CHEVRON 7 LOCKED!

I cannot tell you how happy this result made me. Stargate SG1 is one of my all time favorite shows. I may have to base a bit of fanfic upon this.

You scored as SG-1 (Stargate). You are versatile and diverse in your thinking. You have an open mind to that which seems highly unlikely and accept it with a bit of humor. Now if only aliens would stop trying to take over your body. FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 94% Serenity (Firefly) 94% SG-1 (Stargate) 94% Moya (Farscape) 88% Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 88% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 75% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 75% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 75% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 50% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 50% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 44% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 38% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

Culled from Drew's Blog. Oddly enough, the tiebreaker response was "To hell with the future! let's explore other worlds NOW!" Otherwise, I probably would have wound up on Serenity with Drew. I am such a geek sometimes. My prediction as to how my remaining friends will score on this:

Java Foo Foo will find herself on Serenity with Drew.
Ringo will be on the Bebop.
Dizzy will wind up on the Seaquest. (probably feeding the dolphin. Oh, wait... not an option? then she'll be on Moya)
Dave will serve aboard the Enterprise D. (only because the 1701-A isn't one of the options)
Stacey will turn up on SG1 with me. (Just follow my lead and don't trust the guys with the glowing eyes, toots.)
Melinda will be a war correspondant on Deep Space Nine.
Ducky will find himself on the Nebuchadnezzar.
Ronnie, of course will wind up on Boston Legal as William Shatner's law partner.

The Duality of the blogger...

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day when she pointed out to me that sometimes it seems to her that these pages are written by a different person than the one she knows. “This is true.” I said, not really thinking too hard about it… I have enough to think about to give me headaches for weeks after all. “There is Rob, and there is the Webkahunah.”

“Well, isn’t that a little odd, Rob?” She said, (mind you I’m paraphrasing here) “The Webkahunah sounds like a totally different person than the one I see from time to time.”

I should have just agreed and moved on at this point, but being the glutton for punishment I am, I said “How so?”

“Well, the Kahunah is confident, funny and charming.” She said, “And he’s never the sensitive, caring type. He says some things I could never imagine you saying.”

“Well, it’s easy to be confident, funny and charming when you have an hour to write a few paragraphs.” I said, my ego totally not bruised by this, “I liken it to Clark Kent and Superman. There is Superman, and there is Clark. The real man that is Clark Kent is actually somewhere in the middle… both personas, yet neither. Unique for being both.”

“Rob, I hate to break this to you, but Superman is a fictional character. He’s not real.”

The conversation broke down a bit after that… (I do take the whole Superman thing a wee bit seriously) But an important point was made to me… Is the Kahunah a façade that I put up as a defense mechanism? Maybe… but fortunately, he’s apparently a funny charming defense mechanism, and I think retreating behind him is a lot healthier than some of the defense mechanisms I could have.

I like to think that the “real” Rob writes these pages, but I know that there are times that the Webkahunah persona takes over, and these are generally the funnier entries. It’s a lot like the Comedian taking the stage. I don’t write all that much about things that are really happening in my life, (I mean the deep, psychological stuff that makes us who we are) because these events don’t make for good reading most of the time (welcome to dullsville. population: you).

Would you really care about Andrew Clay’s take on life? Of course not… but back in the eighties, people paid good money to hear the Diceman go on about how women suck. Robert Goldwait probably has a few ferns and a cat named mittens… But the Bobcat is raunchy and funny enough to make you juggle kittens.

There are exceptions in these pages (Times when it’s nothing but Rob). Y’all have heard quite a bit about my ex-wife, my divorce, my ex-mother in law and how hurricane Katrina affected me… but y’all hear the Webkahunah’s opinion a lot more often. I have to admit, I kinda like my “alter ego”. He’s a great guy, if a little crude when it comes to the ladies. I’m kinda proud that he’s rattling around in the infinite morass that is my brain, and I enjoy his approach to the myriad events of my life. I am him… he is me… and we’re both equal parts Hero, Rebel, Lover, Fighter, Comic, Mechanic, Salesman, Scientist, Handyman, Boy Scout, Geek, and just a smidge of goofball.

Does this make me nuts? Nope. It makes me normal.

More about the love life... You wish!

As many of you know, I avoid posts about my love life in these pages. There are a number of bullshit reasons I give for this… “a gentleman never tells”, “my mom reads my blog”, “gotta keep the PG rating”, etc.

