My "old woman" hangout

We all know by now Knoxville is full of great things to do; at least that's what 99% of our posts here are trying to prove.

I'd like to take this opportunity to argue that Knoxville is also a great place to sit and do nothing.

Below is a photo of one of one of my favorite spots to "do" this very thing. It's right beneath the Gay Street Bridge near Calhoun's.

Feel free to have your very own old man/woman moment there today.

photo by Tracy Jackson

It's race season...

I adore late summer and fall in East Tennessee for a number of reasons: cooler weather, colorful foliage, apple cider and RACE SEASON! There are so many incredible races in and around Knoxville this time of year.

I think the best way to stay tuned-in to upcoming runs is to either be a member of or follow The Knoxville Track Club (KTC). A mere twenty dollar annual membership gets you all kinds of discounts at places like River Sports, Runners Market, New Balance, Gourmets Market and Swim and Tri. You also get discounts on race entry fees and a host of other membership benefits.

If you aren't a member, you can still visit their website for a calendar of upcoming races. Late last week I decided to change my holiday weekend travel plans and so was left with an open weekend. After football festivities on Saturday, I checked out KTC's site and found out about the Jellico Miner's Mile 10K and 5K on Labor Day. So some friends and I headed down to Jellico bright and early on Monday morning and ran an awesome race.

Some notable upcoming races:

Wears Valley 15k in Townsend - Sunday, September 13
Marine Corps Mud Run (5k) in Knoxville - Saturday, September 19
Seymour Rotary 5k - Saturday, October 3
Cross Knox 15k/5k walk - Sunday, October 11
Race for the Cure 5k in Knoxville - Saturday, October 24

Those are just a tiny sampling of the races this season. I hope you consider heading over to ktc.org to check things out. You'll find details for the above events and all others listed there.

AND, of course, get some runs in!

explosions in the sky

Just in case some of you have forgotten what Boomsday looked like Sunday night, here it is. Sorry for ze delay.

























































Huckleberry paid us a visit, too.

phonographs for sale

I don't often park on the top level of the Market Square Garage, but those of you who do may have noticed this faded advertisement half covered up on the back of 29. Advertising is perhaps the most transient of art forms, except it seems when it's painted on brick. Look around- all over this city we have hieroglyphs of a long departed civilization informing us of its extinct technology for sale.

Knoxville Twestival haiku winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Knoxville Twestival haiku contest. We had a lot of fun reading them. Now, without further adieu ... the winners.

Back2Pennyrile for the Cas Walker shoutout (by the way, excellent use of many Knoxville icons in your haikuing)
Cas Walker, they said,
would bring us miracle salve!
Duck! It's a chicken!

Radioactiveegan for the Twestival-specific haiku
beer at twestival?
boogying with animals?
you can count me in.

Jim Clark for his Vols football haiku
Wear orange sweatshirts.
Ice beers, light grills, shout, "GO VOLS!"
Prepare for heartbreak.

AND

Discordia gets the Twitter tickets as he both haikued AND tweeted about us (and even attempted to Twitter a haiku, though it didn't work out.)

If you're one of these four people, please e-mail your real name and e-mail address and/or phone number ASAP to themoderngal(at)gmail(dot)com so I can pass it along to the event organizers and they can hook you up. Have fun at the Twestival! I am going to try to make it Thursday, but work may get in the way.

First Friday, the off the beaten path edition

It's Friday, and that means two things: It's the last day to enter our Knoxville Twestival giveaway (go here and enter) AND it's September First Friday!

You First Friday veterans are probably well familiar with the venues around Market Square, Gay Street and the Old City. I'd like to encourage y'all to take a look at the other side of First Friday tonight.

If you head out N. Central Ave., you'll find some First Friday gems, not the least of which is Magpies and its free samples. Every First Friday goer needs a good base for all that free booze you'll be drinking, and cupcakes are as good a base as any, if you ask me.

Head farther up N. Central until you get to the Happy Holler 'hood (you know, where Toots, Time Warp and Veg-O-Rama are). You'll find our very own B showing some of her artwork at Relix, a furniture and art thrift store located next to Veg-O-Rama. B has been hard at work adding to her collection for tonight's show, so you don't want to miss it. Plus, Relix is a very cool space. I hear there may be a fashion show going on there as well.

Where is the Metrognome? by Beth Meadows
acrylic and varnish on particle board

Take a trip over to Mechanicsville when you're done and visit 501 Arthur -- sandwich shop by day, art studio by night. If you haven't seen 501 Arthur, you're in for a treat. It's got some beautiful architectural features and some funky lighting. 501 Arthur also does a nice dinner on Friday nights through 9 p.m. if those cupcakes aren't enough for you.

Now go forth and First Friday!

word on the street...

...Is that Lenny's Sub Shop is coming to Gay St?! Has anyone else heard this?

With Steamboat coming to Market Square and now Lenny's, there will FINALLY be fresh, quality grab-and-go lunch spots downtown!

And I do love me some of Lenny's hot pepper relish. Yum.

Oh, and speaking of food: It seems like Regas has done a little re-branding and re-visioning. From what their marquee says, they've started having live music. They offer a new "Gatering Place" menu, and their website has been re-vamped. Say goodbye to stodgy old Regas. Say hello to Regas Square...

It's that time of year again...

Not football, something much more exciting. Election Season. YIPPPEEEEE!!!

True story, we have election starting... well... TOMORROW. Tomorrow is the first day of early voting for City Council elections. And your local political junkie is here to help you out.

Why is this election important? We're getting a new City Councilman.

Why is that important? Because, if you like living downtown, coming downtown, or making snarky remarks about those hipsters downtown, you want to make sure that the representation is up to the challenges of supporting our thriving little community.

So without further ado...

There are three candidates in the primary (which is what this election is for)

David Dupree - blog

Daniel Brown - KNS video

Charles Frazier - KNS Video

I'm working on contacting each one to find out their thoughts and purposes for the position.

I'll keep you informed of what I find out.

If you have any particular questions you'd like to ask these guys please let me know.

Only two of the three will advance to the general so lets pick the best two then narrow it down.

Here and Here are a couple of overviews of the candidates as well.

Also if any one has already formed an opinion I'd love to know, because I am still in process.