So Phil and I went to Catholic mass yesterday morning at a church called St. Augustins. When I was at work on Friday a woman who does some work for the Fair Housing Action Center came in and we got to talking and I mentioned that I'd just moved here, and she told me I should come to her church because the Blind Boys of Alabama (a gospel group) were going to be singing on Sunday, and that the service would be followed by a second line.
Second lines happen at funerals, weddings, and just celebratory occasions like church services. They are a distinctly New Orleans thing. Imagine this: The Treme brass band, followed by about a hundred people, all dancing with their umbrellas (because it was raining) down the street to Armstrong Park. Most of the trip took place on Rampart St.- a MAJOR road leading downtown, which police vehicles proceded to BLOCK OFF so that this group of people could play their instruments and dance (slowly) along for fifteen or twenty minutes. I mean they just stopped traffic! And second lines are not a rare occurance- they happen all the time here. It says something about people's priorities in this city, and about the pace- no one needs to be somewhere RIGHT NOW. They have time to stop and talk on the corner, to wait for the walk sign, to sit in their car and watch a bunch of people with umbrellas dancing down the street (or do grab an umbrella and dance down the street themselves.)
Phil and I, of course, forgot our umbrella. We got VERY wet. But that was ok, somehow.
At Armstrong park there was a drum circle which we listened to for a while before heading home.
Other events of the weekend:
On Saturday I had my first (good) sno-cone. Sno-cones are also apparently a New Orleans thing. I also explored City Park a bit- I had this idea that I could walk to the lake. Not so much. A, City Park is HUGE, and B, I have no sense of direction and got really disoriented. This also happened the other day when I was in the Quarter and wanted to walk to the river.
These bodies of water elude me.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wow it has been a long time since my last post!
I've been super busy at work, which has been mostly great. Aside from administrative stuff, I've been doing some work on a new advertising campaign- they just got a grant to design and publish ads in the media and do thinks like banners and billboards. I'm hoping I'll get to help out with some grant writing as well. I actually (get ready for this) turned down a lighting design for my job. I feel like I'll get out of this work whatever I put in to it, kind of like school oddly enough. I am already learning a huge amount about fair housing law and local policy, racial and class tensions in New Orleans, and the ways in which post-K (a common term here) legislation has hurt low-income residents on a local and a national level. Crazy shit is going down here- like Jefferson Parish is trying to block the building of multi-family homes (i.e. low income housing, which tends to have a large number of African American tenants, which means that such a policy has serious racial connotations.) And the Housing Administration of New Orleans is tearing down the "big four" housing projects in the city to replace them with "mixed income neighborhoods." Read into that. What does that mean? A lot of people argue that poverty should not be so concentrated, and that neighborhoods that are more economically integrated are safer and more diverse. But you still have the problem of thousands of residents who lost everything they had (and many of whom didn't have that much in the first place) trying to move back to a city where rents have gone up almost universally. My own next door neighbor is living in a shotgun double like mine, and is being forced to leave because his landlord is raising the rent from $500 to $800.
WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE GOING TO LIVE?
Everyone needs housing. It's kind of a basic, universal need.
Speaking of housing, yesterday Phil, Joanna and I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art mostly to see an exhibit of artwork done by children at the largest FEMA trailer park in the state, called Renaissance Village outside Baton Rouge. I had read about the exhibit in the Times, and about how art therapists are working with kids there as part of a larger effort to gain support for a children's trauma center (there is a severe lack of mental health resources in the city right now.) The work was terrifying, and sad, and sometimes full of hope. In one piece a child drew a fragmented and broken home and then "fixed" it with layers of masking tape and a cut-out of his own hand.
Another kid seemed haunted by images of dead birds, so he made some dead birds out of pipe cleaners and then created a sort of memorial for them, in a special bird cage with a woven rug.
Many of the kids, when asked to draw a place of safety, drew bizarre triangular houses. Art therapists realized that for many of these children the roof, not the house, is the safe place in a post-K world.
All of the work on display is on this website: http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/
Joanna and I also saw an interesting play the other night at Southern Rep called "The Breach" which was about Katrina via three interwoven stories. There were some very moving parts, but my favorite thing about the play was what followed: a sort of panel conversation with two local grassroots organizers and a local physician. Ryan Rillette, the Artistic Director, asked them each about how rebuilding work is going in their sector, and how they thought the rest of the country perceives the recovery efforts in NOLA. They're hoping the play will make it into the regional theater circuit in time for election season. It's already going to Seattle Rep. I got really excited about the urgency of this play, and its potential political clout. And I was thrilled to go to a "talk-back" in which the IDEAS and ISSUES in the play were discussed instead of how great the acting was.
Joanna and I are going to make a ceremony. It will involve:
a. candles
b. the sound of water
c. Bulgarian chant music
This is a New Orleans sunset. It's kind of like the sky is on fire.
Our neighbor Joey who walks his dog Mambo by our house every day says the winters here are really cold, and because of the humidity, the cold sort of sticks to you. That must be an odd sensation.
