Jackson got up extra early, so we have had a beutiful morning together. Unfortunately I think he has my " little sleep" gene cause he certainly does not sleep as much as the books say 6 year olds sleep.
A lot going on this week . Sent Jeff M to Atlantic City and he came back with some very interesting possibilities. Kevin fucked up the St. Thomas deal but hopefully someone else can save it. Cancun seems like it is coming alive again. But after working on this deal for 3 years I am not going to hold my breathe.
I wanted to buy a simple coin counter for Jackson ( piggy bank). My god the cheapest one I found was $400. That's more then he has in his piggy bank. Ridiculous!!!

I received a letter from one of the Ft. Lauderdale girls. Some customer bit someone. Why are people so fucked up? Is it inherited or learned "the angry gene"? I know that sometimes I snap and get angry but to bite someone? Even the act of fighting? It shocks me how many girls get into fights. Weren't these woman taught to be ladies? I get into trouble with my mouth sometimes but those times are getting less and less.
I recieved e-mails chastising me for chastising the woman who hit my car while she was drunk. I am no saint . But I would perfer if people took cabs when they drink. I tell my New Orleans bouncers to call me a cab if I am drinking at the bar. We all do stupid things, myself included, but she was driving an $80,000 car, why in the world couldn't she afford a $20 cab ride?
I am concerned about this Tropical storm Ernesto. I hope it does not head in our direction.
I am mesmerized by the news about the girl that had been kidnapped and emprisoned for 8 years. How horrible. The girl was only 10 when this happened, she is now 18. I can only imagine that she has suffered a form of arrested development. At 10 she is just a child. At 18 she has the body of a woman but no intellectual or postive emotional stimuli. How horrible to go through adolescence without proper support. I feel for her this will be a long and painful transition. Life is hard enough. It makes you question your faith when you hear of torture and killing. Very scary raising a child in this world.

Today is the first day in the last week that I actually feel good. I finally got my gas leak fixed so last night I was able to take a shower. I slept 7 straight hours ( without medication) I never do that. I don't even remember when I slept that long. Today I walked 6 miles and it wasn't miserably hot. All my business worries seem to be rolling off my back today. And last but not least, my son and I went for a huge banana split after school, and it was DELICIOUS!
Right now, as we speak, Lee and I ar having a heated discussion about fries and onion rings on the Ft. Lauderdale menu. But again, I am not getting riled up. Just happy that I am alive.

I do not believe this man , Karr, killed Jon Benet Ramsey. I have a feeling he is one of the nuts who has fantasized about it and now believes he actually killed her. I hope for the family's sake that I am wrong.
There are a lot of freaks out there . Very sad what people do to children.
All my bars except for Austin and San Antonio having great nights. " What people don't want to drink in Texas this week?" Ft. Lauderdale really doing well last night! Very pleased.
Finally the plumbers are here to fix the gas leak. 1 week without a stove or hot water. It sucks!!! But I will pray today that I get it turned on! Man I need to be in my own shower.
I am sitting here looking at my office and wondering " why am I so disorganized?"
Today was Jackson's first day of school. Hooray!!!

The last week has just been insanity. What can go wrong will go wrong. Today I woke up feeling so overwhelmed because of all the directions I am being pulled. I am upset because Kevin may push back the opening of Miami one more week. If that's the case I can only go to the opening and not stay the whole weekend because it falls near Jackson's birthday.
Yesterday was a very emotional day for me. Sometimes people let you down in such a personal and deep way that you are left feeling all alone. I really missed NY yesterday. I don't have the support network in New Orleans. When things are bad I really feel alone here. My own fault I don't make friends. I usually am happy traveling to see my friends. I've decided to cut out all the poisonous people from my life. I will not allow people to hurt or poison me with their hate. That's all I have to say about that!
" Jodi ( ft Lauderdale) don't quit. We love you. I know you are burnt out but take a week to regroup and come back. You are an important part of that bar"
Nashville having a great night last night.
Lee finally nailed a new business card design that I love. I can't wait to get my new cards because I am down to about 4 cards.
Some insane freak who tried to rip us off a few years ago e-mailed Jeff and I today as if nothing happened. I responded in a professional way " sorry but we currently do not want to license to your group" the insane e-mails now coming in, are funny yet disturbing. This particular man is truly insane. There are quite a few people I know who need therapy, including myself!

