotation are transfers, having played for other programs before arriving in Memphis. Malcolm Dandridge and Jayden Hardaway (Penny’s son) will join Lomax this season as the only players to suit up four years under Hardaway. Being a

Penny’s personality — certainly that collective chip balanced on Tiger shoulders — will come in handy as the Tigers face three more SEC teams in eight days (December 10th-17th). Memphis remains unranked, a peripheral threat, at least in the minds of AP voters. A win over Auburn (currently ranked 11th) or Alabama (8th) would move the Tigers closer to the national conversation.

en, of course, there’s the American Athletic Conference and dreams of a rst AAC title for Memphis. In the way will be the Houston Cougars, the top-ranked team in the country.

e Tigers and Cougars won’t meet on the oor until February 19th (in Texas), then the regular-season nale at FedExForum (March 5th). Lots of basketball to play between now and then, games that need to be treated as building blocks toward something larger.

at will require a steady, mature, game-to-game approach. e kind of intangible seniors are known for.

If you land tickets for that Senior Day showdown in early March, be sure to get to the arena early. e ceremony will take some time.

Few teams can compete with the Tigers’ “battle-tested” metric.

SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh

PHOTO: LARRY KUZNIEWSKI Senior guard Kendric Davis

Winter Arts Guide

A CELEBRATION AND ANTICIPATION FOR ALL THE ARTS HAS TO OFFER THIS SEASON.

Winter is here, and there’s no way to escape it. Unless you consider the arts an escape. In that case, you’re in luck, since Memphis has no shortage of arts events this season, and as always, our local arts organizations are still tilling the soil for us to reap the bene ts. In fact, this winter, a few of our favorite organizations are celebrating major milestones — 10, 25, and 60 years (see insets). Be sure to mark your calendars for what’s to come.

ON DISPLAY

Les Paul ru the Lens Gallery of photos highlighting the life of Les Paul. Stax Museum of American Soul Music, through Dec. 30

Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet Author Maurice Sendak’s illustrations, dioramas, and costumes.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, through Jan. 8

Simple Pleasures: e Art of Doris Lee Exhibition of one of the most popular gurative American artists.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, through Jan. 15

Master Metalsmith: Lynda Watson | Looking Back Watson’s visual diary, incorporating metal, felt, charcoal, and found objects.

Metal Museum, through Jan. 29

Watercolors by Jacqueline Foshee Charming landscapes and street scenes.

Memphis Botanic Garden, through Feb. 5

ose Who Hold Dominion Here

Serpentine sculptures by Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo. Crosstown Arts Galleries, through March 5

Mending in a State of Abundance

Katrina Perdue’s damaged

Carpenter Art Garden

e Purple House on Carpenter was once a site of unseemly activity — “if you know what I mean,” says Megan Banaszek. Now, the house, which was rebuilt from the foundation, is home to Carpenter Art Garden (CAG), for which Banaszek serves as executive director. It’s still purple, but today its porch holds a communal bookshelf, bulletin boards of community activities, and a table of free bread and hats. Inside you can nd art and music lessons for kids, community meetings, and a laundry co-op. “It’s funny,” says Banaszek. “People are like, ‘ e Purple House does what now?’”

With the intention to make up for a lack of art programming in Binghampton, the nonpro t started in 2012 in the empty lot next door, now dubbed the Art Garden. “ e idea for this space was to be an outdoor art classroom,” Banaszek says, “so people cleared it out, put down a shipping container [for storage], put down some picnic tables, and just met here on Tuesday a ernoons to lead di erent art classes.

“ ere were a lot of opportunities for rsts in terms of having access to these programs. For any age student, just having something that you get to

sit, focus on, hands-on is a way to unwind, connect with people you’re familiar with a er school, and be expressive.” ose Tuesday drop-in art classes continue today, but by 2014, CAG wanted to do more. So it bought the Purple House and started o ering small-group classes throughout the week. Classes range from violin with Iris Orchestra to ceramics with sta and guest artists. “And if someone says, ‘I wanna learn about screen printing,’ we’ll try and track someone down and do a class,” Banaszek says. ey’ve even added opportunities for teen employment.

Now there’s also the Carpenter Street Workshop, where kids can learn bike mechanics, sewing, and cooking; Aunt Lou’s House, where tutoring is o ered; two community gardens, where sta tend to seasonal crops that are sold at the twice-weekly pop-up market; and the Mosaic Garden, where community members can sit and enjoy CAG’s various mosaic creations, which were designed and executed by the studentrun Mural Arts Apprentice Team.

“Any time something gets added, I

kind of can’t believe it,” Banaszek says, “but I think it’s at a good spot right now.”

is week, through December 8th, CAG is hosting its annual Holiday Bazaar, where patrons can purchase student work, with 70 percent of the sales going to the student and the rest into CAG programming. Popular items include Griz Hearts ornaments, pot holders, Christmas cards and gi tags, and bead hangings. As a bonus with each purchase, Banaszek says, “ e kids get a sense of pride when they are able to sell.” You can also purchase work online at carpenterartgarden.org/ shop.

objects, repaired with colorful threads.

Crosstown Arts Galleries, through March 5

Anne Siems

Paintings of fantastic, almost supernatural women.

David Lusk Gallery, Jan. 3-Feb. 11

Beverly

Jan. 14-Feb. 25

Shared Spaces

Works

Sharon Havelka

Mixed media quilt sculptures from found objects.

& Sam Ross Gallery,

by Rob Gonzo and the late George Hunt. Buckman Arts Center, Jan. 20-March 6

Morici

Lynda Watson’s Newport with Mom and Mary, 2001

PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI e Tree of Life, as created by CAG students, in the Mosaic Garden

Anne Siems’ Lotus

Tommy Kha’s “Eye Is Another” will open in 2023 at the Brooks.

UrbanArt Commission

For UrbanArt Commission (UAC), the canvas stretches from one end of the city to the other, with endless opportunities for public art. So far, the organization, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, has lled that canvas with 130 projects — from sculptures in Binghampton to murals at Central Station Hotel. Yet, even with such a widespread footprint, Lauren Kennedy, UAC’s director, never worries about running out of space.

“I can drive around town, dream up like 15 projects, just going to Kroger and back,” she says. “ ere are so many great ideas that we haven’t gotten to tap.”

Since 1997, UAC has worked with the city, neighborhood groups, and municipal authorities to produce meaningful public art, from murals to sculptures. “Public art, when you boil it down, is about making an investment in a shared space,” Kennedy says. “When public art is doing what it should do, it is also re ecting the people and experiences in that community. It’s a real boon for neighborhood pride.”

For Kennedy, the project she takes most pride in is the Concourse B installation, completed this year. For it, UAC, in partnership with Memphis International Airport, selected more

than 40 works of contemporary art for the airport with a goal to highlight Memphis’ vibrant and eclectic range of artists and to re ect the city as a whole — not just Elvis, blues, and barbecue, but everything in between that gives the 901 its texture.

Of course, the Concourse B installation wasn’t the only project that came to fruition recently. A er a pandemic-induced delay, the nonpro t

installation. Fellowships like this and the District Mural Program, which Kennedy describes as “the same concept but focused on murals,” allow UAC to leverage their funding to prepare local artists for more opportunities down the road, in and out of Memphis.

“Large-scale public art is not something that is particularly easy to dive into,” Kennedy says. “It’s one thing to have your work in a gallery or a museum, but to paint the side of a building that thousands of cars are driving past on a regular basis is really huge.”

A er all, public art lasts lifetimes, and UAC cares that the community continues to enjoy the projects long a er their completion. “In the past ve years, in particular,” Kennedy says, “we’ve put more emphasis into thinking about how people continue to interact with these things over time.”

on all that’s happened since you last saw her.

e Circuit Playhouse, through Dec. 22

Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide

Your favorite rst-grader Junie B. is back.

e Circuit Playhouse, through Dec. 22

e Wizard of Oz Experience the magical land of Oz. Playhouse on the Square, through Dec. 22

A Christmas Carol Ebenezer Scrooge faces his past, present, and future. eatre Memphis, through Dec. 23

It’s A Wonderful Life Radio-play adaptation of the Christmas classic.

Bartlett Performing Arts & Conference Center, Dec. 9-11

Magic of Memphis!

Memphis performing groups celebrate the holiday season. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Dec. 10

Nutcracker

Ballet Memphis’ take on the Christmas classic. Orpheum eatre, Dec. 16-18

Handel’s Messiah

Presented by Memphis Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Various locations, Dec. 20-23

kicked o its New Public Artists Fellowship in 2021, wrapped up the rst cohort’s experience this summer, and will accept another six artists in the spring. e fellowship provides in-depth training and professional development for artists wanting to break into public sculpture, and it’s capped o with a temporary public

is year, a er a pandemic pause, UAC brought back its bi-monthly Artist Happy Hour Series, where artists can network, and its Revisiting Series, which are temporary site-speci c responses to existing public art projects.

e nonpro t also o ered yoga by current projects twice this year, and Kennedy assures, there’s more public programming to come in 2023.

rary art event organized by Tri-Star Arts and including the Brooks, Memphis River Parks Partnership, TONE Memphis, and UrbanArt Commission. Various locations, Jan. 27-May 7

Tommy Kha: Eye Is Another Site-speci c, photography-based installation by Tommy Kha.

Dereje Demissie Ethiopian artist re ects on the geography and culture of his homeland.

