Nashville Confidential

grant us wisdom, grant us courage

Big week ahead. Major decisions. Might mean substantial changes for the country. And for me. Everybody pray for discernment. Please.

Well, the major headline from back home is that my sister got engaged this weekend. Congrats LKT! Please lower your left hand, as the massive reflection is disturbing the satellite that broadcasts my XM Radio.

A major reward comes at the end of this week: a cabal of Peoria friends are coming for a big girls' weekend. These are moms sprung from childrearing and domestic duties. Look out Nashville! Check out this schedule:

Friday 5 Nov -- cabal arrives in time to see Webb Wilder at 3rd & Lindsley
Saturday 6 Nov -- cabal continues to carouse around Music City
Sunday 7 Nov -- cabal decamps for Peoria; hostess consoles self by attending Buddy Miller concert
Monday 8 Nov -- self-medication continues as work contingent attends John Fogerty show at Ryman
Tuesday 9 Nov -- recovery is complete by seeing NPR film critic Bob Mondello speak at Belcourt Theater

Sigh. I feel better already.

stardust

No matter how great an event sounds, I often struggle to get out of the house. Surprised? It’s true. There are always about 48 good reasons not to go somewhere – especially on a Sunday night. But it’s hard to think of them when you don’t have to go to work the next day, and when Butch Baldassari is playing.

He is the leader of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, and the chance to see him at a free outdoor concert was enticement enough to get me outside the ring that encircles my most important places.

So last weekend I drove out, out, out to Music on the Mountain at Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory, which is on a lovely mountaintop near Brentwood. Attendees parked at a nearby church and Vandy buses shuttled us up the winding road to the observatory. Many people spread blankets on the ground and brought a picnic dinner.

I found a great spot and put my folding chair next to a pair of picnickers, who were very kind and conversational. He is an attorney and she works at Vandy and they were simply gracious and interesting. I am so fortunate – once I get over that initial uncertainty about getting out, I am always rewarded. There is someone cool or something truly beautiful that makes it worthwhile.

no word on whether he likes pina coladas

Here we are, Governor Phil Bredesen and I, caught in the rain. We are both taking part in Andrea Walks, a fundraiser for Child Advocacy Centers. The gov’s wife, the aforementioned Andrea, is leading the trek from Centennial Park to Percy Warner Park. It’s been raining since our first step. But it’s a gentle, warm rain. It’s kind of nice.

I’m doing six miles, but not the pavement-pounding six miles I had expected. It’s more of a leisurely crawl down West End (which turns into Harding Road somewhere, not sure where) and into Belle Meade. We’re stopping about every 10 minutes, it seems, maybe to let all the stopped traffic try to move past our police escort. We're walking with the First Lady of Tennessee, of course, so those folks are just going to have to wait a bit.

in other voting-related news

... these reporters got suspended for going to the Springsteen-headlined Vote For Change concert.

I was issued a similar warning by my Dubya-loving best friend, who absolutely forbade me to attend this concert (and she knows how I feel about Springsteen). My schedule made the whole point moot. I don't have a union to which I could appeal in case I had decided to defy her order.

i voted and you should too

I didn't get one of those little stickers to prove it, but it's true. It was quick and easy and painless.

In Tennessee, we have early voting, which is wonderful. For three weeks before the election, you can go to a few polling places and cast your ballot. This year has been record-breaking for early voting: there was a tremendous turnout on the first day alone.

I went in the middle of the afternoon in the rain today, and I had to stand in a short line while they verified all my information and explained the machines to voters. From the parking to the operation of the machines, I don't know how they could have made it any easier.

I really don't understand why people don't vote. I have a strong moral and religious code, which I try not to impose on other people. I tend to be pretty tolerant of most things. One exception: I think everyone who is eligible should vote.

no good can come from this

I discovered wireless internet today. Wow. How fabulous.

Not only can I sit in the Nashville Public Library for hours and surf, but also I can go down to Provence and eat all kinds of stuff I shouldn't and surf some more, unencumbered by cords.

You would think this would increase productivity, wouldn't you? Doubtful.

I did write about Europe all afternoon. Confession: the posts are pretty boring. Guess you had to be there. It was a great trip -- my recounting has grown stale in the intervening months, though.

Well, I had a wonderful first day of vacation. I'm sure my Provence visit counteracted my 3+ miles at Radnor Lake.

