A long day

Heres some captions for todays photos:
1) Our house at 5:45 this morning after we boarded up and just before we got in the car to evacuate.
2) A Mardi Gras Indian. This is a combination of cultures resonating from the days when slaves and natives were barred from practicing their religions so they got together and taught each other their traditions.
3) Some people dancing at the Jazz Funeral.
4) The levee separating the Industrial Canal and the Lower Ninth Ward. This photo clearly illustrates why it is called the LOWER Ninth Ward.
5) A video from the Jazz Funeral.
6) My neighbor Will's Antebellum house all boarded up. We were the only two houses on the block that were boarded up when we left.
7) Heather (gray) and Elma (pink) boarding up one of our bathroom windows.
8) This man was the definition of irony. His sign said something to the effect of Stop Ethnic Cleansing in the Lower Ninth Ward, yet he was wearing a Washington Redskins t-shirt.
9) A Horse buggy horse that was used in the Jazz Funeral. The buggy is made of glass and you can see the casket inside.







So I am just chilling at my "new house" in Shreveport. Left New Orleans at about 6 this morning and got up here a bit after lunch time. We made great time and hit only about 10 minutes of traffic. So for now I guess we all just have to keep watching the storm and keeping our fingers crossed for the safety of New Orleans.

Gustav 4

So it's official. While Gustav still may or may not hit New Orleans the chances of it doing so are great enough that they are going to issue a mandatory evacuation probably on Sunday. That being said Heather and I are leaving early tomorrow morning for Shreveport.

Today we went to the Jazz Funeral to bury Hurricane Katrina which was fun although there was no Jazz. Maybe thats only at real jazz funerals. Oh well, I guess I will have to go to another one soon.

Gotta go do some stuff now but I will post some more photos/videos as soon as I can, including one of the definition of irony.

Gustav 3

What a tricky thing. We were sure that we'd know our Gustav fate today, but after it slowed down and moved southwest and hit Jamaica last night, we are still unsure of whats going on. It is still predicted to hit the Gulf coast next week, but chances are just as likely for it to hit anywhere along the coast as they are to hit any other place. Hopefully we will know better tomorrow as it moves into the Gulf. Regardless we are acting as if we will be leaving on Saturday morning. At this point my short term volunteer Heather has agreed to come to Shreveport with me.

Everything has been rather strange and way different than what I would have ever expected a year ago (especially to think that all my friends are at the first UConn football game tonight). But yeah, I figured that today we may end up just sitting around feeling that it could be very pointless that we are doing work, but I forgot how community oriented lowernine.org is. They spent $500 to buy plywood and screws for local residents to help them board up their houses and will be doing so probably until Saturday afternoon. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the heat telling everyone we could that there was buses available to take them out of the storm if they didn't have evacuation plans. I only had one person in the 20 or so blocks (granted about half the houses were abandoned from Katrina) I covered say that they were not sure if they were leaving (ironically he lived next door to a family that was packing up to leave tonight).

What puts a very weird spin on the whole situation is that tomorrow is the 3 year anniversary of Katrina so there was and still are events planned in the city over the weekend to commemorate this. Tomorrow I am going to see a Jazz Funeral for Hurricane Katrina (if you don't know what it is wikipedia it, although I will probably post photos/videos) and am VERY excited. The place that is hosting it is also hosting some speeches later that day including one by our Mr. President. They asked my buddies Eric, Ryan, and I to help set up for it but we declined to walk through the heat to warn residents of the storm since we felt that saving human lives (which is essentially what we did) was more important than helping the president look good for a press shoot. After the Jazz Funeral the volunteers that are staying with me will come back to our house and help me get all our ducks in a row in case push comes to shove. This includes boarding the windows (since we have shutters we just need some 2x4s and not a lot of plywood), packing our own stuff, and getting gas/packing the car up. One of the strange/wasteful things we will need to do is to empty our fridge of all persihables. It is terrible to think about how much food/money I am going to be literally throwing away, but with no clue about traffic, power, and how long we will be away you need to be safe rather than sorry. My guess is that I may leave some where around 5 or 6 am on Saturday.

As I said before for more information on the current status of the storm please check out www.nola.com. Also check out my video that I posted on Sunday or Monday. Hope to hear from you all soon.

Gustav 2

Still a lot of uncertainties in the air as no one is sure what will happen. the storm could potentially land anywhere from Mexico to Florida. Right now it seems as if it may come through here on Monday afternoon with tropical storm force winds, but honestly everything is speculation at this point and we will know a lot more tomorrow. I am making preparations as if I AM going to have to evacuate. I went today to Auto Zone and bought gas cans in case we are stuck in traffic since if needed I will be headed to Shreveport, LA to spend some time with a college friend of my mom's. It seems as if the city is more pre-cautious now than Katrina, but also less worried so it is I guess a lesser storm. It is kind of scary since everyone that I regularly interact with is not only expereincing their first hurricane, but their first hurricane season, so no one knows really how much to prepare. just expect for the worst and hope for the best.