Urevbu Contemporary, Feb. 1-28

ON STAGE

Navidad Spectacular! Cazateatro Bilingual eatre Group’s Christmas musical with Latin avor.

Evergreen eatre, through Dec. 11

Velveteen Rabbit. Hattiloo eatre, through Dec. 18

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Christmas classics in the distinctive Mannheim sound. Orpheum eatre, Dec. 29

If Pekin Is a Duck, Why Am I in Chicago?

A lyricist and a composer try to write while kidnapped. eatreWorks, Jan. 13-29

Sondheim Tribute

Celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s body of work. eatre Memphis, Jan. 13-29

2023 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards

More than 135 artworks by area youth.

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Jan. 20-Feb. 19

Arti cial Intelligence: Your Mind & e Machine Exhibit highlighting arti cial

intelligence and its relevance to STEAM.

Museum of Science & History, Jan. 22-May 6

Tennessee Triennial A major statewide contempo-

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Jan. 27-May 27

American Made: American Art from the Jacobsen Collection Surveying two centuries of American creativity.

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Jan. 29-Apr. 16

I Dwell in Possibility: Emily Dickinson Emerges A one-woman play with the reclusive poet. Tennessee Shakespeare Company, through Dec. 11

Velveteen Rabbit: e Musical e beloved tale of the

PHOTO: COURTESY URBANART COMMISSION 2021 fellow Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo’s nal project: e Sinkhole

PHOTO: BILL SIMMERS

You can catch the musical TINA at the Orpheum in February

ArtsMemphis

Founded in 1963 as the Memphis Arts Council to help fund various local arts organizations, ArtsMemphis has navigated all the ups and downs that have come within those 60 years. But Elizabeth Rouse, the organization’s president, says, the e ects of the pandemic on the arts in Memphis was like nothing they’ve seen before.

“We saw how overnight so many were out of work,” she says. “It was certainly hard on artists and arts administrators.” Pre-pandemic, nonpro t arts in Memphis had a $200 million economic impact and boasted more than 6,000 full-time positions.

With so much at stake, though, both the general public and the arts community had a reinforced appreciation for all that the arts can o er, and from that, opportunities for change and growth arose.

“Like many funders, we, over the pandemic, have been much more connected with our grantees,” Rouse says, “and it’s really helped to foster a sense of community as everyone in the art sector navigates new times. e pandemic also forced organizations to be a bit more exible and think di erently about how they deliver programs.”

For ArtsMemphis, one of the biggest changes was being able to support a larger number of individual artists than ever before. About 10 years ago, the nonpro t had started to “tiptoe” into the arena with a few yearly grants, but the pandemic

spurred the Artist Emergency Fund, which has since shi ed into the Recovery Fund, both in partnership with Music Export Memphis. As of last month, through this fund, they have given out $1 million to artists of all disciplines, but particularly music.

Last year, the organization gave out $3.1 million to 68 organizations and hundreds of individual artists. “ ose organizations are doing work in every zip code in Shelby County,” Rouse says. “It’s really about using the arts as a community resource and to bridge di erences and o er these points of healing and connection and so much more.” And that includes economic impact. “We’re in the midst right now of doing a new economic impact study, and we’re excited to see how those numbers have hopefully grown.”

Part of this success, Rouse attributes to the intentional collaboration among the arts community. “It’s what makes Memphis unique,” she says. “And I think that’s represented during ArtsWeek.”

For ArtsWeek, which began on December 3rd and ends December 11th, various organizations are hosting events throughout the city. “In 2020, when things were actually shut down,” Rouse says, “Mayor Harris and Mayor Strickland designated a

week to celebrate, support, and build awareness for our local arts sector. Our hope is that people will experience something new in the arts.”

And this ArtsWeek also happens to be the kicko for ArtsMemphis’ 60th anniversary. “ ere’s an exciting future ahead, especially as we continue to expand our support for both organizations and artists and as people engage with the arts in new ways and the arts become much more accessible.”

Find out more about ArtsWeek and year-round events at artsmemphis.org.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

LASER LIGHT SHOW Friday Nights

Nov. 25 thru Dec. 23

MEMPHIS

PHOTO: MARY GUNNING New Ballet Ensemble’s NutRemix is just one project ArtsMemphis helps to fund.

The Long Goodbye: A Rock Opera

An experimental rock opera about loss, change, and selfreflection.

Evergreen Theatre, Jan. 13-15

Escaped Alone

Four older women meet for tea and ruminations.

TheatreSouth, Jan. 20-Feb. 5

Scottsboro Boys

A retelling of the landmark trial of nine falsely accused Black teenagers.

Playhouse on the Square, Jan. 20-Feb. 19

Mendelssohn Violin

Concerto Schumann’s symphonic journey down the Rhine River, as presented by MSO.

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Jan. 21-22

Tosca Opera Memphis presents Puccini’s masterpiece.

Germantown Performing Arts Center, Jan. 27-28

Cyrano de Bergerac

Edmond Rostand’s exquisite 1898 tale of secret love.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company, Feb. 2-19

Cirque Zuma Zuma

The ultimate circus set to the hot, rhythmic pulses of

Afro-jazz.

Buckman Arts Center, Feb. 3

Macbeth

Shakespeare’s famous trag edy following the Scottish general Macbeth. Theatre Memphis, Feb. 3-19

Rise Collage Dance Collective’s ballet set to Dr. Martin Luther King’s final public speech.

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Feb. 3-5

Roe

The divergent stories of Roe v. Wade’s plaintiff and her lawyer.

The Circuit Playhouse, Feb. 3-19

Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery

A timeless coming-of-age story, set in the 1960s South. Hattiloo Theatre, Feb 3-26

The 10 Hilarious Commandments

Presented by Memphian De mario “Comedian Pound cake” Hollowell. Halloran Centre, Feb. 4

Misery

The story of a romance nov elist who ends up trapped in his fan’s secluded home. TheatreWorks, Feb. 10-23

Pilobolus Radically creative and boundary-pushing dance. Germantown Performing Arts Center, Feb. 11

TINA: The Tina Turner Musical

Tina Turner’s story as written by Memphis-born and Pulitzer Prize-winning Katori Hall.

Orpheum Theatre, Feb. 14-19

Star-Crossed Love: Romeo and Juliet MSO presents the celebrated ballet score of two starcrossed lovers and one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works. Various locations, Feb. 18-19

ART MARKETS

WE Holiday Market Woman’s Exchange of Memphis, through Dec. 22

Holiday Bazaar Arrow Creative, through Dec. 23

Memphis Arts Collective Holiday Artist Market Poplar Plaza, through Dec. 24

WinterArts Market Park Place Centre, through Dec. 31

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Tuning It Out

By Abigail Morici

For those savvy in computer programming, you might recognize the code “if else.” For those who aren’t so savvy, Philip Snyder explains, “It’s what you would code if you wanted to say, ‘If these parameters are met, do this, or if these parameters are not met, do this something else.’” But Snyder adds that this sentiment also carries in his experimental ute duo, if.else, with Jenny Davis.

“We’re always looking for ways for the pieces that we do to be reliant on the speci c situation as opposed to being the same thing every time,” he explains, “so the energy in the room can change the way the piece progresses. It’s the sense that every time you’re in a space doing a thing, it’s gonna be wildly di erent from one time to the next.”

For their upcoming performance, the duo commissioned experimental composer Randy Gibson, who, in turn, created e Four Pillars Breathing in Harmonic Time, a durational, immersive sound piece, integrating utes and electronics. To accompany the three-hour piece, Gibson, also a visual artist, created projections that’ll move throughout the darkened space. With these di erent elements, the hope is to make the experience of sound into something new and all-encompassing. It’s a moment to sit down, without any distractions, and just take in the music and let it guide your thoughts, almost like a meditation.

“ ere are these sounds that happen and they are repeating on these very large scales to a point that you’re not immediately perceiving their repetition or the speed of which they’re repeating,” Snyder says, “but they are expanding and contracting in a way that shi s and modulates your expectation and experience of time throughout the piece. … And the duration element itself kind of takes it to a new place that we wouldn’t be able go to if we were going to a concert that’s four- to ve-minute songs, or even a classical concert where it’s 10 to 15.”

With the performance being so long, though, the duo encourages audience members to get comfortable, whether that be by bringing a blanket or a mat, or choosing a chair removed from the projection eld, or even leaving early if they have to.

“As an audience member,” Davis adds, “we might put on ourselves like, ‘Oh, I need to be or act a certain way or feel a certain way about the performance or know something about it,’ and really, you can throw that out the window a little bit and just come and experience it. at’s kind of the whole point of it. It’s introspective, so consider how you feel.

“ e most beautiful thing about any music performance is that people are gonna get di erent things out of it,” Davis continues. “Maybe, that person is coming in and they had an extremely stressful day at work and this is a release, or maybe they’re riding a high and this is gonna continue that or bring it down a little bit. Everybody in the audience is bringing something di erent into that space and into that room, and that creates an energy in the room” — an energy that the utists can channel in their performance.

Live music at

I Dwell in Possibility: Emily Dickinson Emerges

Tennessee Shakespeare Company, through December 11 Tennessee Shakespeare Company hosts the “Belle of Amherst” as she shares her poetic relationship to isolation, nature, literature, and love, in the world premiere of I Dwell in Possibility: Emily Dickinson Emerges

In this one-woman play, Emily Dickinson is invited into our modern world through the immortality and spirituality of her writing. As she shares with us, she reveals a commonality across the centuries.