One of the bouncers yesterday told me that they were so scared because their family went to one of the other Coyotes. I said, " so what? They'll have a good time." I know Lil but I have to make sure the bouncers don't let it slip that I have been shot and stabbed" I swear to god every single bar has at least 1 guy that has been both shot and stabbed. What the fuck? Is all I have to say.
Another bouncer who is going through a divorce told me the other day that they are now living in a trailer. " Lil I have 4 degrees a great teaching job and I do very well for myself, Yet every night I come home to my 7' 10; trailer while she lives in the house!" I just started laughing. He needs some custom rims for his trailer and a set of pink flamingos just to fit in. Sad but he and I were laughing so hard. Hopefully next year he'll either be in a nice apartment or get a bigger trailer.
I have calmed down a bit from the other day events. Now all I really want is a hot shower. Hopefully this week they will fix my gas leak so I can bath!
None of the bars did great this past weekend. I hope I don;t jinx it but I am so pleased with the Denver accounting statement. Mellissa is really tightening the purse strings. Very Pleased. Nashville has now ( no jinx) eclipsed San Antonio for my number one bar. Kyle , employee of the month, is doing a very good job. Again very pleased.
I got a call from Daniel yesteday " Lil, I opened up your mail by accident" " Daniel how was it an accident when it had my name on it?"
When I evacutaed to Austin I had to set up a local bank account there. It doesn't have much money in it but I set it up in case there was another evacuation. Daniel recited exactly how much I had in the account and seemed unfazed that he had opened my mail. " federal offense , Daniel." I love him but he is a pain in the ass.

" thump thump thump" went the pounding of a fist on my front door. This was at 2:30 in the morning. " Honey it's the police" " Now the second part in a really soft meek voice " honey it's the police here to tell you some girl just crashed into your parked car". 13 hours later and I am still fuming. I fucking go outside " mom you shouldn't curse" " Jackson , mommy has to curse close your ears". I go outside this girl is drunk and crying " my dad is going to kill me look at his car" I scream "fuck his car look what you fucking did to my car?" You know what really fucking pisses me off? This fucking girl was allowed to call a family friend who came down and comforted her while they waited to impound her car. I said to one of the police officers " it is obvious she is under the influence aren't you going to take her to the station and give her an alchohol test." " Yes mam in a little while" " Officer isn't her blood alchohol level normalizing the more time she spends here?" I swear to god they treated this girl like a princess. " SHE FUCKING HIT MY PARKED CAR WHILE DRIVING INTOXICATED AND SHE IS GETTING AWAY WITH IT> WHAT IF SHE HIT A HUMAN BEING?" My blood is boiling and nothing I do is calming me down. Her daddy has money so she will get away with this. This girl may not of been of age, she looked very young. Had it been a poor person ( someone not of privelege, the cuffs would have been on and they would be punished to the full extend of the law. THE GIRL WAS NO MORE THEN 21 AND DRIVING DADDY'S BMW 645I. I AM SO PISSED!
So I took a 4 mile walk which helped but I HAVE NO HOT WATER SO I CAN'T TAKE A SHOWER. I AM IN HELL THIS WEEK!

Last night I was able to attend the premiere of the new HBO documentary by Spike Lee " When the Levees Broke". Jacob and a few of my former bouncers are now working corporate security and they were contracted to do security for Spike Lee and his family. They were able to get me two passes so Chantel and I were able to watch the first act in Spike Lee's suite. Personally, I am a huge Spike Lee fan. " He Got Game" is one of my all time favorite movies and I can list several other Spike Lee films that I love. So it was very cool we were only two feet away from Spike Lee. Reverend Al Sharpton was also there. I don't agree with everything he says but he is quite a character, I wish I had spoken with him. Unfortunately, there were no seats left and the arena was freezing cold, so Chantel and I were only able to stay for about an hour and a half. But I will tell you it was a very powerful piece and I felt that it covered an extensive amount of material that brought back a lot of memories of that time and how I felt after evacuating. I can't wait to see the whole thing next week on HBO.
Last night Jackson's dad was out of town so I arranged Jackson's first( away) sleep over, so I could go to the Spike Lee premiere. I was nervous all night. The mom is very nice she is one of the english teachers at his french school and her son was in Jackson's class. This morning she arrived at my house at 8:30 am to deliver Jackson . I was pleased that he didn't freak out being at someone's house but she told me that he woke up at 4 am and ate pizza. And when he arrived he had a lollipop in his mouth ( 8:30 in the morning) When we got inside he was bouncing off the walls telling me that he was going to eat candy all day. Well I put a stop to that. " Jackson I don't care if your friends eat candy at their houses but you will not eat crap at this house!" Sorry but I use the word crap. He was such a brat today.. He better not have had soda, cause I will flip. He knows he is never allowed to drink soda. I am ranting and raving but I am so bothered that people don't practice better nutrition with their kids.
Yesterday the gas company came to my house . They say I have a leak so they shut my gas off. The bullshit of this is that they say they can't fix it. So now I have to find a plumber who can fix this leak. ( In new orleans you can not find anyone anymore) I received a call from Land Rover saying that my Range Rover was finally fixed after 1 month. I picked it up. Within 2 miles of driving from the dealer all these weird lights came on. That is problem number one. They didn't fix the seat belts. Number two. They didn't fix the water condensation in the car.Number 3 Etc etc. I heard this woman yelling at one of the service guys saying " this is a $75,000 car why the fuck can't you fix it?" So when I got up there I said " I reiterate everything she says" Unfucking believable.
I loved Katie's manager's log from Nashville. You could feel her frustration with the girls. I feel your pain Katie!

