Sunday, January 24, 2010

BLACK AND GOLD SUPERBOWL!! SAINTS WIN SAINTS WIN SAINTS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


HOLY CRAP!!!  UNBELIEVABLE!!!  Today I watched the game at home, and it was such an emotional roller coaster - but I never lost faith (unlike some that I won't name.......).  Right after the game everyone in the neighborhood, including us, went outside laughing and screaming, everyone pouring outside and jumping up and down, cars in the street blowing their horns, fireworks, and yes, even some gunshots ('keepin' the New Orleans brand out there' the eejit said).  The feeling, and I wasn't even AT the dome, is almost overwhelming - and this from a lifelong Steelers fan who converted to the Saints after falling in love with the city and the people when I moved here in 2008. 

WHO DAT, BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm really impressed with Mr. Payton - not only is he such a cool customer who's beloved by all, he's also the lead plaintiff in the class action lawsuit against the contaminated chinese drywall that so many people had to take out of their home here after finally getting the ability to rebuild and then installing, without knowledge, drywall that would make them ill and ruin the copper coils in most of their appliances.

This is a shot of the fans before they went into the Dome today, taken by the local paper.

Just a little taste from last week's game.  This does NOT mean that the devastation in Haiti has not been on everyone's mind here....so many of those images were reminders of what this town went through, but what Haiti has experienced is so much worse, it's hard just to even think about it.  It's hard to comprehend.  What keeps going through my mind is that I should be there trying to help.  I speak French, am a project manager, and have lived without water and electricity for over a year.  I could be of help there, I know I could.  But I'm aware of my limitations enough right now to know that my mental state is too precarious to be depended on right now in that situation.  So all I can do is donate, and watch, which is what I did for days after Katrina hit, and I felt so helpless at that time too.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

New Orleans Mayoral Forum


The forum tonight was on Economic Development - I'm really glad I went because the one televised debate was overshadowed by peripheral candidates' comments on legalizing marijuana.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  I have a definite favorite now, and the venue was a good one in which to see them.  The reason why the group putting on the forum called this 'The City of Yes' is because the city's email addresses end in 'cityofno.com', and the city council's are 'nocitycouncil.com', and the Office of Recovery and Development was 'norecovery.com'.  City Hall is on Perdido Street (or 'lost' street).  hmmmm.....speaking of that.....

I've been walking in and out of City Hall for a year and a half now....anyone see anything wrong with this sign?  It took me about 6 months to notice it, but it still hasn't been corrected.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

12th Night - the start of Mardi Gras 2010!

Allright, y'all, it's officially the start of the Mardi Gras season!  The Phunny Phorty Phellows Krewe commandeers one of the St. Charles Streetcars and takes a short ride letting everyone know that IT's ON!  Sonji and I are making a tradition of catching this Krewe's parade, but this year it ended up being a much deeper pah-tay than expected, with many others joining in on the fun.  The above is one of my photos, and the below photo is what it's like INside the streetcar (photo found on a website on the parade schedules).  I hear a bunch of Krewe's have rescheduled their parades to fall outside of the Superbowl, in case the Saints are in it.  And, the remaining few will DEFinitely reschedule if the Saints make it.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Who 'Dat....




...say dey gonna beat 'dem Saints?  Saw this Saints/second line decorated house out in St. Bernard Parish this weekend on a little road trip - is this Kelly or Courtney's place?  (both crazy Saints fans who work for same company here...)  Look at the detail on the painted fence - they even have handkerchiefs in their hands to wave them while second lining - super cool!

See the link here for some help with the lexicon, courtesy of Courtney:         http://gumbopages.com/yatspeak.html

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Last year...about this time....

....I was getting very excited to go to the SC State Ball for the Inaguration of Barack Obama.  That trip turned out not to be one of the better momemts of my life, but a few good things stick out.  One was staying in a hotel room with my Mom eating a Denny's breakfast and watching George Bush fly away, fly away back to Texas, hopefully never to be seen from or heard from again. 

sigh. 

Such a great memory.  Here's a photo I took to comemorate the occasion....

Then there's the barbeque that my uncle told us about (he is such a bbq-whore...) where we ate before Mom got back on the road back home.

Here's Uncle Bob showing Mom his new iPhone (That gal don't know nothing 'bout no iPhone!)

And then here's one photo from the ball in the Air and Space Museum, where I stayed maybe 30 minutes.

Regardless, it was a very exciting time to be in the Nation's capital, particularly since I'm living in one of the reddest of the red states now.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!!!

It has been quite awhile since my last post...so many things have happened I couldn't begin to recount them all. This last year was one for the record books, I got through it, came out stronger, and am now looking forward to what this year has in store...as trite as it may sound. I may go back and post on some things from last year, or just go forward. On va voir. John and I (I met John in Lafayette LA at the International Festival, he was a friend of a friend and we've been together since) went to see the sunrise over a beautiful local area for the New Year, past New Orleans East on Chef Menteur Highway. We found a nice spot to turn into off the main road, and ended up seeing a sea otter who made huffing noises at us. Then on to the Vietnamese Saturday morning market which I've been meaning to go see...it was 37 degrees this morning so there probably weren't as many vendors out as usual but it was an interesting glimpse into their life here in South LA.