11PM Quiz Habit

Official Survivor Congratulations! You scored 75%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 26% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

WIN AN AWARD You're most likely to do something!

Whatever it is you do, you want to be the best at it. You are competative, but this will surely pay off when you become reknowned for your skills. Your award isn't likely to change the world - a Nobel prize may be slightly out of your reach - but you will nevertheless display it proudly in a room at home, and spend the remainder of your life trying to win another one. At reunions, everyone will no who you are - although, beware. People may avoid talking to you as you always mention your award!

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 69% on successpoints

Link: The Most Likely To...? Test written by headkase on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Starving Artist You are 28% Rational, 42% Extroverted, 0% Brutal, and 57% Arrogant.

You are the Starving Artist! Like some sort of emaciated Frenchman, you sit in your fancy little chair and contemplate beauty, meaning, flowers, and all kinds of other ridiculous crap. You are more intuitive than logical, and are primarily guided by your heart and emotions. You are also very introverted and gentle. Of course, this does not mean that you do not have an ego. In fact, you are surprisingly arrogant for someone so emotional and gentle. This is why you are best described as a starving artist. You are very introspective and quite sure of yourself, as any accomplished artist is, yet your views are impractical, guided by feelings, and overly gentle. You probably find math, logic, and similar intellectual pursuits offensive to your artistic sensibilities, and you prefer the open-endedness of artistry because it's infinitely easier to ponder the beauty of a sock than to build rocketships. So really you have no reason to be arrogant, you big doofus, because the skills you value (emotion, spirit, art, etc.) in yourself are valuable only on a subjective level, meaning your arrogance is purely masturbatory, like the insipid self-pleasuring of some twat who spouts artistic nonsense only for the pleasant tinkling sound it makes upon his indiscriminating ears. In short, your personality is defective because you are arrogant, introverted, introspective, gentle, and thoroughly irrational...posessing most of the traits needed to be a starving--and useless--artist. So get out there, write a few short stories that are allegories for the indestructible spirit of socks, and starve! To put it less negatively: 1. You are more INTUITIVE than rational. 2. You are more INTROVERTED than extroverted. 3. You are more GENTLE than brutal. 4. You are more ARROGANT than humble. Compatibility: Your exact opposite is the Capitalist Pig. Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Haughty Intellectual, the Televangelist, and the Emo Kid. * * If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits. The other personality types: The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble. The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble. The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble. The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant. The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble. The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant. The following image was made by Stephan Brusche at http://www.sb77.nl, a real-life "starving artist". Check out his website if interested.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 9% on Rationality You scored higher than 44% on Extroversion You scored higher than 0% on Brutality You scored higher than 61% on Arrogance

Link: The Personality Defect Test written by saint_gasoline on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Wocky Jabber

"Umpteen bureaux gossips. One mostly schizophrenic Jabberwocky auctioned off Mercury, because dogs telephoned umpteen irascible televisions, yet progressive elephants grew up partly cleverly. Pluto quickly untangles one almost obese botulism. Two speedy pawnbrokers sacrificed silly poisons, then five progressive botulisms laughed cleverly, yet irascible orifices tastes five silly Jabberwockies, because one speedy orifice laughed. The slightly bourgeois botulism very lamely auctioned off two televisions. Quixotic tickets mostly noisily marries one progressive orifice. The cats laughed, even though one Klingon towed pawnbrokers. Umpteen speedy orifices lamely bought two dogs.

Five irascible wart hogs abused Phil. Umpteen orifices kisses one silly pawnbroker. Umpteen schizophrenic bureaux auctioned off Paul, because two progressive Macintoshes noisily telephoned one pawnbroker, but five dwarves extremely quickly."

And for you Star Trek lovas'.....

"Vagh QaQ jonwI’S ah pe’vIl Suq tera’
Joq vatlh lotlhs HIv loS tlhaQ vetlhs.
Vagh qej bIQ’a’S ba’ jaS
Ach loS noSvaghs Suv wa’ ’ejyo’.
Vatlh neHmaHS qIQ.
LoS jej ’ejyo’S nep vatlh muDS
Joq loS yIHS chu’ QI’tomer.
Vagh rojmabs jaH.

Vatlh let meHS legh wa’ yuD ’u’.
LoS ah Dung Hoqra’S po’ tIj Qo’noS
’ach tera’ Suv vagh HoDS.

Wa’ Qut puch qoy’ ah jaS.
LoS nIQmeHS lon wa’ yIH.
Vatlh neHmaHS bol
Joq wa’ tlhIngan nom toj loS wo’S
’ach vagh loSDIch meHS Qagh
Ach vatlh vaghDich nIQmeHS jaH
’ach wa’ Qav nob qIp vatlh Dung rojmabs
Joq wa’ Hurgh qoy’."


My all time favorite line...
"Five schizophenic elephants abused about two Klingons."


Have a nice Day!

I'm still here

I know, it's been awhile. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how ya' look at it) I've been quite busy with the activities of work and school. Did y'all know that as you get closer to graduating,the more your teachers will give you un-imaginable amounts of work to do? I didn't know, so that's why I tell you.

Gawd, I can't wait to graduate.

Speaking of school, I came face to face with the strangest possibilty: my magazine cover design that I'm working on might make it to print.