Performances are on ursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. On ursday, December 8th, children may attend for free when accompanied by a full-price-paying adult.

ArtsWeek Food Truck ursday Court Square, ursday, December 8, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

A special edition of the Downtown Memphis Commission’s Food Truck ursday, with music by WXYR and performances by Young Actors Guild (11:15 a.m.), SubRoy Movement (noon), and Opera Memphis (1 p.m.).

Christmas Vacation: String Light Untangling Contest and Light Workshop

Museum of Science & History, Friday, December 9, 7 p.m., $12 Test your holiday mishap skills in a string light untangling competition. See how fast you can get your lights ready to decorate, and check out the workshop to learn why your old lights never worked when one of the bulbs went out. A screening of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation will follow at 8 p.m.

Christmas Fiesta

Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Saturday, December 10, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., free Cazateatro Bilingual eater Group, Opera Memphis, and Dixon Gallery & Gardens present their second annual Christmas Fiesta! Visitors will enjoy the Christmas traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean; learn about parrandas, posadas, piñatas, and more; and enjoy traditional Christmas music in Spanish, Latin food, cra s, and activities.

Virgin Drag Race: Mystic Krewe of Pegasus

Dru’s Place, Sunday, December 11, 6 p.m.

A drag competition for those who have never done drag professionally and want to help raise money for a great organization — Love Doesn’t Hurt. Hosted by Wednesday Moss.

THE FOUR PILLARS BREATHING IN HARMONIC TIME, NO. 2 VANCE, 325 WAGNER ST., WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 7 P.M., FREE.

PHOTO: RANDY GIBSON Jenny Davis and Phillip Snyder

When I Go I Ghost

The cover of Cory Branan’s new album, When I Go I Ghost (Blue Élan), featuring a photo of an old sedan speeding past an enigmatic twist of vines on the highway, perfectly captures how the latest songs convey motion. e journey could almost be a travelogue, if the traveler actually stopped to inhabit the souls of random, struggling people he met along the way. e towering gure of vines could stand in for any one of those souls.

“Matt White, my buddy that used to own the White Water Tavern [in Little Rock], took that photo,” Branan says. “I liked the kudzu trying to grow an angel by the highway side.” ere’s a tension between an angel’s skyward aspirations on the one hand and raw, horizontal movement over asphalt on the other. And most of the album’s characters are caught between the two.

“Somebody on the precipice, making a decision — that’s sort of the whole record,” Branan says. “It stretches out, but it goes inward a lot, too. at’s the crux of it, the stay-or-go sort of thing. But you know me, I didn’t write these as a song cycle. It’s just a bunch of songs I had about doubt, loss, depression, general stir-craziness. But I knew I didn’t want to make a record that pondered itself, I wanted it to have motion. So I gave this record an overarching rule: e sadder the song, the more it had to move and groove.”

at’s especially true of one of the saddest songs he’s written, “ at Look I Lost,” about a man “dying to nd that look I lost in her eyes.” It’s delivered as a pure slice of blue-eyed soul, complete with groovy Wurlitzer electric piano and horn punches in the chorus. “ at song was so sad that it needed something to make it triumphant sadness. It needed that Motown thing. It didn’t just sit there and wallow. A lot of the record is that sort of thing: It’s got a sort of spacious vs. restlessness thing going on.”

Beyond restlessness, Branan is more willing than ever to explore the outright desperation of his characters; at times the songs seem to jump out of a James

Ellroy novel. “ e record gets down in a valley,” he says, “and then starts slowly getting its ass out of there.” e lowest point is surely “Pocket of God,” a noirish tale of a pimp or a kingpin mulling over his greatest protege.

“So tenderly I took her indoors/Bought her some tits and xed her teeth/You should’ve seen her crunch a number/ Work a sucker, shoot a breeze … She was a punch I couldn’t counter/Sometimes I’s tempted to applaud/Just being around her/Felt like I picked the pocket of God.”

It’s all set in a kind of modern American hellscape evoked by the album’s sound: synthesizer pads, or even synth bass, lled out with nely-rendered, classic rock energy, broadly speaking. Yet as one zooms in, one nds a far-reaching eclecticism at work. Recorded and produced by Grammy-winning engineer Jeremy Ferguson in Nashville (with horns added in Memphis), the record follows the twists and turns of Branan’s wide stylistic taste, perhaps even more than his previous ve albums.

“I get restless,” he explains. “Jeremy was great. He’s the perfect mix. He can do anything, sonically. e big thing for me was making sure the drums were right. Because I wanted a ’70s drum sound that was dry and in your face. at le a lot of room for more character on the bass, a little more sonic territory. I wanted it to still sound like people-sized instruments in a room.”

e people in that room are worth noting as well: Jason Isbell who appears on ve songs, Garrison Starr who duets with Branan on “Waterfront,” and Brian Fallon from e Gaslight Anthem. Despite such disparate contributors and stylistic detours, the album hangs together with a consistent sonic vision. For Branan, realizing that vision has been a long time coming. “It took me a lot of records to gure out how to keep that ‘band in a room’ feel while I’m chasing my more ambitious rabbits, sonically.”

Cory Branan, with a Memphis-based band (David Cousar, Rick Ste , and Shawn Zorn), will appear at the Hi Tone with American Aquarium on Sunday, December 11th.

PHOTO: JAMIE HARMON Cory Branan

Cory Branan’s songs and sounds of “somebody on the precipice.”

MUSIC By Alex Greene

A Day to Remember

Reassembled: The Acoustic Theater Tour

With special guests Wage War. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 8 p.m.

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Chris Gales Live An acoustic performance in the lobby. Friday, Dec. 9, 6-9 p.m.

THE WESTIN MEMPHIS BEALE STREET

Christina Easterday, Ariel Reign, Deanna Dixon

Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS

if.else: The Four Pillars Breathing in Harmonic Time by Randy Gibson

A new work commissioned by the ute duo if.else that explores ideas of duration at the edges of perception. Free. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m.

NO. 2 VANCE

Pentatonix: A Christmas Spectacular Grammy Award-winning and platinum-selling recording a capella group Pentatonix returns to FedExForum for the second time. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Rainbow Kitten Surprise $36-$66. ursday, Dec. 8, 8 p.m.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

Baker Grissom Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Advent Lessons and Carols Presented by the Grace-St. Luke’s Choir and the Memphis Boy and Girl Choir. Sunday, Dec. 11, 5 p.m.

GRACE-ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL

CHURCH

American Aquarium with Cory Branan $20-$100. Sunday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Back Pockets Band: Cool Drank Vol. 2 $10. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Back to the Light hosted by J.D. Reager

Host J.D. Reager and house band Jason Pulley welcome a star-studded lineup of guests. $15-$20. ursday, Dec. 8, 7:30-10:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Ben Nichols ursday, Dec. 8, 8-10 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Christmastime is Here: A Concert of Traditional Carols and Jazzy Holiday Standards $10/suggested donation. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

BEETHOVEN CLUB

Corey Feldman with S P A C E R and The Mourning

Featuring an all-new band, Feldman is hitting the road in support of his new album Love Le 2: Arm Me With Love. $25-$30. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

David Rosales, Oakwalker $10. ursday, Dec. 8, 9 p.m.

HI TONE

Deaf Revival with Kicking and Tasty Business $10. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Devil Train ursday, Dec. 8, 9:30 p.m. B-SIDE

Figure + ill.Gates: Videodrome Tour Cyberoptics, Nolan Void, DudeCalled Rob. 18+. $22$25. Friday, Dec. 9, 9 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Figure + Ill.Gates: Videodrome Tour $22-$25. Friday, Dec. 9, 9 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Gimme Gimme Disco

A DJ-based dance party playing all your favorite ABBA hits, plus plenty of other disco hits from the ’70s and ’80s like e Bee Gees, Donna Summer, and Cher. $15-$18.

Saturday, Dec. 10, 8:30 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Jay Jones Band Sunday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

JD Westmoreland Monday, Dec. 12, 9 p.m. B-SIDE

Joe Restivo 4 Saturday, Dec. 10, 11 a.m., Sunday, Dec. 11, 11 a.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Manifest Memphis EDM Night

Andy Chance, Alora b2b Shinobi Senses, AR Music, and Brouha. $10, $20. Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Memphis Knights Big Band

Monday, Dec. 12, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Pam & Terry Monday, Dec. 12, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Perpetual Groove Friday, Dec. 9, 8-10 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Rick Camp and the Suburban Trunk Monkeys Sunday, Dec. 11, 3:30 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Rock the Boat ursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM Shakermaker901 Sunday, Dec. 11, 8 p.m. B-SIDE

Shara’s Songwriter Showcase Wednesday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM Stolen Faces Saturday, Dec. 10, 10 p.m. B-SIDE

Subtle Citizen EP Release Show Featuring Shorty & the Grooves, Joybomb, and Lady Owl. $5. Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m. GROWLERS

Sunday Jazz with David Collins & Friends Sunday, Dec. 11, 6-9 p.m.

