The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

Is there some planetary alignment that I'm unaware of or have been people been regressing at the speed of light lately? Case in point: An old friend of mine who I've know since childhood, had a prospective client storm out of his office today when he found out that my friend is black. Even more ludicrous, this potential client was also black. Everybody say it with me...WTF????? In this day and age, does a person's race still mean anything to anyone other than that person? I've known, befriended, been romantically involved with and worked with people of all races in my 45 years and you know what I've learned from that? People are people. I've been fortunate enough to have traveled around the globe and once again, people are just people. But this doesn't end here. Another friend, who is also black (or African American or Negro or Person of Color or whatever the politically correct term is this week), has been dealing with a similar issue. My friend, while disc...

I spent the past two days in northeast Ohio (where I lived in the second half of the eighties). My time there was personally turbulent but never anything less than interesting (in retrospect). It's been 21 years since I left there. If I hadn't, I probably would've drank myself to death...period. In the little area I lived in, there were 88 bars (back in the day) and not much else to do. I can tell you, I was drunk in every single one of those bars at one point or other. To paraphrase Thomas Wolfe, you really can't go back. Just being back where I used to live felt, if nothing else, surreal. I described it to a friend there thusly: "It's like being somewhere you've never been but knowing where everything is". Everything changes...which is probably a good thing...but it was disconcerting to me just how much things had changed. Familiar storefronts bore strange names. The people in the streets looked different. Lots of my friends are gone, and those remai...

Yep...I cried. I'm man enough to admit it. If you're wondering why (and since you're reading this, I'll assume you do), I'll tell ya. One of my oldest and dearest friends lost his son over the weekend. My friend is obviously devastated. For once in my life, I'm at a loss as to what to say...if anything. I want so bad to be there for my friend, to try to find a way to comfort him. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow he is feeling. It's long been said that its not the natural order of things for a parent to outlive their children. I agree with that. Ever since I found out about my friend's son's passing over the weekend, I've been trying to figure out just what part of God's plan this could be. That's my nature. I figure things out. It's what I do. But this...I have no clue. I'll leave this in God's hands. Its how my faith works. In an effort to comfort my friend, I offered some verses from the Bible. While I am a...

I still miss you almost as much as I still love you. You visit me often in my dreams...and I listen, or at least try to. The world still has so much hate. And worse, people are even more self-important than ever. I cry to think that your death was for nothing. No one learned anything. I'm sitting here thinking of your smile, your laugh, your touch. The pain is still great but ten years later, its easing up a bit. Its being replaced with sad but sweet memories. I remember the day in the park when you were sewing up my favorite shirt and I was playing guitar. My car died in front of your house that night. I guess it was just another one of those signs that we were supposed to be, if at least for a little while. You were always so proud of the little accomplishments I made in life. More proud than I was. The look in your eyes when you would tell me how proud you were...the thought of it still leaves me paralyzed with love. My mind keeps going back to the moment I fell in love with you...

I'm usually not one to suggest products or suggest against products...unless I think they're really fantastic or utter pieces of crap. Well I'm here to tell ya, the Money Miser Coin Sorter SUCKS ROTTING ZOMBIE ASS! I've always been frugal...but don't take that as cheap . I work hard for my money and I like to save when/where I can. For the past few years (which from 2007-2010 were really tight), I've always kept a jar on the kitchen table, and when I get home at night (or in the morning as is the case most days) I dump whatever pocket change I have into said jar. I'd usually cash it in at Ye Olde Coinstar machine just before payday...in case I needed gas, lunch money, or just a night on the town. I would usually amass $60 or per month this way. This past year has been pretty decent financially so around May, I switched to a bigger jar. I hadn't taken anything OUT of the jar since around April. Well, the jar finally got so full (and so heavy I co...

With all of the bad news we regularly hear about politics, the economy, the weather, etc. sometimes we have to ignore it all and get back to basics. And by that, I mean being GOOD to each other. This week has been a bit unusual for me. I'm a man of limited means & my car broke down. Its looking to be an expensive fix. But I will handle that, as I have everything else thrown my way, in its own time. I have a good and more importantly, HONEST mechanic (Shout out to Sam Sr. & Sam Jr. @ Glenshaw Auto!). They've never let me down in 15+ years! But also this week, I've been trying to help 2 friends. One, who is in a world of emotional hurt. Her life is facing some immediate and definitely tough challenges. She often doesn't realize just how strong she is. She's faced some big challenges in the past and has always managed to surmount them. She is facing being homeless within the next few days. My heart goes out to her. She's at the end of her rope and finding i...

Really now, who wouldn't love a talking dog? So unique! A wonder! A mystery! But after a while, the novelty would probably wear off and you'd still have to feed it, take care of it, and clean up it's crap. But what about the talking dog? How would it feel? Sure, it would probably enjoy the attention...at first. But you'd think that all of the hullabaloo would become tiresome after a while. And talk about lonely! Other dogs would probably be standoffish...considering that a talking dog is somewhat a freak of nature. Oh yeah...and since the normal dogs can't talk, there would be a definite communication barrier. At what point, if any, would the talking dog feel normal...or at least at home? How would the talking dog differentiate between friends and curiosity seekers? How would the talking dog know who to trust? Mind you, being a talking dog could be an amazing thing. The talking dog would presumably have insights to the dog world. The talking dog could explain the my...