Mom called to tell me that the lab tests were incorrect. That a vitamin she takes makes it seem like she has drugs and alcohol in her blood stream but its a false positive. I told her if that is what she wants to believe, that was fine with me. Then she hung up and I haven’t heard from her since.
On Thursday night we went to Ralph’s but again were struck by the weird crowd that hangs out there so we drove to Ye Old College Inn and found a different scene. We ran into a friend who had old photographs in a file – Walgreens on Canal Street, he and his sons feet in the same brown and white oxfords, pictures of a horse. He wanted us to have lunch with him the next day and so we made a date to see him later. His pearl of wisdom for the evening was to never focus on one thing for happiness because it would surely disappoint you.
I was telling a friend about Annie and she couldn’t believe it. Annie was our hot water heater that was in our kitchen on Louisiana Avenue. My mom painted a face with big eyes and a sweet smile at the top and tied a frilly while apron around the middle and called her Annie. Sometimes, my mom would run out for errands and leave my sister and I home alone with Annie to watch us.
C was walking by the other morning as I was watering Jerri’s plants. We chatted for a while and he said that from his perspective the city was 100% better than it had been when he arrived six months ago. I thought he had been here two years – which shows you my perspective. It was six months ago that he moved in across the hall from me at the Can – the Can? – my mind can’t fathom that I lived there. I wake up in this beautiful house every morning and the first thing that greets me is the Bean and then the Bayou. Am I lucky – hell yeah – what a life, huh? AND it’s getting better all the time.
Well summer begins on June 21st doesn’t it? And the 20th marked the last of the Wednesday in the Square free concerts. Why they would close with Bag of Donuts when they had to rain cancel two fabulous bands is beyond me, but hey, whatyagonnado? There was a good crowd out there and we headed over to Emeril’s after for a cocktail and then to Del Forno to celebrate their grand opening. La Vita will miss Fatma now that she will be overseeing this restaurant. We ran into Moosey and his brother and son who were just leaving but decided to stay when they saw us. B&K were there eating at the bar and Y came by to say hi and next thing you know J came in with a giant painting and said that she was on her way to Holland because her brother in law – 52 – just passed because of cancer – very sad.
I don’t think that Del Forno will capture what La Vita gave us – a great sense of rejuvenation and spirit that we all needed after Katrina. But I’m sure they will be successful there.
In an effort to tell the world about New Orleans I bought a CVS disposable video camera and set about asking friends over a period of a week why they love New Orleans and also just observing conversations. I posted the video to YouTube – you can see it here:
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Compilation
When I drove to Atlanta for my nephew’s wedding (that’s him up on the chair) I went to IKEA to get bookshelves for my office. Do you know what? I barely had anything to put on it – my office is rapidly becoming a paperless, bookless, shelfless office because most of my life resides around the computer and the internet and my company’s portal that I seem to have to go into way more than I want to. Dictionary – online. Encyclopedia – online. The last report I did on this subject – in the portal. It’s nutty huh? How did we morph so quickly from in 1995 I had just opened my first AOL email account and didn’t own a cell phone to what I just described? Better yet, how does this reconcile with still practicing incredibly archaic traditions like my Sepharadic family still picking up its own on flimsy chairs in reception halls for bar mitzvahs and weddings?
Or rather Craig’s List. My colleague saw my plea for someone who knows Word Press and asked a friend of hers for help. Turns out she had a different version and I needed to upgrade. So I put a free ad on Craig’s List and within days had several responses. But one person stood out to me and she ended up being just what I needed at a very reasonable fee. She’s bright, easy going, and knows her stuff. So I’ll recommend her to you if you are looking for help with your website or blog or WordPress.
I was talking to T about the possibility of having to evacuate and he said he stayed during Katrina. He said no one is alive because of it but he was helpful and resourceful during that time. Yet he doesn’t know now if he would stay because of P – if the authorities came a knocking with guns and made you leave but you couldn’t take your dog – like they told some people – then whatyagonnado? I told him I would strap Arlene to my chest and they would have to gun us both down because I would not leave without her.
Then we talked about having a weapon. Seems like if you were going to stay, you might need a gun. I said, I don’t know how I feel about that – I’ve always been inclined to think that I don’t want to have anyone’s blood on my hand. The Hindus believe if you take another person’s life you end up with his or her sins. I’ve got enough sins, thank you very much. So I don’t want someone else’s.
T said yeah he is inclined to believe that introducing a gun is forcing you to someday have to use it. In drama that is how it works – don’t put a gun on the table unless someone is going to shoot it, otherwise everyone is just scratching their head in the audience trying to figure out why the gun is there.
I was telling my friend Ernie a while back that not having Steve around has been a challenge in the IT department. He was so versed in anything computer-ese that I took for granted that whatever went wrong – system crash, constructing a website, email disappears – that he could figure it out and fix it. And he did. Then suddenly, I was responsible for my own IT – I subscribe to the theory that only know what you need to know and the rest is in books or some experts’ head.
Today’s wives are no longer requiring honey do’s the likes of carrying out the trash – women now lift weights and can carry out their own trash – wives need IT paramours – that’s really what we are looking for. Hell, what’s a wife today anyway? – who needs a cook, housekeeper, counselor, scheduler, laundress, mother, sister, playmate, escort, gardener, social director, chauffer, companion?
God, I think I do!