Stuff - If I ever win the lotto ....

I recently attended a lecture at DWR, to explain these concepts behind these rugs.

The top one is called Manuscrit, designed by Joaquim Ruiz Millet. The writing on the rug is in his handwriting, and is a portion of a novel that he is still writing. How cool.

If you had the chance to design a rug like this, what would you say?

Mine would be:

Don't ask; don't get.
Ask and you might get!

Stuff - A 'Kane Confession

I have a confession, and I don't feel like going the the priest: I HAVE ONLY SEEN ABOUT 30 MINUTES WORTH OF THE LEVEE BREECH DISASTER AND ROOFTOP RESCUES FROM THE 'KANE!

After Katrina made landfall, and we lost electricity, I spent most of the day reading. I turned my battery powered TV, and the only station that I could get had lost satellite feed and reported some flooding, which was expected.

I logged on to my computer about twice, and I think I emailed to BookGirl, to let her know that I was OK, and to let everyone else know that I was fine. (I gave her the email addresses of my e-friends.)

I had no idea that the levees broke. I didn't see the footage that the rest of the nation did, because I had no electricity and neither did the station that I could pick up.

The house that I lived in did not suffer any significant damage. It shook but didn't fall down. We left on August 30th, after we heard a rumor of the breach.

I fared better than most people.

• I spent my two month exile in two homes (comfortable but cramped, but I could take showers.)
• I lost my job, but I got a another interesting one.
• I had to bury a friend, who drowned as a result of the London Canal breaches. She now rests in peace in her little crypt, as she wished.
• I got some FEMA money, but now they want it back, but I am appealing. I love FREE SPEECH.
• My car didn't burn up in the Saks 5th Avenue fire. It was parked just one section away from the store, in the parking lot.
• The most vile thing that happened to me was that we had to empty out the refrigerator, after the food had been sitting there for two months. The smell, the mold, the yuck.
• Afterwards, some nice Oklahoma National Guardsmen pushed it outside, after I waved them down and told them that my father was a Korean War Vet.
• I started a book club!
  

I was able to return to New Orleans in October 2005. My main concerns in those days was to find something easy to read, going for food and ice runs until a new refrigerator from Texas arrived, avoiding gnats up my nose (from all the tossed refrigerators in the street), and finding where my friends were.

I miss the cooperation and friendliness of everyone in those days of late 2005 and early 2006, despite the smell and trash piled outside all homes.

Two years on, it's still a struggle. Living expenses are higher, more and more people are moving out of state, the thugs are moving back home and increasing the murder rate.

Repairs are taking longer than expected.

However, I do see signs of hope. New people, who have never lived here, are coming in and bringing new ideas. Different small businesses are starting. The book club that I started is getting more members. Most of the indie bookstores are still here.

MY GOAL TO HELP NEW ORLEANS: To make NOLA an official booktown of something. I went to Wigtown, Scotland and saw how the economy there has improved since it was declared a booktown. Most of the indie bookstores didn't flood. Many hotels are still around. Both of these factors don't need to be built up, like in Wigtown; they already exist.

I will try a couple of more times to talk to someone at the Visitor's and Convention Bureau. If that doesn't help, then I will try to contact the Lt. Governor; he is in charge of the cultural economy of Louisiana.

If you have any ideas, let me know!

And, my thoughts go out to the people in the Midwest who got ERINNED with flood waters. I hope that your recovery takes less time than here in NOLA.

P.S. Maybe I will watch some more of what happened to my city on 8/29/2005 on Discovery Channel and such stations. I think that I am mentally ready for it now.

Books - Southern Reading Challenge 2007 - COMPLETED

Congratulations to me! I have completed the Southern Reading Challenge 2007 before the deadline. However, I just read books about New Orleans, because these days, I am sad about the direction that the city is taking, and I wished to read about the old days (notice that I didn't say that they were good.)


A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole tells the story of a lazy and nasty young man who still lives with his mother, many years after he graduated from college. He drinks Dr. Nut soft drinks all the time, writes (in his mind) the next BEST ouevre of the planet in his Big Chef notebooks, and plays medival instruments.

