Memphis, TN

Hi again everyone!

I hope Monday was okay for everyone, with Duke admissions coming out & all. For those who were admitted, huge congratulations! I hope you choose to come here--it's an amazing place & I wouldn't have found a better fit anywhere else. & For those of you who didn't, I'm really sorry but know that there are places out there for you, too!

Now getting back to how my weekend was.. it was hectic! Basically I left Duke Friday night/early Saturday morning to go to Memphis to cover our Women's Basketball Sweet 16 / Elite Eight for the Chronicle (all expenses on them). Since my flight was at 7 in the morning & my cab was coming at 5:30am, I decided not to sleep--something I sort of regretted later on in the day.

The photographer and I finally arrived in Memphis at around 1 p.m.and we headed to our hotel, the Westin on Beale St. , which is right across from FedEx Forum, where the Memphis Grizzlies play (and where the women were to play). Right after we put our stuff down, we headed to the FedEx Forum since the game started at 2 pm.

It was an amazing experience covering the game, and having to live blog, twitter (@chroniclesports), & write a story immediately after was very intense and demanding, but definitely really fun. I couldn't believe that I was being surrounded by actual sports writers, people from the Associated Press, USA Today, AOL Fan Page, Durham Herald, etc. I sat right behind the officials during both games and had my own assigned seat and name tag!

  

A view of the court from my seat. That little TV up there is for instant replay used by the referees!

The women ended up defeated San Diego State after a close first half, and it was a great feeling knowing that they were in the Elite 8, and that they had deserved it. Right after the game, I went to the press conference, and wrote the story which was to be put online right away (since it was a weekend). Then, the photographer and I headed down Beale St. to get something to eat.

Now let me tell you about Beale St. When I first heard that there was an assignment in Memphis, I was really excited to go because I love covering women's basketball. Never had I thought that Memphis would be a cool place to be. Arriving at my hotel changed things completely. Beale St. at night was filled with festivities, with all the stores' neon, fluorescent signs flashing, live music in front of every other bar/restaurant, and just a mass group of people walking around. It seemed like a mix of St. Patrick's Day and Mardi Gras all over again, and I couldn't believe how festive the place was!

Random street corner

Blurry picture of the street (sorry it's from my phone)

Live music setup in the Pepsi Cola Pavillion

Another street shot

Memphis .. home of the blues, rock & roll, and Elvis

This guy used cardboard cutouts in the shape of triangles and rectangles, and spray paint to make those amazing masterpieces on the right. He was so amazing!! No pencil, no pen, nothing!

We headed to Dyers for dinner, where they had amazing burgers & fries.

From there, we called it a night and went back to do homework (since I had a CompSci lab and an ICS midterm to do, and she had a blog post and movie script to write, and a book to read). We stayed up late just talking, working, and watching tv, and woke up at around noon the next day.

There was a press conference again for the upcoming Elite 8 match-up against the Baylor Lady Bears, and after the conference, I wrote another story that previewed the game (and appeared on the front page of the Chronicle!!). Then, we headed out for a lunch/dinner meal. We walked around Beale St. during the day, which was much calmer and relatively empty (it was a Monday, after all). The street was still blocked off, though, so it was cool to be able to walk around without worrying about when to cross the street and all that.

Just a shot of the beginning of the street

A Coyote Ugly saloon!! (I'm not sure why I was so excited.. I guess it reminded me of the movie, and in a way it was kind of like a set, like Universal Studios.. though the movie wasn't even filmed here.. Not sure what I was thinking, but still cool!)

The Daisy .. an old theater

We went to this place called Alfred's, which had AMAZING bbq. I had a pulled pork sandwich and never had as good bbq as I did there... We watched the Duke game while eating & left during a timeout to head back to the hotel.

Part of the inside of Alfred's. The back walls were adorned with records and pictures, and the middle of the back had a sage and a huge projector screen (as pictured above). Later at night, we saw a live band performing from the stage.

