Excuses Cease to Cage Us

A note: I started this most nearly a month a ago, wrote half of it and put it down for the night. Then we heard there was a hurricane heading our way. The storm was not so bad but we lost power which meant no internet. And we were supposed to be renting a truck and moving to California. We still had no electricity as we packed the truck, drove three days across the Western US, arrived, moved into new house and now, just yesterday, did we get internet service back. Also, you may have noticed I have been moving around a lot. Finally though, I feel unjumbled enough to write a little about these photos.

Straight up optimism is hard to find in New Orleans. Optimism implies an acknowledgement of facts and New Orleans is heavily into denial. Troubles, what troubles? Here baby, have a drink. Though Hurricane Katrina hit 7 years ago, this sign still mentioned class registration until recently. Now, someone optimistically declares that we are better than this. Getting past our own troubles which look like excuses to others. Of course, a few days after I took this photo there was a warning for a hurricane heading our way, seven years later to the date and I, along with other friends, felt anxious for reasons that didn't line up with reality. What was I really scared of? I couldn't tell you exactly. And the knowledge that it wasn't going to be the same thing all over wasn't comforting enough. We made plans, gathered friends, called people we hadn't talked to in months. We reassured family, ourselves, each other, with reasonable sounding plans that didn't brush off the possibility of the worst. We packed a bag, brought food and water to a friend's house and waited. We made it through with friends, and board games, WWOZ playing the same 3 songs over and over, (one of them being "Let the Good Times Roll"). Our new roommate in California texted about our new house and we tried to explain that it would be a few days before we could get to the bank to send him a deposit. It is hard to convey how the city willingly shuts down, without electricity or during celebrations. Everybody loves a day off. We played boardgames wearing headlamps, sweated in our sleep and listened to wind peel siding off the house, possibly more because of its construction than the force of the storm. The storm passed and we came out, walked to the neighbor's, who was making pancakes and shrimp and grits. And we ate together like we should. New Orleans got some rain and wind, but southern parishes had it worse, and flooding closed the highway between New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

New Orleans is a lot of ups and downs, a lot of contradictions. It easily overwhelms the senses. Decay and excessiveness, dancing at funerals, hurricane parties. It might seem shallow, like we don't know what is going on. We do. Which is why at breakfast we listened to Scott talk about coastal erosion, hugged everyone upon arrival and leaving, and, after going home to pack more boxes, we came back to mid city to walk to the river with our friends' brass band. The next day, or maybe even the day after, friends helped us pack the truck, met us for one last drink and in the morning we left, our neighborhood still without electricity and cranky without air conditioning or ice, but still going.

Sunday Funday

my new desk 

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Today, I stole the ironing board out of our hallway to make a desk for myself where I don't have to lean over so much. I can use a real chair! We don't have an iron anyway so no one will miss it. You'd think with this exciting new development, I would sit and do my homework. Nope. Too nice outside. I went on a hunt for Milanese public art.

Maurizio Cattelan L.O.V.E. 

 And here it is. In front of the Milan stock exchange for the past 18 months is this 11 foot tall marble middle finger. Notice how the other fingers are broken off. And how the stock exchange is flipping us off. Thanks, free market.

Strawbita, Keep Writing #40 

 I have finally posted Keep Writing number 40 if, for some reason, you want to see a photo of it but are not interested in receiving cards. It is seven pm and still soooo sunny and clear, and not hot. In three weeks, I can travel at my leisure. Until then, a little more book learning.

from the Krewe of Rice and Beans, New Orleans, via Andy G.

Blurry Odd Things

These are the last of the photos from the point and shoot trouble camera. Sometimes the screen would die and you would have to guess what you were taking a photo of. It was exciting but not as exciting as getting a camera from a friend in the mail that she doesn't need anymore. Tomorrow my Spring Break will begin and I will be trying out the new camera. These are all from walking around town. The first is of Corso Como 10, a very fancy design shop started by a former editor of Vogue. I can't even afford a real photo of it. The courtyard is amazing. I would love to have a drink there one night. Their bookshop was on a website of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world.

Alicia and I were walking down town the other day, a little lost, and found this tower, built in the fifties. It gets wider at the top, not because of awesome design, but because they needed more space. I like it because I can't believe the sides hold up the top, it seems way too heavy. Though Milan is not prone to earthquakes, I will not stand under it.

I was on the outskirts of town and saw this which reminded me of home...banana trees growing inside an abandoned roofless storefront. Milan is gritty and dirty and I have seen some fallen apart buildings but here they seem to have been falling apart since 1945, so I am never sure. But this one was straight up neglect. Or public art.

Still Cold Here

Apparently, I am not the only one not used to snow. The news here is full of talk about people having trouble with the cold, dying, getting snowed it. It is sort of crazy to see photos of Rome with snowplows because it was so hot when I was there in 2010.



Along with the USPS, this month I have to thank Andy G. and the man at the American Airlines info desk at JFK for helping to get this month's postcard out on time. Andy took the first 50 postcards and presumably mailed them after I left town. I took the other 50, addressed them on my flight to New York and finished them before going through security at JFK. The American Airlines employee said I could leave mail with him and the mail carrier would pick them up. I don't think he expected 50 postcards.



Yesterday, after getting my metro pass (too old for a student pass! but I am a student!), I ventured out to Lambrate Station to see this large peice by Blu. Bike crushes cars! It was a little worn away but still awesome. Yeah! for art in Italy.

Bike Art Show

There is some serious one handed typing happening here as my angry fighting cat bit me this morning turning my hand into a grotesque Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloon. Maybe I'll post an image of that later. For now, know that this weekend is the Velo Louisiane festival, including an art show at Chelsea's Saturday night. I will have prints for sale after some one armed silk-screening tomorrow. Also, Baby Boy and the Melters are playing. The pool table isn't level, but half the proceeds support bicycle advocacy groups in Baton Rouge.

Are You Happy?

This line drawing was in a doorway next to a huge fascist-era building in Ravenna, Italy. That town was all about juxtaposition--monsterously grand building that was likely offices, with this delicate drawing. The most beautiful mosaics I've ever seen in a quiet unassuming little town with department stores going out of business. I was a fan of the bike paths and the gardens.



This piece was a public art collaboration between at least one artist and local kids. Unfortunately for me, the explaination was in Polish. The photos seem to document the kids he;ping to paint huge panels which were used to construct this box. Additional stenciling and drawing was added. It stands in a little square in Wroclaw, in the center of a bunch of reconstructed and brightly painted buildings. And it was about to rain.

Graffiti

I didn't get a photo of the Banksy "when in Rome" piece I passed three times in Rome. But here are two central Europe images for you. This first one was on a staircase in Budapest. I saw it just as I turned the corner and thought I was entering a cement tunnel leading no where. Nope. Just this werido bird, a Hungarian family on vacation and me.


This second one was in the old Jewish quarter of Krakow. The Jewish Cultural Festival was going on but somehow I missed all of it, except for meeting an Austrian on the train who was heading to the fesitval to get wasted.
Hmmm....

One more week and I will be home. There are 618 photos I haven't posted. Ready?