I began having serious back problems in February when the market was collapsing and when we were trying to get pregnant across oceans. All of it was enough to stress out the average bear but the drama bear felt it like a double load. I’ve tried everything – regular massage, DINA in Croatia (where he laid me a mat and interlaced his body with mine and begin doing gymnastics with me), drinking more water, a…
Yesterday, Mardi Gras began with Three Kings Day and our first King Cake and two parades. The one I wanted to go to was the Joan of Arc parade in the Quarter. But usually the first parade I go to is Krewe de Vieux, which doesn’t roll till February 7th, when Mardi Gras’s presence will be more pronounced here in New Orleans. When I lived in Puerto Rico, families would put chaffs of wheat and…
The Spanish Custom House was built c. 1784 and is one of the most significant historic buildings in New Orleans. The siblings of the deceased owners have had it for sale forever, but no one bit on the $1.9 million they were asking, and neither on the $1.3 million it got reduced to. I think they would have taken a cool million as things were growing worse in the economy but now, it is with…
There were a lot of people in New Orleans prognosticating that the downturn would not affect us because we were already hit with the one two punch of Katrina Rita and so we were so low, we had no place to go but up. Truth is that I’m hearing too many tales of woe around here – three people thus far lost jobs, one person had to cut back hours, small businesses feeling the sting…
Looks like I’m not the only one enjoying the gulf breeze – this email just came across the neighborhood list serve: Just drove by the Marconi lagoons at Filmore Avenue near the City Park Stables. A 5 to 6 foot alligator taking advantage of the warm weather and high water floating still about 12 yards of the shoreline.
Slept like a dog last night, dreaming of being underwater most of the night. Could be the rain we have been having. Could be that the air is laden with water. A breeze was blowing all morning and you could smell the water in the air. Big puffy clouds ranging from white to black move swiftly overhead and a stark blue sky is behind each one. Our happiness over a baby girl is tinged with…
When Helen Hill was murdered, people put up signs along her street in the Bywater that said ENOUGH. Those signs are back up again as New Orleans started the year with three murders on its first brand new day. As ugly as every one of those murders were, they pale in comparison to 2-year-old Ja’Shawn Powell being killed by his father because he was forced to to pay child support. Yes, Danny Platt was a…
Eleven is a master number in the whole numerology gig, if you follow that stuff. It’s a special number that means neither beginning, endings, closure, or what have you, instead it’s a number of higher power and mystery. T and Me: Today’s a special day for T and me, it’s eleven months since Mardi Gras, and an anniversary we celebrate and cherish. And today we received a fabulous, over the top, spectacular anniversary gift –…
I was lucky enough to find a job that employs some of my better talents – talking and writing. Now I have a baby coming that will challenge my other hidden talent – hair. I used to do all of my dolls’ hair and even my sister’s dolls (much to her chagrin). I cut a few boyfriends’ hair and cut Steve’s hair for years, and actually a hoity toity stylist in San Francisco asked where…
This Monday started with no less of the stress, no less of the too many to do’s, no less of some things not going according to the plan, but what was different about this Monday, was that it started with us looking into a digital ultrasound machine and see an image of our baby girl – first her butt, then her legs, then her arms, then her big head and her long amphibian looking spinal…