I've been super busy at work, which has been mostly great. Aside from administrative stuff, I've been doing some work on a new advertising campaign- they just got a grant to design and publish ads in the media and do thinks like banners and billboards. I'm hoping I'll get to help out with some grant writing as well. I actually (get ready for this) turned down a lighting design for my job. I feel like I'll get out of this work whatever I put in to it, kind of like school oddly enough. I am already learning a huge amount about fair housing law and local policy, racial and class tensions in New Orleans, and the ways in which post-K (a common term here) legislation has hurt low-income residents on a local and a national level. Crazy shit is going down here- like Jefferson Parish is trying to block the building of multi-family homes (i.e. low income housing, which tends to have a large number of African American tenants, which means that such a policy has serious racial connotations.) And the Housing Administration of New Orleans is tearing down the "big four" housing projects in the city to replace them with "mixed income neighborhoods." Read into that. What does that mean? A lot of people argue that poverty should not be so concentrated, and that neighborhoods that are more economically integrated are safer and more diverse. But you still have the problem of thousands of residents who lost everything they had (and many of whom didn't have that much in the first place) trying to move back to a city where rents have gone up almost universally. My own next door neighbor is living in a shotgun double like mine, and is being forced to leave because his landlord is raising the rent from $500 to $800.
WHERE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE GOING TO LIVE?
Everyone needs housing. It's kind of a basic, universal need.
Speaking of housing, yesterday Phil, Joanna and I went to the New Orleans Museum of Art mostly to see an exhibit of artwork done by children at the largest FEMA trailer park in the state, called Renaissance Village outside Baton Rouge. I had read about the exhibit in the Times, and about how art therapists are working with kids there as part of a larger effort to gain support for a children's trauma center (there is a severe lack of mental health resources in the city right now.) The work was terrifying, and sad, and sometimes full of hope. In one piece a child drew a fragmented and broken home and then "fixed" it with layers of masking tape and a cut-out of his own hand.
Another kid seemed haunted by images of dead birds, so he made some dead birds out of pipe cleaners and then created a sort of memorial for them, in a special bird cage with a woven rug.
Many of the kids, when asked to draw a place of safety, drew bizarre triangular houses. Art therapists realized that for many of these children the roof, not the house, is the safe place in a post-K world.
All of the work on display is on this website: http://www.katrinaexhibit.org/
Joanna and I also saw an interesting play the other night at Southern Rep called "The Breach" which was about Katrina via three interwoven stories. There were some very moving parts, but my favorite thing about the play was what followed: a sort of panel conversation with two local grassroots organizers and a local physician. Ryan Rillette, the Artistic Director, asked them each about how rebuilding work is going in their sector, and how they thought the rest of the country perceives the recovery efforts in NOLA. They're hoping the play will make it into the regional theater circuit in time for election season. It's already going to Seattle Rep. I got really excited about the urgency of this play, and its potential political clout. And I was thrilled to go to a "talk-back" in which the IDEAS and ISSUES in the play were discussed instead of how great the acting was.
Joanna and I are going to make a ceremony. It will involve:
a. candles
b. the sound of water
c. Bulgarian chant music
This is a New Orleans sunset. It's kind of like the sky is on fire.
Our neighbor Joey who walks his dog Mambo by our house every day says the winters here are really cold, and because of the humidity, the cold sort of sticks to you. That must be an odd sensation.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
my new kitten friend
This is the cat that has adopted us. He hangs around the front porch a lot and is exremely affectionate. Joanna has dubbed him "Rubio", except I think that he is actually a she.
Joanna seems to attract cats. I walked out onto the porch the other day and there were no less than four felines competing for Joanna's attention. They were on her lap, rubbing up against her legs, purring, rolling around on the ground. I haven't seen any stray dogs, but there are a ton of cats without ID around the city. I think a lot of them became strays after the storm, and they're mostly very sweet and just want attention. I know people in my neighborhood feed them and have sort of adopted them. We aren't going to start feeding Rubio just yet, but I did buy some kitty treats at the store.
I just got back from helping Gabrielle (the playwright) and her brother Walker and some other people set up for this fundraising event at a new MidCity performance space a couple blocks away from me called the "Alamo Underground." It's basically the basement of this apartment building inhabited by young artist types (it looks a bit like a fortress, and has red roof tiles... hence the "Alamo.") We strung up a bunch of Christmas lights and Walker did some pretty sketchy maneuvering in order to get electricity into the space. He's also made a sort of homemade light board using household dimmers, but it's capacity is only 600 watts, so hopefully nothing will blow up. It's a neat space though, very new and young and raw- in need of some gel in my opinion, and some cable mats.
Last night Andrew and I went to what ended up being a very fancy event run by a local social justice org. (specifically working for LGBT rights) that was honoring Barbara Motley, who runs Le Chat Noir. Think: open bar, pomegranate vodka, catered dinner, lots of politicians. I wore a dress, but still felt a little too casual (especially because I don't own a purse, so I had to bring a more casual bag.) We had fun though, and then went to a cabaret event at Le Chat Noir called "Red Light District" that was basically a variety show with a touch of burlesque and a lot of making fun of local politicians (think: Ray Nagin puppet and lots of David Vitter jokes.) It was fun, there was more alcohol, and the crowd was a mix of young people and older people- just lots of New Orleanians interested in sharing a drink and laughing (slash shouting, swearing) about how incompetant their government is.
Then we went to a bar with Gabrielle, Walker, and a girl named Mandi. There is this great local beer here called Abita Amber, which is like the best beer I've ever tasted.
