Day 1069: What We Truly Possess

It is NOLA Bloggers week over at The Rude Pundit.

Today, it’s Humid City‘s turn. BigEZBear writes:

Over the last few years, a lot of us have learned that “nothing” is what we truly possess. Everything we think we have, everything we think defines us, is ephemera. We are, each of us, alone. We know this now.

Time, place, things, social situations and lifestyle constitute our being as much as air, water, good health and beliefs. So defined, Life #1 ended on August 2nd, 1990 with the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Life #2 almost ended on August 29th, 2005, but I was lucky enough to come back to it, to come to terms with it. But, things aren’t precisely as they were before. Call this Life #2b then.

Nothing is what we truly possess. This is what I have to remind myself when walking through the house and making a mental account of the sheer amount of stuff I’ve accumulated in the last eighteen years. Where did all of this crap come from and do I really need it? But, all of this crap makes up my home – my possessions placed by me in a spot for which I pay. Is this really home if it can all be taken away by war, theft, wind, fire or a flood? Can my former home really be my home if it no longer exists? What is home?

After the Iraqi invasion and Gulf War, my parents insisted that I study hard, excel at school and, together, we almost drove me to the point of burnout several times. I kept chugging. When I’ve asked my mom what she feels of her post-K(uwait) life, she says, “They can’t take your education and values away from you.” Admirable, but not really comforting enough to be convincing.

D is often the object of my envy, what with his ability to visit the house in which he grew up because his father still lives there. Three generations of his family came into the world in the same damned general hospital, the one in which my godchildren and their parents and their parents and grandparents before them were born. That’s more than a century of place, something I’ve longed for all my life, but D shakes his head when I vocalize these thoughts. “That town is where I grew up, where my family and friends are, but that’s not home. My home is in me, wherever I go. My home is with you.”

Nothing is what we possess. Nothing is what we came in with and nothing is that with which we will leave. Things aren’t people, thank goodness; the people in our lives count the most and we now know and have the ones who came through for us, as we’ve done and would for them. They don’t belong to us, either, but are our most cherished, our mirrors, sometimes merging into our own selves. I was able to start Life #2 with my family intact and Life #2b with my D. Should Life #3 ever become a reality, nothing I have right now would be necessary but the love of family and friends. I must try to remember this when scrambling to pack up everything that will fit in the truck before the next evacuation.

We hope to alleviate one another’s despair. We hope to care enough to stand there and take the punches from our wounded brothers and sisters that are not really meant for us but for “them.” And, in our loneliness, we pray that we will manage to be there to reach out to one another and help hold each other up.

Until the end.

July 31, 2008 | computing & internet, kuwait, new orleans, the game of life | 6 Comments »

This list is a damned lie because the University of Wisconsin is not on it.

July 28, 2008 | blurbs, education, food & drink, midwest, wisconsin, wtf | 3 Comments »

Day 1065: It’s Black And Gold Forever

The FYYFF: It’s Black And Gold Forever fundraiser party for the Ashley Morris Memorial Fund was set to start at 8pm. Nothing starts on time here, but I was worried about being horribly late when D and I entered One Eyed Jack’s at a quarter to ten. Fortunately for us, the Arena Bowl crowds, the sudden and heavy rain and the general Saturday-night-in-the-Quarter rodeo had snarled up traffic so badly that half the talent hadn’t yet shown and the opening act had just gone on. Jewish Standard Time sounds a lot like Indian Standard Time, yet another reason for a HinJew merger.

Walking on Chartres to One Eyed Jack’s, D and I received a free concert from Huey Lewis, whom we heard was playing at or outside the Hard Rock Cafe. “The Power Of Love” followed us into the fundraiser. Once officially wrist-banded, Jeffrey, Menckles and I sauntered into the main area to find the bloggers on the right hand side of the room, while the Rollergirls and their posse lined the opposite wall. I think Jeffrey likened it to a school dance, the sexes segregated to either side of the dance hall, while I pretended we were the Jets or the Bloods and stepped onto Rollergirl territory to see if a fight would immediately ensue. No one noticed; all eyes were focused on the stage as Supa Saint prepared to go on.

What Is Ashley Morris? Hana Speaks

Things soon got going. Oyster spoke on behalf of Rising Tide, after which Ray re-read his What Is Ashley Morris? to thunderous applause. Hana, Ashley’s statuesque and strong widow, thanked all of us for being there and helping out. Hana and I both noticed that every time we’ve done anything Ashley-related in the last few months, it starts to pour outside. We’re both not superstitious, but the coincidence is a bit funny-eerie.

Bloggers I ran into, in order of encounter: Ray, Loki, Oyster, Jeffrey, Tim, Liprap, Michael Homan, Celcus, NOLA Cleophatra, Adrastos, Mark Folse, Patrick, Dangerblond, Bec, Cade Roux, Candace, NOLADishu, DB, G-Bitch, Mr. Clio, Christian Roselund, Becky Houtman and Humid Haney. Jason Berry was there, as was LisaPal who brought Huey Lewis over from his concert. If I didn’t mention someone, no offense.