An interesting conclusion we have kind have come to is that unless this turns out to have destruction similar to Katrina, it would actually be more detrimental to the area if a natural disaster occurred somewhere else in the country rather than here, since that would take focus off her and to the other place, killing our opportunities to get money and volunteers.

I guess we are all just really hoping that the storm dies down in the Gulf and hurts no one.

Please keep checking here since I will try to make nightly updates as long as I am able. Also check www.nola.com for the best weather and news regarding the storm. I should have cell phone access so you can feel free to call/text me if you want to check in.

Gustav

So I want to start off by saying thank you to everyone who checked out my video in the last post. If you have not yet done so then please do.

I also wanted to let people know that I as well as everyone I work with is well aware of Hurricane Gustav. As you may or may not know it is over Haiti now and predicted to be about 300 miles south of NOLA on Sunday afternoon. It is predicted to make landfall as a Cat 3 hurricane (this is what Katrina was where it hit New Orleans) with winds of 120 mph. Keep in mind that these are only predictions and a lot can happen between now and then. The storm could potentially hit anywhere from the Texas coast to northeast Florida. I just don't want people to worry. While this is a serious threat I am going to take all necessary precautions and evacuate if/when it is time. If you would like to stay updated on Gustav your best bet is to check in regularly at www.nola.com as they are the local paper and will probably have the best updates. On my end I will try to post on here as much as possible to keep people updated.

Love you all.

On-Site Fundraising Video

I made this video so that people could see what really happened during Hurricane Katrina, see the dilapidated conditions that the city is still in, and see how they can help. Please leave me comments about it and left me know how you would like to contribute. Please share this link with as many people as possible. Thank you.

New Photos--i.e. a trailer for my fundraising video

1) Rotted wood that Ronnie and I worked on replacing over the last week.
2) A TV cabinet at a man named Turner's house that we've been working on. It is a very interesting piece that is truly remarkable.
3) A house across the street from the house I've been working on. It only has a front left and I do not know what they plan to do with houses like these since they are rather plentiful.
4) Even national chains have not come back. This KFC/Long John Silver's is across the street from a Walgreens that is not opened up. Down the street are a Family Dollar and a Wal-Mart that have not come back yet either.

Keep posted for the video that I have made and will hopefully be posted in the next few days.

A Post to Keep People Posted

I really don't have much to say in this post that is all too emotionally compelling or interesting. Life is going pretty much as it has been, however it hasn't been as hot (its hurricane season so it rains just about everyday at least for a bit). So yeah I had four guys from NYC here last week, and then a boyfriend/girlfriend from Fordham in NYC here as well. They both left and so yesterday I had the first night by myself here. I wasn't really excited for it, but it turned out well since I was kind of sick and was able to spend a lot of time resting. Originally, I had planned to go to the Zephyrs game (AAA Affiliate for the NY Mets) last night, but between my sickness and bad weather I decided to bag it until a few weeks from now.
As far as work I have been really busy. Mostly I have been doing carpentry, which is very tough to do since we don't have a framing nailer (nail gun). If anyone knows someone who has an extra one they would sell for cheap let me know. A few days ago the organization I do most of my volunteering with (lowernine.org) took in a 26 year old carpenter from NJ for two weeks so him and I will be working a lot together. Its good to have someone with me that knows what their doing especially on this big project we are about to start this week where we have to replace roughly 50% of the top plates in this guys house.
Speaking of someone from NJ, it reminds me of an interesting observation that I have made thus far. While I know that I shared this with some of you, I have not with everyone and that is that I noticed a number of the people that come down here are from the Northeast or West Coast. Other than one girl I met from TX everyone is from Cali, Mass, NJ, or NY (as well as a few other Northeasterners mixed in). Its rather strange and I understand that it could just be dumb luck, but I also wonder how it ties in with political lines (think about who votes for who). I really don't know how to explain it quite yet, but it is kind of an interesting observation.

Until Next Time.....GO SOX!!!!!!!!!

A curse and then a blessing

All day today I worked on building this counter/bar in between a kitchen and dining room. I was rather proud of my job (plus it was fun). In addition to being able to pass my skills in carpentry and sheetrock to other people I have been able to learn stuff. Yesterday I helped a man named Mr. Turner (a true character) wire a bunch of lights and sockets in his house.


In other blog entries I have mentioned the summer camp that I worked at a several days. To refresh your memory, it was a free summer camp in the Lower Ninth Ward for children (all black). Each day they would have between 15 and 20 kids there all day to do things such as play games/puzzles, do arts and crafts, play music, and practice school skills (math and reading). The camp also provided snacks twice a day as well as lunch twice a week. It truly was a great program as many of these parents need to go to work to make ends meet and it really is helpful for them to have a safe place for their kids that they don't have to pay for, rather than have the kids roam the street all day like the children in our neighborhood do.
Well I found out yesterday that the camp was forced to close a week early due to a disgruntled mother who was convinced the camp/organization was doing shady business (I really don't know more than this it is just how it was explained to me). Regardless, the camp was forced to close down a week before they were planning to (kids here go back to school far earlier than back east), but at least it was only a week of inconvenience to the parents.
But here's the happy ending. I spent all morning yesterday along with the camp director and another counselor going through all the toys, school/art supplies, and books to figure out which kids would enjoy them the most and then creating care packages for the parents to come pick up. This allows the stuff to go to those who will most appreciate it as well as give the kids free school supplies that the parents don't have to go out and buy. The whole time doing it I kind of felt like my parents when they organize things for the holiday drives for their jobs.

