oh America

I'm finally coming out of the whiskey, red wine Seattle San Fransisco haze a day left in my trip to the West coast. Doesn't mean I won't be eating a greasy bacon cheese fried egg sandwich and terrible coffee in a couple minutes.  I can't wait to go back to New Orleans where people are civilized and continue planning my Mad Max Mardi Gras costumes and dance off with Krewe Delusion. I'm thinking black tutu, Doc Martin's, long fingerless gloves, and Uma Therman wig circa Pulp Fiction but in silver.

Because freedom isn't free?

Because I love when Barney Frank yells at people. One of my favorite is in a podcast in 2009 with Planet Money when the reporter discussed his anxiety of interviewing Barney Frank then at the very end of his interview Barney screams why did you ask me a complicated question when I only have short time answer it.

Because we really fucked up the Mississippi River Delta. 

Ciao
Renee Claire

Saturday Seattle Gumbo

Gay military wedding on Archie's January cover!

I convinced Liam that listening to Trombone Shorty was much better than the Lion King on its 450,827,945,085 repeat this morning. I think we have a little brass band lover on our hands!

I think I found my kitchen table made out of reclaimed Cypress.

And I'm kind of in love with this house in mid-city.

When Liam plays the drums at 8am on a Saturday morning, he gets put on America's most wanted list.










Fugazi releases 130 shows, taped hundreds more.

Because I'm already missing New Orleans:

I'm Going to Seattle to Eat Some Bird

I mean I am currently in Seattle and will eat some bird on Thursday. Emanuel lives two doors over. He recently got out of jail after serving 14 years on his first offense. I haven't asked what that offense was. He walks me all around the neighborhood because he doesn't work, he just kind of hangs out. When I told him I was going to Seattle for Thanksgiving, his reaction was 'just to eat some bird? you out your head girl'. Emanuel kind of makes working from home awesome.

Rolling Stone just published a really good article on Occupy Wall St and how the GOP became the representative of the rich.

Watch out Seattle I'm bringing Hubigs pies!

Ciao
Renee

Occupy Art

Maybe its the cup of red wine, but these are some pretty darn good posters.

Occupy Silence

I'm sure you are up on your Occupy events, but just in case you haven't heard of the UC Davis students pepper sprayed while sitting on the sidewalk with their heads down take a look at this.

UC Davis

Calls for the Chancellor to resign are all over the place. I haven't read what her orders were or what she had thought of the protest that has sprung up around the country before the pepper spraying so I'm not sure if her resignation would prove anything.

On Saturday two police officers were put on leave because of their actions during the protest.

On Sunday a couple dozen students held a silent protest as the Chancellor walked to her car. It's amazing and really powerful.

And it keeps going

One of my favorite parts of the Occupy movement is its satire like Occupy Sesame St. Here are some interesting photos of other moments of history where cops have pepper sprayed (not really).

If you haven't read the NYTimes article entitled, "Heaven is a place called Elizabeth Warren", you should. I love her.

Oh and this one is good too, it's not about Occupying anything but it is about eh Sierra Club's long time former Executive Director stepping down from the board because of difference of opinions. Kind of interesting.

I added sweet potatoes and miltons to my Sunday stew and then chewed on hubig pies and saw Rebirth play it up at the Po-boy festival. Not bad for an afternoon.

Ciao,
Renee Claire

Ridiculous Gumbo

Things more popular in the US than congress . . . like US going communist.

And this gem.



And my new wooden glasses:

Political Fiction by Amanda

Read this.

The Duck is in the Pond

My latest adventure included holding on for dear life to a 24 foot inflatable duck in front of the Exxonmobile Houston, TX headquarters while 50 community members held signs and chanted things like 'exxonmobile what do you say, how many children have you poisoned today' And watching sweet looking older ladies with grey hair ask Exxonmobile employees face to face that same question.

Here is an article about our great action this morning.

Ciao
Renee Claire

New Favorite Way to End a Conversation

If dat be dat, den dat be dat.