Huey Lewis At FYYFF

Following the speeches came the auction and raffle. Oyster bid on and won a dress for Lovely, one freshly stripped off a member of Fleur de Tease. Haney got his wife a necklace created by Niki Fisk, a local jewelry maker, who just so happens to have attended high school with one of my cousins. Glad to know she is still in New Orleans. Mark Folse won one of Ashley’s cigar ashtrays.

I have crappy luck when it comes to winning anything, so imagine my surprise when I got not one, not two, but three pieces of art at the raffle. My booty includes a painting of a voodoo doll by Varg, Who Dat by Rex of NOLA Rising and Frankenstein which looks like the work of Tard Monster by Unknown Parts. I’ll have to check with The Dingler.

My FYYFF Booty

The night ended with D, Folse and me at Fahy’s, where Katie didn’t beat D and me for not showing up in eons. Fahy’s was where I first met Ashley Morris on Ash Wednesday 2006 and asked him where he blogged and what he had written. “Oh, you know, FYYFF and Sinn Fein.” “That’s you?” I responded, “you’re great.” Ashley smiled and said, “Here, have a cigar.” With a bad cold, I declined his offer, but had to smile. FYYFF and Sinn Fein, Ashley, we will never forget.

FYYFF And Sinn Fein!!!

Flickr Photo Gallery

July 27, 2008 | big easy rollergirls, blogging & bloggers, family & friends, new orleans, rising tide conference | 10 Comments »

Day 1065: What’s Going On In India?

India is in bunker mode after a series of explosions killing three in Bangalore and 49 in Ahmedabad and Surat in western India. Many think this is the work of the ISI, Pakistan’s premiere intelligence agency, but no evidence to this effect has been unearthed. The Telegraph reports that a group that has stepped forward, which also admitted to the May bombings in Jaipur.

… A little-known group styling itself the “Indian Mujahideen” claimed responsibility for the bombings in an email sent to local television channels minutes before the first explosion at around 6.30pm yesterday. This message declared that the attack was retribution for the killings of Muslims in 2002.

Ahmedabad has a large Muslim population and these bombs were placed out in the open and not in temples and other places that Hindus frequent specifically. These attacks then were aimed at undermining India as a whole and not just at killing Hindus. Ajay Sahni, a terrorism expert at the Institute for Conflict Management in Delhi, agrees and tells the Christian Science Monitor,

“These people want to hurt the country in any way possible … Causing communal tensions is a secondary objective to that. If I wanted to whip up communal riots I would ensure that only Hindus were killed whereas these attacks are occurring in areas with mixed populations.” Indeed, Saturday’s attacks occurred in Ahmedabad’s old city, which houses many Muslims.

Regardless of such logic and a plea for calm, I’ll be surprised if the wheels of vengeance aren’t set in motion. Therefore, I am scared for family and friends all over the country and for people like this blogger who makes our fear and uncertainty pale in comparison to his.

Blasts everywhere; in Bangalore, in Ahmedabad; everyday; Are we the next target? Policemen are still diffusing live bombs … Government is calling confidential security meetings. What has happened to the country? Where are we leading? Is this the way India will lead to a bright future?

This morning, I listened to the first part of East Meets West on Wisconsin Public Radio’s To The Best Of Our Knowledge. Muslim scholar and author, Ziauddin Sardar, was interviewed and asked what he thought of a clash of civilizations between the West and the Islamic East. Sardar responded that, in order for there to be a clash between civilizations, civilization first has to exist; the West cannot occupy an Eastern nation and torture its people, while the response from the Muslim East has been equally irrational and barbaric. Applying this to Hindu-Muslim tensions in India, the current cycle of attacks and revenge on both sides is an unsustainable model. Furthermore, nothing, no amount of land or religious primacy, is enough for some parties and peace is not what they seek. To accede to their demands and, most critically, to turn into them is not the answer. When we respond in their fashion, they have won.

| culture-society-history, desi / india, global, government | Comments Closed

Day 1063: The More We Modernize

The more we inherently stay the same.

Re-reading Daniel Yergin’s The Prize, with some added experience and urgency, I’ve come across several gems like this description of energy consumers in the 1850s, before the advent of kerosene and petroleum. Sound reminiscent of people today?

… For those who had money, oil from the sperm whale had for hundreds of years set the standard for high-quality illumination; but even as demand was growing, the whale schools of the Atlantic had been decimated … For the whalers, it was the golden age, as prices were rising, but it was not the golden age for their consumers, who did not want to pay $2.50 a gallon – a price that seemed sure to go even higher.  Cheaper lighting fluids had been developed.  Alas, all of them were inferior.

Did Yergin mean $2.50 in 1850s money or the money of 1993, when the book was published?  In any case, what cost $2.50 in 1850 would have cost $43.44 in 1993 and around $65 today.

July 25, 2008 | books, culture-society-history, energy | Comments Closed

ZDNet: Scrabble-Scrabulous standoff spells L-A-W-S-U-I-T. Earth to Hasbro, stop being W-A-N-K-E-R-S! Scrabulous reinvigorated my interest in Scrabble to the point of wanting to purchase copies of the physical board game for my nieces and home and as Christmas gifts. With this latest development, Hasbro has lost a customer, maybe more.

| blurbs, computing & internet, wtf | 5 Comments »
« Older Entries