a week has passed

i'm around, sugarpies.

i just can't seem to get past all the crazy right now. as i told the MITM, we're all dealing with the crazies over the flag issue (it's wrong, take it down, stop with the false equivalency arguments) in the state of georgia, not to mention, south carolina, mississippi, and alabama. 

"In Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, vehicle owners can request a state-issued license plate featuring the Sons of Confederate Veterans logo, which incorporates the square Confederate battle flag." 

that's from wiki leaks because i (seriously) didn't feel like typing all of that out. because the license plates are government isssued, some states have already said they will no longer issue them. good deal as far as i'm concerned. i tend to be in the put all of that in a museum because it is part of the history of the united states and that's the end of it. quit glorifying a sad time in the history of our country and instead of idealizing it, recognize how ignoring the ugliness of the time has not allowed us a people to move forward as one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

and then, locally we have an election for mayor and aldermen coming up in november.  the accusations of corruption, graft, incompetence, and cronyism are everywhere, but what's even more distressing, is that some of the accusations are if not completely true, might be partially so.  once again, i'm standing with the underdog in the mayoral race because he has no ties to any of the incumbents on the current city council, he has set out an agenda for serious change in how priorities are set, called for a total audit of all city books and departments, and has addressed other issues, but these are of the utmost importance to me. he has also called on all citizens to participate from a base of fact and not the status quo which may not sound like much, but it is something no one wants to acknowledge has been a very real problem here. small towns can have a set of problems that to large urban areas (urban as in cities and not urban in the suddenly popular vernacular meaning minority population) (yes, i know all y'all know that, but it pisses me off how lazy people have become about language. but that's another blog post.) may seem provincial and easily dealt with, but in reality so far, solutions have been based on who your people are, where you went to school, and what church you attend, instead of what's best for the entire city.  and in THIS lovely and historic city, that card is played by both whites and blacks! the rest of the minority populations, and there are many, are too disorganized/marginalized to even factor into the equation! *sigh*

my candidate is running to win, as he should, but we all know it is an uphill battle, but a really important one. the goal now is to set up some real debates so that serious questions about our city can be asked and answered without the usual political platitudes and bullshit non-answer answers! we all know how that works because we've seen it happen too many times (no matter what country you live in) that the first rule politicians always follow is they'll give the answer they want to give regardless of the question, so i hope we can find a moderator who knows how to keep them on point and use the forum to educate the population on their goals.  

i know i'm ranting, but i am tired of watching the citizens of this nation continue to  allow themselves to be manipulated, deceived, boldly lied to, distracted by nonsense, and even worse, not even caring about what's being done to them, and sadly in their name around the world. 

and all because we've lost the capacity for critical thinking. *double sigh*

*****shake it off, shake it off*****

here's some good stuff because i need to stay hopeful and y'all need to see BBC & The Kid, and BGM again! we have movies today!!!

y'all know that in spite of my criminal tendencies (inside joke i'll explain in yet another post) i have faith in tomorrow because of my krewe and because of all of you and your krewes here and around the world. i'll say it again and again, there is more good in this world than bad and we are living proof of that, sweetpeas! 

i really do love and cherish all of you!

Charleston

Thanks to social media I learned about the horrific shootings in Charleston an hour or so before the story broke on the news last night. It is beyond belief that anyone could sit for an hour in a church, in a Bible study group, and then stand and shoot 9 human beings. People that had only moments before had been studying their book of worship and sharing their fellowship. It just doesn't make sense.


I know that church. In fact, it was in front of that church where we met, then a candidate for office, President Obama. Charleston is but 2 hours away from here, so it is a place well known to me. The sense of sadness, not only about the killings, but at the reactions of so many people calling for even more violence/hatred has weighed heavily on my heart. But yet, as if to remind me that there is more goodness in this world than evil, quite a few people that I know posted this image:

We can only hope that more people will remember that in the days to come.

As I watched the President speak from the White House Briefing Room, I knew that he was right about our inability to honestly face the issue of gun control in this country. Politics, especially the politics of fear, have clouded our ability to see beyond our fear of the other, the unknown, the different, and to realize that we have an obligation to each other as human beings to be thoughtful, caring, concerned, and simply, good to one another. We have to look at our history and ourselves for the root causes that have allowed a culture of ignorance and hostility to thrive. There are multiples of issues we must deal with, grapple with, and ultimately, solutions we must put into action. 