You see, one of my classes is Computer IV, a sort of add-on education to my previous lessons of QUARK in Computer III. (Quark's an amazing editing program, just in case ya didn't know.) The currrent assignmenet we are working on consist of me and my classmates making four roughs (another term for an elaborate sketch of your idea) of the cover for our school's "literature and visual arts" magazine. These will than be viewed by the english and art department where the educators will pick out what they feel is suitable for the current year's theme.

My teacher told me repeatedly that she liked mine. (She even did it once all bugged eye, like she was amazed at what I did...beleive me, it wasn't that amazing. Just plain amazing. :D )

It's just strange thinking that I could have designed something that will go into print. Totally cool, too!


Oh, and before I forget...HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY DREW AND STACEY!!!

Happy Mardi Gras

Commisioned artwork by Sarah Cloutier http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/m/e/melukilan/copyright_melukilan.html


To all my fellow readers:

I'll be heading out today to visit some positively, absolutely, 100%. pregnant friends of mine in good ol' Mississippi. In other words, I'm running away for our local hoiday (and I couldn't even be more exited!!)

Since I won't be here, I wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Mardi Gras, whoever you are and where ever you are. Don't let the media fool you. Mardi Gras isn't all "tit's and beer." It's a heck lot more than that.

To share with ya what I mean, check Chris'veiw**. Heck, please pass it along to other folks that just don't get agian. Oh, and laissez les bons temps roulez, y'all!


**I apologize; my blog won't set up a link for this, for some strange reason. Here's Chris' veiw:http://www.nola.com/rose/t-p/index.ssf?/base/living-0/114094123464570.xml

A Request for my Dear Readers (and Visitors)

Have you traveled by yourself?

If so, where?Did you feel safe?

Are you female?

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? If so, any recommendations on anything around the area? (Accomadations, food, activities, parks, etc.)

Why am I asking all these questions?

It's all quite simple. You see, there's been a lot of changes in my life, changes that have made me question pratically every aspect of my life. The best thing I need to do is to do a little soul searching and I don't think staying at home (AKA New Orleans area) is going to help with that.

I just wish I wasn't so close to graduating from college (Fall 2006). Though should I allow that to delay me from finding out who I now am? (Rhetorical question, folks. No need to answer that one. Though please, feel free to if the need is that strong.)

Who am I? Where am I going? Why can't I have the winning numbers to a $360 million winning lottery ticket?

SCH-WEET!!

As much as I LOVE Kevin Smith, this test definitely didn't make me look proudly on my life...*sigh*

Than again...KEVIN FREAKING SMITH!! WOO-HOO!!

Kevin Smith Your film will be 52% romantic, 39% comedy, 36% complex plot, and a $ 33 million budget.

Kevin will take your slacker life and turn it into the cult classic it deserves to be --- like Mallrats (just kidding). If you can handle the menacing presence of Jay and Silent Bob all throughout your film, then Kevin is willing to oblige. Basically, he can take the lives of people who don't have much of a life and make it entertaining, so you're in good hands. Go watch your copy of Clerks, now.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 49% on action-romance You scored higher than 71% on humor You scored higher than 41% on complexity You scored higher than 48% on budget

Link: The Director Who Films Your Life Test written by bingomosquito on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Because Dave asked for it...

Though wouldn't I technically be "Spider-woman"?

Spiderman Congratulations! You scored a super 55%!

You're hotter than, well, hot-cakes! You've got a fan base bigger than Pam & Tommy, and to tell the truth, you actually don't mind the super-hero gig. Most of the time, anyway. Everyone seems to love their fun, friendly and courageous hero as you swoop in to save the day, time and time again! Unfortunately, swooping and day-saving doesn't help pay the rent, and you're not exactly the "hero-for-hire" type either. Hey, at least you can play down the whole life saving, self sacrificing gig with some neat lil' punchlines and remarks! Juggling both egos becomes a strain at times and whilst you want to help everyone, you're also in search of "me time", often finding yourself having to make constant personal sacrifices in order to protect those around you. Don't fret though! At the end of the day you'll find yourself with the support from either those you rescue or perhaps a close friend or loved one who'll get you by, reminding you of how cool you look in spandex.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 24% on Heropoints

Link: The Which SUPER HERO are you Test written by crayzee69 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

V-Day

How was my Valentine's day,you ask? God, was it such a excitefyl evening!! There was so much to do that I rushed home as quickly as my coscience would let me speed. (Gotta watch out for those coppers, you know.)

My evening started off with a much needed diinner of a fine home-mose turkey and cheese po-boy, accompanied wth chips and con queso dip. Yum!! It was followed with the beginning of some delightful readings by Kate Chopin adn Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. (Damn, these women wrote about women who could of benefitted from Valium...greatly benefitted.)
I can't leave out the best part of this; I had to write some pretty darn analysis answers on these girls. What fun was had!!

Of course, all work and no play, blah, blah, blah. So I did take a break by watching Gilmore Girls. Wonderful show!

Though whose evening could be complete without spending 4 hours working a project that is due the next day (in which you find out it wasn't reallly enough time so you would have to skip your first class for the day).

Such a delighful and enchanting I had!!

And you?

Heh...

Move over Drew, looks like we're gonna be sharing the same space.

Fun Fact:
If you read the rest of javafoofoo's matches, you would find out that she is not only welcomed on Serenity, but also Galactica, Moya, and the Millenium Falcon. I guess she has the pick of the litter! Woo-hoo!