Holy crap what a hot day! Every day is like a soap opera. Every bar is filled with drama.
Cancun seems to be rearing it's head again. 3 years we have been trying to negotiate this project. Kevin was very excited about the St. Thomas site. I told him " don't get too excited . It's the lawyers turn. Which means it will be a long process" . Who the fuck knows when Miami will open. My god what a fucked up project. I know we will make a lot of money but between architects, contractors, and beauracrats this has taken triple the time of any other project.
Jeff w. told me the funniest story about his son today. His son Julian went and visited a local working farm. ( upstate NY) He loved the hens and how they made nests and laid on their eggs. When Julian got home ( and mom wasn't looking) he emptied the fridge . He then put all the eggs in his parents bed and proceeded to sit on them. I love that story. It reminds me of the kid's book ' Horton Hatches an Egg".
I think I have rejected at least 25 business cards samples. I am down to 10 cards so I have decided to lighten up on my expectations and finally pick one.
Finally, Lee came up with a bikini and beach towel design that I really like. I know he thinks I am a pain in the ass but as the saying goes " I like what I like".

Back from St. Thomas. Jeff M. found a great spot for us. Cross my fingers unfortunately now we pass it off tp Jeff W. the resident lawyer and that's when things get screwed up. I love the Caribbean. Jackson and I spent most of our time on St. Johns which is only a 20 minute ferry ride from st. Thomas. what a beautiful island. jackson had the time of his life. We stayed at Caneel bay Resort. Gorgeous. Unfortunately they believe in romance and peacefulness and that comes without TV. Now for me I can read a book and be fine, but I have to say that I was wishing for a movie at night to calm Jackson down. My son is so cute. He had the time of his life.
Memphis just finished Elvis week. I have to say that I am disappointed in the numbers I thought there would be a bigger increase. Denver great Saturday!!! Nashville, I'm scared to talk about because they are doing so well.
We just ran some comparison numbers in San Antonio and I am disappointed. This year we have changed our original marketing strategy and I think that was a mistake. Lee needs to keep a closer eye on things there.
Love the new bikini design. I've got no other good news so I figure I should just shut up.

Chantel's birthday today. Jackson and I are sitting in an hotel room near the new bar at Cocowalk. Very nice area. We are at the Ritz Carlton and I got a kick ass rate, under $200. I am so happy about that.
The AM in Memphis really pissed me off. I know she has the ability to do the job, I'm just hoping at some point she can gain the maturity to make this a career. Fucking girls. I want so much for them. But they just don't want to grow up

I think Katie is the lucky charm for Nashville on Saturday nights. Bam!
Going to St. Thomas this week for a meeting. I am praying it doesn't rain all week because I am taking Jackson. Nice guy Joe put in his notice. I was expecting that. He's going back to the police Department. He'll be happier there.
My son doesn't have camp or school right now. I have to wake up in the middle of the night to get any work done. I think he is completely bored with me. Today I said he was going to play with his dad for a couple of hours. In a low voice I could hear, " thank god". There is a definite difference between moms and dads. When I take Jackson to the pool we swim a little then he swims with his friends. When his dad takes him to the pool his dad stays in the pool for 2 hours throwing Jackson and his friends around the pool, actively playing. he wrestles with his dad. With me he cuddles. Little boys need a lot of wrestling time.
So much going on

