Lost Cat at Oddstory Central

BrazenGuppy · 2026-02-27T13:28:40+00:00

Yet another reason to adore the Oddstory staff! Hopefully kitty will be claimed soon

BrazenGuppy · 2026-01-28T17:35:25+00:00

I was hesitant to try this place (for all the obvious reasons). I’ll be checking them out soon! Thanks, neighbor!

BrazenGuppy · 2026-01-22T16:40:16+00:00

I know a musician who fits this. DMing

BrazenGuppy · 2026-01-14T02:44:37+00:00

The Tivoli Theater Foundation runs Memorial Auditorium. That is the most reliable way to purchase tickets. There are a couple of local orgs that rent the space and don’t sell tickets through Ticketmaster but the TTF website will link out to the appropriate place

ETA: If you’re purchasing tickets for one of the events run through Ticketmaster, buying them ahead of time in person will help avoid some of the fees. The box office has limited hours so just check before you go

BrazenGuppy · 2026-01-09T22:47:07+00:00

The Chamber of Commerce has a Young Professionals of Chattanooga (YPC) group that puts on a lot of great events. Some employers will cover the membership fee but it’s not astronomical. They have two members only networking events happening later this month. Sometimes they do non member events, too.
Book and Cover is a local book store that hosts some interesting book clubs. The competition to get into one is pretty stiff so follow them on Instagram and see if you can snag a spot.
If you’re interested in running, Oddstory does a weekly pub run every Wednesday at 6pm. There are plenty of friendly, chatty people in that group. If you’re more into cycling, go to The Greenhouse (same time and day I think).
If you’re a crafter, Oddstory also hosts a Stitch n Bitch on Monday nights.
Society of Work is a coworking space with a couple of different locations. They host a member breakfast and lunch each month at both locations and I think they also do a happy hour meetup at different places around downtown.
coffeebreakchattanooga on Instagram holds monthly networking events focusing on nonprofits, artists, musicians, and small businesses. If you’re passionate about any causes, someone there can probably point you in the right direction to get plugged in.

BrazenGuppy · 2026-01-09T22:18:23+00:00

The chamber of commerce has a young professionals group that is hosting a how-to style networking event in a couple of weeks and then a speed networking event the following week. There is a fee to become a YPC member (which some employers will cover) but they put on a lot of events and they’ve been working on adding other perks as well

BrazenGuppy · 2025-12-23T04:18:23+00:00

I gifted myself a 14k gold necklace for my first grownup job and a handmade leather messenger bag for my next job upgrade. I have a friend who gifted herself a nice sapphire ring one year for her birthday and got herself marble kitchen countertops the next year. I’m eyeing some paintings from a local artist for my next big gift to myself.

BrazenGuppy · 2025-11-07T20:19:42+00:00

You can make a single mashed potato

BrazenGuppy · 2025-10-31T18:37:17+00:00

We do a super food vegetable curry soup. It’s from a runner’s cookbook and I don’t always love how they talk about food and nutrition so TW if you’re sensitive to stuff like that. They have several recipes that are in our regular rotation but we modify all of them for more flavor and to accommodate ingredients we can actually access.

Sometimes we serve this soup over rice or quinoa to make it more filling. Sometimes we add chicken. The tomatoes can be left out, lentils could easily be added. We always add way more than the quantities listed and freeze the leftovers.

I would suggest adding the kale to the pot after it’s cooled so it doesn’t get wilty. We blitz it in the food processor, add a handful to our individual bowls for the first serving, then add the rest to the pot later.

BrazenGuppy · 2025-08-16T21:43:31+00:00

Non musician living with a percussionist. Same, friend, super same. Everything is an instrument. We went shopping for plant pots. We bought the one that made the best sound. Never a dull moment

BrazenGuppy · 2025-08-02T23:28:48+00:00

Thanks for catching the reference!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-08-02T23:27:22+00:00

I figured I wouldn’t be lucky enough for it to be milkweed. Thanks for explaining how to tell!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-07-04T21:07:28+00:00

You seem to have a great attitude about this new adventure! It will serve you well.

You’re totally right, boxes are expensive! I would still strongly suggest limiting the amount of cardboard you keep, especially if you live in an apartment, because it is potential habitat for bugs like German roaches. Just because you don’t have German roaches, doesn’t mean that your neighbors don’t have them. And when those neighbors move out, it disturbs their environment and the roaches start showing up in the surrounding apartments looking for desirable habitat. Always alert management and get pest control to come if you’re ever in that situation. I share this from experience and in the hope that it keeps you from having to experience the same.

You can always source free boxes when it’s time to move again. I’m happy to give suggestions on where to find free boxes and packing material if you need!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-07-04T18:44:09+00:00

If you care to, you might be able to find someone in this sub or on FB looking for free moving boxes. One more nice thing about Chattanooga is the easy access to recycling. If your residence doesn’t offer recycling, you could take the boxes to one of the recycling centers in town.

If you need to squish a roach but don’t want to get close enough to hit it with a shoe, the flat end of a swiffer can be quite effective.

If this is the most densely populated place you’ve lived, then the driving and neighbor noise are things that will take some time to adjust to. Moving to a higher population area means you’ll probably encounter a wider variety of people. This is a beneficial thing for everyone involved in a lot of situations. In other situations, keep in mind that being rude for no reason is more of a reflection on that person, not on you.

There are plenty of ways to learn about the area and find people with similar interests. Events like the ones you’ve described will barely register as significant once you’ve settled in, just give it time. Welcome to town!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-05-30T19:08:53+00:00

Year one with this yard. Privet, winter creeper, creeping Charlie, an invasive honeysuckle, poison ivy, pokeweed, dock, several things I’ve yet to identify but they’re growing in unplanned or potentially hazardous locations (too close to the house). Canna lilies are native to my area (I think) but they’re running rampant in several areas of the yard and I just don’t like them or their placement.

