Protest

Back in the 60's when I was in my late teens and early twenties there were all kinds of protest about all kinds of things. We protest Vietnam, why we couldn't have legal pot etc. I haven't been involved in a protest since then until now. A group called Murdered Gulf sponsored a protest against BP in New Orleans in Jackson Square. The group says they are a small group of New Orleanians who are pissed off about the spill. They had a good protest, a good size crowd and it was well planned and attended by a cross-section of protesters. The only problem I had with it was that I don't think enough people knew about it. Also the national press didn't give it any attention although the local stations did. Looking back on the all the 60's protests I'm not sure what good they did. Oh, the photos of those protest are used to show anger and discontent but what did we accomplish? I'm not sure protesting against BP will make any difference either, but it sure as hell feels good!

Oil

According to officials the oil spill is getting near MS. This comes from noaa the agency that I have found to be extremely conservative in their predictions of oil coming ashore. I don't think many people here on the coast are ready for it to happen. It seems that most, including the news and TV folks are sort of living in a denial mentality. If they don't think it, it won't happen. Most everyone here is concerned with tourism. I can understand that and I understand that the fishing, shrimp, and oyster fisherman and industry are in great peril. I think that this spill is going to destroy the economy of the Ms, Gulf coast in a way that no hurricane, including Katrina has. Following a hurricane, clean up starts, rebuilding gets going and people are able to get their lives in some kind of order although it takes years to do so. And the people of the Ms. Gulf Coast are remarkable in their ability to persevere and to come back, although the Coast has not returned as swiftly following Katrina as it did after Camille. I'm not sure the Coast will be able to do that with the oil. It's going to destroy the Gulf and it's creatures like nothing ever has. The group from Alaska that came to Louisiana tried to tell the people that it takes years, sometimes a lifetime and then things are never 'normal' again. That is a hard fact to wrap one's mind around. It's depressing, scary and sad. It is such a huge impending disaster that we sometimes do better to ignore it until we have to accept it.

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DESERTED SIX FLAGS NEW ORLEANS

Rio and the baby Duck

Yesterday one of the many little ducks that live at the apartment got under the net wire fence that we have around the bottom of the patio to keep the dogs in. Rio went out and came face to face with the little fuzzy critter. It scared both of them. The little duck was tweeting for his mother to HELP! And Rio looked at me like WHAT??? He always runs up to the fence after any of the ducks in what is a show of his male badness, but when faced with a real live duck he had not clue. He has a lot of toy ducks and loves them but this THING was live and running around. IN the meantime the mother duck was trying to peck him through the wire. It was a wild five minutes until I caught the little duck and returned him to his mother. When that was done, Rio turned and came in with the look of a watch dog who had done his duty on this face.

Charlie

We have a HUGE salamander that invades the patio each day. Charlie, the 'winnie' dog wants to kill and knowing Charlie eat it. He stalks the thing each morning until the sun is scorching his black butt and he is forced inside to seek a/c. The last experience I had with a 'winnie' dog and a salamander was when Stretch ate one on the patio. I call our vet P. Larkin and he said give him a cap full of hydrogen peroxide until he threw up. You would be surprised how much fun that was, plus a lot of foaming at the mouth, spitting etc. But it worked. So I'm ready for Charlie when he eats this critter. And knowing Charlie, he will eat it!

"Sheeeeen"

I heard on the radio today that Halley Barbour is thinking of running for president. I have no idea if this is true of not. However, it is interesting. When Haley first ran for governor I didn't vote for him. I didn't vote for him because of that good ole boy accent that he can use at will. His voice just killed me!!!!! Then there was Katrina and Haley did a good job of handling that crisis and he looked downright sharp compared to Blanco from Louisiana. So I kinda got to like old Halley a bit more. Then he fought the cigarette tax to the bitter end and I liked him a LOT more. Now we have the oil spill mess looming and I've been watching Haley and his handling of it. A few suggestion; stop listening to Gene Taylor when he describes the oil spill as looking like chocolate milk (learn some intelligent sounding descriptive words) and stop saying the word SHEEN! When he says 'sheeeen' with that good ole boy drawl I just can't see him as president. Maybe a voice coach to work on the accent? In answer to the question. . . .would I vote for Haley Barbour for President? Hell, yeah! I'd vote for a turnip to replace Obama.