After heading back to the hotel, we came out again at night to the Hard Rock Cafe to grab a late-night meal. A lot of the places were only open to those 21+ because they served alcohol, so we walked into the Hard Rock .. and there was a concert featuring Saving Abel that was about to start!!!

A picture of them from the upstairs balcony

A close-up picture (The photographer took this, as you can tell..)

It was a wonderful experience, and it was so coincidental how we happened to be there and got to listen to the band! I have a recording on my phone of them playing, but I can't figure out how to upload it, so you can just listen to their songs (like this one!), on YouTube. 

After that, we went back, did work (again), and went to sleep early from a long day. The next day, we got up at around noon again, and we both had tasks to do, like call our editors, etc., and we finally headed out at 4 to grab a quick meal before the 6pm game. We ended up going to a restaurant with amazing bbq (again!), and we shared the most amazing nachos ever.

It was sweet from the bbq, spicy from the jalapenos, cheesy, and just a big melange of flavors!

We headed back to FedEx Forum and got ready to cover the game. The experience was amazing watching our players on the court again, but I was really sad to see them lose. The press is supposed to be unbiased, so I couldn't cheer for Duke or anything, but at the end, when we lost our 10-point lead in the last 3 minutes, I felt defeat and couldn't believe it. The trip overall was amazing, but I just wish we could have gone to the Final Four, especially since the women have worked so hard and deserved to get there. I guess there's always next year..

Anyway, after the game, there was a press conference, and we ended up staying at the stadium until midnight since I had to write two stories (a game story and an analysis) and the photographer had to upload her pictures and pick which ones should go with the story and which should go in the online slideshow.

We headed back and didn't sleep since we had a 4:30am cab to the airport to catch our 6am flight back home. The trip to Memphis was AMAZING, and I think one of the greatest parts of being here. I never thought that as a freshman I would be able to travel across the country to cover sports games, let alone have it all paid for by The Chronicle. Just another fact (one of a million) that Duke was the right place for me!

Beale St., you are missed, but I'll see you again in a couple years, hopefully!!

FINAL FOUR!

Duke men's basketball is going to the Final Four!!

I'm currently in Memphis, TN covering the women's basketball NCAA Tournament - Sweet Sixteen (yesterday afternoon) & Elite Eight tomorrow night!! Pictures will be up soon, but if you have the time, definitely check out the Chronicle sports blog & my story (http://sports.chronicleblogs.com/2010/03/27/halftime-duke-35-sdsu-34/) & the Chronicle twitter account (chroniclesports). I'll definitely post a new post this coming week (I get back Tuesday morning), but for now I'm a bit pooped with homework to do (an ICS 5-7 page paper due Tuesday & a CompSci lab due tomorrow night) and having written two stories today along with updating the sports blog & twitter. 

Good luck to everyone who applied to Duke & I hope you all get good news on Monday! If any of you have questions or anything after Monday, definitely feel free to email me at patricia.lee2@duke.edu.

5 more weeks?!

VIEW THE CAROLINA GUEST BLOG HERE !!!

Wow, I definitely meant to update again in the middle of last week but I started getting really busy and didn't have time. I did, however, find a friend to write a guest blog about the UNC game, so definitely check that out!!

So, updates since the last time I posted.

Tuesday - I had a full day, with all my classes in a row, a writing appointment, and then writing a Women's Lacrosse story. (Speaking of Women's Lacrosse, check out my roommate's photograph in Sunday's paper!!) After all that, I worked on homework I had due and got ready for bed--a hectic day finally come to a close.

Wednesday - I slept in then went to Computer Science. After that, a friend and I grabbed a quick dinner at Tommy's in Edens. It's a bbq place opened by Duke alumnus & Q-Shack owner Tom Meyer. I had their delicious Mac N Cheese (trust me, it's worth the trek out to Edens). Here's a picture of what it looks like!

Mmmmmmmmm... (Mac N Cheese is my favorite food!)