A Culture of Violence

As you can imagine, the talk of the town is the four shootings, 14 injured, and 2 dead from halloween night. I heard it made national headlines. I heard the city has already had one large convention cancellation. I hear we are in a battle for the future of our city. I heard those that committed these crimes will be brought to justice. I heard the Department of Justice opened an office in New Orleans this past summer to help our city leaders find real solutions to our crime problem. I heard the murder rate doesn't look to be slowing. I heard these crimes were black on black.

Last night while watching the evening news on the French Quarter shooting, the reporter quickly inserted into a sentence 'black on black crime'. The insert led nowhere. It didn't make any sense and it didn't help explain the shootings in any way. It was a bit shocking. T and I were both startled by those four words. The racism in this city is so in your face I can't fathom a time where it will no longer shock me.

We all know this city has more than a crime problem. We have  poverty problem. We have an education problem. We have a food desert problem. We have a post-tramatic stress disorder problem. We have a corruption problem. Understanding the context of a shooting or even multiple shootings isn't helped by quickly and mindlessly adding the words 'black on black crime'. If the news report had then gone into Katrina displacement, poverty, education, or homelessness related to race, I could have understood why those words were used. But it stopped there. As if to say, hey its not us, its them. And don't think those exact words haven't been repeated to me over the past two days as well.

I like Mayor Landreiu. I like that he stated that these shootings are symptoms of the bigger issues we must find solutions for. What could have been a fist fight ended up killing two people and injuring 14. The folks carrying guns on the street with no ability to solve conflict non-violently can't be explained away by the color of their skin. We truly live in a culture of violence, accepted violence until it injures some tourists in the Quarter. What hasn't made national news are the two shootings that took place next to my house that night. Spain St and Louisa St. St. Ferdinand is nestled between the two but separated by three or four blocks on either side.

Shootings happen in St. Roche all the time. The crack house next to my house is still running. The same red car that was busted a couple weeks ago is still making deliveries. My neighbor, Emanuel, is probably going back to jail before his probation is up because he hasn't been able to reassimilate after 14 years behind bars over the last 8 months. He's starting to not say hi or walk with me to the park and is spending a whole lot more time with the prostitutes that work my neighborhood.

While congress is trying to save the corporations and cut the department of education and shame states into cutting social services for the most vulnerable of our country, we are facing the reality that it is this prioritization of our socitial values over the past thirty years that has raised a generation of children that find it acceptable or more appropriate to shoot their buddy over an argument than punch their face (or talk) and call it a day. Without protecting and lifting up our most vulnerable so that they are no longer our most vulnerable, we will never be able to have a functional financial system or avibrant economy. There is a very real connection between what is happening in Washington DC and what happened on Bourbon St this past Monday night.

Quick Update

In case I haven't spoken to you in the past week:

I quit my job
Georgia was bit by a dog at the park and has a big lump on her throat. She will be fine.
I am bad luck for your health - I took three people/dogs to the emergency room in the past 7 days. Either I am good luck because I was there or I am the cause, not sure yet.
I need a housekeeper and a wife to organize my life.
My back problems have something to do with my nerves. Taking steroid pack, like a Z pack. No, I have not suffered any roid rage. But thanks T for your creative imagination.
J and I wallowed in the Saints lost on Sunday by having dinner at Green Goddess, drinking lots of manhattans and then smoking cigars.
I got two jobs to replace the one I quit.
I am even happier that I don't hang out on Bourbon st. I was not around the shootings last night, none of the three that left two dead and 10 wounded.
Yes, I still live within two houses of a crack house and prostitutes walk up and down my block all day/night.
I kind of love that occupy wall st is releasing their financial information daily. Raised $450,000 spent $50,000. I also love that they decided to send $20,000 to occupy oakland after they were attacked by the police.
I am flabergasted by Oakland Police raiding Occupy Oakland. How does a police department who is constantly in the news for abusive cops and have a rather justice motivated population that continues to highlight such abuse continue to function as if nobody is watching or caring? It's amazing.
T is continuing to put up with Renee World. I'm not sure what that means.