11/27/06 – Leftovers 

      I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday, full of family fun, football and leftovers. Granted, none of the fun had over the weekend matters now – finals are in two weeks, and everyone I know has a huge amount of work due in the next few days.

      My holiday was pretty average. There was the usual Thanksgiving dinner marathon, during which I try to make it to my mom’s, dad’s, grandparents’ and Colin’s family meals in a 24-hour span. Other than that, there was homework, record shopping and a trip to Mississippi.

      Oxford, Miss., the town where the University of Mississippi is located, is sort of the epitome of a college town. It also may be one of the largest repositories of the “beautiful people” in the country. Colin and I, with our friends Brandon and Flannigan, went to Oxford on the same day as the Egg Bowl- the annual game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Hordes of somewhat intoxicated Mississippians descend on the small town, impeccably dressed for watching football. It makes me laugh to see people wearing something not unlike their Sunday best to watch men in spandex kick a ball. We didn’t really go for the football – we went for the food and the bookstore.

      On the way back to Memphis, we made a stop in Holly Springs, Miss., home of Graceland, Too. Brandon and Flannigan had never been, and this is something that I think everyone needs to see. Part residence, part shrine, it’s quite possibly the world’s largest private collection of Elvis memorabilia.

      It’s open 24/7, and Paul McLeod, the proprietor, is happy to show you around and tell you about his fascination with Elvis and his collection no matter what time it is. You’ll get to see the most valuable record in the world, as well as Paul’s meticulous cataloguing of every mention of Elvis on TV ever made.

      Sure, it’s a little creepy, but it’s mostly awesome. If you ever want to go, let me know, and I’ll give you directions. Here’s a picture of Flannigan, Paul McLeod, Brandon and I, in front of the most shrine-like portion of the house: 

      Anyway. This is going to be a pretty big few weeks. The story about Tom the Musket Man is going up on Friday, as well as a new Mix tape. Also, look forward to a massive rock’n’roll review on Wednesday. My next big project will be starting up this week. I’m entering the Miss Ball State pageant. I’ve never been in any sort of beauty / scholarship pageant before, so this should be pretty interesting (especially the swim suit competition). I’ll be blogging and taking pictures throughout the whole experience, which starts on Thursday when I go sign up.  

      So, have a good week, and make sure to eat some citrus. I don’t want any of you getting sick.  

- Kerry