After having dinner, a friend and I headed out to Brightleaf Square, where we went and asked for donations and sponsorships for Duke Club Tennis's "Serving Haiti: Charity Tennis Tournament."

A picture of Brightleaf Square during the day -- there are nice cafes & eating places, including an Italian place, a Japanese place, and a Gelato place.

Thursday - Finished my classes then had nothing left to do in the day! So I watched Gossip Girl (yes, I watch Gossip Girl) with my friend and ended up just talking to my friends for the rest of the night. Fun, relaxing day.

Friday - Super exciting and fun day! After sleeping in and going to CompSci, I had lunch with a couple of my Chi Omega sisters and our National Consultant at The Loop. (A yummy place right on the Bryan Center plaza--the central of West Campus--that has burgers, salads, chicken sandwiches, cheesecake, and amazing milkshakes and malts.) After that, I went out and grabbed a Cookies & Creme ice cream bar from Locopops (a little stand on the BC plaza that opens during the Spring, Summer, and early Fall that has delicious ice cream bars). After, I headed to a little get-together with the sisters in Chi Omega to meet up before our "MyTie" blind date function. We went cosmic bowling at Village Bowling, and everyone was dressed up ridiculously!

We had a lot of people from the Club Tennis team at the event.. picture!

Oh, hey! That's a tutu..

Saturday - A fun/hectic day as well! Slept in (I'm sure you can tell by now how much I love naps) and woke up to a delicious Pegram BBQ event followed by a Pegram dorm picture. Then, a couple friends and I headed to the East Campus gazebo area to celebrate Holi, an Indian festival. We ended up throwing paint (powder mixed with water) at each other. It was so fun! (Picture will be up tonight). After, a couple of us went to go play soccer at the East Campus stadium. Then, I did some homework and went to the Duke Symphony Orchestra's performance of Cosi fan Tutte (a comedic opera by Mozart) because a couple of my friends were in it, and it was really great! After, I walked to TGIF with my boyfriend and had a delicious dinner. Finally, we came back and watched 10 Things I Hate About You before I finally fell asleep, exhausted. What a great day!

Sunday - Woke up, did some homework for the upcoming week, then headed to Cinelli's Pizzeria & Restaurant (right off of East Campus) with some of my friends in the dorm and ordered a Fettuccine Alfredo, which filled me up for the rest of the night. After, I watched the Duke vs. Cal game for a bit (and of course rubbed the win in the the noses of my Berkeley friends) then headed to my last Chi Omega new member meeting. Following the meeting, I watched the remainder of the game and headed back to my dorm to meet my cousins who had come to visit me from California during their Spring Break!

From left to right: my uncle, my cousin Jonathan, my cousin Dexter, and my aunt

Jonathan is a senior at UC San Diego majoring in Neuroscience who is planning to go to the Peace Corps this September to teach English in Eastern Europe. Dexter is a freshman at UC Santa Barbara majoring in Actuarial Sciences.

After meeting up with them, we headed over to West Campus for a late-night tour of the academic quads and a quick meal from the Armadillo Grill (a Tex-Mex eatery in the Bryan center). Then, we headed back and talked with some of my friends before finally going to sleep.

Monday - My CompSci class got canceled because the professor was feeling ill and wasn't able to find someone to come in to substitute for the class during that time, so we ended up grabbing lunch at Blue Express (an a la carte eatery near the science buildings) and walked around campus before going back to East Campus to get picked up by a family friend who lives near Southpoint (20-30 drive from Duke's campus). We relaxed at his apartment and watched several episodes of Law & Order before heading to Cracker Barrel (Southern-style food) for dinner. I had amazing fried catfish, mac 'n cheese, and mashed potatoes. Delicious! Then I headed back to the dorm to finish up homework and finally went to sleep.

I hope this post wasn't too long or wordy! Adios for now, and look forward to a guest blog soon!!

GUEST BLOG - DUKE VS. UNC MARCH 6

Here's a guest blog post from my friend Charlie Blanchard who attended the Carolina game!

