A Liquid update

It's no secret I have made many friends here in cyberspace since this past summer. Liquid happens to be the one who has helped in the most recent wave of meeting new friends. Well It seemed a couple of weeks ago that she had dropped off the face of the blogosphere. I knew what she was up to, so I thought I would just back off since she had a full plate. Most folks who check in here are bloggers, also and check out her blogs and know what's happening. I want to post a link to the item on her blog, post some pics and give some comments of my own. The post on her Liquid Illuzion blog is called "Around the Corner."

Suzanne(Liquid), her sister-in-law, and her cousin , have opened this gift shop in Meridian Mississippi called Around The Corner. The shop features some of Suzanne's framed photography along with other creations from local artists there. It's a labor of love for these women, but also a large part of civic pride.

The pictures that I have seen of downtown Meridian, Mississippi sort of remind me of uptown Medina(pronounced med eye na), Ohio. Matter of fact you remove the r and the first i, then switch around the last two letters, Meridian becomes Medina.

But anyway, down Meridian could just as well be downtown anywhere else. My friend JimOhio goes on message boards and posts about businesses leaving Medina square. It's sad but in most cases it's just a matter of people not having a vision. Everybody wants to blame the discount stores for taking business away from the downtown areas.


I use the term "Evil Big Box Store" as a tongue in cheek way of referring to the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Some have a habit of pointing a finger at them as a way of explaining downtown blight. Now I do think that if Sam Walton would see what has become of his beloved chain of stores, he would be turning over in his grave. And some mom and pop stores have gone by the wayside because of the ease of getting the same items at lower prices at any time of the day.
Widgets are made cheaper in China, and can be sold cheaper in the Evil Big Box Store.

I want to tell you something. Knowledge and courtesy cannot be produced at any price halfway around the world. You can get nails cheaper at The Home Depot, but you go to the hardware store downtown and you get years of knowledge along with your hardware. The owner knows his customers and wants to keep their business. That's the same with other small businesses.

Suzanne and partners aim to do their part to revitalize downtown Meridian. I don't know about the others, but Suzanne gives me the impression that she's a "people person." She cares about her blogger friends, most of whom she's never met and I can imagine that those she will meet will also experience her friendship in a great way.

I am looking for good things to come from Around the Corner. If they ever get a website I will surely post it here.