As I say, all absolute bullshit. The real reason that I don’t post anything about relationships in my blog is because women confuse the hell out of me. I know, nothing new that the war between the sexes is misunderstood by both sides, but hear me out. Women REALLY confuse me. And I’m not talking the “lost in a crowded shopping mall near the orange Julius” kinda confusion. I’m talking the “lost in outer Mongolia after taking the right turn at Albuquerque, New Mexico” kinda confusion.

That, and all the women I know read my blog.

For example: Let’s say “Bob” starts dating “Cindy”. He posts it on his “bobspot.com”, cause he’s happy he’s dating “Cindy”. Little does “Bob” know that his sharing of said happiness sets in motion a chain of events. “Bob’s” psycho ex-wife, “Faith” is reading it and plotting ways to kill his pet groundhog, “Ted”. “Bob’s” close friend, “Margie” reads it and starts getting inexplicably jealous. “Cindy” reads it, and is pissed at poor “Bob” for letting the world know that they even know each other, much less are involved. “Trixie” calls “Bob” to chew him out a bit for not telling her before putting it on the blog, “Linda” calls and asks if “Cindy” has a sister. “Bob’s” mother calls and asks why hasn’t she gotten to meet this “Cindy”, even though she lives 1500 frickin miles away. “Louise” reads it and doesn’t let “Bob” ask her out because he is “taken”. In the chat rooms, women stop flirting with “Bob”, and word spreads like wildfire across the globe to women of all races and nationalities that “Bob” is now taken.

Meanwhile, the torrid affair between “Bob” and “Cindy” lasted all of three days, and “Ted” died suspiciously after failing to see his shadow, or the cross town bus right behind it.

Now, dear reader… where does this leave “Bob”? Lonely, and with no way to safely dispose of a rotting groundhog carcass. He considers a pet cemetery, but remembers what happened in the movies, and the last thing he figures he needs is a Zombie groundhog.

The above story is pure fiction of course, (I have no Zombie groundhog, I assure you) but it illustrates my point. Blogging is not without its risks… dating a blogger doubly so. I liken it to being friends with a comedian. Sooner or later, you’re gonna do something stupid, and it’s gonna wind up in his night club act. Now, if the Comic is sensitive about this, he winds up telling jokes about airline food and the price of gas, and never mentions his relationships at all.

Guess I’m just that kinda Comic.

Robbie Gras Report take 2... Superbowl sunday

The DOA management apologizes for the excessive length of today’s entry. A hint for anyone in the market for an Electro Convulsive Therapy machine… make sure it has a “stun” setting, and don’t mix it with someone taking Alka-Seltzer or Pepto Bismol. Still, it’s fairly funny, and we hope you will enjoy it.

Okay, so yesterday I was in a less than spectacular mood despite the efforts of Dizzy to make sure I had a happy birthday. Today, while I’m still not at 100 percent, I am at at least 89 or so, so that should be enough to write a much better account of my birthday than I did last night.

To start with, I’ve been sick. Not just your typical, run-of-the-mill, under-the-weather type sickness either… I’m talking the why-is-my-body-making-these-horrible-sounds, don’t-stray-too-far-from-the-bathroom, did-I-do-something-to-offend-God kinda sickness.

In short, for all my maudlin crapola, the “state of the Rob” was sick.

Not to say that there aren’t a few nuggets of truth in there… I am in need of a change. The job has me a little down, (if one more guest compares me having no vacancies in our hotel for them to there being no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph, I swear I’m gonna belt em!). Also, I’m hearing the passionate whisper of the open road in my ear again. It happens from time to time to those of us with the heart of an explorer… I guess you just get used to ignoring it after a while. Still haven’t decided exactly what it is I need to change, but y’all will be the first to know when I do.

Anyway… throughout history many great people have made many great mistakes. Captain Smith sped up in iceberg filled waters… Napoleon had a hankering for borcht… Mama Cass needed that second ham sandwich… And of course, I still went out on Robbie Gras Eve like I had planned to, despite the fact that my stomach was doing a more than fair impression of the rhythm section of a samba band. So I didn’t drink a lot. Did try to. (everyone see mistake number two here?) I was bummed. Nobody but Dizzy showed up.

