Offa My Lawn: Things I Miss Edition

I read that the Dixie Chicks are working on a new album supposedly without Natalie Maines. And even though I’m well aware that Maines was the latecomer to that group, I can’t imagine the Dixie Chicks without her. Still, I’ve missed themm and look forward to hearing what they're working on.

Other things I miss:

• Paper straws. When I was a kid straws were made out of paper, not plastic. Nowadays, you can’t find paper straws to save your life (though I found a box at a store in New York, restaurants seem to have gone all-plastic. And I don’t drink with straws at home.) Seems like switching to paper straws would be a great use of a recycled paper product.

• Real news about, you know, news. This morning’s news has all been about Simon Cowell leaving American Idol, Mark McGuire using steroids, the Jay Leno-Conan O’Brien story, and Sarah Palin getting a show on Fox. None of which is actual news. I guess the assumption is that we’re getting our information about the world from somewhere, leaving the media to cover itself the rest of the time. Very odd.

• Late night TV. Used to be if you were up late at night you could catch a really cool old movie on TV. Now it’s all infomercials. I miss the cool old movies.

• CNN’s Style show. For 20 years I had a regular Saturday morning date with Elsa Klensch on CNN. We used to make fun of Klensch because she’d always ask designers the same questions: what kind of colors do you use, what kind of fabrics? Still, it was a guilty pleasure and I miss it.

• Green Hills Grille and American Artisan. Two Nashville establishments that, while they haven’t been gone all that long, are still missed. Green Hills Grille had a great salmon Caesar salad that I was addicted to, plus their strawberry shortcake every spring was a Beale family tradition. American Artisan had the most beautiful, unique art and jewelry.

I will probably think of other things I miss as the day goes on.

And oh yeah, offa my lawn!

[UPDATE]:

I won't continue to go down the road of shuttered restaurants I miss .. too many in Nashville to count. But I thought of something else I miss today:

• Real blue jeans! Remember those? You bought them three sizes too big, and had to wash them twice before wearing them once. They were Levi's and they buttoned at the fly (never zipped) and the more you wore them (and washed them) the more they became a second skin. After a few years, when they could no longer be patched you turned them into shorts. If you didn't have the patience to wash-and-wear your blue jeans you went to the thrift store and bought used jeans.

Kids today don't know about real blue jeans. The stuff you get these days either costs $300 and has some bizarro "name" attached to it (Citizens For Humanity, 7 For All Mankind, Rock & Republic, True Religion) or else they are so cheap you could read a newspaper through them.

I miss real blue jeans.

And now: offa my lawn!