Katrina Pics from Biloxi

These are a few pictures from an area of Biloxi called the Point. My grandmother's house can be seen in a few of them and so can some of the casinos. I'm not going to advertise these, because I'd hate to seem as if I was exploiting the devastation. But, here they are for those who'd like to see them. These pictures were taken by my cousin Joseph.

Back in Action in Jackson

I'm back at my uncle's place in Jackson today, having spent the last week down in Biloxi with my family. As you can probably imagine, it was something of an emotional trip - lots of driving slowly in silence, trying to take in all the devastation. Honestly, I don't think the reality of Hurricane Katrina really hit me until I was staring at the piles of debris that used to be my neighborhood. Believe me, it wasn't pretty. But, when the going gets tough, as the old saying goes...

The Tough Get Going

Though my parents' house in Biloxi came through with only an inch of water, my sister's apartment in Bay St.Louis didn't fare so well. (The entire complex is being demolished.) So, we strapped on our boots and trekked on over there sometime last week to salvage everything that could be saved. My sister, as some of you may know, is an avid collector of all things Disney, so we had to roll a TON of snow globes and figurines up in tissue paper and walk them down to the car one by one. That was fun. *rolls eyes* We also managed to save my great-grandmother's kitchen set and a table that's been in the family for 4 generations. Sadly, a lot of collectible dolls (most of them were my mom's) were in a case that got ruined. Nature doesn't discriminate.

The following day, my buddy Daniel Leavengood (whose family made it through the storm unscathed, thank God) took me along as he and a group of about 17 students from Clemson University's Reformed University Fellowship went around Biloxi doing free yard service and tree removal. I can only say it was an honor to work with these young people and to see the kindness they showed to people they'd never even met. Similarly, a Presbyterian church group from Florida came through my parents' neighborhood and cleared all their trees out (free of charge) as well. And that's not the half of it. All through Biloxi, people were offering free meals, supplies, water, lawn services, and any number of other things. These were people who'd come from as far away as New Jersey wanting nothing more than to help. Truly, the best of mankind is in Biloxi right now. The whole time I was there I kept hearing Anne Frank's words running through my head: "I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart."


A Good Laugh Now

For those of you who've heard the whispers, allow me to confirm that the rumor is true. My dad WAS in fact interviewed on CNN. Yes, disaster strikes, our dog almost has a heart attack, the neighborhood is decimated, but still you put a camera in my dad's face and he's ready to go. (Gee, I wonder who I take after in that respect.) If you want to see his clip, go to www.cnn.com and then click the "Browse/Search" option on their FREE VIDEO link. Once you're there, do a search for "Jonathan Freed" and then select the clip called "Surviving Katrina". As you'll see, my dad used his stage name, Tommy Joe Breaux, which pissed my mom off to no end. (And if Mom's pissed at Dad, it's a pretty good sign that things are getting back to normal.) :)

So What's Next?

If you're wondering about the status of my employment/education, I guess you should know that I was officially laid off from Chaffe-McCall last week. It seems they couldn't find anything for me in the Baton Rouge office. It's okay, though. They cut me a nice fat severance check, which will get me through to wherever I happen to end up. As of right now I've got offers to stay with friends and family in various parts of the country (I'm so loved), and I'm also giving some consideration to the military, which would help pay for my education in light of my graduate studies at U.N.O. being put on hiatus. Some of you may laugh at the idea of me joining the military, but it really makes perfect sense if you think about it. I'm very patriotic, I'm used to being disciplined (see also "6 years of Catholic school"), and of course I've always wanted to travel. We'll see. Keep your fingers crossed and pray for me.

Shout! Shout! Let it All Out!

This is a little obscene, but if you can handle it I hope you'll check out Foamy the Squirrel's Hurricane Katrina rant:
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/scans/katrinarant.swf
We've all got frustration brewing over this thing, and I think this little squirrel puts everything in perspective quite nicely.

Enjoy, take care of yourselves, get in touch, and please keep those most affected by Hurricane Katrina in your thoughts and prayers. Also, a quick sidenote to that elite social entity known as The Group: I talked to Giuliano on Wednesday. He's fine, though part of the abbey took a pretty big hit. I should probably see him next week sometime and if the phones work (always a 50-50 crap shoot) we'll try and give everyone a quick call.

That said, I send my best to everyone.

A Tale of the Perfect Weekend

"Robin Hood and Little John
Walkin' through the forest
Laughin' back and forth
At what the other has to say
Reminiscin', This-'n'-thattin'
Havin' such a good time
Oo-de-lolly, Oo-de-lolly
Golly, what a day."

