{"id":2065,"date":"2008-08-11T00:18:54","date_gmt":"2008-08-11T05:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/?p=2065"},"modified":"2008-08-11T00:22:19","modified_gmt":"2008-08-11T05:22:19","slug":"a-short-and-incomplete-love-letter-to-memphis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/uncategorized\/a-short-and-incomplete-love-letter-to-memphis\/","title":{"rendered":"A short and incomplete love letter to Memphis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"happy<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m not sure that I will ever really find “home,” inasmuch as something that major that can actually exist for me (outside my parents’ house, which will always be Home), but there are times \u2014 like when we gear up for the ridiculousness that is Elvis Week<\/a> and the denouement known as the candlelight vigil<\/a>, or when I see a couple getting hitched in front of Sun Studio as I make that left turn on Union to head to work, or when I pick through spicy fried chicken and white bread with greasy fingers at Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken<\/a> while Isaac Hayes music blares on the jukebox \u2014 when I think that I might be as close as I’ll ever get to a place where I feel spiritually and creatively sated. <\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure I’ve gushed about this feeling to various people at various times \u2014 I always find myself trying to convince my Nashville\/New York\/everywhere else friends that Memphis is truly the fucking place to be \u2014 but I’m serious. Memphis has a lot of problems, but I’ve grown to love it in spite of itself<\/a>. And because of itself. It’s a magical place. Surreal and unbelievable and infuriating and unique and typical. All at once. And then, somehow, more.<\/p>\n

I am lucky that I have met so many unbelievably amazing people in this big city\/small town, or else I’d likely not feel the same. I’m not the world’s biggest schmoozer, and I tend to keep to myself, so when I actually do encounter people I can honestly adore, I am gobsmacked by the very idea, and it makes me feel like, yes, I am exactly where I need to be right now. <\/p>\n

Watching the sun set over the Mississippi and clinking shot glasses full of tequila with friends doesn’t hurt, of course. <\/p>\n

But, Memphis? You’ve been pretty good to me, despite my misgivings. Let’s keep it going.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure that I will ever really find “home,” inasmuch as something that major that can actually exist for me (outside my parents’ house, which will always be Home), but there are times \u2014 like when we gear up for the ridiculousness that is Elvis Week and the denouement known as the candlelight vigil, or when I see a couple getting hitched in front of Sun Studio as I make that left turn on… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1jWWl-xj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theogeo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}