You scored as Serenity (Firefly). You like to live your own way and donâ??t enjoy when anyone but a friend tries to tell you should do different. Now if only the Reavers would quit trying to skin you. Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 69% Moya (Farscape) 69% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 69% Serenity (Firefly) 69% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 63% SG-1 (Stargate) 56% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 44% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 44% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 44% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 38% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 31% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 31% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

A memo from Gordon Stevens

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when hardest hit,
It's when things seem worse that you must not quit.

Lookey-look!

My fave movies, AKA movies that I will watch if they come on tv, no matter how many times I have seen it.

Create your own Movie List @ HotFreeLayouts!

Just Call Me Tagged

Four Jobs I've Had in My Life
1. Tourist informant
2. waitress
3. ice-cream scooper ( and ice-cream scooper manager!)
4. smoothie maker

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have
1. Fight Club
2. The Professional (AKA "Leon")
3. Tombstone
4. Titanic (Don't laugh!! It's a guilty pleasure...)

Four Places I Have Lived
1. Marrero, Louisiana
2. Marrero, Louisiana
3. Marrero, Louisiana
4. I'll give you one guess...

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch
1. Family Guy
2. CSI
3. Smallville
4. Good Eats

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation
1. El Segundo/Los Angeles, California
2. New York City, New York
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Hot Springs, Arkansas

Four Websites I Visit Daily
1. Waiterrant.net
2. Batman on Film
3. A selection of blogs
4. Ebay

Four Favorite Foods
1. Fried Potatoes
2. sauteed vegetables
3. sashimi/sushi
4. dad's gumbo...especially his duck and oyster...mmm

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
1. New York City, New York
2. Brandon, Mississippi
3. Grand Canyon, Arizonia
4. New Zealand/Austrailia

Four People Whom I Tag Next
1. Kristen
2. Chun
3. Dan
4. uh...

A little Overdue

So there I was, trashing files and documents on my computer in which all it was doing was taking up space, when I come across the following. Funny with a touch of truth...and I completely forget I was going to post this, like, about 2 months ago. Oops!

Things I have learned from watching CNN about the hurricane coverage:

1. The hurricane only hit black families property.

2. New Orleans was devastated and no other city was effected by the hurricane.

3. Mississippi is reported to have a tree blown down.

4. New Orleans has no white people.

5. The hurricane blew a limb off a tree in the yard of an Alabama resident.

5. When you are hungry after a hurricane, steal a big screen tv.

7. The hurricane did 23 billion dollars in improvements in New Orleans.

8. Now the city is on welfare and looter and gang free, because they are in your city.

9. Don’t give thanks to the thousand that came to rescue you, instead, bitch because the government hasn’t given you a debit card.

10. Only black families were separated in the hurricane rescue efforts.

11. Ignore warnings to evacuate and the white folks will come get you and give you money for being stupid.

Crashing down

**Warning: This post contains explicit language. Parental guidance is highly suggested...if you care.

I just finished watching the movie Crash not even 30 minutes ago. The last time I cried that hard, I was mourning over my city.

In summary, the movie stirred the shit out of my emotions because it dealt with racism, a subject that is on the top of my list of subjects that make me fucking angry. I never knew that racism was going to be the main theme of the film. It's not like I would not have rented it if i knew, I simply would have been better prepared.

For those of you readers who haven't seen it, rent it. Borrow it. Buy it. I just highly recommend that you get your hands on it.

There were so many disturbing scenes. Many of them makes you reflect on your own life and the experiences that you have had.

One thing I couldn't get out of my mind is my own views. As I stated above, I hate racism with a passion. I strongly dislike people who will simply not open their eyes and see that there is more to life than stereotypical labels. I was shocked to learn about a side of my dad that I never knew existed when, years ago, my parents and I had a casual conversation about dating. After I jokingly stated that there were times when I wanted to date a black guy just to peeve off my somewhat racist grandma. My dad countered with "she's not the one you need to worry about" quite sternly and very seriously. I was speechless. I gave a look to my mom, with her only explanation of my dad's view (which even surprised my mom) was that he was his mother's son. I can't exactly say that makes things any better.

The older I get, the more I realize that society plants the seed for these racist views. I mean that more in the sense of communities. I'm surrounded by a lot of white folk who speak of black people as if they are a disease. Here's an example:

I grew up in the Westminister subdivision down here in LA. My parents bought it less than a year before I was born. I loved growing up there. It was a cultural haven, with a mixture of white, black and Asian people living on our street. (Though I must point out, there really was that many families the were white, maybe 1/3.) The neighborhood was great. It was like a big family. Unfortunately, only five years after being born, a hurricane blew in and flooded the entire subdivision. about 1/3 (no, not the white 1/3, silly) of the neighborhood said the heck with it and moved out. We stayed and watched over the next 15 years a decline in our neighborhoods character. It no longer was diverse, with more black families moving in. The people that moved in didn't seem to be considerate or heck, not even nice. A man called the police on my dad b/c my dad went over to the guy's house to ask him to watch his trash. (It mysteriously kept appearing in our backyard. The guy lived behind us.) We all realized after that, the neighborhood we knew was no more. What kind of neighborhood is it when you can't even settle your problems without the police being involved? We moved about two years after. We lived there for 23 years, and the only thing we were going to miss was our next door neighbor who were there since day one.

