louisiana rebuilds

i just thought that i would post this link to this site called new orleans rebuilds.
it's the most amazing site ever.

it covers everything from fema issues to recovery assistance to charitable orgs. really, it has everything you can think of that pertains to recovery in new orleans.
scope it out, have a wander. there's so much good suff on it, it's amazing!!!

www.louisianarebuilds.info

art for art's sake

art for art's sake was tonight. it's the night of the year when all of the shops and galleries and museums open their doors and have free drinks and food and music. you just wander from place to place drinking and looking at art.
all week i was looking forward to it, thinking back on years past (when i always ALWAYS had an exhibit up somewhere). i remembered how much fun it was to sit in the place where my art was on display and see all of my friends. perhaps wandering down the street a bit every so often to see what was going on in other shops. there was always a friend to see, someone to bump into, hugs exchanges. it was my new orleans, all of my people assembled and having fun, loving art and music and life and one another.
this morning i woke up at 5am and began the final edit on my novel. i had my husband (who has his MA in english and scottish lit) go through the entire thing for me. i worked from around 8am to 4:30pm on the first six chapters. i made alterations as per his suggestions and some of my own. i was exhausted. i went to take a brief nap and ended up not waking up until 8:30. by that time art for art's sake is essentially over. i was so upset with myself. i had so badly wanted him to see this world, to experience what i had always loved so much, and i wanted to go back there myself.
and then i realized something that made me even more sad. what i had wanted to show him, the festival that i had wanted to go to was not there. it hasn't been there since october of 2004. i could have taken gavin out tonight but there wouldn't have been a central place for us to hang out. i had no exhibit. there would have been no gathering of the friends, there was no one central location where would all knew that we would meet. perhaps i would have bumped into a few people but that thing that i had for all those years, that night, those experiences, those will never be duplicated again. meeg won't be here to come out with me. kiki won't be able to come. carrie and dave are gone. everyone has scattered to the winds. there is no more twisted, there is no more pervette. those days of having that glorious time surrounded by my adopted new orleans family are gone. that part of the city is dead for me. i can never have it back. i can never show him what that was like. i can never go there again.
and this is one of the many reasons why i'm leaving. the magic is fading, has faded, will fade. the new orleans that i knew is no longer. it tries to hold onto itself- it still holds the festival but it is a ghost of what it was- for me anyway. i keep living here but i live in a world that is gone. i remember the things that were and try to pull them forward into the present by sheer force of will. this i cannot do. new orleans is now katrinaville.
even the things i mentioned in previous entries, like hansen's sno-blitz, they are ghosts. it is still there, and the sno-balls are still amazing. but the little old woman and little old man who always sat in the corner, who always looked on as you ordered from the shop they started in the 30s, they are dead. killed during the storm.
we will rebuild, we will be a whole city again. we will teem with life and music and art and culture, but for all of you who were here before take heed-- this is not the place you remember. it's resembles it so closely that it might fool you for a moment, but look closely and you will see. what you are looking at is not your former home, it is only the beautiful memories and the shattered remnants. and all of nagin's horses and all of blanco's men can't put nola together again.

two years ago today...

two years today hurricane katrina made landfall in louisiana, devastating new orleans and the surrounding areas.

two years ago today i was sitting in a hotel room with my brother robin watching the news.

two years ago today i was looking at images of my beloved city flooded, destroyed, in chaos.

two years ago today i realised that i didn't know the whereabouts of my little brother andrew and my little sister sarah, it would be a week before we found them.

two years ago today they told me that it might by nine months before we could return to the city.

two years ago today i learned that i lost my apartment and mostly everything in it.

two years ago today i didn't know where most of my friends were or even if they were alive.

two years ago today i sat and cried as they said that they might never rebuild new orleans.

two years ago today i realised that new orleans would never again be the city i had grown up in.

two years ago today i wept.
two years ago today my life changed.

i'm liking brad pitt more and more...he loves nola like i do!

angelina jolie and brad pitt are heading for the hamptons but it’s not for a weekend of fun in the sun. the couple are hosting a dinner of about 50 people this saturday night to benefit the victims of hurricane katrina.

the invitation they sent out reads:

‘Nearly two years after Hurricane Katrina, residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans are still struggling to rebuild. Brad Pitt started the ‘Make it Right’ project after he visited the devastated area. He hopes to preserve the unique culture and spirit of the Ninth Ward by rebuilding a neighborhood inspired by safe and sustainable “green” homes in one of the hardest hit communities in Louisiana.’

the fam on their way to the hurricane katrina benefit in the hamptons tonight

i couldn't find a link to the make it right project but here's a link to the other org he's involved in that is helping to rebuild eco-friendly houses in nola:

http://www.thegreenproject.org/


my only question is....why isn't the benefit here? if people can fly into the hamptons they can fly to new orleans. then they can even tour the devestation and see where their money's going!