THE COVE

The Current Situation with Anon the Mouse & FDAT $10-$15. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m. GROWLERS

The Glass Reunion, Red Ocher, Jeff Hulett With special guest Galore. Friday, Dec. 9, 9 p.m. B-SIDE

The Ocean Collective Onus, Chora, Evince. $15-$20. ursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m. BLACK LODGE

The Study of What, Queenager $5. Saturday, Dec. 10, 9 p.m. HI TONE

Thumpdaddy Friday, Dec. 9, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Tony Holiday Wednesday, Dec. 14, 9:30 p.m. B-SIDE

Turnt Sunday, Dec. 11, 2-5 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Whiskey South Friday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM Wildstreet, Eric Jayk $5-$7. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 9 p.m. HI TONE

and even a big band performance. Sunday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

The Mixers

Dance and sing along to your favorite ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s music, plus a few holiday songs. Sunday, Dec. 11, 4-7 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Wild & Swingin’ Holiday Party

Saturday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. $25.

GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE

Cool Drank Vol. 2 Back Pockets Band is back at it. $10. Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY

Amahl and the Night Visitors

St. George’s Friends of Music and Memphis Light Opera from U of M present Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti, with two performances of this special Advent event free to the community Friday, Dec. 9, 7-8:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 11, 3-4:30 p.m.

ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

A Christmas Festival Memphis Wind Symphony performs holiday favorites for the whole family. $10. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 6:30 p.m.

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS HIGH SCHOOL

Britishmania: Beatles Tribute Band Britishmania, presented by JDF Tribute Artists, invites you to take a memorable journey through the historic career of the Beatles. $15-$20. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Memphis Jazz Workshop Christmas Concert is special concert will feature the area’s most talented young jazz musicians in a variety of combos, ensembles,

An Evening with Missy Raines and Jim Hurst A winter concert lled with Christmas classics and original music from awardwinning artists Missy Raines and Jim Hurst with special guests. Free. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7-8:30 p.m.

PEACE TREE UMC

Germantown Symphony Orchestra: Germantown Holiday Concert $30. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7-9 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Smooth Jazz Series ft. Julian Vaughn $40. Sunday, Dec. 11, 8-9:30 p.m.

MANHATTAN SPORTS BAR & LOUNGE

memphisflyer.com

PHOTO: COREY FELDMAN/ TRUTH 22 PRODUCTIONS

Corey Feldman

CALENDAR of EVENTS: December 8 - 14

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“Drawing the Curtain: Maurice Sendak’s Designs for Opera and Ballet”

Exhibition dedicated to children’s book author and il lustrator Maurice Sendak’s set designs and clever costumes.

Through Jan. 8.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“Emily Ozier: Marisol’s Dress”

Emily Ozier’s series of paintings based on her mother’s experi ence as a refugee fleeing Cuba in the 1950s. Through Jan. 8.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Evicted”

An immersive experience bringing visitors into the world of renter evictions.

Through Jan. 21.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

“Josef Albers: Opening Eyes”

A collection of paintings and prints by Bauhaus master Josef Albers and his colleagues.

Through Dec. 17.

ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (AMUM)

“Les Paul Thru the Lens”

A collection of rare photo graphs that reveal the behindthe-scenes life of the father of modern music, Les Paul. Through Dec. 30.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

“Men of Change: Taking It to the Streets”

Outdoor installation present ing the profiles of 24 sig nificant Black men across the decades. Through Dec. 16.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“Nature’s Rhythms: Watercolor, Ceramics, and Mixed Media”

Featuring work by Sally Markell and Anne Froning. Through Dec. 12.

BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL

Maurice Sendak’s illustrations, dioramas, and costumes are on display at the Brooks, through January 8th.

“Paintings from My Sailboat and Other Fun Places in Memphis”

Features paintings by Matthew Lee Friday, Dec. 9, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 10, 2-4 p.m.

OFF THE WALLS ARTS

ART HAPPENINGS

Artists’ Link Reception & Pop-Up Sale

Enjoy holiday refreshments, see the many original artworks in the gallery, and shop for unique gifts of jewelry, art prints, and note cards. Free. Saturday, Dec. 10, 3-5 p.m.

ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

ART GALLERY

Artists Reception: Amy Hutcheson

Opening reception for Amy Hutcheson’s “Tripping Through Your Orbit.” Friday, Dec. 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Memphis Arts Collective Holiday Artists Market

The Memphis Arts Collective Holiday Artist Market is back for their annual holiday show. Through Dec. 24.

CORNER OF POPLAR & HIGHLAND

“once a river, once a sea” Open House & Artist Talk

Maysey Craddock examines growth and decay along the Gulf Coast in relation to space and time. Saturday, Dec. 10, noon-3 p.m.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

Studio Member Market

Find one-of-a-kind gift items and support a local maker, too! Saturday, Dec. 10, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

BELLTOWER COFFEEHOUSE AND STUDIO

COMEDY

A Night of Comedy with Sammy Anzer

Hosted by the Comma Come dians. Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

901 COMICS

Just Larry Juggler, entertainer, comedian, magician. $10, $20. Friday, Dec. 9, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Thirsty Thursday: “Clowning Out”

Comedy Drag Show

Luna Luella headlines. Featuring the hilarious talents of Aubrey Ombre, Rebekah Random, Mary Jane Gagz, and Kiera Mason. Thursday, Dec. 8, 10 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

COMMUNITY

Black Men Crowned Awards

Recognizing some of the most prominent men in various professions who are impacting their com munities. $115, $780. Saturday, Dec. 10, 6 p.m.

THE KENT

Paws for the Cause

Join the cause and discussion for the neediest pups. Food, drinks, and entertainment. $40. Sunday, Dec. 11, 2-6 p.m.

ECCO ON OVERTON PARK

Porter-Leath Toy Truck at WMC Drop off new, unwrapped toys as well as cash or check donations. Please bring puzzles, dolls, balls, blocks, and other toys that pro mote early childhood learning. Friday, Dec. 9-Dec. 10

WMC ACTION NEWS 5

Sippin’ with Santa Paws Streetdog Foundation’s 4th Annual Sippin’ with Santa Paws event will feature holiday photos with Santa Paws! Sunday, Dec. 11, noon-4 p.m.

LOFLIN YARD

FILM

Holiday Movie Screening: Die Hard & Batman Returns

It ain’t Christmas ‘til Hans Gruber falls from Nakatomi Plaza, and Batman takes on Cat woman and Penguin in a snowy Gotham City. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Rocky Horror Picture Show: feat. Absent Friends!

The evening starts with a live pre-show and surprises including a costume contest and special pre-show entertainment to get the party going! $10. Friday, Dec. 9, 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m.

THEATREWORKS

Strange Christmas 9 Screening The Polar Express and The Grinch $25. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

MALCO SUMMER 4 DRIVE-IN

The Night Hunter

Based on a true story, this expressionistic, terrifying odyssey is a legend, whose influence on future films would be felt for decades to come. Free. Sunday, Dec. 11, 6:30 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FOOD AND DRINK

ArtsWeek Food Truck Thursday Dine and delight with SubRoy Movement, Opera Memphis, Young Actors Guild, and WYXR. Thursday, Dec. 8, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

COURT SQUARE

Fire Pit Friday

Enjoy free s’mores, fire pits, and holiday lights. Listen to your favorite holiday tunes and cel ebrate the season. Friday, Dec. 9, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

RIVER GARDEN

Holidays in Da Haven

A coffee and ice cream experience that celebrates the holidays cheer. Saturday, Dec. 10, 4-6 p.m.

MUGGIN COFFEEHOUSE

Holiday Spirits

Sip festive cocktails, listen to music, and wave to the big man in red! Each ticket includes 12 sample-sized cocktails. $45. Thursday, Dec. 8, 6-9 p.m.

THE KENT

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Reindeer Run 5K & Diaper Drive

Raising money for Sweet Cheeks Diaper Minis try and raising awareness for the issue of poverty

and diaper need. Saturday, Dec. 10, 9 a.m.-noon.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Memphis Holiday Parade

Ring in the holiday season with marching bands, steppers, twirlers, floats, and more. Saturday, Dec. 10, 3 p.m.

BEALE STREET

Breakfast with Santa Sit down with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and enjoy story time with the Dalmatians, plus facepainting, balloon animals, and more. Saturday, Dec. 10, 8 a.m.-noon

FIRE MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS

Carols of the Victorians

A unique program of history and music. $20. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 6:30-7:30 p.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY Christmas Fiesta!

Visitors will enjoy the Christmas traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean. Saturday, Dec. 10, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Christmas in Bartlett

Christmas shopping, holiday music, and seasonal fun. Sixty booths will sell unique, one-of-a-kind products/gifts. Saturday, Dec. 10, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

W. J. FREEMAN PARK ]

Devil in a Cardigan

Join the Hu. Roof for the Ugliest Sweater Party of the year with host Latty from KIX 106! Saturday, Dec. 10, 8 p.m.

HU HOTEL

Holiday Party

The Shelby County Drug Court Foundation invites you to a holiday party to help save lives and have a great time while doing it. $50. Tues day, Dec. 13, 5-9 p.m.

THE ATRIUM

Holiday Pop Up Shop

Do some holiday shopping with some great local artisans! Friday, Dec. 9, 6 p.m.

STUDIO688

Holiday Wonders

Eight acres of lights and cheer, featuring the larger-than-life Alice’s Adventures at the Garden sculptures aglow. $10-$14. Through Dec. 23.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Holy Days Cacao Ceremony & Fae Dance Party

A special holiday cacao ceremony exploring dance, light, and color. $30. Thursday, Dec. 8, 7 p.m.

