Memphis Mayoral Debate

I have read a few things on a few blogs and on the Commercial appeal & Memphis Flyer sites about the debate and there seems to be a general opinion with some variation.

Current mayors Lowery and A C Wharton did the best. Maybe Lowery did better overall because A C played it a little too safe. Both men answered the questions smoothly and tried to make their case for mayor based on experience.

I guess of the people who actually have a legitimate claim to the job Carol Chumney had the worst night. A couple of people noted the sniping at Wharton. In general with these kinds of debates the person that goes out their way to take shots at other people never looks good.

Opinion on Jerry Lawler were kind of all over the place probably the more Republican leaning you are the more you liked him. He kept saying he was not a politician. Most of his answers seemed to come from the Republicans running for office handbook. Answers short on actual substance but a kind of gritty with a positive frame that with his help that better days are ahead for Memphis.

Charles Carpenter did fairly good job of separating himself from his connections to Herenton, but did little else that was of note. Although the funniest comment I saw on Twitter was that Carpenter sounded like Cleveland from the Family Guy.

Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr. got some good notices but for the most part was unimpressive.
The one thing that many people noted was his refusal to address the incident where two lesbians were asked to leave his church. I guess it is not a good sign when your shiny black suit is more interesting than anything you actually say.

Councilwoman Wanda Halbert was able to answer the questions but the quality of her answers were in great dispute. I saw a few positive things about her but most of them were that she was not polished enough. When she answered her questions she looked into the camera and had this stiff robotic sounding voice. Like she had memorized her answers and was doing her best to get it all in.

Which brings us to Mongo and school board member Sharon Webb.

Mongo is well Mongo and was mostly comic relief. Although for his crazy talk and weird way of answering questions he does make a few points about the nature of the way the city of Memphis is run.

The response Sharon Webb was either the kind pity your "special" cousin gets or out and out mockery. It's really kind of sad that she actually thinks she could become mayor.
In the big picture though the only difference between Halbert and Webb is that Halbert was at least she able to answer most of the questions, but whether or not she actually understood all the words coming out her mouth was debatable. Sharon Webb makes me wonder how hard it is to get on the school board.

Compound Honey Butter

I am going to try and do a weekly column where I try a new recipe each week. The first recipe was something pretty simple but very tasty. I have always been interested in compound butter and decided to try it. I used Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network web site. His recipe called for a pound of butter cinnamon and vanilla. I did not want to make that much so I only used 1 stick of butter. I combined the butter, vanilla, and cinnamon in the food processor, mixed it up. and wrapped it up it the parchment paper. After that I put it back in the the refrigerator and let it harden up. The question was what did I do with this yummy honey butter. It was Sunday morning and we had decided to stay in and not go to brunch, so I made french toast and bacon. I happy to report that honey butter was a smashing success and made for some very tasty french toast. I am not sure if I am going to be able to try something new the rest of the week, but will try and do something next week.

Dabney's Birthday Weekend

The weekend started on Friday the actual day of her birthday. That morning I gave Dabney her presents, which was a blue ring from Etsy and the game Bejeweled for her computer. She liked them both. We both worked all day, but I left work early and picked up some flowers from her. We had a nice dinner at the Majestic Grille. She did not know it but I had arranged for Noelle's brother Carter to give us a carriage ride. I called him while we were finishing eating and set it up. We ran into Pam and Rebbecca outside and talked with them a few minutes but there was still no Carter. Dabney suggested we go onto a carriage and said no. She then figured Carter was coming to pick us up. Carter showed and gave us a great carriage. Even though the surprise was spoiled a bit, we still had a great ride and night overall.

Saturday Dabney got her hair and nails done. We had some sandwiches from Heavenly Hoagie. We had some friends over burgers and brats. It was an awesome group of people and we had night of food and fun with a ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. We also shot fireworks off that Syd brought. I must a few too many Coronas Saturday because I felt like ass most of the day Sunday. Dabney got brunch from the Blue Monkey and had an fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. She said it was awesome and was nice enough to get me one when I was feeling more human. Chinese food from Atan's ended the birthday weekend. We still have Bill, her Dad, and Mom to celebrate with. Her Dad will probably be some time this week, and her Mom is coming into town week. So there is still a little more Dabney 2009 Birthday Festival to experience.

Oops

One of the struggles that I usually have with my personal blog is that the minute life gets busy, I forget to blog, and then I have to catch everything up.

Glen and I went to Birmingham. I got to meet some people who knew him long before I did. It was fun to hear some of the old stories. It was also really nice to spend some time with his Mom.

I drove to Nashville and back in a day. I had a Junior League meeting, but needed to get back to Memphis for the Blondie / Pat Benatar concert. I am working on an interesting project this year with the League. Part of it has to do with educating people on online predators and bullying to protect our kids. The other part is education and advocacy with the Memphis Junior League Members to let them know what is going on in all levels of government that affect us, while staying non-partisan.

The Blondie / Pat Benatar concert was awesome. Both ladies, along with their bands, rocked the Mud Island Amphitheater. I heard all of the songs that I wanted to hear, and it the rain held off until the very end of the show.

I turned a year older this week. Due to the wonder that is Facebook, I realized that four other people I know have the same birthday that I do. One of those people was born the exact same year I was, the others just share the day with me.

Glen was awesome. He surprised me with the perfect date night on my actual birthday, and then we had a couple of friends come over last night for dinner. I have always been a proponent of celebrating multiple days, and Glen hasn't batted an eye.

We haven't really made any progress on the wedding lately. We aren't at a point where decision need to be a daily thing, except of course the stress of paying for it. It is unbelievable to me how expensive even the smallest thing can be in a wedding. It adds up so quickly, and is, frankly, overwhelming. I know it seems like we should just elope or something, but the idea of not having my friends and family there to celebrate with us is something I can't imagine.

The health care debate is raging around us. I don't understand the people who are going around the country only to disrupt citizens learning from their Representatives. I don't understand the fear of changing something that just doesn't seem to be working. As someone who is worried about my own insurance situation, I hope that we get a good plan, including a public option.

So, now you are caught up with me. I promise I will be back sooner, rather than later.