Tweeting

I have learned to Tweet. Yeah, I actually figured it all out on my own; how to download it, how to use it and how to seek out tweets from others that I am interested in. I'm sort of proud of that because I'm sixty two and did not grow up with computers, cell phones, instant messager, e-mails, texting or twitter. However, I read a recent article that senior citizens were taking to all of the above like ducks to water. I like that. Shows we are not brain dead anyway. The main problem that I have with all of it is the subject matter. There is a BIG difference in what is important to the various age groups which is sometimes annoying at best. But all In all I'm proud that I learned to tweet. As you get older you tend to take thee things a personal challenge.

Mothers Day

I had a great Mothers Day. It started on Friday night with dinner at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi and a bit of gambling. Saturday was a long slow day spent at home with my daughter. I got some nice gifts, a Fossil purse in these great spring colors, a bracelet which as tiny symbols of all the things I like inside the heart shaped charm, and a vase of live flowers. Sunday for lunch my daughter took me to eat Mexican. The restaurant gave each woman there a live rose. I thought that was a nice gesture. A mother couldn't have asked for a better day. AH, make that a better weekend.

Grease

Everyone is waiting to hear if the containment of the oil spill works this morning. We are all hoping that it does. I am hoping that it does work for the obvious reason; to stop crude pouring into the Gulf, but for other reasons too. If we expect BP to take care of us we are as foolish as the people in New Orleans who waited for the Feds to take care of them following Katrina. BP is already ignoring the citizens who live here who have volunteered to do clean up work. Over ten thousand have volunteered and yet BP refused to even accept the list of names. In the past week workers in orange vest and hard hats (??) have seen seen picking up debris on the beach before the oil arrives (if it does). When reporters tried to talk to these men they responded that BP told them not to talk. The reporter stuck with them and found that they were from Texas, Illinois, and other areas and hired by BP. The oil company has already said it is contracting out a company to clean oily birds. Why not hire the people here who need and want to help to do this job? At recent town meeting BP offered 'training secessions' for volunteers. These turned out to be simple safety lessons on what to wear (gloves) etc. when picking up trash on the beach. Now let me see. Many of the people who volunteered are lifetime residents of the area. Do they really need this information from BP? That training was a simple way of shutting up the volunteers and it was insulting and patronizing. So if the Coast thinks BP has their best interest at heart they need to check out the Alaskan spill and see how that worked out and how swiftly BP paid claims. (They were still dribbling money to the area in 2009.) If you believed BP you can believe the governor who says the Feds will do right by us if the oil reaches us. While you're at you might as well grab some crude and grease up, bend over and grab your ankles, cause here it comes!

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GHOST ON THE TRACKS!

I Sometimes Hate Facebook

Ah, Facebook. How I hate you!! I didn't get into Facebook for a long time because I had nothing that I thought was worthy of writing for a few disinterested people to read. I still think that. And yeah, I realize that this blog is probably boring as Aunt Bertha at a family reunion, but here the thing . . you don't HAVE to read it to try to find something interesting. IF you don't go to a blog you don't read it cause it's not stuck in your face (thus the name Facebook???). On Facebook you have to sort through the bullshit to find the post you want to check out. However, it amazes me how many people think that everyone is interested in every detail of their day. If they fart it is on Facebook! Facebook has everything from how smart their kids are, to how their religious beliefs are functioning, to how much they LONG to be on Facebook 24/7. There is little depth tom any of the posts. Perhaps it's a sign of my old age that I just can't get past being somewhat bored with how many hearts you have collected or what stray animal you found or how many sunflowers you fertilized on Farmville. Of all the games that are available that one is the most boring. Why inflict it on the rest of us? You don't have to post every single time you find an egg do you?? I don't give a shit! I DO enjoy reading about something that friends and family had done, or heard or seen. IF used that way Facebook is a great way to stay in touch. And that is why I still go to Facebook. I recently found a high school classmate that I had not heard from in 40 years. She and I have reviewed past history, caught up on our families and rebuilt a friendship. But we did it with messages to each other and did not inflict it on all the readers. That is what it's all about. But most of Facebook has the depth of one inch of muddy water and a lot of rotten Farmville duck eggs rolling around in a Sunflower patch. Try Twitter. It's shorter, faster and to the point.

A Good Character is Fun To Write

I started writing a short story to take a break from writing on The Legend of Story Cazaunoux. I wrote the first short story about a character named Kane, a 17 year old street kid in New Orleans. (New Orleans is a major source of settings and plots.) It may not be worth a shit, but it was fun to write and came very easily. I like characters like Kane. A protagonists has to be liked by the reader and they have to be 'human' unless you want a really boring character. So I made Kane a pickpocket and a very good one. I decided to let him be a guy who could also pick just about any lock, carry a knife and be willing to use it if he needs to, and be a street magician. But he also needed some internal conflict. Well, being a street kid made that easy. Why was he on the street? Who does he like? Who does he fear most? Does he trust people? How does he like on the street? I think a good story needs physical conflict and internal conflict so Kane is a good character to have plenty of both. After I finished the first story (Kane 1) I had an idea for a second (Kane 2) and in that one I introduced a couple of new characters. So Kane now had a network of acquaintance's, friends, antagonists (bad cops?) and others. All was good. And then I saw this picture.