THE BROOM CLOSET

Merry and Bright

Enjoy the gardens in a vibrant spectrum of colored lights and create a holiday craft. Friday, Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 10, 6-8 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Nerd Alert Krampus Holiday Market

Pictures with Krampus and Drunk Santa, plus a free screening of Silent Night, Deadly Night Saturday, Dec. 10, 4 p.m.

HI TONE

Santa & Snow in Chimes Square

Get your photo with Santa, play in the snow, make holiday crafts with The Art Project, and browse Holiday Happies from Kits and Giggles! Saturday, Dec. 10, 6-8 p.m.

OVERTON SQUARE

Season of Delight at Crosstown Concourse

Live music, photo ops with the Grinch, free holiday-themed face-painting, a screening of The Grinch (2018), and more. Friday, Dec. 9, 5-7 p.m.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE Starry

Nights

Experience the magic of the holidays, complete with dazzling displays featuring millions of lights. Through Dec. 30.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

String Light Untangling Contest and Light Workshop

See how fast you can get your lights ready to decorate, and check out the workshop to learn why your old lights don’t work. A screening

ACROSS 1 Bart who was the first Super Bowl M.V.P.

In a funk

Evita who was played by Madonna

Civil rights leader Williams, who was an associate of Martin Luther King Jr.

Piece of fiction

Intent look

Started the kitty

Pebble in one’s shoe, e.g.

*Inclination to follow the majority

Sign of a theatrical hit

Lead-in to “la-la”

“Couldn’t care less”

Liturgical vestment

Wonderland cake words

News anchor Holt

*Phones inadvertently

Mother of Prince Harry

Not worth ___ (valueless)

Hazards on the links

Prison at sea

___ Island Red (chicken)

*Boy Scout handbook topic

League of Nations city

Soak one’s bib

Sounds of hesitation

“Six-pack” muscles

Bit of body art

Comics bark

*One upstaging a star, say

On and on and on ...

One of two on some wedding cakes

With 64-Across, performer who is like the words sounded out at the starts of the answers to the four starred clues

Greeting in old Rome

See 62-Across 65 No longer in dreamland 66 Barbie’s beau

V-formation flier DOWN

Skin care product

N.L. pennant winner in 2005 and A.L. pennant winner in 2017 and 2019

Marsh plant

Commercial that might have a jingle

Punctuation that may mean “or”

memphisflyer.com

continued from page 21

of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to follow.

Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

The Enchanted Forest Festival

Visitors are invited to explore a forest of festive and aweinspiring trees decorated by professional designers, indi viduals, and local organiza tions. Through Dec. 24.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Toy Drive Pajama Party

Benefitting Porter-Leath. Memphis Song Writers group presents a day filled with great live music, holiday cheer, and a chance to help some kids in need. Saturday, Dec. 10, noon.

MEDDLESOME BREWING COMPANY

Victorian Yuletide Open House

Step back in time and enjoy a Victorian Christmas. Free. Friday, Dec. 9, 6-8 p.m.

WOODRUFF-FONTAINE HOUSE MUSEUM

Winter Wonderland at CMOM Trees, twinkling lights, dancing snowflakes, and all the seasonal trappings. Through Dec. 31.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS

XMas Rager

Raging in the name of love and community. Bring a toy for the toy drive and get in free. $5. Thursday, Dec. 8, 8 p.m.-1 a.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Yule Masquerade Ball

Featuring an opening set from The Murdering Crows, followed by DJ and dancing, light show, and photo ops with Krampus and Santa. $20. Satur day, Dec. 10, 7:30-11:30 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

LECTURE

Local Perspectives About Ukraine

Learn about the Uniting for Ukraine refugee program, medical document transla tion assistance for children at St. Jude, the complexities of the war, the sources of Ukrainian success, and more. Sunday, Dec. 11, 2 p.m.

MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Tolkien and the Meaning of MiddleEarth

Arthur Hunt will discuss ele ments of The Rings of Power, but also focus broadly on what Tolkien was attempting to communicate in his epic tale. Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

RICHLAND ARP CHURCH

PERFORMING ARTS

Memphis Matters

A Memphis Matters per formance offers a needed antidote to the fear-based, polarizing politics of the day. $10, $30. Saturday, Dec. 10, 7 p.m.

FRAYSER COMMUNITY DEVELOP MENT CORPORATION

Magic of Memphis! Experience Memphis’ most

Enjoy Shelby Farms Park’s largest fundraising event of the year, Starry Nights, through December 30th.

beloved holiday tradition, joined by a continuous col lage of Memphis performing groups for a nonstop light and music show. Saturday, Dec. 10, 2:30-7:30 p.m.

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PER FORMING ARTS

Virgin Drag Race: Mystic Krewe of Pegasus

A drag competition for those who have never done drag professionally and want to help raise money for a great organization — Love Doesn’t Hurt. Sunday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

SPORTS

NBA Memphis Grizzlies vs. Detroit Pistons Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

NBA Memphis Grizzlies vs. Atlanta Hawks Monday, Dec. 12, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

THEATER

A Christmas Carol An adaptation of the Charles Dickens’ novel that follows the journey of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Through Dec. 23.

THEATRE MEMPHIS

Don’t Hydroplane Reading

What starts as a typical at tempt to bury a loved one in a tasteful manner hits a little snag when sisters learn their mother will no longer fit in the casket. Tuesday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

I Dwell in Possibility: Emily Dickinson Emerges

The Belle of Amherst shares her poetic relationship to isolation, nature, literature, and love. Through Dec. 11

TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

It’s a Wonderful Life Watch an angel get his wings as he reminds a down-on-

his-luck George Bailey of all the things that make his a wonderful life. $25. Friday, Dec. 9-Dec. 11

BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE CENTER

Junie B.’s Essential Survival Guide to School

The Circuit Playhouse’s favor ite first-grader is at it again in this hilarious, whole-hearted show. Through Dec. 22.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Navidad Spectacular!

A Christmas Musical with Latin Flavor! $25. Through Dec. 11.

THEATREWORKS AT EVERGREEN Peter and the Starcatcher

A Peter Pan origin story Friday, Dec. 9-Dec. 11.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE Righteous Among Us (Reading)

A researcher at a civil rights museum collects oral histo ries about families who saved Jews during the Holocaust, but then she uncovers one hero family’s legend may be a lie. Sunday, Dec. 11, 7 p.m.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

The Wizard of Oz Young Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away in a tornado to the magical land of Oz. Through Dec. 22.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

Velveteen Rabbit the Musical

The Velveteen Rabbit learns what it means to be a loyal friend and what it really takes to become real. $30-$35. Through Dec. 18.

HATTILOO THEATRE

Who’s Holiday!

In this adults-only rollick, return to Mount Crumpit to find Cindy Lou Who … living in a trailer? Through Dec. 22.

PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE

TOURS

Twilight Tour Slip into the bygone era while strolling the mansion’s darkened halls. Listen to guides spill ghostly secrets and divulge first-hand accounts of paranor mal activity. $60. Wednesday, Dec. 14, 7-9 p.m.

WOODRUFF-FONTAINE HOUSE

BOOKS By Alex Greene

The Mark of Cain

“

Iprayed, ‘Dear nothing, come into my life. Fill me with your infinite space. No one knows the size of your great nothing ness. In nobody’s name, Amen.’” So says Ronnie Harrison, recalling his own loss of faith as his fellow ex-cons sing “I Saw the Light” at Camp Eden’s Wednesday prayer meeting in Gulf Breeze, Florida. In a deft touch capturing the complexity of the character, author Tyler Keith portrays Ronnie reflexively singing right along with the other denizens of the halfway house, even as his thoughts turn cold and nihilistic.

Keith, best known as the songwriter and guitarist behind such bands as The Neckbones, The Preacher’s Kids, and The Apostles, includes some fine character studies in his debut novel, The Mark of Cain (Cool Dog Sound), but none as subtle as the book’s protagonist. Yet, para doxically, this very character is a cipher as the novel opens. Ronnie, freshly paroled from federal prison, begins the tale as a blank slate.

“I had nothing … I doubted if I was

even me anymore. I’d put myself in sus pended animation for so long I couldn’t remember who I used to be. All I knew was, that when the prison doors opened it also opened up a flood of the deepest pent-up emotions that’d I’d hidden away for so long.” So Ronnie muses, and as he allows memories in, so too does the reader learn of the tangled family web in which he is caught.

Most of the novel is set in Camp Eden, the combination ministry/rehabilitation program where Harrison eases back into life on the outside. Eden, a finely-drawn universe unto itself populated with excons who never seem to go further than a halfway house, is a sorry excuse for freedom, a kind of purgatory from which Ronnie can’t escape. But it nonetheless is a perch from which he can avoid the real danger zone: Holmes County, where family ties offer no salvation, only a return to his former life of crime.

“You’ve heard of the three M’s of Holmes County?” one character asks. “Moonshine, marijuana, and metham phetamines.” Presiding over the county,

trafficking all of the above and owning the local judges, is the shadowy figure of Uncle Albert. The kingpin is made all the more threatening by his absence, as Ronnie negotiates living as a free man while steering clear of his compromised family past. It all seems safely at arm’s length until a certain Travis Campbell, with close ties to Uncle Albert, shows up at Eden, trying to coax him back into his former life.

