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The first time they walked the bridge linking Memphis to Arkansas was December 26, 2016. She didn’t have her phone, so she asked him to take the picture she wanted. It later became his album cover.
The second time they crossed the bridge spanning the big river was November 24, 2019. She didn’t have her phone, so she asked him to take the picture she wanted.
Does the geometry of the scene remind anyone else of the arcade game Tempest? She wonders. When she looks at it she hears electronic white noise and feels like she might suddenly swirl around the playing field and warp to the next level.
On the bridge they walk and they talk. One thought bubbles up after another in a constant stream that flows as fast as the muddy water beneath their feet.
“Remember that performance years ago at the Church on the River?”
“Yeah, that was weird.”
She thinks of a friend, an atheist who sometimes teaches a Sunday school class at church, and she giggles.
A man rides by on a motorized unicycle. She’s instantly flooded with envy. One churchy thought primes the next, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s unicycle.”
They stop at the in-between point and stand half in Tennessee and half in Arkansas. There a sign warns that the powers-that-be have no qualms about cutting off love locks, so couples might as well go lock their love elsewhere. Near the sign, others have continued to lock their love defiantly in harder-to-reach places.
They walk on.
At the end of the bridge, there’s another picture she wants. He takes it. Team work makes the dream work.
That’s the view from the fence going west. She ask for his phone so she can take the view going east.
They sit in Arkansas on a park bench and marvel at this bridge, where industry, commerce, construction, technology, logistics, architecture and nature collide.
Brimming with wild ideas and errant thoughts, she babbles on and on. He patiently listens, sort of. There’s music happening inside his mind, but he bobs his head and makes noises in all the right places.
On the way back across the bridge, they run into a friend, a teacher, who talks about recently recording a “Tuck You In” story for her students. Suspended high above the Mississippi River they discuss all sorts of things. They make plans and share ideas, then they go separate ways and the river flows on.
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Recommended viewing:
History of Big River Crossing — there are vintage photos of the construction and bridge plans, drawings and such.
Recommended listening:
Little Sunshine — her theme song, written by Joe Michael, Making Waves
For the last six years, the ladies of Shimmy Mob Memphis have joined women across the world in danced to raise funds and awareness for local women’s and children’s shelters to help end domestic violence.
We invite you to join us this Saturday, May 21, 2016 for a fundraiser show and silent auction at Club 152 on Beale Street at 7 p.m. Admission is $15. Proceeds go to the Family Safety Center of Memphis and Shelby County.
Our performers will include the beautiful dancers from Alima Tribe, Tribal City Bellydance, Pyramid Dance Company, Sahar, Mystic River Dance Company, and of course Shimmy Mob Memphis.
There will be presentations about the Family Safety Center and a silent auction with lovely items on the auction block.
(Bring cash or a check for the auction!)
Please join us for a fun and sparkly evening in support of a great cause!
It’s that time again…
You may pay what you can OR bring something(s) from their wish list:
Items for shelter:
Umbrellas, Batteries (All sizes), Flashlights, Pots and pans, Cooking/eating utensils, Tool set, Blankets, Towels (bath and face), Twin sheet sets, Pillows, Twin mattress covers, Standard pillow covers, Dish towels, Dining room chairs, Microwave, Refrigerator, Chest freezer, Living room set (sofa, love seat and chair), Toilet tissue, Paper towels, Facial tissue, Dish washing liquid, Cleaning supplies, Bleach, Light bulbs, Laundry detergent, Irons
Items for women:
Handbags, Wallets, Jewelry. Watches, Perfume, Gowns/pajamas, Slippers, Robes, Hosiery, Socks, New panties (all sizes especially plus sizes), New bras (all sizes especially plus sizes), Perm kits (African-American hair texture), Hair coloring, Feminine hygiene products, Journals, Day planners, Disposable cameras, Phone cards, Movies (VHS) for adults (Non-violent content), tooth paste, Bubble bath, *Subscription to Commercial Appeal
Items for children:
Toys (for all ages), Books (for all ages) (English & Spanish Languages), Dolls, Cars and trucks, “Dress up” jewelry/clothing, Video games, Children’s videos (English & Spanish Languages), Footballs/basketballs, Portable cassette/compact disc players, Child seats (for the car), School uniforms, Backpacks, Diapers (all sizes), Baby wipes, New sippy cups/pacifiers/bottles, New children’s underwear (all sizes), New socks (all sizes), Slippers, Robes, Pajamas, Strollers, Potty Seats
Food Items:
Canned meat (tuna, salmon, etc.), Canned vegetables (corn, peas, etc.), Dry goods (beans, etc.), Sugar, Juice boxes
School Supplies
Notebooks, Pencils, Crayons, Folders, Pencil Sharpeners, Pencil Box, Backpacks, White Loose leaf paper, Rulers, Dictionaries, Calculators, Lunchboxes, Small assignment notebooks.
