Social Media Guru’s Unite!

In this world of social media, there are so many new venues to explore and so many paths that have yet to be crossed. There has been an entire new crop of events to spring up based on the social media platform. There have been “Tweet and Greets” and multitudes of social media conferences around the country. The newest event is being held right in your own backyard: “Face Up at the Garden” is being held today, April 21 at the Memphis Botanic Garden.

Facebookers, Tweeple, bloggers, et al unite at this one of a kind mixer hosted by the Memphis Botanic Garden. The event is from 7 to 9 pm, prime social networking hours, so why not spend the time that you’re on the computer anyway with people who share your same passions for the social status updating world?

The event includes hors d’oeuvres, live music by the Latest, and door prizes, including a chance to win tickets to upcoming Live at the Garden concerts.

Unfortunately, almost everything comes with a price. Admission is $5 for members of the Botanic Garden, and $8 for non-members. Hey, the price isn’t that bad, and the experiences you will gain are priceless.

Are you a social media guru? Would you attend an event like this?

Has Memphis Gone to the Dogs?

I can remember vividly every time in my life that I’ve been chased by a dog. One incident was when I was about 12 years old, and was talking a walk around the neighborhood with my cousins. As we passed by a neighboring house, we saw a black and white pit bull in their backyard. We thought nothing of it, since dogs were common around the neighborhood, but my oldest cousin made a comment about it’s ears.

On the way back to my aunt’s house, we passed by the same house, but we didn’t see the dog, and figured it was in the house. That is, until my oldest male cousin started screaming at the top of his lungs, taking off down the street. The rest of us turn around to see what’s going on, and the same black and white pit that we passed on the first trip was running at us, full speed. So, we took off too, but we weren’t very house. The owner of the dog had been standing on the porch the entire time, and finally called the dog back saying it wouldn’t bite. We didn’t care, all we knew was that a creature with teeth and an attitude was chasing us. That was all the info we needed to hightail it out of there.

Some Memphis residents may have similar experiences, especially since there seems to be an overabundance of canines looming around due to increased breeding problems. About 60 dogs a day, roughly 18,000 animals a year, are brought to the Memphis Animal Shelter. Now, if that doesn’t raise eyebrows, I don’t know what will. The city is thinking about putting into effect a spay/neuter ordinance to try to regulate the number of stray animals roaming around. It’s unknown if it will pass.

Do you think an ordinance to spay/neuter pets will be effective and go over well, or do you think that citizens will reject the idea?

Decorating Your Porch/Balcony on a Budget

Hey Arbors River Oaks! Since spring is here, that means that the opportunity to lounge around outside is even more apparent. But don’t worry, you don’t have to travel much further than your front or balcony door. Many people choose to sit on their balconies in the warmer months, often with a cool beverage of some kind to wind down from their day. Well, since you’re going to be spending so much time out there anyway, why not try and spruce it up?

How can you decorate your small space with a small amount of cash? Easy. Go to moving/garage sales around your area and see if you can find something for a relatively good price that will look good in your space. Hanging plants are always a nice touch. Wicker chairs and colorful throw pillows bring about a nice, cheerful atmosphere that just says ‘welcome’. There may even be things left over in the main office of the complex that the property manager is willing to give away or sell you for a good price.

Whatever you do, let your creativity show and make it as relaxing as possible. Got a balcony/porch/patio/sun room that’s amazingly decorated and you want to show it off? Fan us on Facebook at http://www.fb.me/ArborsRiverOaks and upload your pics!

Road Rage

In my opinion, the best way to conquer road rage is to stay off of the road. It’s honestly very hard to not yell at a driver or call them a name for cutting you off, almost sideswiping you, or driving 25 miles per hour on a 65 mph highway. And that’s some of the nicer things that you can do. What’s the greatest contributor to road rage? That’s easy: rush hour traffic.

Not matter where you are, the period between 5 pm and 6:30 pm is the WORST. There is no where you can go to avoid traffic, because it’s almost guaranteed that 40 people in front of you thought of the same route.

I have a friend who should be the poster child for road rage. If someone in front of her is going too slow, she speeds up until she’s right on their bumper to get them to speed up. If someone behind her is following too closely behind her, she purposely slows down, just to irritate them. Many times, it works, because the person will pass and make some very rude gestures. I guess they need to find a conquering road rage 101 class too, huh?

Road rage in not an admirable thing to have, and I don’t necessarily have it. Impatient drivers turn into reckless drivers, which in turn bring about accidents, and that’s what we don’t want. So, I found a website that lists certain things that one could do in order to get their road rage under control.

Some of the things that they list are things like: getting enough sleep (driving on a lack of sleep can make people cranky, and further induce ones dormant road rage. Or their not so dormant road rage. ), plan your tip ahead and give yourself a little extra time to leave in order to avoid some of the traffic that your normally encounter, and don’t listen to aggressive music or any music that will get you riled up. Some people listen to music that automatically makes them react in a way that’s not really conducive to driving, let alone their eardrums.

Will these techniques work for me? Who knows? We’ll just have to see.

Do you have road rage? How do you handle it?

School Lunches: Bad Then, More Than Likely Worse Now

When I was in elementary school, I ate school lunches. I did all the way until my sophomore year of high school. After that, my friends and I would go to the Wendy’s down the street for lunch. The nutritional value of the foods was never what I considered when I would push my tray away; it was the taste.

Being that elementary school was a good bit of time ago for me, I don’t exactly remember the types of food that was served, but I DO remember that we used to have pizza every Friday. The pizza was always served with corn, a brownie, and a bag of chocolate milk. Now, I don’t know who’s bright idea it was to put milk in a bag and give it to a bunch of 5 -12 year olds, but let me tell you, there was guaranteed to be at least milk splotch on the wall by the end of the lunch period.

At times, the lunches were so bad that I would tell the cafeteria workers that I was allergic to certain ingredients just so I wouldn’t have to eat them. Sometimes this worked out in my favor and I would get something else on the menu, sometimes it kicked me in the head. For example, I once told the cafeteria ladies that I was allergic to cheese, and they happened to remember this little tid-bit of information, and gave me tuna casserole on pizza day. I went hungry that day. And little kids are brutal! I couldn’t get one person to share with me!

High school was slightly better. We had more options. If I didn’t want what was being served in the lunch line, I could go to a little kiosk on the other side of the cafeteria and get a decent chicken sandwich and cookies. (I had a lot of those). There were patterns I would recognize however: if we had spaghetti one day, the next day would bring nachos, and the next chili cheese fries.

However, I can honestly say that I haven’t eaten school lunch everyday for an entire year. A teacher in Illinois has taken on this task to protest the value and nutrition of school lunches. I think she’s very brave to face that food on a daily basis. She keeps track of each and every meal by pictures that she places on her blog. I just hope that people take notice.

How did you feel about your school lunches?