It's Fest Time...

Well...where the hell have I been. I been FEST'in, that's where! Here, in Lafayette, all over man. This being a year of many 'firsts' for me...such as Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, International Fest, French Quarter Fest, etc etc. I now know how to do them...well...better, I guess, if not perfectly. I'm still not going to be the one at Jazzfest all day every day, not even in my younger days could I have done that, but many people do.

The FEMA funhouse

So...I still have quite a few Mardi Gras photos to post but I thought that this was a particularly good time to show these ones. I heard that after the storm there were a bunch of floats with FEMA references but I thought this 'evil clown' one was particularly scary....and appropriate. I could not have known that the WORLD would find this out soon enough....please read the article below...
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/new_orleans_fema_recovery_offi.html

Then, what do you know, the new Secretary of Homeland Security visited town this past week and saw for herself the issues surrounding the recovery that have so much to do with that dysfunctional office...

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/napolitano_donovan_announce_mi.html

All of us working on the recovery had very high hopes when Obama got elected that things would change around here.....and I consider this quite a quick response resulting in this fact-finding trip, particularly when so many other pressing issues are hitting them squarely at the same time.

Indians on Fat Tuesday!

The Mardi Gras Indians are a secretive bunch and the only reason I knew where to find them at 6 am on Mardi Gras day was that the son of a coworker was in this group. They were having a ball and their handmade wares were so gorgeous and well made.

The Big Chief arriving.

The back of Spy Boys garb.

Tai-Tai and his fellow scouts.

Antoinette K Doe's jazz funeral

They brought the effigy of Ernie out of the Lounge to ride along with his bride to her final resting place.

RIP...Antoinette K-Doe

http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A50876

Mardi Gras 2009!

Dani, Sonji and me at the Mayor's ball (without the Mayor as he was in DC meeting with other mayors and Obama about the stimulus money)The 'Flying Elvii' at the Muses parade...my favorite parade so far.

More Muses from the stands at the Ball..One of the super cool ladders people have for their kids to help them catch the goods.

Speaking of the Mayor....

One of the many great marching bands busting a move, baby...

Grandmommy

The sweetest woman in the world passed away on Christmas night last year, my Grandmommy, Doris Orr. I had just told a story about her to my boss the day before she died, about how the first thing I always wanted to eat when I saw her was her grits. It was hard to pick one of her amazing foods as the best, but those grits just reminded me of her and the way being around her in her house made me feel. My aunt Dot reminded me Grandmommy had sent me packages of grits when I was in Africa....I laughed out loud when that package arrived it made me so happy. She was one of the only people I've ever met that loved ALL of her family fully, with no judgements. One of my cousins said to me, after the service at the burial site..."There lies a saint" and there's nothing more I could possibly add to that.

Yo, man...a snowman!

It snowed today here! For a few hours, and it even stuck a little bit, depending on where you were in the city. They shut down schools and closed bridges. Then in a few hours it was mostly gone. I passed by this house out in St. Bernard Parish and could not believe my eyes....there was enough snow to make a snowman, here in southern Louisiana. Well, what do you know.

Tomorrow night is the Christmas party at work. It's at a place in the Quarter with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street - with all kinds of amazing food and beads are supplied by the company for the onlookers below. Supposed to be a blast.