True love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.
–Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Today I am thinking about water.
Throughout the rainy month of May we collected rain water in barrels for the flowers, vegetables, and ducks. Last summer I
just turned on the waterhose or sprinkler and went on about my air-conditioned business inside the house, usually forgetting I left the water running or that I even had flowers.
With the rain barrels I have to physically walk the water around the yard to give each plant a drink. Oddly, this seems like less of a chore than turning on the water hose. For one thing, it forces me to spend more time outside actually looking at the flowers and appreciating them. It’s certainly friendlier than shooting at them from a distance with the hose’s handheld nozzle like they’re zombies I’m trying to keep at bay.
With the watering can it’s all intimate. We get upclose and personal; we talk.
We have had little rain this month. The hot air is perfumed with sun-baked roses. The waterbarrels are empty. When El-D suggested we start getting water from the pond for the garden I looked at him like he’d grown two heads. Dude, that pond is WAY back there and our flowers and vegetables are WAY up here, and-and-AND we DO have running water!
But it made me stop to think….
What if we didn’t?
There are plenty of people who don’t.
Fortunately, I have people in my life who remind me on a regular basis to keep my over-priviledged head on straight, like my friend Amy, who is a teacher-from-the-heart. Every year her school does a “World Tour” during which each class studies a country. They make displays and put on performances to share what they learned. Her class studies Kenya every year. This year they watched a video about the life of a young Maasai boy. Her students are always struck by the fact that his mother and sisters have to walk every day to get water from the same water hole the animals use.
This year they decided to do something about it.
Their school is fundraising through Charity: Water to try to get clean water to developing countries. Their goal is to raise $1000 by July 29. The link below shows the school’s progress to date. There is also a video at the bottom of the page that will give you more information about the water crisis.
Please donate if you love water!
We’ll have a donations-based yoga class next Monday evening for all who want to contribute both to your health and to that of others.
Today SoKaN joined a gang of 80 knittas and hookers to carry out a bombing assignment for the mafia.
Ka-BOOM!
That’s yarn bombing, of course, otherwise known as knit graffiti, a form of community street art. And the mafia is the Memphis Knit Mafia.
the turquoise and red piece on the 2nd rail is my work
This means that as of today my work is officially on display at a museum. I’m pretty sure this makes me edgy and urban, yet sophisticated and classy, all at the same time (if only in my imagination).
I lead such an adventurous (fantasy) life, especially for someone who spends such a vast amount of leisure time reading, knitting, and putting on shadow puppet shows for her puppy.
People are so durn creative, so now I will present the work of the real artists…
Ladybugs and flowers and stripes and pink and pompoms! It’s so fluffy I could die.
Knitted hearts on a string! Be still my heart. I must learn to make these.
More hearts.
A super big THANK YOU to Christiana Leibovich for being the capo di tutti capi.
Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.
–Albert Camus
I recently discovered Grace Brown’s Project Unbreakable. TIME magazine named her website one of the top 30 Tumblr blogs to follow. The video below provides you with some context.
…and that is the astonishing power of art – art can go through where other things can’t. You can’t have barriers because it breaks through your prejudices. It breaks through everything that you have as your mask that says, “I am this… I am that.” No. It breaks through those and it reaches somewhere where other things don’t. And in a world where attitudes are so difficult to change, we need a language that breaks through.
–Mallika Sarabhai’s
That is why we will dance to change the world.
Please consider joining us….
Our Fancy Upcoming Events
SoKaN will be joining the Memphis Knit Mafia to yarn bomb the Brooks Museum of Art on Sunday, March 17 at 11:00 a.m. This project is in conjunction with the Angels & Tomboys: Girlhood in Nineteenth Century American Art exhibit.
If you’re not familiar with yarn bombing, you can check out this photo essay from Time Magazine by clicking HERE to learn more about this fine art. I am thrilled to pieces to be participating in this event. My new favorite thing to do is to talk loudly about this event in public places. I alternatively refer to it as “my bombing assignment from the Mafia” or “my next exhibit at the art museum,” depending on whether I’m feeling dangerous or fancy. I do this, of course, because I’m actually just a gigantic nerd that gets giddy over knitting. But whatevs! I have my contribution to a bench complete and I’m currently working on a handrail. Wheee! There will be prize drawings, knitting lessons and food trucks on hand, so join us for the fun!