Kelly, from Sa, really has my ire up this morning. I asked her to switch around the door guys and try a few new guys on the front door. Her response is "but that is my best guy." The guy she is referring to is a valued empoloyee. I have not asked her to fire him simply switch him inside and rotate the front door guy. I want to see if someone else is better at bringing people in. " Just do it." Don't fucking question the little shit. My god. I'm right and it is my business. Rotate the front door guy, god damn it."
I had a lot more to say this morning but I am now so pissed off that I need to walk and take a break.

I received an e-mail from Jeff W. about an article in Newsweek magazine. The article spoke about how fashionable skulls and dead things are. " Fine, Lee. You are the greatest. Dead morbid things are the best. Good work!"
I have past a point in life, I m officially old. I have no interest in the new dead trends of the 21st century. blah
I received a managers log from Memphis about a former New Orleans girl who came in slobering drunk and was very rude. The girl that they named was an excellent employee and very mature , as far as Coyote standards go. I for one am shocked that she acted like that. But everyone deserves a drunk pass every once in a while.
Very close numbers for most of the bars last night. If I remember correctly Denver beat everyone out. Congrats. Jeff W. called me a few days ago saying the Denver landlord called him up and yelled about one of my Lil Spills. " Don't worry Jeff, Mellissa will be the one to hear most of the shit."
I have Lee and kevin in Daytona today. I don't believe it will be a new project for us, too much money for a really seasonal location. I am going for a meeting in St. Thomas next week. I hope there are no tropical storms! I may stay on St. John's which is quite beautiful. the smart thinng to do is to book it now, but sometimes I am not too bright.

What a fucking day. There must be something in the air or water because I have 4 bars with pregnant girls.. ( I wish them and their children well) So much other shit today too , worst being the dismal conversations with Mortgage people about my horrible credit. Well regardless I did get approved for a mortgage so it looks like I'm moving 5 blocks to an unbelievably beautiful house.
Fucking Merch!!! I just received new designs from Lee for bikinis. Before I go on my tyraid , I would like to ask 1 question? ( I know it is rhetorical) What the hell happened to happy designs and colors on bikinis? The fucking designs I got were of skulls and bullets, on red backrounds. Can't we have a feminine styled bikini? What happened to summer colors like teal and pink? " Lil, not only did I do the research but so did Adrianna ( ft. Lauderdale GM). Those designs are fashionable. They'll sell" So when did Lee and Addrianna become fashion icons? Fine put god damn skulls on the bikinis. Maybe we can make a whole tribute to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie and do a new line of Dead people bikinis. Or maybe instead of fake bullets we will increase the price to give them real bullets and these girls can go around killing everybody because god knows the girls who buy the skull , bullet bikinis are not having fun at the beach. How about we co brand with a shooting range and give away a shooting lesson with every bikini we sell?
" Fine Lee make the god damn skull bikinis can you just make one design that is feminine in teal or pink?"

I would pay to see this! Jacob , Will, and a few former employees are getting certifide as " corporate bodyguards". This week they have to get maced ( with their eyes opened), get tasered, and then they have to do hand to hand combat while in a room filled with tear gas. I hope someone takes video. I would love to see these huge guys, crying like girls. I think I would hate getting maced the worst, but I was reminded that when you are tazed there are barbed wires that enter your skin first. That doesn't sound too fun to me. But the beauty of this is that it isn't happening to me!! Again I would pay to watch this.
Austin with a killer night last night.I put a bid on a house yesterday, now I am going through the grueling process of being preapproved for a mortgage. The first question yesterday was " why do you have such bad credit?" God damn bars. Supposedly they found a lien against me from 2003 stating that I never paid my Con edison Bill. Well Con Edison is a New York based electric company and it seems odd that they are telling me that I did not pay a bill in 2003 when I moved out of New York in 2000. I swear to fucking god this happens at least twice a year since I moved out of New York. For years they were claiming I needed to pay certain NYC taxes as a resident. I would have to pay my accountants to prove to them that I no longer lived in NY. ( every year this happens) Now this. Fucking NY, great place to go shopping, have drinks ( at my bar of course), and meet old friends but I wouldn't move back there ever, just on principle.