I was reading about a centenarian once who said that what she was most grateful for in her life was indoor plumbing. I remember when I was a toddler going to the outhouse at my grandmother’s before there was indoor plumbing there. And I have especially fond memories of her bathing us in the big aluminum pot in the kitchen. So the other morning when the water went out for the third time this month,…
Cree – who designed and made my hat for my 50th birthday extravaganza and Mardi Gras costume – has a tee shirt that says “God I wish I were a nutria.”
On Monday, when the conference that I’m attending here in New Orleans opened – Rita Benson LeBlanc was the keynote speaker. Rita is the owner of the New Orleans Saints (thankfully she waited till the end of her presentation to play a video, which is a clip from a documentary about the Saints in the last five years – it started with the levee failure and segued into the re-opening of the dome on Monday…
When I saw the parents around me giving out Ritalin by the handful on school diagnosis of ADD and ADHD, my whole body screamed, just say no. When all of my friends were prescribed anti-depressants by their doctors because they were going through challenges, I wanted to scream, just say no. When doctors were prescribing me hormone replacement therapy in all sorts of different dosages, I took it but wanted to scream just say no…
Last night an octogenarian said that Tin is beautiful. I said thanks, I know. She said no he is really beautiful. And I said well we hope to teach him what my mother taught me – Beauty is as Beauty does. She said, well it does matter. Anytime a black woman sees him the first thing she says is, “Hey handsome,” and he just smiles back, opening his moist brown eyes – he’s already, as…
Last night, we went to Bacchanal to celebrate Jim Singleton’s 55th birthday and we all dressed up in 1955 attire – or so we thought. I had read that India and Asia had a huge influence on fashion design during this period so Tin wore his Indian outfit that Alice’s daughter brought back for him and we dressed in our own hodge podge glamour, debonair way. But before we left Tin wanted to play the…
Sundays are purely intended to be lounging for the Lord days around the LaLa – despite the two hour interlude for acrobatic yoga, most of the day is spent in repose as it should be – these are how Sundays look like around here, dining al fresco on the porch, dogs lying doggo on the floor, cats lying in a sunbeam, friends stopping by for a chat: Mondays look more like this: columns need refinishing,…
On the road to discovering how truly cliche you could possibly be, please refer to every inch of my blog. I’ve had a mid life crisis (marital affair), I’ve had spiritual redemption (post Katrina), I’ve changed teams (now lesbian), I’ve adopted a black child (before Sandra Bullock), I’ve been obsessed my whole life with nutrition (read: any Michael Pollan), I left the world of conservation to work in the world of Wall Street only to…
My mouse died on me when I got back from Orlando and stretching across the desk to hit the track pad on my laptop and still keep my eye on the external monitor that is in front of me is excruciating to my already unresolved back and shoulder issues, so I’ve been not so thrilled about sitting in front of my computer. So today, was about a computer-less day. We went to the park and…
I realize this low grade anxiety about my financial future is not just my own – it’s a sign of the times. I was reading the NYT about several of the Tea Party initiatives and also about that person who I will not name’s call to “Reload” and I don’t want to get stuck on the obvious – that members of the Tea Party are shallow reductivists or that great things don’t come from challenging…