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I am glad that 2008 is now in the books. I am tired of the hearing about every little detail about the presidential transition and if Michelle Obama is going with light tangerine or eggshell for the paint scheme in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House. I am glad that there are going to be kids at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that there will be Play-Dough and Kool Aid stains on the carpet. It will make me feel at home when I take my kids up there in the next year.

In two weeks we are going to a celebration of the 20 year anniversary of Country Cares for St. Jude Kids at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. I was invited up to honor the dedication of the people who took an idea I had in 1988 to a fundraiser that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars and has saved lives of many children. I plan on taking the kids to Graceland to show them that I am not the only white guy with bad taste in decor. I also am hoping to take them down on Union Avenue to see where Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Conway Twitty, Carl Perkins and Elvis made their first recordings at Sun Records. We also are hoping to get to go the Stax Records Museum on McLemore Avenue where a big part of the soundtrack of my growing up was made by Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, and Isaac Hayes. "Hot Buttered Soul" by Isaac Hayes is=2 0a recording masterpiece.

I want to have some Rendezvous Barbecue that features dry rub ribs and to drive across the Mississippi River to leave the urban sprawl of Memphis to see the cotton fields of Arkansas that have a great view of the skyline of Memphis.

I have enjoyed the past couple of weeks off. I have watched so much football that I may get a tattoo of Bear Bryant at the place on Head Avenue. Rooting for the Falcons, Tech, the Dogs and the Tide. I once was a big fan of Auburn until a former employer of mine made sure a great coach Tommy Tuberville lost his job. I my job in 2008 too. It turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. The new semester starts in a few days. I don't think I ever had the passion for radio that I do for teaching.

I hope 2009 is going to be a better year for all of us. I pray it will or I will apply for a federal bailout.

Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a member of administrative faculty at Kennesaw State University. He also serves as director of special projects in the office of university development. He can be reached at Rhubarbjones@aol.com or by writing P. O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, Georgia, 30176