Finally, after 6 weeks of tenting, it was time for the Carolina Game. Even though we were on spring break, we got up early, and the day began. My tent-mates and I put on some Duke gear and went over to Cameron Indoor Stadium for College Gameday Live. While there, we were joined by tons of other students, the band, the mascot, and the cheerleaders. After some cheerful prodding by Digger Phelps, we woke up a little, just in time to do a few live shots for SportsCenter. Once we had cheered and screamed for over two hours for the entire Gameday Crew (and booed when Hubert Davis foolishly picked UNC over Duke for the game,) my hallmates and I quickly grabbed lunch and then took a nap for a few hours or did any remaining work we had before spring break.

Some of the Pegram kids sitting in the student section for College Gameday Live

Once it got closer to game time we started to get ready. We all grabbed as much Duke apparel as we could and headed over the Cameron to prepare for the game. For the next couple hours we hung out around Cameron with the other students going to the game and got ready. I was dressed in a Duke shirt, blue pants, a blue crazy hair wig, zebra print sunglasses, and a white baseball cap. My face was also painted half blue and half white and my costume was fairly tame compared to many of the students who dressed up. After getting organized by tent number and lining up, we finally went into the Stadium.

Aditya Palepu (left) & Charlie Blanchard (right)

Tent #32!

Some of the girls from Pegram's other tent!

The game was unbelievably fun. We got pretty good seats; we were half way up the student section, in between the right free-throw line and the hoop. It was similar to other Duke Basketball games that I had been to, but the intensity was turned way up. Every cheer and chant was louder (particularly the N-I-T cheers aimed at UNC’s very sub-par season) and everyone was waiting for the game to start with an incredible amount of anxiety. Once the game started, the place went nuts. After a possession or two Duke hit three three-pointers on three consecutive possessions and never looked back. I don’t think I have ever yelled so loudly in my entire life. The built up stress from the combination of midterms before break, tenting for so long, and anticipation for this game was all released in two hours of constant celebration. We defeated the Tar Heels 82-50, their worst loss ever under Roy Williams, and it couldn’t have been more satisfying or fun. After the break the entire campus celebrated with a bonfire by burning the benches on the main quad. I spent the night celebrating and hanging out with my hallmates and friends and had a great time. It was the perfect end to a great day of basketball.

A final picture of some of the Pegramites in Kville!

Spring Break

Sorry for not updating until now! We were on Spring Break, and four of my friends came home with me, and we did so much I didn't have time to write a new post!

Quick breakdown. Last last Saturday was the Duke vs. UNC home game & we dominated UNC! I'll try and get one of my friends to write a guest blog about the experience of being at the game (since I had flown home for my mom's birthday). It was utterly amazing from what I had heard, and Kville was ridiculous and fun Thursday and Saturday nights.

A picture of some of the Pegram kids in Kville!

After that, my Spring Break was pretty hectic, hanging out with family & friends. And to make a long, wordy post slightly more interesting, I'll tell my story in pictures!

Slightly ghost-like, but this was our first night at Downtown Disney! We went to the Lego Store, Disney Store, and ESPN Zone!

Next day: Knotts Berry Farm!

The boys on Supreme Scream!

Delicious In-N-Out dinner!

Next day: Morongo Casino & Cabazon Desert Palm Outlets!!

The beach at night!

Next day: After dropping off the other three kids at LAX for their flights home, my roommate Caroline & I headed to the train station to visit downtown Los Angeles!

Olvera Street!

The next day, we went to Dim Sum with my family & went out to walk my dog around the lake.

My dog, Penny!!

That night, we joined it up with a couple of my friends who were also on Spring Break and had a great dinner and watched The Hangover before calling it a night to get ready for an early flight the next morning.

We arrived back at Duke Saturday night and talked to people and grabbed a late midnight snack before going to bed early to get rid of jet lag. The next day, I headed to the Chronicle office to write a couple stories and did homework before hanging out with the rest of the Dukies who had just come back.