It a photo taken of the back wall of St. Louis Cathedral. And instantly I had the ENDING for a third story. Having the ending means I had the last 200 or so words WRITTEN in my head. So I had to write a story to led up to the ending. It was pretty easy. I love to write stories or books that take a bit of history and make my character fit into the mix. It is easy writing and fun. So I wrote the third story (Kane 3) and it's my favorite so far. Just one problem; this is turning into a book length process. So I may make Kane a book. Even if it is never published it's a good story and I can share with anyone who wants to read it. (It you want to read the stories let me know I'll send you a copy.) I am going to start on Kane 4 this am. He had turned into a really good character and like all of them he has taken off on his own path and I'm just along to record his journey.

Oil On The Water

Politics on the coast is truly amazing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that fact since this place did host the Dixie Mafia, has a history of past dirty politics and as recently as last year had the May of Gulfport charged with fraud for accepting Katrina money. They will do anything to try to prompt tourism, including hiding their heads in the sand or up their butts. Since the oil rig explosion in the Gulf experts have been saying get ready for an oil spill or for the very real possibility of one. The pipes under the collapsed rig has two leaks. It's dumping oil in the water. BP despite talking a big game is doing virtually nothing. At last report they had two ships out there and are talking about drilling another well to divert the oil. That will take months. Meanwhile there is a spill that seen from the air goes as far as the eye can see. Accu Weather says that it will be near shore by late in the week, and that the area to be affected will reach from Pensacola to South Louisiana. AP reported that the spill is comparable to the 1979 disastrous spill. But the Director of the Sand Beach Authority said yesterday the he didn't think we would be affected. The coast seems to believe their officials. I realize that there is not a lot anyone can do here to prevent this from happening, but at least don't appear so ignorant. At least acknowledge that the giant oily mess is bearing down on us and the sea creatures and birds who live in the waters. At least pull your head out of you butt and stop worrying about the golf tournament that is starting here on Fri. It should stard just in time to greet the oil on the beach. Bet the national media notices.

me and weather

I am starting to see some similarities between myself and the weather here. I woke up at five this morning and the sun was on the horizon, the sky clear and it looked like a nice day was coming. I stayed awake about an hour, feeling pretty good and then dozed back off. I woke up at eight and felt like a big truck hit me and it was raining outside. Every day is like that. You never know what's coming. Each day can bring a new ailment or reactivate an old one. But I guess that's the price for being around a long time and it's better to be here to complain that not.

New Ant and Grasshopper

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building hishouse and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances andplays the summer away..
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION
The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances andplays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference anddemands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fedwhile he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of theshivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortablehome with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poorgrasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybodycries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
Acorn stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where thenews stations film the group singing,'We shall overcome.' Rev.Jeremiah Wright then has the group kneel down to pray to God for thegrasshopper's sake.
President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, PresidentReagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper'splight.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King thatthe ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both callfor an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Actretroactive to the beginning of the summer.
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of greenbugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his homeis confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friendsfinishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the governmenthouse he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's oldhouse, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintainit.
The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again..
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and thehouse, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang ofspiders who terrorizethe ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood.
The entire Nation collapses bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2010.

Rio (the thief)

Instead of hunting Easter eggs, Rio was looking for Milkbones...

After eating all the milkbones he took some time to relax...

TO THINK THE PEOPLE WHO WROTE THIS VOTE AND MAY HAVE REPRODUCED!!!

OLD

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today.The people who are starting college this fall were born in 1991.They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.Their lifetime has always included AIDS.The CD was introduced two years before they were born.They have always had an answering machine.They have always had cable.Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show. (until recently)Popcorn has always been micro waved.They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.They never heard: 'Where's the Beef?', 'I'd walk a mile for a Camel ', or 'de plane Boss, de plane'. McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter
P.S. Save the earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.

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URSULINE CONVENT

New Orleans

Vampires in the Attic?

Stress Relief

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.
2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.
3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.
4. No one knows your secret place.
5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.
6. The soothing sound of a gentle water fall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.
7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of Nancy Pelosi, the person you are holding underwater.
There!! See? It really does work