happy new year!

i hope it is a great year!

fucking traffic cameras

i got a ticket for running through a yellow light on st. charles and washington. i was caught on film. i'm curious why it is that none of the crime cameras in the city seem to be working but all the traffic ones are a go??? i can apparently shoot someone but not run a damn light.my god, the irony!

viagra

i read in the paper today that our cia operatives are passing out viagra to tribal leaders in afghanistan in return for information on taliban activities. i just don't think i have anything to write. damn, just damn.

violence

i grew up in a sleepy southern town where violence lurked beneath the surface in the form of domestic abuse but rarely leaked out into the streets. here in new orleans, we have both. we have children being shot on christmas night. when i first moved here, i was shocked by the randomness of the city's crime. i was horrified to see people killed in front of my home and now...well, now i am just jaded to it all. yet, as i write this i know that i am in danger of falling prey to the idealization of my childhood in that i never once witnessed a murder or even heard gun shots. still, the violence was there in the dirt caked fists of someone's drunken husband or the ten plus lashes from and angry father's belt. in my home town a drive by shooting would appall the citizens and yet, they tip toed around the presence of the klan, showing up on the weekends at piggly wiggly to give horseback rides to white children. i have seen them burning their cross in the field and so i guess my childhood was no less violent. we were just better at keeping it under wraps. i am 37 now and all my years on this planet have brought me no closer to understanding mankind's propensity for hatred and violence and i guess that is a good thing. it wearies me though and it is easy to slip into a depression post-news but despite the horror stories, it is worth mentioning that most of the world is at peace. most people are not trying to slaughter each other on the streets or in countless battlefields. hope, it is ever eternal.

merry fucking christmas!!

I hope it is a good one!

the myrtles

i went to the myrtles plantation this weekend for a bit of ghostly sleuthing and confess to being somewhat disappointed. the house itself is over two hundred years old and is on the national registry of historic places. it was beautiful. the grounds were lovely but the actual history was quite lacking. our guide made mention of many things that are historically suspect and that was on the straight up history tour. they kind of lost me there. the ghost story is...well it's a ghost story and you can choose to believe or not. i personally was hoping for some intense paranormal activity. we were staying out in the area of the former stables and my friend said that she kept hearing the sound of horses through out the night. i did not hear the horses but i did dream that they were outside the room and maybe that was because i heard them in my sleep and then incorporated them into my dreams. i have no explanation and alas, that was the extent of ghostly goings on. still, the plantation was a lovely experience. the staff was very friendly and there was a peaceful sense of well being there. but what really made the trip was the other guests. there are no televisions and so everyone congregates outside, wandering the darkened grounds in search of activity. we all made friends and went looking in each others' rooms as well as stumbling about in the night, wildly photographing in the hopes of catching something on film. the kinds of people that go there are the ones that watch ghost hunters and seek out haunted places to stay. they were all super friendly and it was nice to set reality aside and really get into the spirit of the place. you may not have a paranormal experience there, but it is worth the drive to st. francisville.

a shining light of freedom

the united nations has proposed a measure that would decriminalize homosexuality. This push comes at a time when more than 70 united nation members outlaw homosexuality, with some even imposing the death penalty. guess who refused to sign?? the united states. that's right, the good old united states of america, that beacon of hope for the oppressed everywhere has refused to support a measure that advocates equality for all. we really are the bastion of freedom. my god, even the vatican supports the measure and we all know how the catholic church feels about homosexuality. i expect the united states is afraid to back this resolution for fear of having their own anti-gay policies held up to the light. our government insist on passing the buck down to the individual states to decide. this allows many states to look the other way when landlords and employers discriminate based on sexual orientation. and yes, it does still happen. then there is the pesky matter of not being able to be open about your sexuality and serve in the military. it should be a matter of national outcry that a person could serve on the front lines in iraq or afghanistan and later be drummed out of the military, loosing all benefits in the process, simply because they are gay. we, as a nation need to revisit what freedom means. you cannot pick and choose those you deem worthy of freedom without eroding the very basic definition of the word. so the united states sits back, spewing our rhetoric and dropping liberty bombs on muslims, all the while men and women are imprisoned or executed for their sexual orientation. let me run right out and buy a flag to wave because i am oh so fucking proud!!

snow in new orleans!!

What a fucking beautiful thing to wake up to in new orleans...Snow!! and lots of it, swirling around and collecting on my banana trees. it was quiet and awe inspiring. i'm in a wonderful mood now, after scampering through the french quarter like i little kid. what we had today was something really special and i for one am off to have a celebratory hot toddy. see ya in the bar!

and i thought it was bad when pat boone sang

i now know that it is far worse when pat boone attempts to write political commentary, in which he compares homosexuals to the mumbai terrorists than it is to listen to him sing. i'm not even sure what to say to that, except, how very sad and pathetic. it must be hard to have passed your heyday of the whitest of white bread crooners, screeching out your swan song as rock and roll slowly and surly eclipsed you. thank god for rock and roll! hey, pat, this asinine rambling mess of political bullshit you spewed out will not resurrect your long dead musical career. christ himself would probably reject raising that corpse from the dead. so pat...dear not so sweet pat...santa isn't going to bring you a number one song this year. he won't be coming to your house at all unless it's to bring you a stocking full of coal. so have a fucking merry christmas you right wing stupid son of a bitch.

time stands still in new orleans

"in the latter half of the 1850's, the attorney general complained about the crime in new orleans, stating that the police force was ineffective, witnesses to crimes were frequently afraid to testify, too many people were exempted from jury service, jurors received no per diem compensation and were called for too many days of service, the recorders' courts failed to keep written records of testimony in preliminary hearings, and the district attorney's office was grossly undermanned and overworked. as a consequence, the criminal justice system was not very effective at catching or prosecuting murder suspects." does that sound familiar?? it was stated that new orleans was possibly the most violent city in the country during the 1850's and so it is again. hmm. you think, that after all this time we might be able to pull this shit together but you would be wrong. damn!

driving home in the rain

once upon a time, my windshield wipers worked. time passed and they quit working. more time passed and they worked again. they stayed working until i drove home from georgia, got onto a long bridge, and the bottom fell out of the sky. no visibility. i almost drove the vehicle off the bridge trying to pull over. it is a dangerous proposition to pull over on a bridge in good weather but really freaking scary to do it in a rainstorm. needless to say, it was a long drive home with hazards a glowing. well, one hazard light that is, since the other light is out. that light went out about the time my air condition quit working and the rear view mirror fell off. the front bumper fell off too. the back bumper is smashed in and there is a leak somewhere so that when it rains, water gets in and the whole interior mildews. hmm. hmm. hmmm again. dramatic pause followed by agitated shaking of my head.