Meanwhile, Ronnie’s preoccupied with his other former life, his ex-wife Tammy and their now grown daughter Tina. Wracked with guilt over his lost years in prison, he clings to them as his

one hope for a straight life. A failure as a dad, he broods over his own father, a preacher who, the story goes, disap peared early in Ronnie’s life. Such bouts of longing and regret reveal Ronnie at his most sympathetic, drawing us down his inexorable road back to Holmes County and his past.

The language here is basic yet evoca tive. Keith, who grew up in north Florida, conjures up the landscape and its people as only a native can. Even when the hard boiled, matter-of-fact prose descends into cliched sentiments of the heart — “Tammy was the only woman I ever really loved” — one can hear Ronnie’s credible voice behind it. If the characters think in cliches, that’s just another prison, constraining them to courses of action that take on their own logic.

That’s what makes this a compelling page-turner that, in the grand tradition of Jim Thompson, elevates the noir thriller into loftier realms of literature. Our hap less narrator’s default approach to life is to “just let it all happen,” a passivity that has only led him to prison and a trail of broken relationships. But his time at Camp Eden, however corrupt and con fining, leads him, through the unfettered violence of the final pages, to confront his own past and find some kind of redemp tion. Even that is broken, somehow, but he’ll take it.

Tyler Keith evokes deepest, darkest Florida.

From Ari, With Love

Visual artist and native Memphian Ari Rozario believes that art is a feeling thing. Rozario spent her childhood sketching and doodling. rough the years, she’d sketch the Memphis bridge and certain places and experiences on Beale Street that were signi cant to her. A er spending time away living in Atlanta, which became her second home, Rozario now describes Memphis as more of a feeling. “ ere’s a di erent feeling to being home and being around all these people who have seen you through all your stages and transitions,” she says. “It makes me feel like this is the right place to be at this moment.”

e artist will host her rst showcase back home in Memphis at Seraphim Gallery, December 16th through 18th.

Gold is a common theme in many of Rozario’s pieces, including “ e Golden Hour” and “ e Golden Hour PT 2,” which can be viewed on her website and will be on display at Seraphim. In these pieces, gold elegantly blooms from one corner of a matte-colored canvas and onto the center. “Gold has a very royal feel to me. It makes the piece captivating,” she says. e gold in Rozario’s art turns the work into what feels like a statement piece — one that belongs in the entryway of a grand home or a sophisticated space.

ough Rozario o en has a vision of what her next pieces will look like, ideas are just the start of an ever-changing nal product. “ e original idea is kind of like the foundational idea. So it can change in the process. at’s pretty normal for me,” she says. Acrylic paint is her primary medium, and one of her favorite colors to use is Montana Black. On the other hand, she also chooses color palettes in the moment and even experiments with di erent textures.

For Rozario, art has no rules. A typical creative process includes putting her headphones on and getting lost in music as she works. She will listen to music that re ects her current mood or feelings, and those feelings then inspire the nished product. “While I’m creating, nothing else exists,” she says.

When asked what type of audience she

hopes to capture through her art, Rozario says it’s all about deeper thinking. “I think o entimes, people who see art in person kind of just go into a space and say, ‘Let me tell you what I can see.’ It’s unique because it’s di erent for everybody.”

ere can be many perspectives, and Rozario captures this idea in one of her favorite pieces, “One Shot.” As a mixed media piece utilizing monochrome colors and outlines of what can be interpreted as a basketball and basketball net, it has a deeper background message. Captured in its title, “One Shot” is about taking chances and following your dreams. “Whatever it is that you’re going through in life, you got one life to do it. You got one shot to do it,” Rozario says. “One Shot” will be on display at the showcase.

Looking ahead, Rozario has plans for future creations and experiences in the works, like more public opportunities, releases, and speaking engagements. Currently, she is working on releasing merchandise, including T-shirts that say, “From Ari, with love.” Rozario chose this phrase because, she says, “We all just need a little bit of love out there.”

She wanted to do something di erent, to spread love through something more personal. “Whenever I sell a piece, that’s how I feel about it. is piece is from me to you — with love. It’s like a personal little note. It’s like … my little doodle as a child.”

Ari Rozario’s showcase at Seraphim Gallery (437 N. Cleveland) runs December 16th to 18th. “ e Path of an Artist” black-tie event will be held the 16th from 6 to 9 p.m. Formal attire is encouraged but not required. From the 17th to the 18th, hours will be from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no dress code. Find Ari Rozario at arirozario.com, on Instagram and Twitter @AriRozario, and on TikTok @1AriRozario.

PHOTO: D’ANGELO CONNELL/DC THE SNAPPER Ari Rozario

See Ari Rozario’s work at Seraphim Gallery December 16th-18th.

ARTS By Ashley Insong

Fantastic Flapjacks

rinkley Erb admits she wasn’t “a pancake person.”

Until one morning. She had a craving for pancakes, but she wanted “a good healthy pancake,” says Erb, 23. She got online to see what people put in their recipes. “I saw some common ingredients in the various pancake recipes.”

en she made her own. “I experimented and it turned out it was super yummy.”

Erb didn’t want to have to clean up the kitchen every time she made the pancakes. “I had the idea to try and freeze them and toast them and see what happened. And they were actually yummier.”

a bike ride or a workout and be pretty sustainable. It’s nourishing.”

Erb describes her pancakes as “both a bite of a warm sunny day at the beach and some cozy ski lodge.”

Many people think pancakes are unhealthy. But not hers, she says. “At our tastings we actually take a little bowl and we ll it with a banana, some oats, some cinnamon, and some salt. And we have a sign that says, ‘ is is all that’s in these pancakes.’ Because you really have to get in people’s faces about it a little bit for them to understand.

“Sometimes they think the little pinch of salt we put in the bowl is sugar. But it’s salt. We are not going to put any cane sugar in any product we make.”

News of her pancakes originally spread by word of mouth. “I started telling my yoga clients about them.”

She continued perfecting the recipe, as well as guring out packaging and getting a business license.

Good Flippin’ Pancakes come in three avors. “We have the original, which is just the bananas, oats, cinnamon, and salt. And then we have blueberry, banana, oats, cinnamon.”

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And, she says, “ at’s when I thought we might be onto something.”

People are now ippin’ over Brinkley’s Good Flippin’ Pancakes. It’s the rst product in Erb’s business, Brinkley’s Foods LLC, which she owns and operates along with her sister Connell and their stepfather Tom Sikes. e pancakes are now available at High Point Grocery, South Point Grocery, Big River Market, Grind City Grocer, and Cordelia’s Market.

A graduate of Hutchison School, Erb wasn’t a business major in college. “I majored in psychology and Spanish.”

She created her pancakes out of necessity. “In 2015, I got diagnosed with some food allergies, which excluded eggs and dairy from my diet.

“Vegan was not trendy. I just kind of had no other options, really, except to try and make these alternative things for myself.”

She also made the pancakes for her friends. “It became kind of a thing.”

ey t in perfectly with her lifestyle. “ is is so nice for me when I go teach yoga. I can pop one in the toaster and there’s my breakfast.

“It’s something you can eat before

ey also have a chia avor, with chia seeds as one of the ingredients. “It has a more nutritious kind of pro le as far as ber and proteins.”

She and her sister and stepfather make the pancakes at Memphis Kitchen Co-Op Marketplace in Cordova. Connell is the taste-tester, as well as the designer of the packaging and marketing materials. Sikes handles the paperwork.

Brinkley isn’t stopping at pancakes. She plans to introduce a Baked Oat Bite before Christmas. “It’s kind of a hybrid between a granola bar, a mu n, and a cookie. It’s got bananas, oats, and almond our. ose are the main ingredients.”

e Bite, which also will be sold frozen, can be prepared in a microwave or toaster oven. ey can be an “on-the-go snack” or a dessert “with a scoop of ice cream.”

For now, Brinkley’s Foods products are only available in stores. “We would love to get to the point where we’re doing online orders and shipping. But we are not there yet.

“My favorite part about this is the creative aspect. Getting in the kitchen and playing and experimenting really is what it is for me.

“ at’s what I love. at’s the passion that started all of it.”

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE

Connell and Brinkley Erb and Tom Sikes

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Bummer College dreams were scattered across a highway in El Paso, Texas, on Oct. 28 when a UPS truck lost its load of SAT tests that had been completed on Oct. 27 at El Paso High School, KTSM-TV reported. Senior class vice president Santiago Gonzalez said the school called a meeting to discuss the lost tests. All but 55 of them were recov ered; the College Board is working with those students to set a retest date. Stu dent body president Zyenna Martinez is worried about identity theft: “[The tests] have all of our identification and information … where we live, our ad dress, our date of birth … and it stinks because our identity is out there right now.” [KTSM, 11/2/2022]

Two Weirds for the Price of One TSA officers at the Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport made a “hen you believe it?” (their pun, not ours) discovery on Nov. 8 as they screened luggage: a pistol stuffed inside a raw chicken. The Associated Press re ported that both raw meat and firearms are allowed on airplanes — just not packed together. TSA posted a photo of the bang-bang chicken on its Insta gram account but did not identify the traveler or whether it made any arrests.