Now every once in awhile I get asked where I grew up from my customers at the local restaurant I work at. Now get this, every single time I tell them Westminister, there eyes bug out and the question always arises from their lips, "Isn't that a black neighborhood?" You can here in their voices a "WTF were you doing living there?" The same theory is always told to me that the neighborhood went downhill b/c of "the blacks" moved in. I swear, they talk about them as if they were roaches, those mother-fucking bastards. How small minded can you get?

My upbringing was a combination of people of different cultures, extremely open-minded, and a combination of subtle racists. I seen comedy sketches of a black guy going undercover in the white world simply to see they act different when white is the only color around. Sadly, that is true in some places. I live in a city that has those crowds of people that think just b/c I'm white, I must think the same way they do.

I just wish that people werent so hung up on skin color and statistics. America refers to anyone who's not white to be a minority, when I don' think that's the case at all. It's us open-minded folk, who see what's going on around here. Those of us that can't seem to figure out when it will all end. It probably never will because we mainly live in a close-minded neighborhood.

Good Day Sunshine

I'm in such a great mood today! It's a strange winter day in which it is a perfect 65%. You can't be that.
I just wish I was in this mood Saturday night. And I wish I didn't have so many housechores to do. I wanna go outside and play, WAHHH!!


Editor's note: "65%" link shall only work for today, January the third...unless we luck out again tomorrow!!

Just another day...

I was hoping to put something fresh or new or simply interesting here for the new day, but lo and behold. Eh...

I can't dwell into the tremendous fun I had partying last night in celebration of today, because nothing went down. Heck, just in case you out of towners haven't heard, it was a tad on the foggy side down here. If i had a digital camera, I could've shown you. Alas, I's don't.

I don't have any words of wisdom to pass on or some silly reflection of the year gone by, because it would be just that, silly. Heck, I'm pretty sure I'll be spending a number of years reflecting on the last one.

What I will say is have a good day. And if not, don't let it bring ya down. Every day will turn out like every other, simply a day in the past.

Queen Angie, the Outspoken

After a morning of finding out that I was not needed at work, I then came to find out that I had nothing planned for the day. What to do...what to do...

I ended up calling CK up with a request of accompanying my bored azz to the movies, where we could see how good that Narnia movie is said to be. (I felt a little antsy; King Kong was not a barrel of monkeys...)

On my way to pick up CK I discovered that children are complete idiots when it comes to riding their bikes in high traveled traffic areas. This kid stopped his riding in the middle of the street not even two feet away from the sidewalk, so he could lick the ice-cream that was dripping down his fingers. His two friends rode around him, waiting for him to complete this important task, while they all saw me driving not even a block away, and made no attempt to move. Where the hell are the parents when their kids were riding and stopping in the middle of the streets even when a car was coming? Huh? WHERE?? Dare I say, I tried to scare the tweens by getting as close as possible as I could to them with my car, though I learned that didn't phase them one bit.

I continued my drive to CK's hut, picked him up, and we headed out the the theatre. That was after another run-in with the idiots. This time they were on the move, swerving back in forth in the street, looking back every once in awhile to spot the lucky person who would get to run them over. I related my initial run-in with them to CK, though was completely dumb struck when Kid Lick stopped, again, in the middle of the road, again, and licked his fingers, again. I gave a hearty "you've got to be shitting me" laugh and pulled up aside Kid Lick to instruct him on the laws of cycling. It's a shame I didn't speak his language, because from the look he gave me, he must've not spoken english.

Oh well, off to Narnia! (After a McNugget stop that is...mmm, McNugget...)

The movie turned out to be delightfully wonderful, with only one con: the moron who sat on my row. (No, not CK...sheesh.)

About 70 minutes into this movie, the moron pulled out her phone and could be heard loud and clearly saying, "Yea", "No", "Uh-huh", all followed by me going, "Excuse me...EXCUSE ME! SHHH!!(commence pointing finger to movie screen in a slight reminder to moron that there's a movie taking place.) I got the feeling that this one understood english by the way she quieted down, while sinking into her seat. I swear, nothing can pull you out of a period piece quicker than someone going, "Yea." I wish I had a cattle prod...

You know what day it is...

Best wishes for a holiday that doesn't drive you crazy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The Goose is Getting Fat

"Deer", James Jean


It has been spoken with many a co-workers, friends, and family, that Christmas has come just too darn quickly this year. Though for many, many, many of us, that is a sentiment felt year after year, I feel that this year it especially rings true with the disappearance of September.

2005 Christmas Revelations:

1. Chocolate is beleived to be the fundamental required gift of many a persons during the season. I currently have about 5pds of the deliciously evil stuff in my home, and I'm sure to receive more.

2. Company Christmas parties can become really fun when the invitation list consists of only those who work at the company and not those that the company is smoozing (AKA kissing up to). Oh, that and also about 3 Vodka Collins can do the same.

3. While CK confesses that he really, really loved the "Adventures of Superman : Season One" DVD I gave him as a gift, it will nver ever beat his own gift of getting a car. (Finally!!)

4. Speaking of CK, it has also come to my attention that he has a hidden power to seduce the girls, which did not make Satcey too happy. ;)

5. Satcey's friend Em is a fun woman to hang with...especially when she's drinking.

6. Santa and the wife are apparently having marriagable problems. (Well, either that or she doesn't mind his loose ways.)