How far does the apple fall from the tree?

This is a bunny photo

I wore Pat's full bunny suit to a bar when my friends and I all went to NJ Shore for 4th of July Weekend. Here I am on stage with the band who stopped in the middle of a song when I walked in because they were laughing so hard. Essentially, I was the life of the party that night.

A few photos

Now that Conor, Caely, and Jenn are back East they posted some photos of their time here. Figured I'd pass them along. I will try to explain them the best they can.

*A normal night around our house. All the neighborhood kids like to come over and hang out and get food and whatnot. Sometimes we give them something to eat at like 7 PM and they say thats the first thing they have had to eat all day. These kids are so wild that we have had to write rules on the walls to try and get them to behave better. Most days at least one person gets kicked out (usually hitting/fighting), but overall I think its made their behavior a little better.
*Brian (9), Kevin (11), and Brandon (12) came over one day while we were working looking for something to do. We put them to work ripping up some boxes. Brandon is Kevin's older brother (2 of the 13) and Brian is another neighborhood kid.
*Kevin (11), Myself, and Justin (4). They are two of the thirteen kids that live down the street. Something in Kevin reminds me a lot of Charlie's friend Cameron.
*My friend/our electrician Craig. For some reason I absolutely love this photo.
*Anthony (Australia) and James (England) working on some things in the living room in my house.
*My bedroom

The Dirty South Lives up to its name...

Hmmm...I am going to try to upload this so that it makes sense with the photos, but its merely an experiment so who knows.

The first photo here is part of my solution to our bread problem on Monday. I sat in our kitchen for almost 4 hours making a total of 3 gallons of croutons in our toaster oven.





But anyway we've been working really hard this week. Monday and Tuesday we went to help out at the summer camp. While Monday was fairly typical, Tuesday was not so. It ended up raining so hard that morning that it knocked the power out in a large area down here. Because they couldn't keep the camp going with no electricity, all the parents who had just dropped their kids off had to come and pick them up. It was tough to think that these parents are all sending their kids to a free summer camp because they had nothing else to do with them, and then the parents have to figure out other plans...I wonder what were the after effects on the families affected? Wednesday we didn't go work because we had a volunteer coming in, but we were able go around and checked out Tulane (beautiful campus), but I was pissed because the bookstore didn't sell any hats that would actually fit someone such as a college student assuming they were normal sized.
Thursday we got to do some good ol' construction. Personally I helped frame a closet at one house and then at another house we did the walls and roofing on a 16' by 10' shed. I was on kind of a high about yesterdays work, but today my crew got the absolute short end of the stick. The organization were working with, lowernine.org, has an upcoming plumbing project to do at a house, so our job was to go underneath the house and clean up. I know fully understand why mothers use the phrase "It looks like a hurricane came through here" to describe a messy room. We spent the entire morning pulling bricks and old bottles and wood and just random other stuff from out under the house. Under there we saw a ton of wildlife mostly frogs, spiders and slugs, although we heard a bunch of mice/rats. We were planning on going back to finish after lunch, but while we were eating a torrential downpour began. Unlike most of the rains down here (which tend to last 30-45 min before giving ways to sunny skies) this has lasted all afternoon (and is still going). We decided to take the rest of the afternoon off. Upon coming home I saw that my nightstand (under an open window) was all wet. I went to clean it off with some toilet paper and I was appalled by what I saw. It was truly pollution right in front of my eyes. The crumpled up gray stuff is just the paper I used but just covered in something disgusting. While, I am fairly certain it has nothing to do with the recent oil spill down here (which didn't really have any effects on me), I am really unsure of why the rain is so gross. I guess it would have to do with the fact that the city has been a major port for several hundred years. It was rather sobering to see the human effect on the earth in front of my eyes.

A few other things:
*The people at lowernine.org learned that I am rather skilled at a number of trades that they need (carpentry, sheetrock, etc.) and that I will be around for awhile to help, so I don't think they are going to give me crap jobs, but maybe even give me people to teach how to work.
*Manny just being Manny in LA has really disturbed me. As much as he may be a jerk, the fact that the Sox parted ways with him and truly made themselves a worse team has really bummed me out. I was wandering around the house yesterday in a daze that led me to shaving a good portion of my beard. Traumatized maybe? Second year in a row the Sox have made a trade deadline blunder. Plus everyone seems to be wanting to just give their good players to the Yankees. Congrats on #27 NY.