Now I am marinating tofu and watching Joanna do yoga.
Signing off.
Joanna seems to attract cats. I walked out onto the porch the other day and there were no less than four felines competing for Joanna's attention. They were on her lap, rubbing up against her legs, purring, rolling around on the ground. I haven't seen any stray dogs, but there are a ton of cats without ID around the city. I think a lot of them became strays after the storm, and they're mostly very sweet and just want attention. I know people in my neighborhood feed them and have sort of adopted them. We aren't going to start feeding Rubio just yet, but I did buy some kitty treats at the store.
I just got back from helping Gabrielle (the playwright) and her brother Walker and some other people set up for this fundraising event at a new MidCity performance space a couple blocks away from me called the "Alamo Underground." It's basically the basement of this apartment building inhabited by young artist types (it looks a bit like a fortress, and has red roof tiles... hence the "Alamo.") We strung up a bunch of Christmas lights and Walker did some pretty sketchy maneuvering in order to get electricity into the space. He's also made a sort of homemade light board using household dimmers, but it's capacity is only 600 watts, so hopefully nothing will blow up. It's a neat space though, very new and young and raw- in need of some gel in my opinion, and some cable mats.
Last night Andrew and I went to what ended up being a very fancy event run by a local social justice org. (specifically working for LGBT rights) that was honoring Barbara Motley, who runs Le Chat Noir. Think: open bar, pomegranate vodka, catered dinner, lots of politicians. I wore a dress, but still felt a little too casual (especially because I don't own a purse, so I had to bring a more casual bag.) We had fun though, and then went to a cabaret event at Le Chat Noir called "Red Light District" that was basically a variety show with a touch of burlesque and a lot of making fun of local politicians (think: Ray Nagin puppet and lots of David Vitter jokes.) It was fun, there was more alcohol, and the crowd was a mix of young people and older people- just lots of New Orleanians interested in sharing a drink and laughing (slash shouting, swearing) about how incompetant their government is.
Then we went to a bar with Gabrielle, Walker, and a girl named Mandi. There is this great local beer here called Abita Amber, which is like the best beer I've ever tasted.
Now I am marinating tofu and watching Joanna do yoga.
Signing off.
Friday, September 14, 2007
P.S.
Did you know that the national Fair Housing Act protects people against housing discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, familial status, disability, gender and religion, but it does NOT protect people against housing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation? Neither does the Louisiana law. The Orleans Parish one does... but the law is so poorly written that you could never win a court case with it.
Friday night...
It's Shabbat at the Cramer-Russo-Adams house!
Meaning a bottle of wine... a loaf of sourdough (no challah to be found) and a couple of candles (which lost a gallant but brief battle with the ceiling fan.)
We also made polenta. The other night we made quiche with tomatos and cheese and a homemade crust, which was really good. We've been cooking pretty much every night together.
Anyway, we're all exhausted from a long week. Phil just finished his first week of work (which in his case is both emotionally and physically draining). I finished my first half-week of work, and so far so good. We're preparing for a big board meeting next week, so my more formal training has been postponed until after that is over. Meanwhile, I've been photocopying a lot and learning the accounting software. I'm also working on designing some magazine ads for the organization. None of it is boring so far because the subject matter- fair housing law- is really interesting and new for me. Tomorrow I'm going to a sort of tutorial run by one of my co-workers, which I'm hoping will be very informative. There are six of us in the office, and everyone has been very welcoming. They've also given me some good tips about the city- places I should eat, and most recently brass bands I should go see play at local clubs.
This week we also saw a play called "Bury the Dead" by Irwin Shaw, which I would recommend reading. We also celebrated Phil's 22nd birthday by going to this great West African restaurant in the quarter called Bennachin's. Despite some odd service (our waiter left in the middle of taking Phil's order to grab someone's meal- "hot food is our priority here") the food was quite good. I had spinach, coconut rice and fried plantains, as well as some ginger iced tea that was amazing but extremely strong. It was nice not to have to explain my vegetarianism to flabbergasted waiters ("aren't oysters vegetarian?")
P.S. nobody recycles here- because there's been no recycling service since the storm (the plant got flooded). Every month and a half a recycling service from Baton Rouge comes down, or you can pay a lot of money for weekly recycling pick-up. I'm going to try to get my office to start recycling paper because I just can't get over the amount of waste- I literally went through four reams of paper today photocopying this stuff for the board meeting.
Also, there's a new cat in my life. It is a grey persian with beautiful blue eyes. He (or she?) hangs out on my porch and loves to be petted.
Meaning a bottle of wine... a loaf of sourdough (no challah to be found) and a couple of candles (which lost a gallant but brief battle with the ceiling fan.)
We also made polenta. The other night we made quiche with tomatos and cheese and a homemade crust, which was really good. We've been cooking pretty much every night together.
Anyway, we're all exhausted from a long week. Phil just finished his first week of work (which in his case is both emotionally and physically draining). I finished my first half-week of work, and so far so good. We're preparing for a big board meeting next week, so my more formal training has been postponed until after that is over. Meanwhile, I've been photocopying a lot and learning the accounting software. I'm also working on designing some magazine ads for the organization. None of it is boring so far because the subject matter- fair housing law- is really interesting and new for me. Tomorrow I'm going to a sort of tutorial run by one of my co-workers, which I'm hoping will be very informative. There are six of us in the office, and everyone has been very welcoming. They've also given me some good tips about the city- places I should eat, and most recently brass bands I should go see play at local clubs.