He goes to work, because of financial difficulties and manages to get fired from all his jobs and causes general mayhem where ever he goes.

Most of the novel takes place in parts of the city that didn't flood during the 'Kane, so you can still see some of the landmarks.

• Prytania Theater - still a one screen movie house, but now the balcony is open.
• D. H. Holmes - it's now a hotel. Before the 'Kane, the hotel got back the clock from the previous owner and erected a bronze statue of Ignatius on Canal Street. The statue hasn't returned. I will look for the clock the next time that I drive there.
• Tulane University - Most of the campus flooded. It reopened in 2006; however, Newcomb College was closed, and many majors have been discontinued.
• Levy Pants Factory - I don't have an idea of what building the author was referring to, but if it was close to the Mississippi River and far from the Industrial Canal, it should have survived the 'Kane levee breaches.
• Mr. Levy's home on the beach - probably blown off its foundation by the 'Kane. Most homes on the Gulf Coast in the Gulfport/Biloxi area are not there today.
• Hot Dogs - The real name is Lucky Dogs, and yesterday I saw them leave for their rounds at 5:00 p.m. Ignatius went earlier in the day, but maybe things have changed?
• Carrollton / Riverbend area - Jones' hangout. The area is fine, but the dinky bars are gone. There are more upscale bars now.
• Bourbon St - It's still there; however, there are fewer strip joints and more t-shirt shops, so the quality of stores hasn't improved too much, I suppose.
• Santa and other ladies who talk like her - Getting rarer as time passes on. Many white people left New Orleans in the 1970s to live in the suburbs. The ones who stayed are getting old and dying off. I am hearing less and less of this dialect.
• Affordable housing/living - A thing of the past. 80% of the housing stock was damaged almost two years ago, so housing costs have gone up. The tax assessments and insurance and utilities are making this an expensive city to live.

Ignatius tries to get away with as much stuff as possible to do as little as possible. He is selfish for not realizing that life doesn't revolve around him.

There are many parts that are funny. I don't know whether you have to have lived here to get the humor. Some of my friends don't get some of the sections, even though they have a great regard for New Orleans.

My third selection for the Southern Challenge is Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? It's a compilation of short stories/articles/emails about the city. The first part of the book are thoughts right before and right after the 'Kane. The second part of this book are about memories of the writers, of places that don't exist anymore and of customs that may die out if too many people move away.

Illustrating the books are 19th century pencil drawings of the city. If you are not a native, there is a great map in which part of the city a particular story takes place; it helps you to understand the geography. Despite being such a small city, each neighborhood is different from one just two miles away!

There are quotations spread out throughout the book about what New Orleans means to various famous people, both dead and alive. And, one article has many yummy recipies!

A small ribbon that is glued to the spine and acts as a bookmark adds a certain elegance to the book.

With such a change in the city and range of emotions in each story, the format is excellent. You can read a little bit, think about it, and go on to the next story without being overwhelmed.

Stuff - Creativity slowly returning

Besides thinking about moving, surgeries, and hurricanes, my gnat mind has finally expanded a bit, and I can concentrate of more things.

Above is a mural at Fair Grinds, a coffeehouse near the Fair Grounds horse racing place in New Orleans. It's the current home of one of the knitting groups in the city, which meets on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

I hadn't attended in about a month; it was nice to see the knitters and to make progress on my shrug.

I am also close to finishing my books for the Southern Reading Challenge, although I am reading books that I didn't originally intend to read. (Maggie, please throw some pecans to punish me!)

I also crocheted the first pair of booties that I have ever done! Aren't they cute? Isn't Lala cute? They are not perfect, of course, but the baby won't know the difference. And the new mom will be so tired, that she won't notice either.

The yarns are washable cottons from Knitpicks (sky and silver sage).

It's still hot here, so it's challenging to even move some days, but I keep on trucking!

Books - Evacuation Reads

I had some credit at McKeown's so I decided to cash them in and select books to read for any possible evacuations from hurricanes.

The common themes of the books is that I have read other books by the author or I have read the theme before.

These books are in the trunk of my car, ready to go with me.