All in all, this has been one heck of a year with surprise after surprise after surprise. The year in reveiw blog will come next week, so instead,

HAVE A HECK OF A HAPPY HOLIDAY!!

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

HAVE A GRANDE OL' TIME!!

Oh, and good luck with the family. Now I shall end with my all time favorite Christmas song (sung to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas) which is also a new Orleans classic!

THE TWELVE YATS OF CHRISTMAS
(Benny "Grunch" Antin) Anzel Anzel, BMI

1. On'da foist day'a Christmas mah
Mawmaw gave'to me a Crawfish'dey
Caught in Arabi

2. In'da Christmas Picayune I seen it
Dere'n Section E, Tujaque's Recipe

3. On'da thoid day' a Christmas we
Stopped at McKenzie for Three French Breads

4. On the fourth day I said OK let's get a
Christmas tree Before'ya Drive Me Nuts

5. On the fifth day of Christmas we
stopped at A&G for Frrried Onion Rrrings

6. On'da sixth day'a Christmas we
stopped at K&B's for a Six Pack'a Dixie

7. Cemetery traffic got backed up to
Metairie at the Seventeenth Street Canal

8. On'da eighth day of Christmas me and
Rosalie Ate By'ya Mama's

9. On the ninth day of Christmas we drove
down Delery in'da Lower Ninth Ward

10. I used'ta be at Kaiser now I'm woikin
down'da street at'da Tenneco Chalmette Refinery

11. On the eleventh day at Vetran's
Highway try'ta cross the street with Eleven Schwegmann Bags

12. On the twelfth day of Christmas my
true love gave to me a Dozen Manuel's Tamales

Merry Christmas!!

It's never too early too early (in the month of December) (ONLY in the month of December) to celebrate Christmas!

The Outer Limits: Part I

I'm off work today and tomorrow. It was hard not to take advantage of this beautiful 60 degree weather we're having down here by taking a little drive around the city.

It turned out to be quite revealing.

I asked CK to join me since two is better than one, and we toured Uptown, Riverbend, the French Quarter, City Park, Esplanade Ave., Canal Street/Boulevard, Lakeveiw and Westend. I really wish I had my camera with me.

We started out with a drive down St. Charles Avenue, with the destination being this great sushi place on Oak Street. The avenue really was pretty darn nice. There was trees missing here and there, though it was the complete absence of the St. Charles Streetcar that proved to be a little unnerving. We drove just waiting to see a streetcar that wasn’t going to pop up any time soon.

Speaking of unnerving, we took a stroll through the French Quarter after lunch. I had a main objective of satisfying this major craving I’ve been having for a cup of java at my most beloved coffee shop in the entire city. (Ask CK all about how freaking giddy I was when I found out that they were indeed open!) As we were taking our steps into the Quarter itself, I couldn't help but take notice of something that was missing: music.

We were on the very corner of the famous Jackson Square and not a peep, not a single note could be heard in the air. If you've never been to the Quarter, let me just tell you, it's down right scary for the only sounds to be heard are the vehicles that are occupying the road. Jackson Square is famous not only for the St. Louis cathedral that crowns the top of the park, but also for the many artists and musicians that set up around the area day in and day out. You could find at least one artist on the Square even at one o'clock o a Tuesday morning. Now all that could be found were vehicles, which pre-Katrina, was not allowed. CK expressed his disappointment with me for bringing up this observation.. Apparently I answered his unspoken question on "what's wrong with this picture." This outing was his second time to post-Katrina Quarter, and he couldn't figure out what was wrong when he last was there. I figured it out. Anyway, we headed to my java spot and ended up chatting with the owner for a bit, which ended with the guy suggesting that we drive up Canal Street/Boulevard to see the damage that was endured up there.

At least 45% of the places we drove by were unlivable.

You see, Canal is scattered with businesses that eventually dissolve into beautiful homes as you drive further up the street, going toward Lake Ponchatrain. In post-Katrina New Orleans, you could now spy the dried up evidence of where the flood waters decided to stop at as you drove up the street. The stain gradually moved up from one foot, to two feet, to three, four, and five. Inside some of the structures we could see homes that were gutted out, nothing but their skeletons remaining. Two things went through my head.

1. Thank freaking god this did not take place in my hometown across the Mississippi. The Westbank--well, most of it--lucked out greatly. I was so glad I didn't have to see my parents react to what could've been. They just bought a new house a little over a year ago due to the downfall of our old neighborhood. For years, they would speak of a misjudged decision to stay in that neighborhood after a category 1 hurricane flooded the crap out of our neighborhood back in 1985.



Those pictures you see on your left-hand screen is what went down. Our house was elevated about 4 feet higher than the average home in the subdivision and we still got two feet in our house. (I want to also mention that before the subdivision was built it used to be a swamp. Needless to say, my old neighborhood got hit horribly for Katrina. heck, any place in the city that used to be a swamp got flooded.) It took about four months to fix up the place before we could live back in it.

That first week after the Katrina hit, during the family's evacuation, my mom spoke fearfully that if our home flooded again, that was it. She wasn't going to stick around to gut out and fix up the place again. I'm pretty sure that type of feeling is what many have felt with Katrina. If you been through it once, chances are you don't want to go through it again.

