RIP, No Kidding!

Today is the celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., a minister spurred into action by the woes of one in his congregation.
Usually on the evening of this memorial day, I would be attending The White Elephant Swap. That event served as the unofficial first get-together every year for No Kidding!.
Not tonight.
Not anymore.
No Kidding! is no more, perhaps a reflection of the popularity of invites on social media and the groupings of like-minded folks on meetup.
I, myself (and several others from the group), am now actively involved with several groups on that site and have been since the lull in the NK! events this past year. I had chalked that up to new jobs claiming too much time from the schedules of our leaders.
Probably true.
It isn't as if we in the core were not still meeting for dinners and movies and all manner of events, whether those events were officially of NK! origin or not.
Anyway, last week I had sent a query about plans for this year.
The subject line of the response, on January 13th, read "Closing down".
Pretty bleak.
The message it held was not much brighter.

Well, after some discussion, Lauri and I have some sad news:
Savannah No Kidding! is no more. The international No Kidding! organization is officially defunct as of this past December and we've also decided to disband the group. I'll be deleting the email account in about a week or so.
We will miss you all. It's been a great ride, but we feel we're going out on a high note.

Grand pooh-bah,
Lauri

Web mistress,
Christa

So, no "White Elephant Swap" tonight.
I had informed the bfe of such last Wednesday, as I was driving him home from his new evening class. He suggested we dine and watch "Carol Burnett" instead.
Of late, those diners would have been a Tuesday night event for us.
Change is good.

prettier than it has to be

This is a simple plate of hummus and grilled pita.
But look how beautiful it is!
I do so enjoy food that is presented well. Then again, you may have picked up on that from quite a few of the photographs I've posted here over the years.
This was part of my dinner last night. I had met with the squirrel mistress for an unexpected dinner. She had phoned to say she was going to be downtown and would I care to join her for dinner before she returned to the 'burb "where it's cooler." (Local joke, y'all.)
I had suggested Kayak Kafe, as the food is good, inexpensive, and located right on the main drag. This place has become one of my favorites anytime I'm in the area.
She had never been and jumped at the chance to check it out.
The above dish is one of the appetizers, but I like it with a bowl of soup. The combo makes a very nice dinner (or lunch), filling enough without being too heavy. Just what you need on a hot summer night!
Satisfying to the body and the soul.

but they marry brunettes

The Lucas is celebrating a blonde's birthday this weekend! Not, not mine! Silly! The film for tonight was "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", released in the early 1950's. Although it was featuring Marilyn Monroe, her side-kick, Jane Russell, acted and sang circles around her. Understandable, I would guess, as it was made during the early years of Marilyn's career, where mostly all she had to do was model tight clothing and pout a bit.
Apparently, though, men don't mind, as long as the "dumb blonde" golddigger is on their arm and not someone else's. Really? Perhaps, especially if the odds are stacked in her favor.
Earlier today, I cleaned out my office. I had been asked to return the key, as I was no longer full-time, and had responded that I was on holiday and would not return until Monday. They said that would be fine, but they did have a new hire that needed that space.
Today, I took my time and packed out. I had the forethought to bring five of those large, cloth, grocery bags to hold all of my files of student papers and papers that had not yet been filed and desk contents.
That was not nearly enough.
Fortunately, I had a couple of boxes there for my books. I also had a few plastic bags and some smaller cloth bags from school events.
That just barely took care of all of it.
I spent almost four hours packing up all of my work materials. Emptying the filing cabinet, emptying the cupboards. Removing my pictures and periodic tables and photographs of lecture notes written on whiteboards. Taking down all of the wonderful, supportive messages from my students of these past three years.
Cleaning the disk drive of all the files I had created.
ALL of them.
My trunk was packed to the top. The back seat was full, on the seat itself as well as on the floorboard. The passenger seat had one of the boxes of books.
Amazing.
All of it is now on my living room floor, waiting to be sorted.
That I can do at my leisure.
On Monday, I'll make one last visit to my office, to throw out what couldn't be recycled, to take "Light The Night" fundraising materials to the dean's office. Then I'll turn in my keys to that door and the lockable cupboard and the filing cabinet.
This evening, though, was mine to enjoy. It had begun at a place that serves candied bacon to its drinking patrons. That's right, dearies, I said CANDIED BACON. Long, crispy, sugary, strips of pork yumminess. Yes, indeed, the NK! group convened at Andaz for "school's out!" social hour. Although we only had a small group on this outing, we were in high spirits and chatty! Such a lovely way to transition from my afternoon's activities to an evening with Marilyn!