This week we also saw a play called "Bury the Dead" by Irwin Shaw, which I would recommend reading. We also celebrated Phil's 22nd birthday by going to this great West African restaurant in the quarter called Bennachin's. Despite some odd service (our waiter left in the middle of taking Phil's order to grab someone's meal- "hot food is our priority here") the food was quite good. I had spinach, coconut rice and fried plantains, as well as some ginger iced tea that was amazing but extremely strong. It was nice not to have to explain my vegetarianism to flabbergasted waiters ("aren't oysters vegetarian?")
P.S. nobody recycles here- because there's been no recycling service since the storm (the plant got flooded). Every month and a half a recycling service from Baton Rouge comes down, or you can pay a lot of money for weekly recycling pick-up. I'm going to try to get my office to start recycling paper because I just can't get over the amount of waste- I literally went through four reams of paper today photocopying this stuff for the board meeting.
Also, there's a new cat in my life. It is a grey persian with beautiful blue eyes. He (or she?) hangs out on my porch and loves to be petted.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
P.S.
I accepted a job today as an administrative assistant at the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center. They basically work with the Fair Housing Act as a legal basis for the eradication of housing descrimination in New Orleans. I'm hoping I'll learn a lot and meet some interesting people.
Their website is www.gnofairhousing.org if you're interested.
Their website is www.gnofairhousing.org if you're interested.
Pictures!
My camera is back in business (knock on wood). Here are some pictures of my house and neighborhood:
The house
My room (also known as the hallway between the living room and the second bedroom/kitchen)
Across the street (all inhabited- this is what I mean about some people leaving up the spray painted mark made by the National Guard back in 2005)
Looking down Maurepas
My haunt: Fair Grinds coffee shop
The corner grocery store (this one's for you Zoe)
The house
My room (also known as the hallway between the living room and the second bedroom/kitchen)
Across the street (all inhabited- this is what I mean about some people leaving up the spray painted mark made by the National Guard back in 2005)
Looking down Maurepas
My haunt: Fair Grinds coffee shop
The corner grocery store (this one's for you Zoe)
Monday, September 10, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
To balance out what I did yesterday (which was basically watch the entire Lord of the Rings series) I decided to do some exploring today. So I biked down to the French Quarter, which took about a half an hour. I think a lot of people know the French Quarter as our cultural perception of Bourbon St, which as you can probably guess smells like beer and is really touristy- in Vassar po-mo lingo it feels like Bourbon St. is performing Bourbon St. especially a time when NOLA is relying heavily on it's tourist appeal. Jon and I hung out there one night back in June, and it was fun if you're into $7 daiquiris, drunk people and mardi gras beads. HOWEVER, the French Quarter is a lot more than Bourbon St. and it's really beautiful. A lot of narrow cobblestone streets and colorful houses with gorgeous wrought iron balconies, as well as art galleries and shops. I did have trouble finding something cold to drink after my grueling bike ride (yeah, I'm a lightweight) that wasn't alcoholic, but I finally located a Community Coffee House (contrary to it's name, it's a major chain down here) and read the Sunday Times-Picayune over a frozen Mocha-sippi.
On Friday night I hung out at Fair Grind and listened to this woman play the guitar. There were a ton of people there even when I left at like 9:30.
Someone asked, and I realized I hadn't posted our address on the blog. So here it is:
2949 Maurepas St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
On Friday night I hung out at Fair Grind and listened to this woman play the guitar. There were a ton of people there even when I left at like 9:30.
Someone asked, and I realized I hadn't posted our address on the blog. So here it is:
2949 Maurepas St.
New Orleans, LA 70119
Friday, September 7, 2007
This is so New Orleans...
You can't go anywhere without meeting new people here!
Today I walked into the post office to mail a package, which is right down the bayou from my house (I just like saying "down the bayou") and I started talking to a girl about my age about how hot it was. I happened to mention that I had moved down from New England and wasn't used to the heat, and then another woman nearby piped in that "it's not usually 95 this time of year." They both agreed that October/November and April are the most beautiful times of year in Louisiana, so it looks like I have something to look forward to! Anyway, this other woman mentioned that she had a daughter at NYU studying philosophy and dramatic literature, and I told her that I had just graduated from Vassar with a degree in drama. I asked her if she knew of the NOLA Project, a local theater group started by a bunch of NYU Tisch kids from my year, and she said yes, she'd seen a bunch of their shows and knew an actor who was in their production of "Get This Lake Off My House," their version of the Tempest that they performed last year on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Long story short, we kept talking and she said her name was Jan Barry and to give her a call if I needed anything. Perfect example of the kind of town this is: a total stranger takes the time to talk to me and offer her support, and happens to be connected to people I know. It is a SMALL WORLD down here. Everyone knows everyone else by three degrees of separation or less.
Speaking of the NOLA Project, they had done a piece back in June as part of the LakeviewS project that Jan Gilbert was involved in. It happened that most of the NOLA Project kids went JYA with Jon Bock, so we ended up hanging out and getting drinks after the show. Last night Phil, Joanna and I went to see a play-reading festival at Le Chat Noir and met (again, for me) Andrew Larimer, the artistic director of the NOLA Project, and NOLA Project members James, Sean and AJ, as well as their playwright friend Gabrielle who runs a performance space called the Alamo Underground. It was really refreshing to be around theater people our age again.