2. Potential Real Estate. I felt kinda bad for thinking this, but it was hard not to. I think ever since I was 15, when I first experienced the exquisitely beautiful homes that are in uptown/garden District, i wanted to be a part of that history. One of my main goals in life is to purchase an antique, one hundred or more years, home and restore it than call it home. In the wake of Katrina, many homes will end up being abandoned due to feelings that have been stated above.

As bad as things were out there, it was hard not to crack a smile at a local's inspirational phrase that was spray painted across his house: F U Katrina.

Life's Lessons

Lesson of the day:

Mischeif can lead to exaggeration.

The other day, some co-workers and I delve into the land of "you know you're not suppose to do that" by tasting/drinking an alcoholic beverage at work. I must mention that this was on company time. Like I said, into the land of "you know you're not suppose to do that."

The restaurant I work at was physically a small place, and at the time, we had no customers. Earlier that day, due to our bartender not being on the clock yet, a waitress (we'll call her Elle) made a few White Russians for some customers. They ordered numerous White Russians from her. Later that day, during the time i refer to, we asked Elle if she could make another one so we could taste it and she happily obliged.

We discoverd why the customers ordered numerous drinks.

We discovered that she offered a taste to a waitress that was in the kitchen.

We discovered that our cook noticed this.

None of this would have been that bad except that our dishwasher said that he noticed a customer storm out of the restaurant.

Now not one of us waitresses noticed this, which we would of, because the seating area was directly behind us. We heard about the "so-called" customer about ten minutes after the taste test took place. I do not cut back on the tasting by calling it that. A few sips was all that was had.

Of course, our manager found out about this the next day. The story that she heard was practically told to her as "the girls were making/drinking mixed drinks at the bar and neglected a customer."

BULLSHIT!

All of us waitresses were informed by the manager on that fateful day on how stupid a decision that was to do what we did. If we do it agian, we fired!

To Ms. Manager: Good decision. The main fault was that we had alcohol on the job. I know that no matter how little it may be, you're not suppose to that. Very much, our bad.

The one thing about the reprimanding that really irked me was that a fellow co-worker confirmed the entire thing. She wasn't even there during the so-called incident. She came in later that evening!!

Grrr...I really hate that woman.

Now that I have reflected on the matter, I should change the lesson learned:

You should always follow your mantra when it comes to never doing anything against the rules for no matter how little or rare an occasion it is, you will get caught.

Second hand drive to fate

I just returned from a failed expedition to find a really good wool coat for the winter. The objective was pretty damn simple: go to Burlington Coat factory, look at coats, return home. We all know that most things are not as simple as they seem.

I called the trustworthy mom up to ask what locales on the Westbank would be open for business. Ever since Katrina, most places have been boarded and closed (like Mr. Burlington), leaving the only place to go to being the dreaded Metairie/Kenner. There’s just so many extra folk around. New Orleans is starting to have traffic that can vie with Los Angeles. It has become that bad.

well, after explaining to mom that “no. Burlington will not be opening anytime later this afternoon” she suggested the Riverwalk mall. For those of you readers who are unfamiliar with this shopping center, it’s located downtown, right along the Mississippi River, on the edge of the french Quarter. Mainly a mall put there with the mission to attract tourists, us locales have heard that it has just recently opened up its’ doors. I figured what the heck, and decided to wait in the traffic that laid ahead that would end with me to the Riverwalk.

Now this was to be the first time since Katrina in which I went downtown. Prior to her, I would go down at least every other week, no fewer than once a month. i did work in that area for the past six years, though I was just recently transferred to another part of the city about six months ago. What I’m mainly getting across here is that downtown is like a second home to that. heck, I’m more familiar with that area than i am with my own home town!!

The route I ended up taking to the mall with be down a street called Convention Center Boulevard which, if you haven’t figured it out yet, ran along the Ernest Memorial Convention Center. It was the quickest route to the mall. Un-expectantly, my stomach dropped the second I begun to turn onto the street.

It wasn’t in disarray, though there were parts that still needed a little mending, but what happened was I was suddenly flooded with the images that CNN streamed violently across the nation (and world’s) television sets during the days that followed our levees breaking. I kept seeing images of hundreds of people waiting in misery for help that took too damn long to come. I recollected the pictures and stories of bodies that were left dead among the stretch while people waited. I felt sick.

I drove on, looking for an entrance to a nearby parking lot, but do to the way cars were parked in a mixed up fashion, it was had to find an entrance, or to even see if it was opened. the search led me into the French Quarter, where my stomach dropped even more. It wasn’t like the streets were abandoned, but compared to pre-Katrina, it was eerily empty. Harrah’s casino was boarded up as if never to reopen again. Construction crews and machinery were scattered about. There were few cars and few people to be seen and I’m pretty darn sure I saw a tumbleweed roll across Canal Street. I couldn’t take it. I barely drove ten blocks downtown, but I already wanted to head back. I did.

I sit here writing, realizing that maybe I’m not really ready to satisfy my curiosity by driving through New Orleans east. I realize now why the bars are the current most popular attraction with us locals. I realize now that I should’ve taken a different route downtown. C’est le vie.

I wonder if I can cash this in?

My blog is worth $1,693.62.
How much is your blog worth?

Height or happiness?

I'm conflicted.

