I came right out of Carnival and into what can only be described as grant deadline hell. (I wish I had more vivid, less 80s terms at my disposal, but it's early, and I'm undercaffeinated. Gimme a break.) My last application postmark deadline is Monday, so I hope to return to normal by then.
Of course, as soon as I'm done with all that, I have to start prepping for a trip with the boyfriend, his mom, and aunt. I'm looking forward to the 10-day vacation, though in typical fashion, I'm already dreading the pile of work awaiting me when I get home. I don't really excel at the whole "enjoying myself" thing, do I?
This morning--before heading out the door to teach young ones the wonders of hand-coding HTML--I've taken a few minutes to catch up on my reading. Here are a few of the tidbits that have caught my eye:
There's this kid I read every so often. He's smart, funny, and a really great writer, and his voice...well, to have found it before he's even hit 30 is pretty amazing. He's also HIV+, and he's hit some very rough patches lately--but he doesn't really go for the sympathy vote. (Well, maybe a little, but it's usually pretty subtle.) If you're looking for something to add to your feed reader--you do use a reader, don't you?--I'd recommend it.
I adore Jennie--especially the beautiful excerpts she posted from Walt Whitman's journals and her link to a lengthy but very thoughtful talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on the nature of genius.
Project Runway's latest season is still stuck in legal limbo, but collections from the three finalists (no need for all those extra decoys!) still showed at New York Fashion Week. Take a gander: at least the clothes look better than the ones from the last cycle.
I don't have a real problem with pee-fetishists [safe for work!], but I prefer to feed my plants compost--or better yet, let them fend for themselves.
I do not understand the Mima Mounds, but I want to--I want to understand the Mima Mounds.
You know how you're up late some nights--maybe you downed too much coffee, maybe you're all stressed, whatever--and you're watching some retarded talk show, and there's this interview? And you wake up the next morning, and you're all like, "Damn, did I see that?" And you totally did, but you had no proof? Well, now you have proof. My fave: this bit of weirdness, which I reference constantly--and which I remember watching during its initial airing.
One that didn't make the cut: this clip of Madonna, also on Letterman. Seriously, that bitch is all kinda fuh-tup.
So I survived Fat Tuesday--but only barely. Maybe it was all the secondhand smoke, or maybe there was anthrax in the air, but Jonno and I awoke yesterday feeling like utter crapola. I feel slightly better today, but I'm still coughing like freakin' Camille.
Anyway.
If you weren't here, you missed a magnificent day. The weather was perfect--seriously, perfect--and everyone was in a wonderful mood. Jonno shot some amazing pics (asusual), but I didn't even turn on my camera. I did, however, videotape the entire Ste. Anne parade from the upstairs window. When my editing suite decides to cooperate, I'll post it. Promise.
Carnival 2009 is nearly over. At last. I haven't been that social, I haven't roamed the streets, but the few balls I've had have been draining. (Hmmm.)
I don't have much to offer today in the way of wit or intelligence. (Do I ever?) All I know is that I've got to sweep and tidy and possibly shave before company arrives at 9:30.
I also have to make a couple of posts to the website I work for. The website is focused on cars, so my editor asked me to come up with a guide for driving on Mardi Gras day. (Hey, it's the best angle we could find.) I built it in the form of a GoogleMap, which you'll see embedded above. You'll probably want to click the "View Larger Map" link, since you can't really read much in that tiny window. Anyway, for what it's worth. Enjoy.
Also for what it's worth: this short, not-too-awesome clip of the Ste. Anne parade walking up Royal Street. I hope to put together a better video myself, but at the very least, this'll give those who've never experienced Fat Tuesday a glimpse of what it's like for locals. (Note: sorority girls flashing for beads not included.)
HOLY CRAP: That video I posted earlier? The one by Christeene called "Fix My Dick"? The first time I watched it, I thought, "I know that queen. Holy crap, I totally know that queen. He looks an awful lot like Paul Soileau..." Then I got distracted by something bright and shiny and forgot about it.
Turns out, it is totally my friend Paul, who was in New Orleans until Katrina, evacuated to Atlanta with mutual friends, and since moved on to Austin.
I like where his career is going. Low-rent is the new high-rent, y'all.
In the UK, Chris Bodle has put together an interesting public art project: based on climatological data and the estimated rise in sea levels, he's projected high water lines onto buildings around Bristol. The effect is a little like post-K New Orleans--presumably minus that smell. You know what I'm talking about. [CreativeReview]
Would you care to see the single-worst application of Web 2.0 technology ever? Would you? Because I can show you. It's the weather index at WDSU's website: an assload of widgets thrown together on a page that looks nothing like the rest of the website. So basically, they've loaded up on crappy, gimmicky technology and smacked their brand all in one fell swoop. And don't even get me started on the Helvetica vs. Arial issue. I mean, as if WDSU.com weren't ugly enough. [WDSU.com]
A trove of Civil War-era documents has found its way online. Many are restricted to Ancestry.com members, but a lot of Lincoln's presidential correspondence and speeches are being hosted for free at the Library of Congress. Another clutch of Confederate docs is en route to the Georgia state archives. Genealogy isn't really my thing, but my mom ought to be interested and happy. [NOLA.com]
The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology won't be holding its annual conference in New Orleans, thanks to Governor Jindal's ill-advised bit of legislated godliness, a.k.a. the Science Education Act. So where has the group decided to go instead? Utah. Yes, ladies and gents, we're more eerily religious than MORMONS. Best of all? Jindal's response to the cancellation, via his spokesmodel Kyle Plotkin. Said Plotkin: "That's too bad". [NOLA.com]
Leave it to a dude from Louisiana to turn bacon into a lampshade. Awesome. [Flickr]
THIS IS SO NSFW, IT IS NOT FUNNY. And yet, I find it very funny: every so often, I skim through my Fleshbot news feeds--just for old times' sake--and every so often I find something deeply disturbing. This is one of those times. [Tube8]
THIS IS ALSO NSFW: Awesome video, less awesome song, but worth a listen. Courtesy of my friend Ostia.