Other highlights of the last 24 hours:
-The New Orleans Public Library (unlike the closer branch library I visited the other day, it has more than five books.)
-Beignets! I forgot to mention that all of the plays at the new plays festival were set at the Cafe Du Monde, which I guess is a kind of famous beignet and coffee place
in the French Quarter. None of us had ever had beignets, so we went there after the show to try this New Orleans specialty. Basically they're small pieces of deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar (I've heard them referred to as French doughnuts.) It brought back memories of eating fried dough and watching the Celtics get creamed at the Boston Garden.
-Sitting for an hour at the Sewage and Water Board. Blech.
-Hearing about the Saints CONSTANTLY 24-7. They lost, in case anyone was wondering. Yesterday I actually had to ask someone if the Saints were a football team. They looked at me like I was from outer space.
Today I got a job offer, but I'll wait to elaborate until I decide whether to take it. I have a couple more interviews on Monday. Phil started working this week as a teaching assistant at a Catholic school. We've been reading a lot about the public school system here (which includes a fair number of charter schools). Apparently this hot new superintendant Paul Vallas just stepped in, yet only 40 percent of registerred students showed up to the first day of class this week. New Orleans has a history of terrible public schools. Obviously Phil isn't working in that system, but I'll be interested in hearing about his experiences.
Good news: My camera is on the way back! Photos coming soon!
Today I walked into the post office to mail a package, which is right down the bayou from my house (I just like saying "down the bayou") and I started talking to a girl about my age about how hot it was. I happened to mention that I had moved down from New England and wasn't used to the heat, and then another woman nearby piped in that "it's not usually 95 this time of year." They both agreed that October/November and April are the most beautiful times of year in Louisiana, so it looks like I have something to look forward to! Anyway, this other woman mentioned that she had a daughter at NYU studying philosophy and dramatic literature, and I told her that I had just graduated from Vassar with a degree in drama. I asked her if she knew of the NOLA Project, a local theater group started by a bunch of NYU Tisch kids from my year, and she said yes, she'd seen a bunch of their shows and knew an actor who was in their production of "Get This Lake Off My House," their version of the Tempest that they performed last year on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Long story short, we kept talking and she said her name was Jan Barry and to give her a call if I needed anything. Perfect example of the kind of town this is: a total stranger takes the time to talk to me and offer her support, and happens to be connected to people I know. It is a SMALL WORLD down here. Everyone knows everyone else by three degrees of separation or less.
Speaking of the NOLA Project, they had done a piece back in June as part of the LakeviewS project that Jan Gilbert was involved in. It happened that most of the NOLA Project kids went JYA with Jon Bock, so we ended up hanging out and getting drinks after the show. Last night Phil, Joanna and I went to see a play-reading festival at Le Chat Noir and met (again, for me) Andrew Larimer, the artistic director of the NOLA Project, and NOLA Project members James, Sean and AJ, as well as their playwright friend Gabrielle who runs a performance space called the Alamo Underground. It was really refreshing to be around theater people our age again.
Other highlights of the last 24 hours:
-The New Orleans Public Library (unlike the closer branch library I visited the other day, it has more than five books.)
-Beignets! I forgot to mention that all of the plays at the new plays festival were set at the Cafe Du Monde, which I guess is a kind of famous beignet and coffee place
in the French Quarter. None of us had ever had beignets, so we went there after the show to try this New Orleans specialty. Basically they're small pieces of deep fried dough covered in powdered sugar (I've heard them referred to as French doughnuts.) It brought back memories of eating fried dough and watching the Celtics get creamed at the Boston Garden.
-Sitting for an hour at the Sewage and Water Board. Blech.
-Hearing about the Saints CONSTANTLY 24-7. They lost, in case anyone was wondering. Yesterday I actually had to ask someone if the Saints were a football team. They looked at me like I was from outer space.
Today I got a job offer, but I'll wait to elaborate until I decide whether to take it. I have a couple more interviews on Monday. Phil started working this week as a teaching assistant at a Catholic school. We've been reading a lot about the public school system here (which includes a fair number of charter schools). Apparently this hot new superintendant Paul Vallas just stepped in, yet only 40 percent of registerred students showed up to the first day of class this week. New Orleans has a history of terrible public schools. Obviously Phil isn't working in that system, but I'll be interested in hearing about his experiences.
Good news: My camera is on the way back! Photos coming soon!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Joanna and I are at Fair Grind again (our typical morning ritual, now that Phil is a working man.) Apparently on Friday night they have music outside on the benches, so I'm going to come by and check it out. Tonight Phil, Joanna and I are going to a free preview of a new play reading festival at a place called Le Chat Noir. A couple of people I met when I was here in June from NYU are involved.
Yesterday Joanna, Phil and I played frisbee in City Park, which is beautiful. I'd like to explore it more, sometime when it's not quite so hot. The locals keep saying that it starts cooling off in October, which I think for them means like 60.