As my close friends and family know, I've been bitching like crazy about my current work status for quite some time now. I have been with current employer for almost seven years now ( exactly six years and six months) in which I have learned so many freaking things and have gained so many skills that it is not even funny. (Okay, it actually is...HA HA HA!!)

Side note: I'm having trouble concentrating while writing this do to the amazingly talented guys with Franz Ferdinand and their excellent rock album. Cue music: ' Do you wanna go where I've never let you before.'

Now back to the meat.

Okay, so I've been bitching like crazy about the current misery in my life. Today, I realized that I do enjoy, no, love my job. Currently.

I should start somewhat at the beginning for those that have no clue what I'm talking about. for the quick summary, I got this job with this big name tourism company in my city to be the traditional part time job that every college bound student obtains to pay the bills. Shoot forward six years in which this "job" has practically have become a "career." Quite unexpected. I've down everything from tourist information to customer service to cook/sous chef. Yes, I said cook.(Well, as of today. I got to be a cook! Yay!)

I had become extremely unhappy with my job, especially since a so-called "promotion" that I was offered turned out to be more of a demotion. I was going to talk to my manager about it after the seasonal hurricane evacuation. Well, due to Katrina, my tourism related job has morphed into the restaurant industry. On September 1, in an unnamed division of the company, a restaurant was to open. Instead , the ball got rolling about a month later when us folks was allowed back into this portion of the city. Due to Katrina, I'm now a hostess/waitress/sous chef/cook who does a little bartending. (Just don't ask for anything more complicated than a bloody mary.)

I figured with the many job opportunities that have arose, I would look for something that would offer a step up the corporate ladder, something that would actually show appreciation/respect for the skills I have. I found that job. It's with the pet store XXXXX. (You honestly thought i would tell? HA!) They were offering a management position after getting my feet wet in the business. I accepted it about a week ago.

Now on Monday I'll be starting up at XXXXX, though now I'm wondering...

Is this what I want? Heck, where do I see myself in the future? Where do I want to be?

I love the tourism industry. I have come to love everything about my current job. (My coworkers are no longer only of the age forty and over, and I actually am working, not like I was before Katrina in which the high-point of my day was cleaning the restroom. Sheesh...)

I can't help but wonder if I should stay where I am. I find myself asking myself if climbing the corporate ladder is what I want. Now I'm not debating on wheter or not I should quit my upcoming job, because I'm not. I do plan to stick with the two for now ( two jobs equals two paychecks which also means happy Angie.)

What do y'all think?

Liscense Plates and Chickens

Yesterday evening I was headed to my friend Rob's place to participate in the ancient American pastime, pizza and a movie[s]. The drive there was quite peculiar. During my ten minute drive to his home, my eye never caught the view of a Louisiana license plate. There was Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and even Indiana. The thought did run across my mind that those plates probably belonged to out of state visitors helping out with the hurricane efforts, but damn, it was quite peculiar.


This morning a young gentleman arrived to my house to set up an internet router that was purchased so I could get the internet on my IBook. The young gentleman was quite cute.

"Hi. I went to your neighbor's house thinking the address was 1117."

Mmm...Glad ya found it.
"I'm pretty sure I wrote 1113."

"No, you did. My bad."

"Well let me show you to the spare room."

Small talk, small talk, followed by me pulling up my screen on our Dell.

"Cool screen saver, Batman Begins. Definitely the best Batman film, and the best movie this year."

My ears perk up.
"If you like that, you should see the poster I have of that image. It's, well, just rolled up in a tube for the past five months..."

Once again, I'm irritated over how I can't afford to frame one hell of a poster. Damn 1/10 of an inch...

Followed by once again, small talk about Batman, my IBook, and our education. Also followed by my thoughts of:

"Damn this guy's cute. Looks like Jimmy Fallon a little, but heck... I wonder if they could date a customer?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"But he's probably seeing someone. Cute guy, friendly demeanor, and pulling in, my guess, a hefty paycheck each week."

Enter computer jabber, how this works, how that works, how bad it is to have limewire on my computer (followed by a Napster suggestion. Apparently those sharing programs can end up having yo share more than music...) and more small talk.

"I bet you're wondering how is it that "this guy" can type so fast. Apparently those lonely Saturday nights are paying off."

"Oh look, he made a joke about 'lonely Saturday nights, how 'bout that."

"..."

"Well, like I said there's only one way to find out."

"And that's it. You're all set to go."

"Thanks a lot. "

We head out the room to the door. No, not that door, that's the garage door, yeah, that one."

"Oh look," he says, spotting my Nova, followed by him bending down, totally transfixed by the powers of a house-cat.

"Here's your chance!! Here's your chance!! Just ask him, ya chicken shit!!"

"Thanks a lot again."

We shake hands and he flashes one heck of a smile.

I wave him off, he waves back.

The door closes.

Ya chicken shit...

Mmm...tasty

Lesson of the day, kids: You should always treat your waiter/waitress with respect.

Reflection

I write this listening to Guns 'N Roses Patience, mainly because that is the song that has been randomly selected by my computer. I just thought y'all would like to know.

Though I would like to share some random thoughts:

1. The Christian god is supposed to be all forgiving, correct? I ask because if this is so, why would there be a hell? A bedtime story to actually make the childrens behave?

2. Micheal Jackson's Thriller, after hearing it for the first time in 1984, still creeps me out when I hear it. Strange...