I'll try and post another update before the end of this week which will be more about my life back at Duke! 

P.S., The weather here has been absolutely amazing. 50s-70s. I couldn't ask for anything more!!

6 days until Duke beats UNC! Again!

Hey again!

Sorry about not putting up pictures and not updating until now! This week has been a super busy one! Let's see, here's a breakdown of what I did every day:

Last Monday, after work and CompSci (where we listened to our professor talk about his newborn baby), I had a meeting for the Duke Journal of Public Affairs.I'm really excited that as a freshman I'll be able to edit stories and design pages! After that, I went back to my dorm and did some work for the upcoming week.

Tuesday, I had straight classes from 8:30 to 2:30 again and then promptly headed over to the women's basketball press conference to write a story about the team's chances in the ACC and NCAA tournament. Following that, I met with somebody who was running to be sports editor and had a good talk about the direction of the sports section. I had dinner with my friends at 6:30 and ended up spending the rest of the evening talking in the hallway and playing Super Smash Bros on N64.

Yes! Amazing night.

Wednesday I had work and class again then headed over to my math professor's office hours where I got some one-on-one help with my math homework. Then, I worked on a paper I had due Thursday and grabbed Subway for a quick meal. Then, I headed over to the Chronicle Sports Editor elections, where we discussed the direction of the section and our plans for the upcoming year under new leadership. I finally ended my day at 12 and headed back to East for a nice, late-night meal from Papa John's ($10 pizza of any size, any crust, & any toppings!) and talked with friends before I promptly fell asleep.

Thursday was fairly routine with classes in the day and Duke basketball at night. (Looks like we're going to win the ACC title and go into the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 or  No. 2 seed!) But after the game, my friends and I all headed over to a Club Swim party (my roommate is the Vice President) an socialized and met new people. The off-campus apartments on Erwin are very nice and spacious--nothing compared to my room at all! We finally left at 1 or so, and some of us stayed up and talked, some of us slept, and some of us were still dancing the night away at one of the local clubs, Metro 8.A couple of us, however, went to Cook Out for a late-night food run, where we had some delicious cheese fries, chicken tenders, hush puppies, corndogs, and cheerwine floats and milkshakes!

After eating and chatting, we called it a night, and Thursday I had work, a CompSci lab, then dinner and my Chi Omega semi formal! It was a lovely dinner at Piazza Italia in Brightleaf square, a 5-10 minute walk from East Campus, and then a small pledge class social in one of the sister's rooms, and then it was the semi at Taverna Niko's in Brightleaf! Needless to say, the evening was perfect!

Caroline & her date, and me & my date!

The next day (Saturday) was hectic, waking up late and having dinner at Marketplace (where they had a dessert sweet potato bar, with sweet potatoes, apples & cinnamon, cinnamon butter, marshmallows, brown sugar, raisins, and craisins!) before going out again for a second dinner for a friend's birthday at Mt. Fuji in Brightleaf. After, two friends and I went to Southpoint, a indoor-outdoor mall of sorts with dining & shopping. Duke's Devils After Dark provided transportation, so it was a good experience to go out for a while and walk around. Then, I hurried back and changed just in time for the Chi Omega, Sigma Chi mixer with a country-American theme. After that, my boyfriend and I watched Funny People on Cable 13 (Duke's own cable channel) before heading to sleep.

A picture of me & my big at the mixer!

Sunday we headed to Franklin Street again to have Starbucks & try Qdoba, which was delicious and very filling (though I still prefer Chipotle). We came back in the afternoon to get some work done for the upcoming week (a 7-page paper due for ICS, a 7-page paper due for Writing, a report due for Chem, math homework due Thursday, two labs in CompSci due Wed & Fri, & a math quiz Thursday) and watched the Blue Devils dominate the Cavaliers 67-49.

Today's been a good day as well, but a busy one ahead with all the work I have to do. Saturday I fly home for California for my mom's birthday (& Spring Break), and my friends are flying in on Monday. I can't wait!!