Now, an aside… I know things happen. Many of my friends are still scattered about the countryside, and those that aren’t probably had very good reasons for not being there. Hurricanes suck, as it has been pointed out, and lives aren’t back to normal and won’t be for a very long time at the rate it’s going.

So there I sat in the bar, my gastrointestinal tract sounding like Custer getting reamed by the Indians at little Big Horn, making small talk with Dizzy about this woman on the end of the bar who looked like she was about to fall off her barstool.

If she had… and I’m sure she eventually did… well, it would have made for a much funnier blog, but I didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to see it through. Dizzy and I went back to my place and watched TV. Dizzy did invite me over to her place for a barbeque and super bowl thing the next day, and so I said yes.

The super bowl, for those of you not from America, is the championship game for American football, which essentially involves large men in polyurethane armor throwing around an inflated pigskin and running into each other like drunk goats with commercials shown every five minutes or so.

Americans take this VERY seriously. We plan parties around it, even if we have no love for the teams involved, the commercials shown, or the poor dead inflated pig. It’s a big deal, right up there with American independence day, and even if you don’t care about the sport, the players, the pig, or even the color scheme of the uniforms you MUST pick a side to root for. To not do so would be grounds for torture, or worse, being forced to read bad poetry.

So I picked a side. Dizzy’s Brother picked the other one, exclaiming “even though they’re flurshuginer YANKEES!” (Now, of course he didn’t actually say ‘flurshuginer’ but what he did say would make a sailor blush… well, a sailor that had been sailing around with a bunch of nuns, at any rate.) Now the funny part of this is that Dizzy’s Mom, standing next to him descreetly points out to the Brother that I am a “flushuginer Yankee”, and by discreetly I mean with broad pointing gestures and bulging eyes while elbowing him. At halftime, Dizzy’s mom also did the most amazing air guitar solo I have ever seen a 75 year old do to the Rolling Stones “satisfaction”. Apparently, the old gal has a thing for Mick Jagger...

I hope I still have women lusting for me after the next 36 trips around the sun.

Robbie Gras 2006- the annual state of the Rob address

Warning: The DOA management feels obligated to point out to our regular readers that Rob isn't feeling quite himself today, and that the following post has a much darker tone than we normally encourage here on Dogs of Atlantis. We sent away for an electroschock machine last week, but the post office isn't delivering our mail properly yet since hurricane Katrina, and our experiment to simulate the effect with the car battery and jumper cables merely resulted in explosive diarreah. We tried, folks.

My fellow Americans, and assorted worldwide denizens.... I sit here in my meager apartment at 11:49 on my birthday unsure what to write in this post. 36 years and twelve hours ago (give or take a half hour or so) I began the first of the 36 trips I have taken so far around the sun. That's a score and 16 for all you Lincoln afficianados.

I went back to my post from this time last year, hoping for some inspiration, and read a cautiously optimistic post written by a guy who, coming off a divorce, was cautiously optimistic about his life in general.

What a difference a year makes, my friends.

It's not that i'm not still optimistic, you see... it's more that there's only so many catyclismic, life altering kinda things that can happen to you before you start to think that maybe the problem isn't so much with the world, but in the decisions you make in response to what the world throws at you.

Maybe I'm just getting old.... Maybe it was the fact that many of my friends are scattered to the winds... maybe it's just the attitude here in my hometown since Katrina... but I'm thinking I need a change. A real one. An extreme one.

Further updates as events warrant.

Robbie Gras Details...

For all concerned and wishing to partake in the joy of Robbie Gras... I'm thinking that it will be toned down a bit this year, much like Mardi Gras. Venues that would normally be perfect simply are not back to normal, or what passes for normal in this city... and chosing a place was hard. (much thanks to Dizzy for helpintg with the call-around) It has been a rough year, and I think this year's Robbie Gras will reflect that. So, right now the plan is that I will be at the Dry Dock Cafe at approximately 7pm, with every intention of getting fitshased. All who read these words are of course, welcome.

Also I would like to address something that was recently asked of me in an e-mail... Why do I not talk about my love life/dates/women/snugglebuddies here? The answer is actually quite simple... there are certain aspects of my life I would rather the world not know about, and my social life, (pathetic though it may be) is one of them. Also, a gentleman does not kiss and tell.

A dose of comedy...

Our mayor and his Non-chocolate constituents.