Had a great conversation with our landlord Sean last night, who I like a lot. His family has been in New Orleans for generations, which seems pretty common here. He was talking about how culturally rich the city is, and how friendly and open its people are, and that after the storm a lot of people were scattered all over the country and couldn't cope with the difference between the ways people interact here and the ways they interact (or don't interact) elsewhere.
Anyway, Sean directed me to the water and sewage board to transfer the water bill into my name, so that's where I'm headed. I promise my blog will get more interesting once I have a job and a camera.
Yesterday Joanna, Phil and I played frisbee in City Park, which is beautiful. I'd like to explore it more, sometime when it's not quite so hot. The locals keep saying that it starts cooling off in October, which I think for them means like 60.
Had a great conversation with our landlord Sean last night, who I like a lot. His family has been in New Orleans for generations, which seems pretty common here. He was talking about how culturally rich the city is, and how friendly and open its people are, and that after the storm a lot of people were scattered all over the country and couldn't cope with the difference between the ways people interact here and the ways they interact (or don't interact) elsewhere.
Anyway, Sean directed me to the water and sewage board to transfer the water bill into my name, so that's where I'm headed. I promise my blog will get more interesting once I have a job and a camera.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
the haunted mortuary
Phil and Hannah here.
Eating sno-cones.
Outside a cemetary.
Waiting for Joanna to emerge from the "Haunted Mortuary" where she is interviewing to be a paranormal researcher.
In five minutes we're going in.
Eating sno-cones.
Outside a cemetary.
Waiting for Joanna to emerge from the "Haunted Mortuary" where she is interviewing to be a paranormal researcher.
In five minutes we're going in.
ok so the links didn't work
you'll have to do the copy and paste method:
http://www.thevestigesproject.org/web/home/html
http://www.ny2no.net/lakeview/
http://ny2no.net/lakeview/home-new-orleans/
Also here is a picture from Jan's LakeviewS piece called "Biography of a House". I forgot to mention that the string of photographs sits at the water line, so you can see how much water this neighborhood got. It's especially scary because most of the homes are one-story like this one. Lakeviews now looks like a ghost town, with the exception of small clusters of "flipped" homes every couple blocks that are reinhabited.
A very tricky question in this city is whether areas like Lakeview, the Lower 9th and East New Orleans should be resettled given that they are fundamentally unsafe neighborhoods to live in, and the protection provided by the Army Corps in the last two years is not sufficient. These neighborhoods will likely flood again. However it's also in these neighborhoods where a lot of the poorer and racially diverse communities lived before the storm (although Lakeview is a wealthier neighborhood), whereas the beautiful French Quarter and Garden District were spared because they are on higher ground (it makes sense that those neighborhoods make up the original New Orleans before it spread into the marshier low-lying land to the North and East.) It is extremely problematic to tell a huge population of New Orleans residents that they cannot move back to their neighborhoods, especially when that population is largely black, and fits into a lower income bracket. When the Bring New Orleans Back commission announced after the storm that certain neighborhoods should not be resettled, people were furious. But what is the solution then? These people and their families will likely experience this type of devastation to their homes again if they move back.
http://www.thevestigesproject.org/web/home/html
http://www.ny2no.net/lakeview/
http://ny2no.net/lakeview/home-new-orleans/
Also here is a picture from Jan's LakeviewS piece called "Biography of a House". I forgot to mention that the string of photographs sits at the water line, so you can see how much water this neighborhood got. It's especially scary because most of the homes are one-story like this one. Lakeviews now looks like a ghost town, with the exception of small clusters of "flipped" homes every couple blocks that are reinhabited.
A very tricky question in this city is whether areas like Lakeview, the Lower 9th and East New Orleans should be resettled given that they are fundamentally unsafe neighborhoods to live in, and the protection provided by the Army Corps in the last two years is not sufficient. These neighborhoods will likely flood again. However it's also in these neighborhoods where a lot of the poorer and racially diverse communities lived before the storm (although Lakeview is a wealthier neighborhood), whereas the beautiful French Quarter and Garden District were spared because they are on higher ground (it makes sense that those neighborhoods make up the original New Orleans before it spread into the marshier low-lying land to the North and East.) It is extremely problematic to tell a huge population of New Orleans residents that they cannot move back to their neighborhoods, especially when that population is largely black, and fits into a lower income bracket. When the Bring New Orleans Back commission announced after the storm that certain neighborhoods should not be resettled, people were furious. But what is the solution then? These people and their families will likely experience this type of devastation to their homes again if they move back.
Ok, so from the number of comments from my family about my blog title, I appear to have caused some confusion. I have not acquired a new nickname "Louisi". Louisi(Hannah) is a play on "Louisiana." Clever, right? Er.... anyway...
More meals we've cooked:
1. Potato/carrot pancakes with applesauce and salad (mmmmh!)
2. Pasta with eggs scrambled in (Lillian style) and corn. Pasta undercooked (my fault.)
Once again I'm at the Fair Grind coffee shop. On Friday the cable people come by to set up our wireless internet in the house, but I'm still planning on frequenting this place. There are always a ton of people here just hanging out, talking, and drinking yerba mint iced tea. There are several other wireless networks in our neighborhood (one titled "IMPEACH BUSH NOW") but I can't seem to tap into any of them from the house.