[Associated Press, 11/9/2022]

Goals

Alexander Tominsky, 31, of Philadel phia invited the public to assemble and watch him eat an entire rotisserie chicken — for the 40th day in a row, The New York Times reported. Dubbed “The Chicken Man,” Tominsky placed flyers around Philly to advertise his consumption of the 40th bird, and doz ens of people showed up at a pier on the Delaware River on Nov. 6 to watch. “Eat that bird!” they chanted. And he did. Why? He told the Times that much of the world is in pain, so he needed to do something painful to himself that would make others smile. After 40 days of cramping and bloating, Tominsky was looking forward to a sushi dinner.

[NY Times, 11/7/2022]

Unclear on the Concept

As 61-year-old James Hodges, who is legally blind, walked down the street in Columbia County, Florida, on Oct. 31, Deputy Jayme Gohde noticed the walking stick folded up in Hodges’

back pocket and thought it was a gun. She stopped him and handcuffed him after he refused to produce his ID. But, The Washington Post reported, she and her sergeant learned he had no outstanding warrants and he clearly wasn’t armed, so she was prepared to release him. Then Hodges asked for her name and badge number, and her sergeant said, according to body cam footage, “You know what, put him in jail for resisting.” On Nov. 7, charges against Hodges were dropped; on Nov. 8, Sheriff Mark Hunter announced that the sergeant had been demoted and Gohde was suspended for two days without pay. Both will receive remedial civil rights training. [Washington Post, 11/10/2022]

What’s the Point?

Japanese convenience store Lawson is testing a new candy that tastes like emptiness, Oddity Central reported. “Aji no Shinai? Ame,” or “Tasteless? Candy,” apparently has a slight odor but almost no flavor. The makers are hoping that people who use candy just to keep their mouths and throats moist will appreciate the flavorless variety.

[Oddity Central, 11/10/2022]

One Man’s Trash … German collector Alexander Smolja novic is on the hunt for a special item to complete his collection, Metro News reported. Smoljanovic wants a purple Sulo 240-liter wheeled trash can, avail able only in the United Kingdom, to round out his collection of more than 100 full-size wheelies. “I have minia tures and real wheelie bins from U.S.A., Australia, France, U.K., and Germany. Almost every color is available. The most valuable colors are purple, gold, silver, and transparent,” he said. He hopes for a donation, but he’s willing to pay for the elusive purple wheelie.

“Some people tell me, ‘Now I consider my wheelie bin from another angle.’”

[Metro News, 11/10/2022]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@ amuniversal.com. News of the Weird is now a podcast on all major platforms! Visit newsoftheweirdpodcast.com to find out more.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

© 2022 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries film maker Andrei Tarkovsky wrote, “To be free, you simply have to be so, without asking permission. You must have your own hypothesis about what you are called to do, and follow it, not giving in to circumstances or complying with them. But that sort of freedom demands power ful inner resources, a high degree of selfawareness, and a consciousness of your responsibility to yourself and therefore to other people.” That last element is where some freedom-seekers falter. They ne glect their obligation to care for and serve their fellow humans. I want to make sure you don’t do that, Aries, as you launch a new phase of your liberation process. Authentic freedom is conscientious.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The term “neurodiversity” refers to the fact that the human brain functions in a wide variety of ways. There are not just a few versions of mental health and learning styles that are better than all the others. Taurus musician David Byrne believes he is neurodiverse because he is on the autism spectrum. That’s an advantage, he feels, giving him the power to focus with extra intensity on his creative pursuits. I consider myself neurodiverse because my life in the imaginal realm is just as important to me as my life in the mate rial world. I suspect that most of us are neurodiverse in some sense — deviating from “normal” mental functioning. What about you, Taurus? The coming months will be an excellent time to explore and celebrate your own neurodiversity.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Poet Jane Hirshfield says that Zen Buddhism is built on three principles: 1. Everything changes. 2. Everything is connected. 3. Pay attention. Even if you are not a Zen practitioner, Gemini, I hope you will focus on the last two precepts in the coming weeks. If I had to summarize the formula that will bring you the most interesting experiences and feelings, it would be, “Pay attention to how every thing is connected.” I hope you will inten sify your intention to see how all the ap parent fragments are interwoven. Here’s my secret agenda: I think it will help you register the truth that your life has a higher purpose than you’re usually aware of — and that the whole world is conspir ing to help you fulfill that purpose.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Author Flannery O’Connor wrote, “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” I will add a further thought: “You have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it and strive to transform it into a better place.” Let’s make this one of your inspirational meditations in the coming months, Cancerian. I suspect you will have more power than usual to transform

the world into a better place. Get started! (PS: Doing so will enhance your ability to endure and cherish.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Many sports journalists will tell you that while they may root for their favorite teams, they also “root for the story.” They want a compelling tale to tell. They yearn for dramatic plot twists that reveal enter taining details about interesting charac ters performing unique feats. That’s how I’m going to be in the coming months, Leo, at least in relation to you. I hope to see you engaged in epic sagas, creating yourself with verve as you weave your way through fun challenges and intrigu ing adventures. I predict my hope will be realized.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Venus is too hot and dry for humans to live on. But if travelers from Earth could figure out a way to feel comfortable there, they would enjoy a marvelous perk. The planet rotates very slowly. One complete day and night lasts for 243 Earth days and nights. That means you and a spe cial friend could take a romantic stroll toward the sunset for as long as you wanted, and never see the sun go down. I invite you to dream up equally lyrical adventures in togetherness here on Earth during the coming months, Virgo. Your intimate alliances will thrive as you get imaginative and creative about nurturing togetherness.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): As far as I’m concerned, Libran Buddhist monk and author Thích Nhất Hạnh was one of the finest humans who ever lived. “Where do you seek the spiritual?” he asked. His answer: “You seek the spiritual in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the veg etables, and washing the dishes become sacred if mindfulness is there.” In the coming weeks, Libra, you will have exceptional power to live like this: to regard every event, however mundane or routine, as an opportunity to express your soulful love and gratitude for the privilege of being alive. Act as if the whole world is your precious sanctuary.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A reader named Elisa Jean tells me, “We Scorpio allies admire how Scorpios can be so solicitous and welcoming: the best party hosts. They know how to foster social situations that bring out the best in ev eryone and provide convivial entertain ment. Yet Scorpios also know everyone’s secrets. They are connoisseurs of the skeletons in the closets. So they have the power to spawn discordant commotions and wreak havoc on people’s reputations. But they rarely do. Instead, they keep the secrets. They use their covert knowledge to weave deep connections.” Everything

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Sagittarians are least likely to stay in one location for extended periods. Many of you enjoy the need to move around from place to place. Doing so may be crucial in satisfying your quest for ever-fresh knowledge and stimulation. You understand that it’s risky to get too fixed in your habits and too dogmatic in your beliefs. So you feel an imperative to keep disrupt ing routines before they become deadening. When you are success ful in this endeavor, it’s often due to a special talent you have: your capacity for creating an inner sense of home that enables you to feel stable and grounded as you ramble free. I believe this superpower will be extra strong during the coming months.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capri corn author Edgar Allan Poe made this mysterious statement: “We can, at any time, double the true beauty of an actual landscape by half closing our eyes as we look at it.” What did he mean? He was referring to how crucial it is to see life “through the veil of the soul.” Merely us ing our physical vision gives us only half the story. To be receptive to the full glory of the world, our deepest self must also participate in the vision. Of course, this is always true. But it’s even more extra espe cially true than usual for you right now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Aquar ian theologian Henri Nouwen wrote, “I have discovered that the gifts of life are often hidden in the places that hurt most.” Yikes! Really? I don’t like that idea. But I will say this: If Nouwen’s theory has a grain of truth, you will capitalize on that fact in the coming weeks. Amazingly enough, a wound or pain you experienced in the past could reveal a redemptive pos sibility that inspires and heals you.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Piscean novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen says it’s wise to talk to yourself. No other conversa tional partner is more fascinating. No one else listens as well. I offer you his advice in the hope of encouraging you to upgrade the intensity and frequency of your dialogs with yourself. It’s an excel lent astrological time to go deeper with the questions you pose and to be braver in formulating your responses. Make the coming weeks be the time when you find out much more about what you truly think and feel.

LEGAL NOTICES

PERSONAL PROPERTY PUBLIC NOTICE

As required by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 67-5-903, the Shelby County Assessor will be mailing Tangible Personal Property Schedules to all active businesses within Shelby County on Friday, January 13, 2023. The filing deadline is March 1, 2023. Please call the Shelby County Assessor’s office at 901-222-7002, if you need assistance.

memphisflyer.com

Elisa Jean described will be your special ties in the coming weeks, Scorpio.

Crunk on Christmas

Santa Claus, that personi cation of Christmas beloved of children everywhere, comes with his own group of accessories and symbols: the red cap and coat, white beard, round spectacles, ying sleigh pulled by magic reindeer, and Skullcrusher, his hammer. Not familiar with Skullcrusher? at’s because you haven’t seen Violent Night yet. Skullcrusher isn’t likely to join the Santa pantheon alongside his bag of toys for good little girls and boys, but, in the right hands, it is capable of meting out more punishment for the naughty than a simple lump of coal.

ose hands belong to David Harbour, most recognizable as Stranger ings’ Sheri Jim Hopper, the reluctant stepdad of human weapon Eleven. He also whipped his dad bod into shape to play the Red Guardian in Black Widow, so playing an ass-kicking Santa is in his wheelhouse. When we rst see him as the Bearded One, he’s knocking back beers at an English pub,

commiserating with the other Santa tribute artists about the kids these days. Santa’s over the greed that has taken over his season, but he’s kept going only out of duty to the kids on the nice list. When he leaves through the roof access, it dawns on the sta that he’s the real thing.