3. The statement "who needs enemies with friends like these" greatly speaks true when your "friends" buy you many, many chocolates, no matter how delicious it is.

4. I shouldn't label my Sunday post as "Quote of the week" when I actually don't post it every week, like I said I would do.

5. Two of our shopping centers opened back up this past week. Yay! Not like I'm a shopaholic or anything, but it's good to hear there will be more variety (IOW, crowd disbursement) with the holiday shopping season approaching. Gosh, I hate what Christmas has become...

6. I like movies. If I could, I would marry them.
"Angie and movies, sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

Another Meme Request

So what is the fifth line of my twentyfifth post?

"Anyway, the help comes in the form of a question: What do you wish you knew or wish somebody told you after you graduated from highschool?"

There it is.

Who I would like to see do the same:

1. Orchard
2. Drew
3. Rob
4. heck, anyone who reads my post
%. See number 4

Quote of the Week

I'm going to start posting a quote of the week. I want to show off those words that amuse me, like the following:

" ...you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a drug dealer."

Correspondant for WDSU New Olreans very own Richard Angelico's regard on the corner of Forstall and Derbigny in the Ninth Ward, post-Katrina


Stay tuned for next week's "Qoute of the Week."

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

Taking the Wheel

Will this be made for tv or straight to theater?

Will this be inspirational or drama?

Which studio got to him first?

Who will be the lead actor?

What will the catchphrase/line be?


Bets are now be taken...

To do or not to do...

...that is the question.

I returned from my wonderful visit to my lovely friends in Brandon, Mississippi, just about five days ago. Gosh, I really missed you guys! (And do, once agian...Go figure.)

Strangely, the high point of the trip had no direct relation to my freinds, but instead to my introduction to LimeWire. (Think napster, without all the legal mumbo-jumbo.) I got to download 255 songs onto my IBook! 225!!! (I's got dial-up at home, they had wirless. If you put 2 +2 together, and keep in mind that my IBook had wireless capabilities, it will equal one happy camper. DSL ROCKS!!)

On the trip I got to sample some ever so delicious venison burgers, made by the ever so talented Drew. Mmm-mmm good! Good lord!! I almost forgot! Stacey paid me back in full and made the most ever so delicious, mouth watering, delectable, sugary, chocolatly, eye popping oatmeal chocolate with chocolate chip cookies ever! Mad love majorly to you, girl!

Than there was Rob. You can always count on him to spill out something from his mouth that will boggle (and always amuse!) the mind. This time he requested my prescence on a 3 week trip with him to Northeastern United States. The places that stood out was New York, New York; Nantucket,Massachusetts; Salem,Massachusetts; Wasington,DC. Simply many places I've been wanting to check out again, if not for the first time. In other words, he was presenting quite a compelling case.

To top that off, he said I could look at it as a business proposal. He was going to be spending $$$ on a rental car, but if I came, I would be making $$$. He said to look at it as a job search, since that was what he was going to do. (Or so he says.) Due to current events, job searching has become a popular pastime down here. Heck, I've been starting to have a little fun applying!

Now if you caught that, I did say "down here" and "applying", all meaning the present tense. If you understood that, you would also have gotten from it that I'm down south, instead of doing a little traveling, which is what my heart and sould really, really, wishes that I did. But avast! She did not follow her heart, nor her soul, making regret the forfront emotion at hand!!

You see, momma Robichaux raised her little girl up to have a guilty conscience on top of a strong sense of ethics. It's primarily the latter which is making me stick home. That, a nd finacial crap. Main reason Rob got to run off and do soome traveling is all thanks to a little, "help". I have not yet received any requested "help" to, um, help, with the financial strains I have. I gots some bling-bling to spend, but I'm afraid if I spend it, I will not be able to find a job that would help me pay for that crap we all have to pay for.

But mooommm! I wanna go!!

To make matters worse, he has brought up the subject, again, when he talked to me from,um, somewhere in the Carolinas? Anyway, he said "why don't you meet me in DC?" When he pointed out that would be tomorrow, I had to decline. (Just a little too soon to make a move like that!) "Ok, what about New York. I'll be there in a few days." *Hmph* That actually sounds real nice. Really nice.

Nice enough to make me reflect about it.
Nice enough to make me wonder if I should go with it.
Nice enough to make me contemplate the cost involve.
Nice enough to make me feel bad for even thinking about doing it when I know that finances are a little tight plus I already told my soon-to-be-former- job that I'll help out with their much needed help for the restaurant that they own plus the evil eyes I would get from my mom. (Y'all know those eyes. It's something every woman inherits when her first born arrives. Always.)

I simply don't know. I would ask, "what do y'all think", but I already know that many of you will say "DO IT!!"

And heck, why not ask. "Do y'all think I sjould go?"

If so, give me reasons, good ones. Heck, while you're at it, give me sensible reasons to why I should stay. List things I should think of before even considering this. Spiritually and emotionally I know I should do this. Plus it might be a once in a lifetime oppurtunity. (It would be nice to be one of the persons who makes a good thing out of what happened.) Finacially, I'm simply unsure.

Maybe I just need to crunch some numbers.

Or maybe I'm feeling this way in fear of my parents reactions.

That's probably it. Damn your evil upbringings! How dare you make me a child who feels guilty to do anything that may be against your wishes! (But very good parenting! ;D )