Yesterday Phil and I went on a mission to supply our home with much-needed items (toaster, can opener, toilet plunger etc.) We drove over the Metairie and ended up on a highway that looked exactly like Route 9 in Poughkeepsie. It's comforting to know I have a Target, Barnes and Noble, Lowes and Linens n Things fifteen minutes away, but I much prefer the smaller local stores in New Orleans proper. One thing I've noticed about New Orleans is that it's all about the local. There aren't even very many national banks here, which makes me wonder what happened when thousands of people were put on buses and planes and transported to other parts of the country where they might not have access to their bank accounts.
After Metairie we went over to Jan Gilbert's art studio which she is moving out of to pick up a couple of filing cabinets she's donating to us. We had a few problems including the fact that a. each filing cabinet weighed about 500 pounds, b. Phil and I were both wearing Berkenstocks, c. the elevator is ancient and involves pulling on a cable and praying and d. we couldn't pull the car up because the whole street was blocked off due to construction. Two hours and a couple of near-death experiences later, Phil and I were back in the car with the filing cabinets. Now our living room looks a little homier. We still need a couch (which we will be getting as soon as we start getting paid, in case any of you want to come visit WHICH YOU SHOULD) but we now have a sort of music station set up with Phil's speakers, mixer, computer and record player.
After dinner we watched "Logan's Run" a classic 70s futuristic dystopian drama that involves scantily clad women and a really funny old guy who lives with a bunch of cats.
Because I keep mentioning Jan Gilbert, I should tell you who she is! Jan is the contemporary artist and New Orleans native who Richard Schechner directed me to back in February. She does a lot of photographic collage work dealing with family, history and memory, and works with a coalition of artists called the Vestiges Project that was founded in 1984 and is devoted to facilitating conversations and community-based work related to New Orleans. Jan did an installation in June that I went to see in Lakeview, a neighborhood in the north of the city right on Lake Pontchartrain that was flooded terribly in the aftermath of Katrina. The whole piece was called "LakeviewS," and was a bus tour around the area that stopped at a number of sites along the way where we watched performance pieces and explored art installations related to the history, devastation and reconstruction of the neighborhood. Jan had created a string of photographs related to her childhood and family history and wrapped them around her childhood home in Lakeview (which has been gutted and "flipped" by developers). She also played the audio from home videos from her childhood out the windows.
LakeviewS was affiliated with an ongoing project called "Home, New Orleans?" that was created after Katrina as a forum for artists to come together and work for positive change.
Here are some interesting links:
More meals we've cooked:
1. Potato/carrot pancakes with applesauce and salad (mmmmh!)
2. Pasta with eggs scrambled in (Lillian style) and corn. Pasta undercooked (my fault.)
Once again I'm at the Fair Grind coffee shop. On Friday the cable people come by to set up our wireless internet in the house, but I'm still planning on frequenting this place. There are always a ton of people here just hanging out, talking, and drinking yerba mint iced tea. There are several other wireless networks in our neighborhood (one titled "IMPEACH BUSH NOW") but I can't seem to tap into any of them from the house.
Yesterday Phil and I went on a mission to supply our home with much-needed items (toaster, can opener, toilet plunger etc.) We drove over the Metairie and ended up on a highway that looked exactly like Route 9 in Poughkeepsie. It's comforting to know I have a Target, Barnes and Noble, Lowes and Linens n Things fifteen minutes away, but I much prefer the smaller local stores in New Orleans proper. One thing I've noticed about New Orleans is that it's all about the local. There aren't even very many national banks here, which makes me wonder what happened when thousands of people were put on buses and planes and transported to other parts of the country where they might not have access to their bank accounts.
After Metairie we went over to Jan Gilbert's art studio which she is moving out of to pick up a couple of filing cabinets she's donating to us. We had a few problems including the fact that a. each filing cabinet weighed about 500 pounds, b. Phil and I were both wearing Berkenstocks, c. the elevator is ancient and involves pulling on a cable and praying and d. we couldn't pull the car up because the whole street was blocked off due to construction. Two hours and a couple of near-death experiences later, Phil and I were back in the car with the filing cabinets. Now our living room looks a little homier. We still need a couch (which we will be getting as soon as we start getting paid, in case any of you want to come visit WHICH YOU SHOULD) but we now have a sort of music station set up with Phil's speakers, mixer, computer and record player.
After dinner we watched "Logan's Run" a classic 70s futuristic dystopian drama that involves scantily clad women and a really funny old guy who lives with a bunch of cats.
Because I keep mentioning Jan Gilbert, I should tell you who she is! Jan is the contemporary artist and New Orleans native who Richard Schechner directed me to back in February. She does a lot of photographic collage work dealing with family, history and memory, and works with a coalition of artists called the Vestiges Project that was founded in 1984 and is devoted to facilitating conversations and community-based work related to New Orleans. Jan did an installation in June that I went to see in Lakeview, a neighborhood in the north of the city right on Lake Pontchartrain that was flooded terribly in the aftermath of Katrina. The whole piece was called "LakeviewS," and was a bus tour around the area that stopped at a number of sites along the way where we watched performance pieces and explored art installations related to the history, devastation and reconstruction of the neighborhood. Jan had created a string of photographs related to her childhood and family history and wrapped them around her childhood home in Lakeview (which has been gutted and "flipped" by developers). She also played the audio from home videos from her childhood out the windows.
