Every Stone a Story

I just got back from dropping the Professor off. We went to the new used bookstore on 8th and wandered through that while she told me of her painfully slow seduction of a potential 58th lover. Here's how my seduction attempts go. I drink--a lot--then drink one more just to be sure. I show up at your house, either alone or with someone in tow. I either make googly eyes at you all night while hoping that you notice me and like me better than the other person or I flash you repeatedly. If either of those things seem to go okay, I try to kiss you. If that goes okay, I drink some more. By then, I've either sent the other person home or invited him/her to join in. For me, this almost always never works. Here's how it goes for the Professor. She goes some place. Someone makes googly eyes at her. She scans the place to see if the googly eyed person is the most interesting person there. If so, she invites him/her home with her. If not, she goes over to the most interesting person and they invariable ask her "So, are you taking me home?" If she says yes, they go home together. To her bed. You know who asks if I'm taking them home? People who need a ride home. To their own homes. Without me. So, anyway, the 58th lover and his seduction. It's going. Slowly. Slow, delicate progress is being made. I told her she should get a puppy and that would surely hook him. Guys like puppies. Or so I hear. What the fuck do I know? I hear guys like beer, too, but leaving a line of them from Murphy Road to my front door gets me nothing but drunk hobos to walk by in the morning. After we wandered through the bookstore and hashed out the details, I took her over to the city cemetery and we wandered through that as well. It's really a beautiful cemetery, full of old famous Nashvillians and gothic grave markers. And it really is a city of the dead. All the families are in their own plots and all the streets have names and street signs. But even after that, we weren't quite ready to go home, so we went to Fort Negley. America, or at least Middle Tennessee, if you've not been to Fort Negley, you are missing out. It has to be one of the most beautiful places I've been in Nashville. They lead you through the Fort via a series of very interesting signs and photos and much of the path is actually wooden, handicapped-accessible walkways. As you walk around the hill, you're constantly met with these amazing views of Nashville poking through the trees. It's just a well-thought-out park and entirely enjoyable. And virtually empty. I don't know why no one was there, but we only saw two other people. There are also a number of fruit trees that are clearly the remnants of an old orchard and I don't know why, but seeing all those fruit trees still in their lines, but all unkempt--like they'd gone feral--was really eerie. Anyway, the City Cemetery and Fort Negley are both free and close by, so get out there and explore!