just me and my boys

Ya gotta sing it, a'ite? Otherwise, you're not going to get the reference.
This has definitely been a day of birthday for me!
I had been looking forward to the ghost stories with Bonnie Blue Tours for a couple of weeks. Bonnie had graciously invited the NK! group for a free tour, in exchange for promised reviews on various sites (though any tips would be most graciously accepted). Then, she had decided to open the invitation to a group of folks on facebook, too. Sah-weet!
This evening, I headed downtown early, with an agenda for activities on the westside, south of Oglethorpe. I snagged a parking spot in one of my favorite places, then decided to see who else might be down for a meal before the walking tour. The NK! webmistress and the baseball girl were!!! We all met at a Japanese restaurant for a very leisurely meal in their front window, sharing the champagne, tempura, and sushi with passersby. Well, maybe not exactly - but they were free to watch us having a good time! I could have had bubbly, but opted not to, as the evening was warm and ethanol can sometimes make me hotter than I want to be.
We met the rest of the group in Johnson Square, with time to spare. Our guide had been stricken with laryngitis, but had gamely brought her fellow along to serve as a megaphone, if needed. As it turned out, she did VERY well with her storytelling, not requiring his aid after all. Bravo!!!
There were fifteen or so folks there for the ghost walk, a goodly number - not so many that anyone felt on the fringe instead of in the midst. Bonnie told us the enchanting story of the Pulaski Hotel and little Gracie Watson, regaled us with the antics of the frisky James Habersham, Jr. at the Olde Pink House, shared the sad tale of the child-like giant, Rene, and his playground. There was also talk of a kitty cat ghost and the voices of laughing, happy children! She finished in Wright Square, having led us on a rectangular path through five of the squares, with the tale of the hanged woman. Most excellent! Even though I was familiar with three of the tales already, she made them feel fresh and had a different spin and a positive air. Hardly surprising, as I know her to have a lively sense of humor as well as membership in MENSA, Philo Cafe, and Drinking Liberally!
I finished my evening dancing! Barefoot Booyah had a gig at fairly new place on Broughton. Again, as I know I've mentioned before, I'm a bit partial to these two fellows, as one is a nephew-in-law, but I am deservedly proud of them and their music! They mix some of their originals in with classics by Dylan, the Stones, and Van Morrison. You should give them a listen some time! Maybe I'll even see you there the next time I'm out dancing to their tunes!

a different kind of mae day

Before I forget about it, let me tell you a little bedtime story.
Last Saturday evening, I happened to be home and turned on the television. Let me just say that's not a common occurence on a Saturday night for me.
So, I'm channel-surfing, trying to find something to entertain me and I stumbled upon this show about the legendary Mae West. Only this show is on a station I rarely include in my searches: it's a PBS (Public Broadcast Station) special.
But, hey! It's about Mae West! This could be good... and so my finger ceases its pushing of the remote control buttons.
And you know what? It was good.
I watched the whole thing.
She was featured in various clips, but the focus was on the remembrances of men who had known her and loved her and worked with her. The documentary was titled simply: "Mae West...And the Men Who Knew Her". You could tell from the men's voices that they had loved this independent woman of the 1930's and '40's, when women were not usually bold and brassy and burlesque.
So, the next morning, I mention it in my texting with the bfe.
"Mae West?", he texted. "That's funny. The Eagle scout and I were talking about her at the bar that night while waiting for the NK! dinner."
That is funny.
Nice coincidence!