The only unpleasantness was a couple at the library who got in a fight. There is nothing I like observing less than couples fighting in public, unless it's couples making out in public. ... Nope, fighting is more disconcerting.

Tomorrow: Shelby Park, RuSan's, voting and more writing.

vacation to-do list

1. walk 3 miles a day (except Thursday)
2. finish Europe weblog (since my trip was six months ago)
3. post all the half-finished entries I've accumulated over the past few weekends, including this one
4. send all the photo / music CDs I've made for people
5. VOTE
6. have tapas w/ people I'm usually too busy to see
7. have sushi w/ people I'm usually too busy to see
8. initiate cool holiday card project (if you want to receive one, I will need your snail mail address)
9. write all the people I haven't written since last October's vacation
10. clean that one closet. seriously.

... oh yeah, and evaluate some major life decisions, too. Very restful.

I think I will actually get to the last Uptown Mix of the year! Rodney Crowell and BR549 (the artists formerly known as BR5-49) are appearing, and I cannot pass up that amazing combo. Jack Ingram and Keith Gattis are actually in town that same night at Mercy Lounge. And there's a great bluegrass outfit, Open Road, at Station Inn that same night. Argh!!

Other than that, it's kind of a quiet music week, but a huge author week. Silas House, Joe Klein, Brett Lott and Mary Gordon are all in town for readings/lectures. Since I have a lot of writing of my own to do, I will have to catch them next time. Except Joe Klein -- might have to check that out.

Must sleep now in anticipation of big vacation starting tomorrow.

our long national nightmare is over

"The West Wing" aired a new episode tonight. At long last. I'm really ready for 2 November to get here because the political reality show is wearing thin and I am dying to know who gets voted off. But I am more than happy to watch all kinds of trumped-up dramas starring Martin Sheen and Bradley Whitford (could there be a WASPier name?). I really dig the character of Josh (you know he has the diplomatic rank of a three-star general). I'm sure if I met someone like him in the real world, I would roll my eyes and think he was a pompous ass. But in my little TV world, I [heart] him.

I taped the show because I was at work again tonight. Sigh. I hate fourth quarter.

the wright stuff

When morning gilds the skies
My heart awakening cries
Whose bright idea was it to get up this early?

I know my team was thinking the same thing. They were giving me sleepy-dagger-eyes as we stood at the rendezvous point on West End Avenue. It wasn’t even 7:30 a.m. yet. It was Saturday.

It was Hands on Nashville Day, bright and sunny and autumnal. (See photo album on lower RH side of page.) The 11 of us had a great assignment: paint a small gym, a classroom and some exterior doors at Wright Middle School.

What a fabulous school. It’s in a blue-collar neighborhood off Nolensville Road, with small, neat houses and ethnic restaurants lining the streets. The principal, Mrs. Finch, gave us the stats: 970 students, representing 36 countries, with 20 languages spoken in student homes. Many of the kids speak little to no English. Some have been at Wright mere days. Sometimes Mrs. Finch (native Korean) has to find a kid who can translate what she’s saying into Chinese so the next kid can translate it into Arabic.

How does that work, exactly? Our team wasn’t sure, either. It did make us very sympathetic to the plight of teachers in a diverse classroom. I particularly enjoyed the “walk on the right-hand side of the hall” sign translated into many languages.

run don't walk

Two years ago this month DMJ and I stood inside Hillwood High School as the principal told us what a great place it was. The intervening time has not been kind, apparently, and it's now a pretty rough place. What his article does not say -- but the principal seemed quite proud to tell DMJ and me -- is that his wife is some big honcho in Metro schools (I think probably #3 or 4 in the pecking order) so this is a double loss of prestige.

Why were we at Hillwood High School? For 2002 Hands on Nashville Day. We decided to form a team of 10 people for the 2004 Hands on Nashville Day, which takes place this Saturday. Perhaps our assignment will be to remove the graffiti from Hillwood’s hallowed halls. At any rate, you know I will report back.

Mandolin update: Next week’s assignment is the beginning of “Walk Don’t Run” by 60s surf band The Ventures in the key of A minor. How excellent! However, GMT revealed tonight that he is not now, nor has he ever been, a fan of the Who. So I don’t know how I am going to learn to play “Bargain.”

To cope with this disappointment, I went to Family Wash and had their incredible curried potato soup. It was great, but I miss dinners at Red Wagon.