Joel Frey

Housewives envy

Ever watch the Real Housewives of New York? For those of you unfamiliar with the Bravo Network staple, it is classic brain cell sucking reality television - with a painfully posh twist. Subconsciously, I loathe the show, its premise and have found few, if any, redeeming qualities in the housewives. And while it's almost impossible for me to relate to their personalities, I watch their trite adventures of shopping, parties and socialite gossip in the company of my lovely wife on Tuesday evenings rarely without fail. We're all guilty of tuning into shows of this nature more so than we'd like to admit...right? RIGHT?

Why do I bring up the Housewives? On Tuesday night's show, I watched with a twinge of jealousy as two of the ladies talked up book projects. First was Countess LuAnn who has "written" a book on manners and etiquette. I used quotations in the previous sentence because from my view in our living room it seemed that her idea of writing was sitting down on a cushy sofa with a glass of wine and a ghost writer. Later, we saw LuAnn in a meeting with her publisher and a couple of his cronies as they tasked her with choosing between the cover with purple stripe versus the one with a yellow stripe. She went with purple! Once that dirty job was out of the way, everyone congratulated each other for being so smart and the bubbly started flowing. I could have used a drink myself.

We then were given a front row seat to Bethenny's photo shoot for the cover of her diet/health book followed by her bold assurances that it would be a bestseller. And, natch, it is currently ranked #13 on Amazon! LuAnn, however, has a little catching up to do at #596. Yours truly? #1,396,911! But, my Barnes and Noble rank of #459,746 is slightly more encouraging.

I'm sure I wasn't the only writer with dreams screaming at the TV. Well, I actually didn't raise my voice, but if I weren't such an optimist by nature, I would have gone to bed depressed. Thanks ladies. As always, it was a pleasure, but I'm not watching any of your re-runs over the weekend.

Out of stock

Zack was right. I should have joined Facebook a long time ago. Since I signed up a couple of weeks ago, not only have I reconnected with a bunch of old friends from Bartlett High and J.B. Martin Middle School, Cypress Walls is temporarily out of stock at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble's online store. Plus, I've had more visitors here, including a record day after my last post. Thanks to those of you who bought copies - I do appreciate your support and look forward to your reviews!

One other quick news item: my next book club is set for May 18, here in Sun City. If you'd like to join us, drop me a line. Thanks to Magdalene Iglar for all of her help in getting it set up. I hope there's at least one member of the group who is not afraid to tell me that they thought the book sucked.

Since my last post, Memphis has still been on my mind, thanks to John Calipari. After he decided to leave the U of M to take the head coaching job at Kentucky, I've checked the local paper's Web site a couple of times a day for the latest developments. Like everyone else, I wanted him to stay knowing that without him it would be highly unlikely for the Tigers to continue to play in the upper echelons of Division 1-A hoops. Sadly, that's what's going to happen. It's not the Tiger program; it's Conference USA. Why would anyone coaching in the SEC, Big 12, Big East, Big 10, Pac 10 or ACC want to downgrade and play the likes of Tulsa and SMU year-after-year? Would Calipari had even come in the first place had not the Tigers played in a league with Louisville, Cincinnati and Marquette at the time? I doubt it. I mean, they couldn't even get a whiff from the coach at Baylor, a team that finished ninth (ninth!) in the Big 12 this year.

My heart especially goes out to my friend TJ Werre, who covered the Tigers run to the Final Four last year as a reporter for the Memphis student newspaper. It was a great run Bro. Savor those memories from San Antonio, however painful. Hopefully, the team will get back to the Final Four again one day. I'm thinking 2020 is sounding about right.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!