Meanwhile, little Trudy Lightstone (Leah Brady) is on her way to Christmas at grandma’s house. It’s the rst time her estranged parents Jason (Alex Hassell) and Linda (Alexis Louder) have been together in a while. e situation is even more fraught because the wealthy Lightstone family is more toxic than President’s Island. Grandma Gertrude (Beverly D’Angelo) is a predatory capitalist with a foul mouth and no time for sentiment. Alva (Edi Patterson) can’t hold her liquor as well as her mother, and her boyfriend Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet) is only there to try to convince Gertrude to fund his movie idea.

When Santa slips into this expensive snake pit, he is distracted from his gi

delivery duties by expensive sherry and a massage chair. He is awakened by gun re. A criminal mastermind who goes by the name of Scrooge (John Leguizamo) has arrived to steal all the well-stu ed stockings hung from the chimney with care, not knowing that crunk Santa was already there.

Director Tommy Wirkola has made action hay out of fairy tales in the past, with Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and a two- sted Santa Claus is not that far-fetched: e real St. Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop famous for punching out the heretic Arius during the Council of Nicaea. In Harbour, Wirkola has found a twisted kind of muse. Together, they ri on that classic holiday lm Die Hard, with Santa crawling through the air ducts instead of John McClane. As Harbour mugs his way through some half-assed, John Wick-style ght choreography, he imbues burnt-out Saint Nick with

his signature gru charm. It’s a real movie star performance, and without it, the whole lm would collapse into nonsense.

Conan O’Brien said that the key to great comedy is mixing smart and stupid in just the right ratio. Violent Night’s gross-out slapstick juxtaposed against the trappings of Christmas (Scrooge’s henchmen are named Sugarplum and Gingerbread) achieves a kind of action comedy alchemy. It’s not a holiday classic like Die Hard, but it is a decent temporary remedy for the mandatory holiday cheer.

Violent Night Now playing Multiple locations

Tuesday, December 20 at 7:30pm

Germantown United Methodist Church

Thursday, December 22 at 7:30pm

Lindenwood Christian Church Friday, December 23 at 7:30pm

Maples Memorial United Methodist Church Robert Moody, conductor Memphis Symphony Chamber Chorus Dr. Lawrence Edwards, conductor

FILM By Chris McCoy

David Harbour as Santa kicks Scrooge’s ass in Violent Night

David Harbour as Violent Night’s Santa Claus punches rst, gives gi s later.

Spoiler Alert

Not to give it away, but this film is based on journalist Michael Ausiello’s memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons plays Ausiello, who woos hot photographer dude Kit Cowan (Ben Aldridge, Fleabag), but their love is cut short by cancer. With director Michael Showalter (The Big Sick, The Eyes of Tam my Faye) and legendary advice columnist Dan Savage as a writer, this might hit the rom-com/Hallmark sweet spot.

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie

If you like romance, but the doomed boyfriend movie is too heavy, this manga adaptation is what you’re looking for. The

tutor Fuutaro Uesugi (voiced by either Yoshitsugu Matsuoka or Josh Grelle, if you watch sub or dub) must choose which of the beautiful Nakano sisters to marry — or maybe it’s the other way around.

Emancipation

Will Smith stars as a runaway slave who escapes a Louisiana plantation and heads North, where he becomes a symbol of freedom. This $120 million production is helmed by Antoine Fuqua, who hit gold with his Magnificent Seven remake in 2016.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Superhero films don’t get much better than this, which is still the #1 movie at the box office. Director Ryan Coogler leads his all-star cast through this tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

LEGAL NOTICES

BURGUNDY 2007

CHEVY IMPALA

VIN #2G1WT58KX79209128. If you have any claim on this vehicle please contact Latoya at 901-219-0830 within 10 days of this notice.

FRESH START ACT OF 2022 H.R. 6667

To Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), we need to pass this bill in the 117th Congress Session before the new year I’ve been waiting for a bill like this my whole life to pass if not we have to pick up the bones and carry it over to 2023 we cannot let this bill die.

SHARED HOUSING

FURNISHED ROOMS

Bellevue/McLemore, Jackson/ Watkins, Airways/Lamar. Call 901-485-0897.

BUY, SELL, TRADE

MIKASA DINNERWARE

New 16-piece place setting, Anissa pattern for $200. Leave message at 901-568-2040.

WANTED: OLD WINDUP Victrolas & old 45 & 78 records. Call Paul 901-734-6111.

AUTO

AUTO ACTION

These abandoned vehicles will be sold on 12-16-22 at Principle Toyota, 7370 Winchester Rd., Memphis, Tn. 38125 at 10:00am.

2016 TOYOTA COROLLA VIN #5YFBURHE1GP383920

2007 TOYOTA CAMRY VIN #4T1BK46K77U052677

2002 TOYOTA CAMRY VIN #JTDBF32K220004173

A Stanky Retreat

Memphis is My Boyfriend: Where peace is found in nature on the outskirts of town.

Sometimes my days are hectic. I’m a wife, mother of four, sister, writer, librarian, tness instructor, and friend. My calendar is color-coded and full. Once I showed my therapist my calendar, she bluntly replied, “What am I looking at? What is this?” When I told her it’s my calendar that shows how my days are constructed, she was abbergasted. I literally make hundreds of decisions a day. I’m emotionally, physically, and intellectually present at every job and every endeavor. I listen with enthusiasm to my kids about their days. I even follow up from the previous day’s conversation. I laugh at my husband’s jokes and the reels he sends me on Instagram. And I love every minute of it. I have a good life! No, seriously. I have the life I’ve always dreamed about! But sometimes, my days get so lled and busy that I’m too tired to enjoy the life that I’ve built. Crazy, isn’t it? To work so hard at something only to pass out from exhaustion before you can even marvel at its existence.

In the times where everything seems so heavy, I nd myself wanting to be lost, just so I can nd myself again. I want to wander around without a serious thought in my head. I want to walk at a “grocery store” pace without any pep in my step. Nowhere I gotta be and no one I gotta see. I don’t want anyone calling my name or tapping me on my hip. (IYKYK … especially if you work with little kids.)

In other words, I don’t want to be bothered by the life I’ve created. I know … First World Problems1

So I go to where time feels like it’s standing still. I go where I can lose myself only to remember what it is that I love so much. Where I can go listen to the birds chirp, the squirrels scramble around, and maybe get stared at by the occasional deer. I take a walk through Nesbit Park2, aka Stanky Creek. Where the only thing required of me, taken in exchange, is CO2

Nesbit Park, where you don’t have to make a decision or review a budget.

Nesbit Park is located in Bartlett, Tennessee3. (5760 Yale Road to be exact.) It has some amazing bike and walking trails. It’s a place of peace and adventure. During my rst Nesbit Park, aka Stanky Creek, experience, I learned how strong I truly am. It was during a Memphis Runners Club Winter O -Road Race Series. I’d never ventured inside the park before, so this was a completely new experience. During this 8K race, I struggled through narrow paths, hills, and ravines where I had to use my non-existent upperbody strength to pull myself up. ( ere was a lot of cheering and several attempts before I accomplished it.) Somewhere along the marked path, I started listening to the birds. At some point, I looked up and around at the trees. I realized that I hardly ever look up anymore. Eventually, I looked down to nd that I couldn’t see any of the race markers. I couldn’t hear anyone. I couldn’t see anyone. So I stopped moving, put my hands on my hips like Forrest Gump, and I took a deep breath in and exhaled. And I wandered. I skipped. I frolicked. I jogged. I walked. I didn’t think. I didn’t worry. I just existed. With no requirements, I just existed and lived in that moment. Or moments, if I’m honest. (Don’t fret. I was never truly lost during this race. An earlier runner had knocked a race marker down and I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see or hear anyone because I was dead last and very far behind.)

But in the end, I came out better and stronger than I was before. And most importantly, my mind was so clear. Like that breath of fresh air I was gasping for because they cheered for me to run up a hill and cross the nish line.

So now, when I step inside of Nesbit Park, I promise it’s like stepping into another world. I don’t hear any loud music or the steady hum of cars on the streets. I’m not being asked to make a decision, run an errand, review a budget, or even be considerate of anyone other than myself.

Sounds sel sh? Well, it’s my truth. As much as I love being around the public and people, I nd peace in being alone. I love the way my heart beat feels in my chest. I love the way silence and so nature sounds press against my ears. I love it as a breeze grazes my cheeks like a so kiss. I love me and don’t mind my own company.

While in Nesbit, I simply breathe … exist … move forward … And eventually the heaviness wears away and I’m le with a solid foundation of peace.

1 First World Problems — A term used when First World Nations complain about something that is perceived as small in comparison to global problems.

2 Nesbit Park — Once upon a time, it was the farm of Katherine Nesbit. Now it’s a public trail. It’s also called Stanky Creek due to the smell that comes from a creek. (But it smells just ne to me.)

3 Bartlett, Tennessee — Incorporated in 1866 and named a er Major Gabriel Bartlett. Now known as the place where Memphians don’t dare speed.

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. Her days are lled with laughter with her four kids and charming husband. By day, she’s a school librarian and a writer, but by night … she’s asleep. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend.

PHOTO: PATRICIA LOCKHART

THE LAST WORD By Patricia Lockhart