Also, we invite you to come see us on Saturday, March 23 support St. Jude at the Annual St. Jude Springfest at the Millington Civic Center, 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. There will be 13 Bluegrass/Gospel groups, food & craft vendors, McGruff the Crime Dog, a silent auction, games for the kids, Motorcycle Dice Run & much, much more.
Where We’ve Been
Back in November SoKaN joined the various other “pop-up” people – performers, vendors, artists – at MemFix Crosstown. This event was part of Mayor AC Wharton’s initiative to bring Sexy Back to Memphis. Sounds like a good plan to me. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to perch on a lawn chair and ponder the historic Sears Building. I hope to see the Church Health Center and other healthcare providers of Memphis succeed in their vision of revitalizing the space. My grandmother used to work there and I can’t drive by it without thinking of her.There was lots of fun to be had — a rock climbing wall, food trucks galore, hula hoopers, doggies , strangely dressed people, and a one man band on a trailer being pulled around by a bicycler. Good times!
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Back in December we did the Holiday Market and Concert in Millington. 
I am always amazed by the talent and creativity on display at craft shows. Signs and holiday door decorations were particularly hot at this event.
I am always amazed by the talent and creativity on display at craft shows. Signs and holiday door decorations were particularly hot at this event.Signs on the left were crafted by Monkey See, Lexi Do. Some double as picture frames. Cute idea!
And of course SoKaN had our wares…
Recycled Garden Art by Skattur
Beady Boop’s Baubles
This is my cat Lelelelelelele Yip!
Last night a crowd of crazy cat ladies (and men) descended upon the Memphis Brooks Museum for the Internet Cat Video Festival.
While a DJ blasted tunes like The Siamese Cat Song and The Meow Mix Song, attendees prowled around the lobby in leopard print skirts and cat ear headbands. We purred happily over sparkly feline baubles as we lapped at our “furballs” – a pink concoction involving rum, coconut milk, cranberry juice, and whip cream.
Then came the main attraction: internet cat videos.
Internet cat video aficionados (Yes, aficionados. I get to use my fancy words because we were at a museum) had already viewed many of these videos at home (or at work). But gathering together to watch these videos in a theatre packed with like-minded individuals lended the whole affair a certain je ne sai quoi in terms of public image. It was validating. High brow even!
It took me back to my belly dancing days on a Costa Rican mountain top when we danced to the beat of thunder pounding on the roof of our pagoda. (That is a true story I have always wanted to tell in an affected British accent at a cocktail party. It would make me sound so much more interesting than I actually am. Sadly, I have never been invited to said cocktail party to tell it. But that’s ok because I’m way too busy at home watching fancy internet cat videos to attend your silly cocktail parties anyway.) One day during my Costa Rica adventure, I sat in a room with 60 other belly dancer women and participated in a three minute laughing meditation. If you have never participated in a group laughing meditation, let me tell you, the first time is incredibly weird. You will be instructed to basically fake it ’til you make it. That’s right – just fake laugh nonstop with everyone else until the silliness of it all carries you into complete hysterics. It’s quite a catharsis really.
At any rate, sitting in the dark laughing for 15 minutes nonstop with crazy cat ladies was just like that but weirder and even more wonderful because there was no fake laughing involved. I watched grown men laugh until they cried over cat antics. And then I laughed until I cried. We all laughed and cried and it was this amazingly beautiful communal experience. It was!
And so I will leave you with a few of my favorite videos from the evening. For best results, make them big screen and gather a few friends (or strangers) to watch. Enjoy!
When you love you should not say, “God is in my heart,” but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.-Kahlil Gibran
Last year I rediscovered the joy of Christmas.
This year, Valentine’s Day will have a makeover. We will keep the love, but let’s expand it beyond the mere romantic, then add a lot of light, and hm….how about a tree?
Valentine’s Day Tree
Yes, a Valentine’s Day tree. It’s all about the love and light.
Shall we celebrate with yoga and tea and giving? Healthy hearts all around.
All donations for the class will go to Le Bonheur Foundation Heart Institute. If you can’t make it tonight, you can still give by clicking the blue link above or visiting lebonheur.org
If you are interested in joining us tonight, shoot me an email lunareuphoria@aol.com for directions.