LakeviewS was affiliated with an ongoing project called "Home, New Orleans?" that was created after Katrina as a forum for artists to come together and work for positive change.
Here are some interesting links:
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Welcome to my blog!
Well after a week-long adventure that took me through fourteen states, I have arrived at my new home in New Orleans. I decided that I'd keep a blog to fill you all in on what's going on here and what Phil, Joanna and I are up to. I'll try to post pictures when I can but right now my camera is being repaired. I do have this one:
This is our new house! It's AWESOME. It's half of a shotgun double, which basically means it's a walk-through (i.e. I have to go through Phil and Joanna's bedroom to get to the kitchen, and they have to walk through mine to get out the front door). But we enjoy communal living, and don't anticipate a problem. It's super hot here and muggy, but luckily we have window air conditioners in most of the rooms so the house is pretty cool. I met our landlord Sean (Shawn?) today and he's really nice. I've also met a bunch of our neighbors because around here people hang out on their porches together in the evenings and drink a beer or play the guitar. Next door we have a couple of musicians named Tom and Joe, and I'm secretly hoping Phil will whip out the guitar one night (and I'll whip out my ukulele... which I still don't know how to play) and jam with them. We're right down the road from City Park, where Joanna and I are going to funrun (meaning, in honor of Lillian Meredith, more fun and less run.) We also have a couple of neighborhood grocery stores, a big grocery store, a library, and this awesome little coffee shop where I am now using the free internet. We even have a Home Depot (which is of course one business which is doing VERY well these days.) Funny how no matter where I am in the country I walk into a Home Depot and I feel like I'm home...
Anyway aside from really friendly neighbors the neighborhood is really cute. It's a narrow one way street (the roads here are in REALLY bad shape- I keep worrying that I'll pop a tire) with a lot of little shotgun houses and shotgun doubles painted all sorts of bright colors. There are also lots of cats, which makes me happy. Almost all of the houses are inhabited in our neighborhood (it only got a couple feet of water, like up the front steps but not into the house as I understand it.) However some of the neighbors have left up the Xs that the National Guard drew on the fronts of houses when they were going through in September 2005 to survey damage. They look like this (I didn't take this picture, but the markings all look similar.)
Today I went to a job interview more toward the French Quarter and found out that New Orleans is very difficult to navigate. The roads are full of potholes, and street signage is lacking. Typical of New Orleans, I ran into Jan Gilbert (the artist I've been in touch with down here) on the street as I was leaving. She's going to give us some furniture from her studio. Next weekend we also get a kitchen table and chairs from Phil's relatives. Phil, Joanna and I made polenta and salad last night which we ate on our upside down book shelf on the living room floor.
All in all I'm super excited. People are really friendly. They don't look at me weird when I stop and say hello. In fact usually "hello" turns into a ten minute conversation.
Well, back to this week's issue of "The New Orleans Levee" (Subtitled "We don't hold anything back")
This is our new house! It's AWESOME. It's half of a shotgun double, which basically means it's a walk-through (i.e. I have to go through Phil and Joanna's bedroom to get to the kitchen, and they have to walk through mine to get out the front door). But we enjoy communal living, and don't anticipate a problem. It's super hot here and muggy, but luckily we have window air conditioners in most of the rooms so the house is pretty cool. I met our landlord Sean (Shawn?) today and he's really nice. I've also met a bunch of our neighbors because around here people hang out on their porches together in the evenings and drink a beer or play the guitar. Next door we have a couple of musicians named Tom and Joe, and I'm secretly hoping Phil will whip out the guitar one night (and I'll whip out my ukulele... which I still don't know how to play) and jam with them. We're right down the road from City Park, where Joanna and I are going to funrun (meaning, in honor of Lillian Meredith, more fun and less run.) We also have a couple of neighborhood grocery stores, a big grocery store, a library, and this awesome little coffee shop where I am now using the free internet. We even have a Home Depot (which is of course one business which is doing VERY well these days.) Funny how no matter where I am in the country I walk into a Home Depot and I feel like I'm home...
Anyway aside from really friendly neighbors the neighborhood is really cute. It's a narrow one way street (the roads here are in REALLY bad shape- I keep worrying that I'll pop a tire) with a lot of little shotgun houses and shotgun doubles painted all sorts of bright colors. There are also lots of cats, which makes me happy. Almost all of the houses are inhabited in our neighborhood (it only got a couple feet of water, like up the front steps but not into the house as I understand it.) However some of the neighbors have left up the Xs that the National Guard drew on the fronts of houses when they were going through in September 2005 to survey damage. They look like this (I didn't take this picture, but the markings all look similar.)
Today I went to a job interview more toward the French Quarter and found out that New Orleans is very difficult to navigate. The roads are full of potholes, and street signage is lacking. Typical of New Orleans, I ran into Jan Gilbert (the artist I've been in touch with down here) on the street as I was leaving. She's going to give us some furniture from her studio. Next weekend we also get a kitchen table and chairs from Phil's relatives. Phil, Joanna and I made polenta and salad last night which we ate on our upside down book shelf on the living room floor.
All in all I'm super excited. People are really friendly. They don't look at me weird when I stop and say hello. In fact usually "hello" turns into a ten minute conversation.
Well, back to this week's issue of "The New Orleans Levee" (Subtitled "We don't hold anything back")
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