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| Peri's cat, Tuxedo & I are new BFFs |
The not-so-hot event was the Cats lost in the Final Four back in marchy-March. I loved every minute of the season up until that moment, though, and cannot be prouder of a team for the heart and drive and pure dominance they showed. My entire family loves the UK Wildcats and nothing makes us happier than when the Cats are undefeated on the basketball season.
Also lovely, I discovered Kentucky Sports Radio and the joy that can be derived simply from listening to a liberal lawyer turned radio sports guru. This past year was a good year for KSR's Matt Jones as well; he is likely to emerge as a popular political moderator as well as a possible contender for Rand Paul's senate seat, being how Rand is all out there spending his time and energy running for President against superTrump, et al.
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| Drew Curtis ran for Governor, wins the Courage Award for doing so |
Speaking of politics, a friend of mine, Drew Curtis, ran for Governor this year, and I am so proud of his effort, along with his wife, Heather. I gathered signatures to help get the Curtis name on the ballot and in doing so, found out how much WORK being a politician can be. I could not do it. I am simply too lazy. lol At any rate, congratulations to Drew, and thanks for being a great beer buddy! W00t!
I did opt to stop posting my political beliefs on Facebook; my life has been much easier since I decided to shut my mouth on that platform. With all the new technology, I simply realized I don't have to convince anyone on Facebook to change their mind -- in fact, I CANNOT convince anyone to switch their opinions -- why keep beating my head against the wall? Oy vey, Maria, yes I am sad the Cats lost in March, but glad The Cat got my tongue in December.
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| Fireball looms on the horizon |
Glad glad glad to still be writing for my Editrix and pal Rhonda Reeves at Ace Weekly and Hamburg Journal. Rhonda always comes through for me and knows I would fight a running blade-saw for her. I am confident she would do the same for me as well...(coz she HAS).
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| Kelli and I are the EVERLY DEBS <3 |
Artistically, this past year was full of cool glass exhibits by Stephen Rolfe Powell and hot theatre offerings like Spamalot and Comedy of Errors. I wrote about some very cool productions presented by OffMain, AfterCulture, AthensWest, Studio Players, BCTC, Blackbird Dance Theatre, UK Opera Theatre, Fantastical Theatricals, Central Christian's Chancel Choir, CMA, WoodSongs, Troubadour -- Lexington was chock full of artistic nuts in 2015 and I enjoyed every bite I could reach!
Personally, this past year has been up and down, as all the years are these days. Thankfully, I did not lose a family member this past year, not to death, anyway. I had a chance to see my granddaughter Shelby and my nephew Josh when they visited. My nieces and nephews Olivia, Cora and Marshall were also in town for a UK game; Marshall and his wife Amy just had a baby girl, Hayden Thomas is her name. She is the great great granddaughter of Basil Hayden, the first UK basketball player to be named to the All American team in 1929!
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| CCI's Roger Bondurant's still one of the best musicians in town; now he's just trying to reinvent himself, he says. |
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| Shelby and her beau, Austin |
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| Nick & I are UK Cats fanatics too >"< |
Finally, the Breeders' Cup happened. Keeneland should've hired twice the staff and everyone would've had a better time. Downtown did its part and entertained the hell out of the world as it came to Lexington. Marjorie Guyon and Nick Stump collaborated on a collage montage upon the Downtown Arts Center with projected images of Guyon's art and Stump's prose. It was a glorious greeting card for our City, and I am proud of our City for hosting the Breeders' Cup so well.
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| Me & Peri - back in the Brass A days - when I still had eyebrows... |
Keeneland is a beautiful place, but I have lost my love for it now that I have worked there during such an event. You would think folks would rise to the occasion but instead, by the end of the Fall Meet, everyone was sick of each other and resentful of those who rake in the dough. There was the waitress who made $1600 a day in clubhouse tips versus the minimum wage worker who hated her -- and she never tipped out her busboys or cooks or hostesses or bartenders. That happens a LOT at Keeneland, and it is very difficult to ignore. It used to be that we could blame Turf Catering for that kind of behavior, but after decades of writing about Thoroughbred racing and sales, I was sick to see 'my' Keeneland behaving like Turf Catering. No class. No training. Just greed.
I took for granted the 60 years of my life that I enjoyed Thoroughbred racing and Keeneland. Since I was exposed to the bowels of the place and had to work within the sphincter (the liquor room), I never wish to darken the door there again. Truly. It was a fiasco behind the closed doors.
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| Ryan Case & I went to see a few shows - what fun! |
You can't just staple a staff together, treat them like cattle and expect them to come away with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I am happy for American Pharoah and his connections that he won the whole shebang -- the Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic -- but gosh I wish I had stayed home and not gone out to berg liquor on a broken foot. That was just me being foolish. Ouch.
I was promised a sitting job, and it turned out instead, I was the porters' bitch. I was called every name in the book and went home every day with a sore foot and bruised ego. I took crap off bartenders because their celery was wilted. I listened to the martyr Liquor Manager whine about her many duties, none of which she would relinquish to anyone. I watched the disappointment on the faces of the folks who rode to work with me as the Fall Meet transpired. It was a lesson in restraint for me. I didn't tell anyone off, I just quit when my foot stopped working. My foot quit, not me...
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| Chef Brother Addison stayed with me for a while, played lots of guitar! |
I am 61 years old today. I will get my sister Kelli to go to Red Lobster and have lunch on the gift card my cousin Janice gave me. I am very much looking forward to laughing with Kelli and having a good time. She and I have formed a singing duo called the Everly Debs. More to come about all that!
Love and hugs and love and hugs and lobster in the New Year to you!
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