these are comments that he made after touring the city the other day (makes me love him even more!):
"the people who were hardest hit by katrina were people who had the least.“it's a justice issue,” said pitt. “what we saw with katrina is that there is a portion of our society that's being overlooked. and so, in the aftermath, we're not going to be able to bring back the friends and family that are lost.“we're not going to be able to bring back their heirlooms and their photographs. but maybe we can provide a better way of life. maybe we can find some good out of this.“it’s about fairness. it’s about dignity.”


god love him, he really does get it.

for those of you who think we're ok now....

i just wanted to post a few recent pictures of that area that brad pitt toured the other day. the one that's 'doing so well'. just so that you know the reality of the situation...

total destruction

this house will never stand again

all that's left is the roof

when houses collide

cars stacked from the 20 feet of water that pushed them on top of one another

i commend the work the brad pitt is doing in the ninth ward. i think it's wonderful. i applaud all of the charitable orgs that are trying to help... but why does this neighborhood still look like this (with no power or water) 2 YEARS after katrina? we need to take action. not just brad pitt, not just orgs, but ALL OF US. it is up to us to save this city, and whether you like it or not, the ninth ward is a part of new orleans. it is a part of us all!!

my homage to those who have left nola (either due to katrina or for various other reasons)

my lovely liz came in the other day and we had coffee. she lived here until a few months ago and then she moved to austin >sob<. she is now going to stay with the parents in the carolinas. here is my liz (and me on my way to meet liz for coffee). i miss you liz.

me

liz

this is my carrie and her dave (although i lay claim to him as well as we talk on gmail everyday). they left me to move to dallas (ewwww) not long before the storm. carrie is my oldest and dearest friend. i miss her everyday. i don't miss dave as much because i talk to him so often but he's still a super cool cat.

carrie and dave

allyson has also left. she finished vet school and is now a doctor in new york. i miss her dearly. here she is at mardi gras 2007 in my cowboy hat (which i think looks better on me--hehe).

allyson in my hat at mardi gras

this is meeg and kalanit. meeg evacuated during katrina and never returned (except for vacay time-- and for my wedding, at which this photo was taken). kalanit has recently gotten married and has moved to florida with her husband, zach. i miss you everyday, meeg. and i'll miss you, too kiki.

meeg and kiks at my wedding

and now frankie has just moved to get married in dallas. his soon to be wife lives there so he's relocated. i'll miss you, babe. keep on beboing me-- if you think you can handle it!!

frankie and me at z'otz

erika left me a long time ago. she now lives in honduras with her husband. she is one of my best friends in the world (and i haven't even met her baby yet!!). she might be coming into town in september and i can't wait!! i miss her so much!

erika and her husband cesar (and that's samuel in her belly)

this is me and aditi. aditi left me quite a while ago as well. i recently saw her at her daughter's birthday party. it was so good to see her and i miss her so much.

me kissing aditi (with her sister anagha in the background)

so, those are my friends who have left me (there are a few more) but many of these are my best, best friends (i'm looking at you carrie, meeg, aditi, kiki, liz, erika, allyson, dave, and frankie).

thankfully i still have many of my best friends here in nola (looking at you stephanie, suzie, erin, patrick, jelena, dave, andrew, dillon, heather, lori, john, katy, matt, kim, robin, shannah, and sarah)

and of course i still have my family-- my dad, my brothers (robin and andrew-- scott moved to dc the bastard), and my gavin.

here or not here, friend or family, you are all my best friends and i love you. stay cool.

ohhh, kathleen!! why? how? why?

as we all know, gov kathleen blanco is an idiot. she froze when hurricane katrina hit. seriously, go back and look at the footage of her and nagin calling for the mandatory evacuation. bitch looks like a dear caught in the headlights. so sad. to make matters worse, she's done a horrible job since then. she can't seem to get money from the feds and when she does she somehow manages to lose it. we all know she's not getting elected again. let's just hope it's not jindal who takes her place. (please mitch, lead us!!).

now our dear kathleen is trying to get out of testifying in a trial involving two nursing home owners charged with negligent homicide after 35 of their patients died during hurricane katrina.

the court said, 'screw you. you have to testify, you dumbass' (that's actually from the court transcripts).

dumbass ho

the election is soon. we have to get her out of here. quickly. stay cool.

i'll post my updates later.

not again!!!

ugh

as some of you may know august and september are the worst months for hurricanes (does anyone remember 29 august 2005? there was a little storm that hit us on that day. it wasn't fun). so, after months of an uneventful hurricane season it is now begining to pick up (god help us). we now officially have out first scary hurricane in the atlantic that might be headed this way. hurricane dean is going to get us (maybe, it's too early to tell quite yet) and i'm not happy about it. they say that this crazy storm could end up becoming a category 4 (which would put it on par with katrina). keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't come this way. stay cool (and hopefully dry).

still reading the same book
company i hate today: cox communications
last song i listened to: the girl from ipanema
storms in the gulf: 1/2 of tropical storm erin
storms in the atlantic: 1 (we've talked about this already)
temp outside today: 94 but it feels like it's 118 with the heat index
how long i have left at work: 4 hours and 40 mins
days until my birthday: 11