I wish I had an answer.

another time, another place, but yeah, i learned this dance

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MITM!!

Today is his birthday, but like so many before, this birthday will be spent somewhere else. This time, he's in Stuttgart, Germany! *sigh* He'll be celebrating by visiting the The Porsche Museum, having dinner at the restaurant there, and then, smoking a cigar in the cigar bar! I've already wished him a happy day, the hotel gave him a chocolate bar in honor of his birthday, and hopefully, given the time differences, the krewe will get to talk to him, too!

Today is also National Doughnut Day here in the USA which I, personally, find totally appropriate and absolutely delicious, just like the MITM!

So, join me and the Krewe in wishing the MITM a very Happy Birthday!

Grandma's Going Away Poem - Guest Blog by MITM

I forget just how stunning this place can be.  Sunset.  106 F / 41 C.  A full moon, gorgeous in and of itself, hangs to the left.  A muted orange orb of the fading sun hangs to the right.  I'm on the roof of our villa to witness this Sahel spectacle.  Clouds and moisture permeate the atmosphere.  The river is near by.  An ancient river that has seen all manner of men and civilizations.  Waves of white egrets fly towards the river bank trees to roost.  They are passed, mid-air, by bats the size of hawks, headed into the night air to feed.  The egrets settle in trees along the city streets near the river.   The trees become large cotton candy structures seemingly dripping from their weight, only to erupt in a cacophony of wings with the dawn.  A large hibou comes out of nowhere, floating like a bloated airship.  She's hunting for errant night life to feed on.  Funny, most of the tribes in this area view the owl as a bad omen.  I've always liked owls.  One of my favorite birds of prey,  Go figure.

Dueling muadhins for the maghrib prayer provide the soundtrack.  You can find clarity in these moments.  My advice, for what it's worth, when these moments arrive in your life, no matter when, no matter where, pay attention. 

Changing of the guard at sunset.  All of this reminded me of my grandmother.  She left this planet December 1993.  She would have greatly loved hearing about all these places.  I wish I could have shared them with her.  I wrote this upon her departure.

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Farewell Alice

12/93

Crescent City light

Crescent City music

         Music

                  Light

                           Music

                                    Light

Dancing to the music of light that lit your ancient yet timeless soul.

Hands.

A woman's hands.

Hands that tapped out an Armstrong blues or danced on the air like angels struttin to Honeysuckle Rose.

An asthmatic boy grasped for breath in the

Autmun cool of a desert wind.

Hands reached out, eyes dancing to the music of light—

Hands that could lead Daud's Army of Healers.

Camphor pervaded the room, healing with love.

You held me, rubbed my chest with magic.

I dreamed of the Pont Neuf at susnet,

Monet's garden in a clear winter light,

Mangrove swamps, Indians on Rampart street,

Chinaberry trees in Senegal.

Same old seven and six, Danny boy.

I watched you—in awe of your magic, enthralled with your secrets.

You tamed a lion of a man with a gumbo spoon.

Turned his rage into ballads,

ballads blowing in a desert wind,

scented with thyme and red peppers,

that made a young boy see—

See the darkness and the light of an asphalted desert through a Crescent City filter.

Grandma - How do I survive?

First you make a roux, Danny, you said,

as you peeled fresh shrimp, knocked that errant crawfish back in the pot and sipped a glass of red wine.

Elegance defined—dancing to the music of light.

Age became you.

I brought you my babies, one by one, knowing that you would somehow work your magic on them and they would be safe—they would survive.

Grandma - Did you see what they did to those people?

Just white folks, Danny boy. 

You know they got good and bad in all people.

Simple wisdom—profound advice.

It's always the little things in life that speak so loudly to our souls.

You cherished each microsecond of life,

not in greed, but in wonderment.

Wonderment - the gift you gave to all of us.

Wonder children - never lose sight of the sheer wonderment of life.

Remember me, you said.

Cross Congo Square.

As I lifted your aged frail body into your deathbed,

We told jokes to each other.

You laughed - eyes dancing to the music of light,

Blew me a kiss for the last time and said,

I love you Danny boy.  Come back and see us again.  I love you.

Alice—

You will be there in my every sunrise, my every sunset, in each drop of dew, in every baby's smile.

And when that clear crisp wind blows through the asphalted desert,

it will carry the slightest, sweetest whisper—

Alice

                  Alice

                                    Alice

Au revoir Alice.

C'est tout dire.