I registered my kids for school almost two weeks ago. It takes no less paperwork to buy a house than it does to register three children for the Memphis City Schools system. I’m not even sure what I signed, I may very well have contracted them away into indentured servitude.

(That is not a complaint.)

The kids began their new schools last week, Richland Elementary and White Station Middle. By all reports, the first week was a success, although those are the reports of my kids themselves and not their teachers … (read more)

For our country, the summer of 1969 was a time of violence and uncertainty, and the perfect time in history for the sea change that the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend, could offer. The three-day celebration of peace, love, music and more left everyone involved with lifelong memories.

For former Memphian Bonnie Roberts, then 19, memories of Woodstock begin with a wedding in New England. Or, more precisely, a bridal shower, hosted by a friend who offered to take her to Woodstock on the back of her boyfriend’s Harley Davidson.

Getting there, it turned out, would be part of the adventure … (read more)

In the summer of 2007, two teens drowned while swimming in public pools in Memphis. From the tragedy sprang the Make A Splash Mid-South program through Safe Kids Mid-South at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.

The goals of the program, according to Susan Helms, Le Bonheur’s director of injury prevention, are to offer swimming lessons to those who otherwise couldn’t afford it, enhance lifeguard training and inject diversity into swim meets.

“The community was outraged by the drownings, and it was the perfect time for the two, Safe Kids and Le Bonheur, to work together,” Helms said … (read more)

Barack Obama and I will be the first to tell you that it’s not easy being president. Oh, sure, the hand waving and goodwill junkets, and even the budget stuff, is simple. But sometimes there is discord among your people. Occasionally there is a situation in your country or, as I refer to it, living room, that requires immediate attention and I, the president, am the only one who can attend to these matters.

Recently, with so many of my little countrymen out of work for the summer and home all day right here in my rose garden, there has been a loss of patience and inflammatory remarks made, some lashing out in anger and frustration. Tempers have flared.

I’ve tried to be diplomatic about it like a good leader and sit all parties involved down to discuss the matter like adults … (read more)

The artists at House of Ink tattoo parlor on Frayser Boulevard are collecting backpacks, uniforms and supplies for school children to use this fall. Each customer who brings donations to the business from Aug. 4-6, will get a $30 credit toward a tattoo.

House of Ink, which opened three years ago, organized a Toys for Tatts drive last Christmas and brought in more than $5,000 worth of toys for Horton Gardens public housing residents. In 2007, they adopted a family for Thanksgiving and Christmas … (read more)

There is nothing my kids love more than watching a Supreme Court justice nominee’s confirmation hearings on C-SPAN 6. Or, maybe that’s a “SpongeBob SquarePants” marathon on Nickelodeon. Which one has the talking squid?

Either way, during the dog days of summer, when the heat index reaches triple digits and the Memphis humidity makes it almost impossible to push open the door, the kids end up in the living room, sprawled on the sofa, reveling in the air conditioning and watching television … (read more)

Lokion is a full-service online consultant with clients that include FedEx, Viking Range, Smith & Nephew and First Tennessee. The company is also in the business of being a good corporate citizen.

“Nobody lives a disconnected life,” says Lokion CEO and president Megan Jones. “We’re in a community and, as part of that community, we employ people and deal with clients from that community. We need to be a part of that as best we can with our particular skill set.”

Lokion has donated its skills to the National Ornamental Metal Museum, which now has a new Web site … (read more)

Whether music, movies or literature, the whims and fancies of young people and their pop culture icons are nebulous and fleeting. They rush in and out of fashion on currents that rage as unpredictably as adolescent hormones.

There are times, however, when popularity holds fast and pools, and though that pool may ebb and flow, its waters nourish for years. “Harry Potter,” the wildly successful series of children’s and young adult novels celebrating its 10th year, seventh paperback and sixth movie release this year is the torrent that has pooled and collected the fascination of young and old alike … (read more)

The Levitt Shell at Overton Park, a free outdoor venue hosting live music shows, concluded its second spring season with nearly double its fall attendance.

“The season was great,” said Anne Pitts, Levitt Shell executive director, citing attendance figures of 34,000, up from the fall season numbers of 20,000.

The Shell’s Web site says its mission is to “build community through music and education, finding common ground for a diverse audience.” Pitts says much of the credit for the Shell’s success at meeting its goals should go to Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects.

The architecture firm is responsible for donating $65,000 worth of renovation work prior to the venue’s grand opening in spring of 2008 … (read more)

In an effort to enjoy the fresh air and spend more time with my four kids, I pulled out a bag of plastic golf balls and a few irons the other day and scattered them about the yard for the kids to practice.

That was a mistake.

First, they fought, like the worst caddies in the world, over who got which club. Once we all settled on the 9, the 7, the pitching wedge and putter, well, they started playing at golf.

It looked like a skinny, metal chicken fight out there. It looked like a foursome of cats with golf clubs taped to their paws. It looked like a bunch of stumbling Saturday night John Dalys in short pants … (read more)