Counterclockwise, starting from the bottom left:
South of the Border, West of the Sun - Haruki Murakami (one of my fav authors)
This Cold Heaven - Seven Seasons in Greenland - Gretel Ehrlich (I love to read about cold places in the summer and I have read Ehrlich's work before.)
Still Life - A. S. Byatt (I read Possession! I didn't realize it was part of a trilogy; yikes.)
An African in Greenland - Tete-Michel Kpomassie (another cold book)
Silk - Alessandro Baricco (I've been watching History Channel shows about the Silk Trade)

A personal favor: please keep in your prayers or thoughts anyone who has been affected or will be affected by the storms Erin or Dean or the Earthquake in Peru'. It is all sad.

Stuff - I am in the local newspaper

In the travel section of the Times-Picayune, readers can send in their travel pictures, provided that you are holding up the travel section.

I got mine taken at Wigtown, Scotland!

Two young teens were hanging out at town square and public library. I asked one of them to take my picture. The photographer was great! I lovvved their accents; just what you expect to hear from the Scottish.

I sent the picture two weeks ago, but I didn't expect it to be published so soon.

I didn't tell anyone at work about it. One of my co-workers saw it, clipped it out, showed it to one of the bosses, who was showing it around. Luckily, I work on the 3rd floor, and all the showing off was taking place on the 5th floor, so I wasn't there to be embarrassed.

Stuff - Things are stabilizing a bit

Well, the week isn't over yet, but things are getting better.

If I ignore the record temperatures, the crime rate, the latest politician caught in a federal crime net(I am sad about this), the disturbances in the Caribbean Sea, then it's not too bad.

We found a place to live that didn't get flooded. A generous relative is letting us live there.

I was approved to work extra time, so that when I have my operation, I don't docked pay.

I found a nearby (although pricey) parking lot near my work. I can park there after my operation, until I can walk to my regular lot.

People have told to my boss about the nice job that I am doing! It's nice to be appreciated, although I am nice to everyone.

I am able to concentrate on my fav Tuesday show, MI5. I am hoping to be able to concentrate on my reading soon!

Keep cool!

Stuff - Little Joys

This week has not been the easiest, but thanks to all my friends, I am surviving.

(I've actually had worse weeks, but it's been awhile, so I am out of practice on how to deal with the changing situations.)

So, this is what I am happy about:

• I am now posting at Summer Haiku 2007. It's hard for me to be pithy, but I try.
• I finished one of my books, so now I am juggling only three books, instead of four.
• I have selected one book to give to myself for my birthday, so I will have something to read during my recovery: A Convergence of Birds: Original Fiction and Poetry Inspired by the Works of Joseph Cornell - Jonathan Safran Foer (editor). (Cornell is one of my artistic heroes. I like the way that Foer writes also.)
  
• I am also looking through Hesperus Press to make a couple of selections.
• My niece and nephew are coming into town. Maybe I can read some of the Confederacy of Dunces to them. My niece got upset when she found out that I was ahead of her, even though I started reading after her mom began reading to her. I told her that reading out loud takes a longer time and that I had read the book before, so I tend to know and read it faster.
• I am making progress in my shrug. Summer lasts here until October, so I will still be using it a few months from now.

Tell me what is cheering you up! Have a good weekend!

Stuff - too much stuff

I haven't been around, because:

• The home that I rent is being sold. I have to find a new place to live. It will be difficult in a city where 80% of the homes were flooded. So, it will be interesting.
  
• I have a (probably benign) growth on the arch of my left foot. The ligament is too thick and has formed into a little ball.

• The surgery lasts only 3o minutes, but I have to stay home for a week, so that the incision really closes well. I have only 3 days of sick leave. I will have to work a little more every day so I will have enough comp time and not have unpaid leave deducted from my salary.
  