My queen and me and the best beer I've ever sucked down
The madness is over, at least for now. At least for today. At least until Saturday, I hope.
But that sounds so dramatic. That makes it sound as if the ball were an ordeal, something to be avoided, but in fact it was pretty fun. Take a look at Jonno's photos and you'll see: I'm not kidding.
However, it must be said: having fun can be very hard work.
...and on the adoptive family front, my father's new favorite show is U.K. sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. That's shocking for two reasons: (a) dad's usually terrified by non-Southern accents, and (b) someone in Mississippi is broadcasting classic British light comedy of the early 1990s. Hmmm.
What is it with you? Do you think local politics have gotten too blasé? Are you upset that Louisiana's getting upstaged by Blagojewhatsisname and Larry Craig and Ted Stevens and the like? What, you don't think David Vitter and Dollar Bill Jefferson generate enough raised eyebrows? Not satisfied with the sedate, curiously rational, less-dickish-than-you'd-think Bobby Jindal? You had to launch a campaign to draft XXX starlet Stormy Daniels for the U.S. senate?
I mean, sure, there's room for humor in politics, and yes, we can certainly take a joke here in Louisiana. However, we can also take things very seriously when we want to, and let me tell you: David Vitter is no laughing matter. Not only has he caught a big ol' case of Grade A Stupid, but he's bound and determined to infect others. Frankly, after eight years of dumbass in the Oval Office, none of us are in the mood for it. Brains, please. Now.
Listen, you wanna do some good? Get out there and recruit someone else to get in the ring. How's about John Breaux? He may not fuel your loins the way Ms. Daniels does, but maybe you should try thinking with your other head for a while. That alone is more than Vitter can do.
No one bothered to tell me that Blossom Dearie died. I was hoping to find a video of her doing "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" or the Rhode Island song or something a little more conventional, but this one should bring back memories for a few folks.
You know I think the world of you, even though I don't visit as often as I should. You know I love you, even though you're as batty as Barry Bonds on a steroid binge. But listen: we are about to have some kind of intervention/Come To Jeebus Moment regarding you and your elected officials. About ten minutes ago, I got this notice from a pal of mine; apparently, one of your own is doing some tinkering with Obama's stimulus package:
The U.S. Senate has voted to accept, by a vote of 73-24, an amendment offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) which states, "None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center, and highway beautification project."
This amendment, which was supposedly intended to restrict objectionable spending in a few select federal infrastructure programs, will result in prohibiting any spending through the economic recovery in these areas. This is the first clear vote on the arts that has occured in the U.S. Senate since July 12, 2000. The Senate final bill passage is still unclear, although it is expected to take place later tonight. Next week they will have a House-Senate conference committee to agree to a final version for the President to sign.
Seriously, Oklahoma, are you okay? Is there something you need to tell us? Is Kansas spiking your drinking water with peyote or fermented yak blood or whatever they drink up there? Does he beat you? Do we need to send help?
Here is a photo of Carlos "The Asshat" Mencia, which I pilfered from the BestOfNewOrleans blog:
He's atrocious, right? A total douchebag? Perhaps a fucktard, even?
Well, you'll be happy to know that the once and future rider in Orpheus has been officially uninvited. Doesn't that make you feel good? Want to feel better? Press the "cornify" button just below him. Repeatedly.
Wow. I need a break from stupid people for a while. How about you? Maybe a little mindless eye-candy joy-joy to take your mind of the economy or the housing bubble or Phil from Accounts Receivable? Here:
The French state will help provide free newspaper subscriptions to teenagers for their 18th birthdays, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced Friday. But the bigger gift is for France's ailing print media....
One of Sarkozy's solutions to help the industry is a pilot program that will give teenagers celebrating their 18th birthday a free, yearlong subscription to any general news daily of their choice. The publisher is to give the newspapers away, while the state pays for the deliveries.
That initiative appeared designed to assuage industry fears that young readers don't share the same appetite for print media that their parents and grandparents have, denting current and future revenues.
"The habit of reading the press is learned very young," Sarkozy said, while insisting that the aid would only buy time for publishers to adapt to the new media landscape....
Because I'm sure that all of those 18-year-olds will renew their subscriptions when they become impoverished 19-year-old college students or unemployed minimum-wagers or underemployed newspaper editors. At least, I'm sure that's what surveys of France's young people have shown.
