Memphis In May - Beale Street Music Festival

Beale Street Music Festival 2011 - Can you guess which band this was?

The Memphis In May Beale Street Music Festival is less than a week away. Do you have your tickets? Here's the lineup. Which bands are you excited about? What are you favorite memories from previous years?

Tweet me your best photos from last year's Beale Street Music Festival and use the hashtag #MIM2012 

A Travel Adventure

Traveling has always been something that I have enjoyed. I really like to visit new places and try the foods that are famous in that area. Here is a map of the places that I have been to since the beginning of 2011. The adventures have taken me to several zoos and aquariums, multiple professional sporting events, a large number of BBQ spots and ice cream shops. I got to feed baby goats, tried wake surfing, went white water rafting, saw a migrating flock of sting rays, and I even learned a little bit about history. Check out some of the places that I visited and let me know if you've been there and what you liked about it.


View Exploration 2011-2012 in a larger map

The David Royer

David Royer - Editor of the LampLighter

There are those people, and we all know them. They are the, "right place, right time" people. No matter what they are doing, some type of story comes out of it. I'm talking about the kind of people who take detours on a road trip and end up sampling the best homemade food/whisky/etc. by someone they just met in a country diner. They are the kind of people who live like they are hosting a show on the travel channel. David Royer is this kind of person. I'm trying to be more like David Royer, but for now I'm his dog sitter while he is away on his adventures. 


I asked him to for some input on the content of my blog. Here are the questions I asked, and his responses.


1. As a person who seems willing to seek out new experiences, whether in food, music, or novelty, what would you want to read or write about in a blog like mine?

• Trying out extreme foods is always a big hit with people. It might be eating something off the wall weird or excruciatingly hot or nauseatingly huge. Locally, it might just mean trying out the grungiest restaurants in the worst neighborhoods to find the hidden gems (Deja Vu, Four Way Grill, etc.) Or you could try every beer in the Flying Saucer. Actually, I might try that one. Urban exploring is also a popular topic. That might mean finding an entrance to some awesome building like the Tennessee Brewery or Sears Crosstown, or it might just mean legally going interesting places that average Memphians aren't likely to know about, like Voodoo Village or Wild Bill's or Chucalissa. Or finding the best rambling religious graffiti on the side of a nightclub at Third and Firestone. Or finding the giant metal bulldog sculpture in a front yard at Midland at Boston. Or visiting less adventurous places like Hewlett & Dunn Boot Barn in Collierville, which is one of my favorite stores, or taking a day trip to buy a t-shirt in the lovely town of Bucksnort.

Sometimes it's all about your attitude

2. What type of voice do you think would fit a blog like this better? 

• Clearly, this should all be written in the quietly hilarious voice of Daniel Scruggs. Humor is key.

3.  How do you think I could better use social media to promote my blog?

• I'm attracted by good Twitter "headlines," in an episodic style, like, "This week, Daniel gets a haircut at (insert name of South Memphis barbershop)" or "Daniel gets cursed by angry gods after buying creepy African mask at Gary's Antiques. Hilarity ensues." 

4. Do you have any suggestions for posts… or do you have anything upcoming that you would want to do that would be blog worthy?

• Overton Square Crawfish Festival is April 7 and the big one is downtown April 15. Challenge somebody to eat the most crawfish in a minute, or until you puke, or something.
• You could challenge a roller derby girl to a face-off. Like the ilovememphis chick. Or it could be you vs. the team.
• Would your friends at the zoo let you clean an elephant cage or feed the snakes or something?
• Too bad it's not September. You could live-tweet from Goat Days in Millington, my favorite local festival. I'll try to think of some other ridiculous local festivals.

Trying Trivia

 At a bar near you, at least one night a week.

Who doesn't like trivia? I know there are some people out there who just don't enjoy it, but I love being able to show off my knowledge of useless facts. Sure you may not win every time... or any time, but getting one question right about what the little, green people from Fraggle Rock were called will make anyone feel good. Or, maybe just nostalgic.

Live Trivia, by Challenge Entertainment, has events six nights a week at locations across Memphis and the surrounding areas. It may not be a "hobby," but it's definitely something worth trying a few times. Try going to some different venues, the atmosphere of trivia is unique to each one. You might find one you really enjoy. I love the Movie and Pizza Company in Harbor Town. They have an amazing cheeseburger pizza, and a caged gorilla.

Here is the link to find a trivia night close to you: http://memphis.cetrivia.com/whereToPlay.php 

Where do you play trivia?

Movie and Pizza Company: Check out the specials and their gorilla.

Experiential Hobbyist

Have you ever thought, "hmm, that looks like fun," or "I've always wanted to do that." I have those two thoughts almost daily. If you are like me, 95% of the time you don't do anything about it. You go on about your day, following your routine. This blog is my attempt to break the cycle, my monotony. 

The List

I have a list. It's not a long list, but it is ever changing, because sometimes I forget what is on "My List." With the help of the interwebs, I will be held accountable. I will blog my list, and my progress of completing it. The goal here is not to see how ridiculous or extreme I can be, but rather, to challenge myself to find the things I love to do. Here is what I have so far:

1. Start actively blogging
2. Gain more than 100 followers on Twitter
3. Geocaching
4. Road biking
5. Adventure racing
6. Learn to train service dogs
7. Learn to ride a motorcycle and get my license
8. Learn to shoot and get a handgun permit (not that I just want to walk around carrying a gun, but the license would be more like an achievement or badge. Same with the motorcycle license.)
9. Learn to fly fish
10. Go ice fishing
11. Sell individual photos (rather than just “gigs”)

As you can see, I have started at least two of the items on the list. Obviously, some of the others will require time, money, and several other variables. I will have to rearrange the list in the future if I want to do them in some order. Until then, I will just use this as a way to keep track of them all.

Please send any suggestions in the comments section, and I might add them to the list. Help me stay motivated!

First class of the last semester.

Class started at 11:20am. This class is to teach me about the understanding and use of social media in both life and business. I was pretty excited about the class in general. I'm ready to learn how to tweeter and FacadeBook like a professional. I arrived early and began looking over the syllabus. That's when I saw it.

Teacher: Dr. Brown
I instantly perked up. Dr. Brown!!! I've been waiting for this day since 1985. I'm going to get a hoverboard!