• I need to schedule the operation when no one is on vacation. There is a severe labor shortage in New Orleans, so I don't want everyone to be overworked.
• Someone in my office thinks that I am going to be having fun. She already thinks that I took too much time off for my UK vacation. She needs to be grateful that I haven't tattled on her for taking too long for lunch and for taking 30 minutes to eat breakfast when she should be working.
• So, in addition to the heat and the gnat concentration that I have been experiencing lately, I am juggling four books at a time. I just can't keep my interest in one book for now.
• The positive thing about these obstacles is when I have the week off, I hope that I can read a little bit.
• The operation will happen just after my birthday, so I will give myself a nice present. I have a few books that I want to order, so I will decide soon! I love deciding.
• As my mother always says, "El u'nico problema que no se puede resolver es la muerte." The only problem that cannot be overcome is death.
  

Stuff - Reading Magazines

It has been raining a lot in New Orleans. I am grateful for that; the rains and overcast skies keep the temperatures cooler (85F for the afternoon is good for this part of the world.) Also, the cooler the Gulf of Mexico is, the better the chances of any tropical depression of not forming into a hurricane.

However, the darker world is sapping me of my energy a little bit.

I have a book group selection that I haven't even started. (Bad Girl!) I am slowly reading the interesting An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum 1941-43. To cheer me up, I am reading bits and pieces of A Confederacy of Dunces.

But, I am more in the mood for magazines. The articles are short enough to hold my gnat-like attention span.

Here is a list of all the magazines that I read.

Oldies but goodies: Reading since high school or even earlier

• Reader's Digest - a good general overview.
• Smithsonian - more general knowledge. Wonderful photography.
  
• Ladies' Home Journal - I skip the mommy stuff and go straight for the soapy "How Can this Marriage be Saved?" Even though I am not married, the advice is useful for other relationships. My mother reads it first and then passes it to me.
  
• Enquirer and similar tabloids - I read them while shopping at the grocery store. I prop it up against the handrail and walk slowly. I usually put it back. I buy one copy/year.
  

Newer ones:

• WLT - World Literature Today, published by the University of Oklahoma. A great overview of all genres of international fiction
• The Economist - I need to get news from other parts of the world, without overwhelming me. This magazine brings me great summaries of trends and events from all over the world.
• Simply Knitting - I picked up a copy when I was on vacation in the UK. A friend recently went to the suburbs to get me another copy; it's pricey, so this will be a once-in-awhile treat.
• AARP - My mother gives me this when I finish. I don't read all the articles, but some are useful for people of all ages
• IDEA - I teach an exercise class called Nia. This magazine is published by the company that insures me when I teach. It gives a lot of ideas for teaching and business practices.
• Real Simple - Another magazine that my mother passes to me. The magazine is not as simple as it used to be. It's getting to be a pain to read it, because it's getting bigger and bigger with each new issue. However, some of the pictures are truly lovely.
  

The occasional buy: These are magazines that I pick up every 3 or 4 months, when I go to the suburbs:

• Craft
• Oxford American - Southern Writing
• Cloth Paper Scissors
• Mental Floss

What magazines do you read and why?

Book Review - After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

I am a Murakami fan. I will read anything that he writes; so if I gush a lot, I hope that you understand.

While going through one of my sad moods about the state of city of New Orleans and the nearby suburb of Chalmette, I decided to order this book. It was written about the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Murakami moved back there after the earthquake. I was hoping to read about how other people coped with a disaster and the recovery.

Well, the stories are not about that topic, but how the earthquake affected people in other parts of Japan.

In UFO in Kushiro, the wife of mild-mannered Komura leaves him after watching non-stop TV coverage of the disaster. She writes in her note: The problem is that you never give me anything...Or, to put it more precisely,you have nothing inside you can give me. You are good and kind and handsome, but living with you is like living with a chunk of air. It is not entirely your fault, though. There are lots of women who will fall in love with you.

That was very cold; I wouldn't like to be compared to air. I guess that she saw her life with Komura as vapid and decided it wasn't worth it. Take a chance for happiness somewhere else, before it's too late.

The theme of finding happiness, the meaning of one's life, and forgiveness are covered in other stories. Simple events and words shape the outlook of all the characters as they examine their lives.

The stories are short; the language is moving. You will also question what your purpose in life is.

I read this book twice, and I still don't feel that I have captured all the meanings.

I didn't get the perspective that I wanted, but I do feel that it was and is deserving of my attention.