sugar pie honey bunch

The morning was spent grading tests. At home. And my mood was much better without that extra added stress of going to a place where I dearly want to stay, a place where my time may be up. I do believe that stress has been noticed by my students, as I have shown up worn out emotionally and sometimes with red-rimmed eyes.
Today, though, I resolved to not go out there, as I have no classes on Friday. I gave tests to both lectures and decided to grade those instead of making the trip southside. Then, because I knew the students would fret about the grades, I taught myself to use the gradebook function on the new Learning Management System (seriously, this is how academics talk). I taught myself how to use it. I had attended a live webinar, hosted by the folks on campus, late on a Monday evening, hoping to glean knowledge on that particular topic. No. The webinar was to have been an hour, but was barely thirty minutes and was split over two online systems.
So, I taught myself to create the gradebook and the categories and the items. Then I entered the grades into the LMS, even entering the grades for the previous two exams, and setting it up so the students get an updated standing as future grades are entered.
I must say, I was quite proud of myself at the tail end of the working day! I had graded the tests of both lectures, created the gradebooks for each group, entered all of the grades currently attained, and notified the students. A very good day's work!
Then it was off to the No Kidding! gathering downtown! The baseball girl was there, as was her mom later. The Eagle had already landed, as had the chemyst, encouraging me to try a new drink... which I did! I even liked it so much that I treated him to the next round. I don't usually like the pale wheat, but add some orange juice to that Shocktop and it's more than palatable - it's tasty! The math teacher was there for a while, and the bird formerly of Charleston, as well as the tall economist, and we all had quite a lovely time together! In fact, after two hours, some split off to other parts, but the Eagle and the economist joined me for dinner at Taco Abajo, lured by my descriptions of the bread pudding fashioned into french toast triangles. So very good!!
But firt things first: dessert! Off to search for Chocolat, a place boasting sourwood honey caramels. And we found it - and, amazingly, it was OPEN!!! Very nice! So after the shop mistress regaled us with the tantalizing descriptions, I bought some of the chocolate-covered, sea-salted caramels - one for each of the fellows, one for the fellow at home, one for me, and two for my bff and her honey. After all, chocolate is best when shared with friends, n'est-ce pas?
So, after loading up with sweet morsels for now and later, we bopped on down to fire up our taste buds on spiced meat. Yum! And as we were leaving, a band was rehearsing for their midnight gig, and their sound was so unique that I had to find out more. Plus, this was the first trip to the basement eatery for my the fellows, so I took them on the grand tour, as it were.
Ambassadors was the name of the band and you can enjoy their two-drummer sounds here. That first cut is the one that snagged my ear. I may go back at midnight to hear them, but probably not, as it is a bit too cool out for my sensitive self. I just may buy their album, though!
After we came back up streetside, we parted company at our cars. After all, it WAS a bit cold out!
And as I was driving home, I thought I might as well check out the free concert at Forsyth and see if the music was still flowing. It was! So, even though it was cold, the tunes were hot, so I parked and hustled up to get warm. I am so very glad I did! of Montreal (yes, the "of" is NOT capitalized) put on a very nicely theatrical show to accompany their overhead screen scenes and alt-poppy sounds. Scantily-clad, long-legged nymphs in sparkly blue capes, a huge moth man, pirate-clad bassists - oh, yes, my dears, all that and more! I managed to stay over an hour before the cold started to invade my bones and I was forced to leave... but that wasn't until the last song, which then regaled me to the edge of the park and beyond, all the way to my car.
Such a lovely Friday evening!

elephant swap

Tonight was the White Elephant Swap and guess what??? An elephant was actually there!
For realz!
hahaha!
Every year, No Kidding! has its annual dinner party, where all attendees have an opportunity to offload that chartreuse urn or pair of cheetah-spotted gloves to some unsuspecting soul... or two or three. You see, the way the game is played is this: all who bring a wrapped gift to swap get to select a number. Then, in order of number drawn, the player gets to choose from the amassed gifts one to open - or, and here is where the fun is, the player may opt to STEAL a gift that someone else has already opened! Oh, yeah!
The gifts range from books to decorative stockings to all manner of knick-knacks or edibles or aromatics.
And, this year, for the very first time in the five years I've attended, one of the gifts was an actual elephant.
An elephant!!!
Wow!
I was plum tickled, I tell you!
And, while I never got an opportunity to possess the elephant, three of us did, with one choosing to own it TWICE!
Which is the magic number for swaps. The gift can only be stolen twice before it finds its final owner.
Lucky devil!