Storyville

Buenos Diaz!

I landed in Miami late last night and have been spending the day watching the entire first season of Treme, which goes with the new books that I'm reading. The World that Made New Orleans and Letters from New Orleans. Treme is from the producers and writers of The Wire. Best damn series next to Weeds! Can't beat a sweaty cursing John Goodman screaming into a webcam about the political shit show of a post-Katrina New Orleans.

Interesting projects that I'm following:

Music Maker Relief Foundation: "Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day to day needs. We present these musical traditions to the world so American culture will flourish and be preserved for future generations.

Our criterion for recipients is they be rooted in a Southern musical tradition, be 55 years or older and have an annual income less than $18,000."

Bridge the Gulf Project: Bridge the Gulf is a storytelling initiative promoting cultural survival, environmental justice and sustainable development in Gulf Coast communities. The project is led by Gulf Coast community activists and supported by filmmakers and new-media artists.

New Orleans Murals by Tony Green

Check out the latest video of the Macarthur and Seminary mural and community garden. Last weekend a handful of us built a garden out of found wood planks and rusted steel bars we found in the lot where several artists wrote a new mural. It was a great day, though challenging. In fact at first we all stood there staring at the huge pile of unfit boards and rusty steel, no water source, no tools, barely any donated soil and thought fuck this. But then Desi said, make it happen, and so we did.

I'm on my way to Amsterdam on Monday, Milan at the end of the month, and then driving cross country with my dad in August. Hopefully I'll find my way home.

Ciao,
Renee Claire