I randomly write down things that I want to remember on little slips of paper. And more often than not, those pieces of paper get put aside – sometimes clipped together, sometimes folded and stuck into a file or cubbyhole… only to be found at a later date, and the words either bring me back to my emotions at the time – or I gaze at my writing and wonder “What was going on that I felt the need to put this to paper?” Sometimes I don’t even remember what the notes are about and have to search my memory. Most times though, I do, and I decided to share some that I recently found for posterity…
SOCIAL/CULTURAL ISSUES:
On December 21, 2007 the City Council of New Orleans voted unanimously to allow the demolition of four of the city’s largest public housing projects, consisting of approximately 4,500 rental apartments. Prior to the historic vote, there were protests at the individual locations, with former residents (displaced due to the events of two years prior) and outsiders alike sometimes clashing with police and other authorities. Protestors were claiming that the government was trying to prevent a certain demographic from returning to the city, even though the barracks-style buildings were hotbeds of drug dealing and violent crime. There was a great deal of misinformation being spread about what was actually going on, and it was being turned into a racist agenda. My (as always) passionate thoughts on the subject spilled out amidst the conflict that was threatening to tear the city apart:
“Like Bill O’Reilly said, ‘The spin stops here!’ In this case, stop listening to the bleeding-heart liberal national media! Listen to someone who lives here – a resident of New Orleans who goes through the day-to-day, and has been, since returning to this city in June of 2006 of our own volition. Attorneys wanting to earn their paychecks don’t care! Professional paid protestors, on break from places like Brown University, driving off in their Volvos and SUVs after ‘protesting’ and don’t even live here, don’t care! Government folks like John Edwards and Nancy Pelosi, etc. – the Federal Government – who didn’t give a damn about New Orleans when disaster occurred over two years ago don’t care! They didn’t give a damn about New Orleans then, and they don’t give a damn about New Orleans now. We – our City Council and all who support them – care. For the future of not only the residents – each and every one of them who DO have the right to return – but also the future of this city as a whole.”
Either Facebook didn’t exist in 2007, or I wasn’t involved in it yet – I wonder how many people I might have “offended” if it did – or if I was…!
CITY REMEMBRANCES:
From August 29, 2011 – the 6th anniversary of the Federal Levee Failures that flooded 80% of the city of New Orleans (otherwise known as Hurricane Katrina – see how I slipped that in there…?) Apparently I was riding the Canal streetcar that morning, when the driver suddenly stopped and asked the riders for a “moment of silence for those who didn’t make it back from Katrina.”
Also from that day, my thoughts as I stepped outside my front door and was hit in the face with a very intense smell (which, as we found out later, was a marsh fire in New Orleans East) – “What idiot in my neighborhood is burning something??”
SAINTS FOOTBALL:
My passion for the Saints was at its peak after our historic Super Bowl win in 2010, but that revelry was busted up by another alleged event that came to be known as “Bountygate”…
From the moment of the announced suspensions in 2012 until Super Bowl 47, I had a double-sided sheet of paper with notes detailing everything that had happened to my beloved – and beleaguered – football team; with, of course, some feelings and emotions thrown in…As my friend and fellow Section 606 Saints fan April expressed (in April): “Way to kill a franchise”…
- Head Coach Sean Payton suspended for entire 2012 season
- Assistant Head Coach Joe Vitt suspended for first 6 games of 2012 season
- General Manager Mickey Loomis suspended for first 8 games of 2012 season
- Defensive Coordinator Greg Williams suspended indefinitely
- Linebacker Jonathan Vilma fighting defamation of character in court against Roger Goodell
- Can we burn Roger Goodell in effigy in the backyard…?
- Free Sean Payton t-shirts!
- Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas’ record on October 7, 2012
- I’ve cleansed myself of all the bad feelings of the 2012-2013 season…
- On January 9, 2013 I finally meet my idol Drew when he and his wife Brittany come to the Zoo where I worked to talk about a playground in Audubon Park that Drew was sponsoring.
- The Atlanta Falcons are knocked out of the playoff picture – NO DIRTY BIRDS IN THE DOME! (Thank you, 49ers!)
- Super Bowl 47 on February 3, 2013 in the Louisiana Superdome – Ravens vs. 49ers
- “It’s lonely and quiet on this side of Poydras Street…”
- Walking to streetcar on the morning of Super Bowl: “I feel like I forgot something…Wait! Oh – never mind…the Saints aren’t in the Super Bowl, are they? I guess I didn’t forget any tickets…”
- Walking past the Dome: “Okay – it hurts now – this was supposed to be us…”
- NFL Experience
- Super Bowl 47 Roman Numerals coming down the Mississippi River on a barge
- Walked with Ravens fans from Toulouse Street to the Dome – “There’s your Temple of Heaven” says The Who Dat Chef…
- I don’t think the fans in any other city whose team didn’t make it to the Super Bowl in their hometown would be as involved in the celebration and have as much fun as we did…
THE 1980s:
A friend of mine let me borrow his DVDs showcasing “Live Aid” – the social conscience musical event of a generation. Watching the videos transported me back to my 20s, some of the best years of my life. It was the early 80s, and MTV was in its heyday…I spent the early part of the decade sporting a pseudo-Punk haircut. “Video Killed the Radio Star” – the very first video ever aired by music television – ushered in sights and sounds never experienced prior to this time. The music they called “New Wave” was like nothing we had ever heard before. We were introduced to bands like “Flock of Seagulls” whose members wore a look that was distinctive and quirky. But I think during those early days we were still caught somewhere in between the old and the new, as referenced in Billy Joel’s homage entitled “It’s Still Rock and Roll To Me”. The rock band Van Halen upset a lot of their fans when they strayed from their traditional sound by introducing synthesizers on their album “1984” – although the somewhat futuristic concept was apropos considering the year and title. David Bowie, who was part of the Glam Rock style of the early 1970s – ahead of his time and a pioneer in his own right – reinvented himself yet again in the new decade with songs like “China Girl”. His 80s anthem “Let’s Dance” containing the line “Put on your red shoes and dance the blues” made every single 80s girl immediately rush out and purchase a pair of red shoes (I know I did!) Music like this, along with “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls and “Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy were the songs we danced and partied to in the bars and dance clubs in the 40s that we frequented after work on a Friday night in Manhattan. It was a glorious time…
There were bands like The Cars and singers like Elvis Costello and Marshall Crenshaw whose music broke new ground. And then there were the truly innovative artists whose videos played in our heads even when we weren’t around the television…”True” by Spandau Ballet featuring Bryan Ferry; “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” by Culture Club featuring Boy George; “We Got the Beat” by the all-girl group called The Go-Go’s; the B52s; “Turning Japanese” by The Vapors; Depeche Mode; Frankie Goes to Hollywood; and of course, early Madonna…
“Love My Way” by the Psychedelic Furs…”How Soon is Now” by The Smiths…these songs scream 80s for me – along with one of my all-time favorites by The Thompson Twins, “Hold Me Now”…
“You say I’m a dreamer…we’re two of a kind. We’re both of us searching for some perfect world we know we’ll never find…
No, the world wasn’t perfect back then, and it’s not now. But it was simpler. And people knew how to have fun. The only thing serious was (under the moonlight) – “the serious moonlight”…
Oddly Enough 