Seeking Shelter in the Beekeeper's Garden

There comes a time in every hurricane evacuee's life when they really have to look around their place of refuge, assess the situation, and say, "Man, I seriously need to get the hell out of here." For me that moment came when I found myself sitting on a couch in Jackson, blankly watching MTV's "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" marathon and realizing Hey, I've already seen this one. Yes, my hometown is in ruins. My beloved Crescent City is mostly underwater. I'm sure I'm about to be uprooted once again. But becoming overly familiar with the cast of "Laguna Beach"? Now THAT'S tragedy. Fortunately, there was a way out.
See, Lizzie and I had tickets to see Tori Amos in Houston this past Saturday (tickets purchased LONG before anyone had ever heard of Hurricane Katrina.) And seeing as how everyone in my family is accounted for and I'm unable to get down to Biloxi or New Orleans just yet, I figured there was no real harm in keeping the plan. So, Lizzie hooked a brother up with a Southwest Airlines flight out of Jackson and away I went. Now, given the stress of the last week, we figured we owed it to ourselves to make the most of our shiny happy weekend. Specifically, we made a pact to meet Tori Amos. Did we make good on this pact?....Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's two-thousand words:

Neither of us is particularly crazy about our pictures. I think I look kinda chunky in mine (despite my recent weight loss, thank you very much) and Lizzie doesn't like the way the sun was in her face. But that's not the point. The point is that we came, we saw, we met Tori. And of course the show was pure awesomeness. (As per our request, Tori played "House of the Rising Sun" in honor of New Orleans. How cool is that?) Also, by an angelic turn of events, we were invited to help out during Tori's soundcheck. While listening to her warm-up we rolled 150 posters, for which we were given free tour programs autographed by Tori and Neil Gaiman. Sometimes you just have to smile and accept the fact that somebody up there likes you.

This of course is the 13th time I've seen Tori in concert, but the experience was unique in that this is the first time I've enjoyed seeing Tori's opening act. Usually, you see, Tori has these boring singer/songwriter-types opening up for her -the kind of people that have you repeatedly checking your watch and wondering when Tori's finally gonna make it to the stage. This time, though, she had one of my favorite new bands, the Ditty Bops, whom Lizzie accurately describes as "ragtime-bluegrass-country-plucking-with-a-touch-of-smart-a**" Do yourself a favor and check them out: www.thedittybops.com They're just too much fun. Even more fun than the Pepsi commercial with the sumo wrestling chickens. And yes, we met them too (the Ditty Bops, not the sumo wrestling chickens from the Pepsi commercial.)



Too cool.

From the Mouths of Babes

In addition to this remarkably hands-on concert experience, I had another moment this weekend that I want to share with everyone out there in BlogLand. Friday night while dozing off in Lizzie's living room, I had occasion to eavesdrop on a conversation that took place between four of her young cousins. It seems they'd caught a frog (or "shrog", depending on who you ask) out in the yard and were discussing what they could do with him and where they could find more. To this, Lizzie's cousin Caitlyn (age 3-4) said they could find a lot of "froggies" by her house. (Despite my overt lack of most paternal qualities, I have to admit that I love hearing kids add "-ie" to animal names, so that frogs become "froggies" and kittens become "kitties".) Caitlyn's house, it's worth mentioning, is in New Orleans, which is what prompted her little brother Jake to state very matter-of-factly, "Our house is under the water."
Later on, the young cousins were discussing the family cat, Gracie, and Caitlyn made it known that she loves "kitties" and wishes they had one at her house. Right on cue, Jake once again let everyone know: "Our house is under the water." I just had to laugh as I sat there feigning sleep. The media is so ready to complicate everything about the storm in an effort to sound all eloquent and humanitarian. But in my mind, Jake says it best. You want to know about Hurricane Katrina? Here it is. "Our house is under the water."
Gotta love it.

All in all, it was just the perfect weekend - exactly what I needed so I could take a deep breath and come back to Jackson with a clear head. And so, my love and sincerest thanks to Lizzie and her family for taking in a refugee or 2 or 20 and giving me something to write about. Mwahs and handshakes all around.

As Long as I'm Talking About Kids...

As long as I've got ye olde paternal instincts revved up, I think I'll go ahead and post a picture I"ve been admiring in recent weeks:



This gem comes to you courtesy of my good buddy Steve "Cure Boy" Morris and his daughter Elise. The thing I like most about this picture is the way Steve is smiling down at her with genuine adoration and amusement. You can tell he's genuinely amazed by this little person. *thoughtful sigh* I'm such a softie.

One Last Thing

During these difficult times it's good to remember that laughter is the best medicine. Bearing this in mind, I'd like to direct everyone's attention to: http://homepage.mac.com/chodnet/iMovieTheater15.html This is the most fun you'll ever have with Barbie dolls, courtesy of my Crescent City gal-pal Jessa. I defy any guy to walk away from this without saying "He didn't have the GOODS, man. You know what I mean" like a hundred times.
By the way, Jessa made a point in one of her recent blogs (www.xanga.com/sparklenymph) that she's tired of hearing everyone blaming the President and FEMA for not attending to the Katrina situation in what they consider a timely fashion. I couldn't agree more. We can't politicize this situation; it's time to put all that aside and do the right thing.

That said, I'm gonna close this out, wishing everyone the very best and hoping that I'll hear from everyone soon. Much love, all.