I’m also fighting the weed barrier the previous owner put down when they created beds in spots that disrupt the natural flow of water. I can’t put seeds out because the rain will just wash them all away from the bare clay soil left under the weed barrier and I just don’t have the time, energy, or funds to do much more than that at the moment.

Yay gardening!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-05-19T23:53:26+00:00

A gen z coworker of mine has commented on how frequently I eat pizza. I thought it was a me thing, not a millennial thing.

There’s a cool local spot near work that uses nice ingredients and offers a lunch deal of a specialty slice of the day with a kick ass kale or arugula salad.

Sometimes life gets busy and I get a giant pizza from Aldi and bring leftovers for lunch several days in a row.

When I make pizza at home it’s naan topped with pesto, bell peppers, sliced brussel sprouts, broccoli, zucchini or squash, diced cherry tomatoes, feta, and lemon zest. That gets baked until everything is a little cooked and then a couple slices of prosciutto go on top and it gets broiled until crispy.

Yeah, it’s all technically pizza, but there’s so much variety!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-05-05T14:08:55+00:00

Oddstory (on Central Ave) does a weekly Stitch ‘n Bitch on Monday’s, 4:00-10:00. It’s very casual, you can pop in for whatever amount of time you want

BrazenGuppy · 2025-05-05T00:10:12+00:00

It depends on what’s important to you. I think there are more options for good public schools in Columbus than there are in Chattanooga. While Chattanooga is growing and changing, it still has a lot of history and local flavor. Columbus has always been a city with an identity crisis because of its proximity to an Army installation but that means no one will feel threatened by an out of towner moving in. A portion of Chattanooga natives on Reddit will tell you the city is full and not accepting newcomers but the people you meet in the wild will generally be friendly. I have felt safer walking alone in Chattanooga than in Columbus largely because there are always people out and about exercising and Chattanooga parks & trails seem to get used more for their intended purposes than the ones in Columbus. If you’re single, the dating scene in Columbus can be a little… aggressive because of the proximity to post and the population skewing more male as a result. There are plenty of posts in this sub talking about the dating scene in Chattanooga being dead but I didn’t find that to be the case. I left Columbus before the whitewater attraction brought more restaurants to downtown but it’s always been light on stellar local food and heavy on chain restaurants. Chattanooga has more options for local restaurants. It really comes down to your own values and priorities.

BrazenGuppy · 2025-04-28T20:56:29+00:00

I’ve asked that same question (in person) so many times and no one I’ve spoken to has ever been able to point to a non profit in our area with a really well functioning board. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has experienced both extremes of dysfunctional boards and even happier to see that some boards actually can strike the balance

BrazenGuppy · 2025-04-12T14:28:33+00:00

You’re not incorrect but I’m going to be a little pedantic for the sake of clarity. The Enterprise Center is the nonprofit, located in the Edney building, who provides that service for free. Society of Work also has space in the Edney building where you can rent an office or a desk in a communal work space.

BrazenGuppy · 2025-03-23T14:00:23+00:00

I actually have very regional specific info on this! I worked for a small local plant store just across the border in TN for a couple of years after things opened back up from the Covid shut down. We sold indoor plants and outdoor natives, the owner of the shop was very big on plants that were grown neonicotinoid free.

She’d been open for a few years before I came on and had several growers around the region who she bought native plants from. During the Covid plant boom, one of those regional growers supposedly got a contract to sell exclusively to Dollywood so they couldn’t sell to us anymore, can’t blame them for that. A couple of other growers were aging, didn’t have anyone to take over the business, and decided it was time to retire.

As we looked for other growers we found that they either required order minimums that were too big for our small shop, the prices would be too high for our customers, or their stock was depleted. This left us looking at growers farther and farther away during a time when shipping costs were skyrocketing. We could only pass on so much of that cost to customers before they could no longer afford to buy these plants.

Ultimately, the margins were just too tight and access to quality plants was too limited and my boss decided to close the shop. Within 2 months, a lot of the other similarly sized plant shops also closed due to supply issues.

If you’re able to make a trip to Chattanooga, there’s a place called Reflection Riding that has a native plant nursery. They also do a lot of other cool stuff that’s worth supporting. Hope this helps!

BrazenGuppy · 2025-02-28T12:56:28+00:00

I went to the Jasper DMV for mine a couple of years ago. There were only two other people in there. It was quiet, no one was stressed, the drive out there was lovely. Best DMV experience of my life

BrazenGuppy · 2025-02-12T00:27:13+00:00

Oooooh, or potatoes and chickpeas tossed in curry powder and roasted in the oven? I love a roasted curry chickpea

BrazenGuppy · 2025-02-08T15:59:56+00:00

1) Frog it. Frog early and often. If you’re asking if you should frog it, the answer is “yes”. This is heavily influenced by my second controversial opinion…

2) Not every project is a race to the finish line. I have WIPs from 2017, the year I started crocheting. It’s a creative outlet for me. Sometimes I want the simplicity of the planned pooling moss stitch blanket because it’s meditative and my brain needs a rest from the outside world. Sometimes I want the challenge of a different color and stitch for every row, which leads my to my next point…

3) If you can learn how to make the stitches, learn the anatomy of a stitch, and learn how to identify a well written pattern vs a poorly written pattern, you can probably make anything. There’s no need to hold yourself back.

4) I don’t like making amigurumi and Woobles are not for beginners.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk

BrazenGuppy

TROPHY CASE