The April Update

Wow.

I have not posted anything since my birthday.

I have not been idle. In fact, I have been quite busy. So busy in fact that lately I have grumbled about not having the time to do things like post to a blog.

I am currently in the midst of several things:

A) I am a seeking another job.
The job that I am currently working at is not working out. I gave it the "college try" and found the cons far outweighing any pros I could come up with for staying. While you can't run from every situation, you should recognize when something is not working out and that it is time to call it a day. I have been looking for sometime and unfortunately the deadline I set is coming sooner than I'd want it to. There is lots of advice and lots of jobs that if I lived in a different state I could take. I believe that I will find something suitable.

B) Writing.
I met someone in the middle of last year that reminded me why I enjoyed writing. I had essentially turned my back on it. Slowly but surely I have regained my interest and am working on some material. I did participate in National Novel Writing Month, though I did not get as far as I wanted. I was reminded of author David McCullough's observation that "writing requires discipline." My discipline in this area is slowly but surely getting there. I hope to begin collecting my 'ding' letters soon.

C) Relaunching the Weblogger meetup.
I realized that I needed to "pick a direction and go" rather than soliciting and soliciting for feedback as to what the Blogger meetup should be. I hope to relaunch it in June with a focus on writing and blogging. I have also taken the time to educate myself on some of the topics in blogging that I am not as familiar with.

I still volunteer some though there were other things such as chorus that I dropped because I realized that it was time to move on. Unfortunately, I won't be able to go on the two upcoming trips to NOLA offered through Boston Cares. I hope to go in November again.

I still visit interesting and cool blogs and websites and will reinstitute the Monthly regular feature again highlighting those blogs and websites I find interesting and think that you will too very soon.

On an unrelated note, I feel sad for the families that lost someone at the Virginia Tech shootings. There is no explaination for such things. As Wordworth said, "we must find strength in what remains behind."

NOLA-Final Day

With a sense of sadness, I woke up and got ready. I knew that it would be my final day here at the HandsOn New Orleans base camp and that I would need to return back to my life in Massachusetts-work, lousy public transportation, chilly weather, dear friends and all.

I just saw another team member off. It's funny-we are all going back to Boston but not together and though we will be a phone call or an email away, we will likely fall into being so busy that we won't have that shared time like we did during this trip. We definitely will get together to see off two of our team before they return to Korea in December.

We are also going to establish a flick'r account so soon you will all see photos that I and the group took during our time here. As Jamie and Ethan both said it will be interesting to see the different perspectives in shots of some of the same sites taken by different people. A photographer's composition is unique. My photos of the Lower Ninth Ward may convey a different sensibility than say those taken by Joey and Justin-the two engineering students from Korea.

I am looking forward to trying to get in on a last gut today since those can be completed in the morning time. My flight is not until later in the afternoon and I really would like to get one more physical job in.

While he was waiting for his taxi, Brian used Google Maps and information from the New York Times coverage to show how Katrina affected the areas we've been working in.

Tomorrow I will definitely be able to post some reflections hopefully along with whether or not I was able to make a last gut!

NOLA-Day Five

Well, it's the fifth day and in keeping with its original mission, Sunday was a day of rest.

As mentioned before, HandsOn New Orleans operates out of a church. The First Union Methodist Church located on Dryades. Reverend Eden, a young and dynamic preacher, preached quite the sermon today. We could hear it in the bunkhouse and it reverberated off of the walls. The "breast" reference turned quite a few heads. I thought about attending. I laid back down in my bunk somewhere about 5:30AM after I showered.
6:00AM rolled around. Then 7:00AM. Then 7:15. Then 8:00AM appeared, when is when the service began. I could hear it lound and clear. in fact, I thought for a moment that it was on the radio. Somewhere in my early teens, my mother took to listening to religious services on the radio. The station was WILD, which unlike NOLA, was one of the very few stations devoted to a format that serve a Black population. Sunday began with Christian services and ended with Islam. There was the usual mix of gospel songs. Then there were the news programs. I was surprised that I had forgotten all of that until now.

After getting ready, I walked around the neighborhood with one of the members of our team named Christy. She was one of the members of the group that I spoke to the least, even though her name was familiar to me. I found that we had more in common than one would think and that she was a great charmer of cats. There was a black cat that looked at us and that definitely did not want a part of me. Seh

The Boston Cares group went to have brunch at the Columns Hotel located at 3500 St. Charles Avenue. Two benefactors from Boston set it up as a 'thank you' to us before we all left on the trip back home. The hotel is beautiful. The paneling alone makes you feel that this is a special space. It definitely This hotel was also the setting for Louis Malle's movie with Brooke Shields called "Pretty Baby."

Brunch was wonderful. I had the smoked pork tenders with sweet potatoes and REAL key lime pie. It was nice to have champagne for breakfast on a day that was not New Year's Day.

We all took a group photo on the steps as well. It was a bittersweet moment because it would be the last time that we would all be together.

Later on we were left to our own devices. Those who had not seen the Ninth Ward took a tour there. Others went on the Riverwalk and others went downtown. I went downtown. I thought that I had joined the group that intended to go downtown. I was mistaken and mad at myself for not paying attention. I consoled myself with the fact that I got to change into my jeans, which was an opportunity that I would not have had.

I walked part of the way downtown and took a cab the rest of the way since I was unsure. I also figured that I would memorize the path and walk it on my return. My cab driver was another Katrina victim. No house really to speak of left. He had to resort to renting. I was dropped off near Jackson Square.