For more, go to: I'm not chocolate

A Dose of devestation....

It's been months since the storm. New Orelans is becoming a three ring circus of errors as rebuilding efforts meet a wall of bipartisan politics. The conversation goes something like this:

Federal Government: Just get your act together, New Orleans, come up with a plan, and we'll help foot the bill.

New Orleans: Okay, but what about our citizens stuck in other cities?

F.G.: Well, we'll put them up in a nice hotel till we can send some trailers from our cousin FEMA. Don't worry, we're on top of it!

(Months pass)

New Orleans: Hey, we got da plan, Now where's that money?

F.G.: Money? what money?

New Orleans: And what about those trailers?

F.G.: yeah, sorry about that.. Cousin FEMA dropped teh ball on that one... we had no idea you had that many people, son.

New Orleans: Well, at least you're still putting us up in a nice hotel.

F.G.: yeah... about that... no one told us that you would all still need housing for this long, so they're out.

New Orleans: Huh?

F.G.: Well, I hear your neighbor has called Willy Wonka in to help... maybe he has some space at his place. He has to keep dem oompa-loompas somewhere.

You get the idea. As if it wasn't enough, things like this piss me off to no end. Also, my new neighbors braved the storm, and were about town with a camera soon after. They lent me a CD with the photos on it... only a few days after travel was permitted in Orleans Parish... among the highlights:


Boats wound up in unlikely places.

The ferry I used to take to work was no exception.

The old coast guard lighthouse on the lakefront.

What's left of the southern yacht club.

And the remains of Joe's Crab Shack.

Mind you, there were a bunch of other shots detailing the damage to the city, but too many for me to post easily. If everyone wants to see em, i'll start a flicker account or something.

Later, y'all.

A Dyno-meme...

From my good buddy Dave who finally up and got his own blog. it's bloggariffic, I tell ya.

What makes us human

My good quirks
My laugh.
The ability to make light of almost any subject.
The love of road tripping, and the open road in general.
The ability to make a fool of myself in the car when a good song is on the radio.
The qualities that make me a true Superman fan also make me a fairly good christian.
Always up for trying something new, especially if it sounds fun.

My bad quirks (added to this meme by yours truly)
If I can do something, I don't consider it art, or even all that special.
I snore.
Zero tolerance for those unwilling to learn.
Not real charming around new people

My food quirks
Lucky charms mixed with Fruity Pebbles
Hold the goddamn pickles!
Deep fried snickers!
Pumpkin butter and bannana sandwiches

My sleep quirks
Sleep mask
Ear plugs
Talk in my sleep
the "jump" thing right as I doze off.

Quirky folk I tag: (also added by yours truly)
Stacey
Drew
Angie
Dreamwalker

Movie post.

A neat little movie thingamabob that showed up on my brother's site...

My Favorite movies:
Create your own Movie List @ HotFreeLayouts!

For those of you doing your Robbie Gras shopping, I don't have any of the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies, or the "Blues Brothers". I do have all the rest. I also have that complete "Flash" series, but have yet to find the first season of "Batman Beyond" or "Justice League".

Please... like y'all don't drop any hints?

How to: Robbie Gras.

Well, to clarify some of the previous post, and for all my readers overseas that want to know how to hold their own Robbie Gras celebrations, I offer the following "how to" guide:

Robbie Gras for Dummies

Robbie Gras is normally celebrated on the 5th of February, or the nearest covienient saturday. The point is to celebrate the things in life that make it the most fun, those being Friends, Food, Drink, and good times. To this end, the absolute must have in any Robbie Gras celebration is the Robbie Gras ball.

While individual celebrations have varied over the years, the party should make use of a decent bar, good music, and whatever personnel is available at the time. In addition, there should be at least one good group activity available, be it "lets see how fast we can push someone down the hall in a shopping cart" or "a lecherous photo scavenger hunt".

It is also adviseable to have the following jobs filled for the evening, preferably by separate people.

Rob- Usually, a big guy whose sole purpose of the evening is to take my place at your celebration. He should wear a hawaiian shirt, and be as drunk as is safely possible. Any Robs can feel free to write me if they need advice on getting into charecter, but I find watching a tape of "Animal House" and modeling your behavior after Bluto will work just as well. Just don't accidentally watch "Popeye".

Beer Wench- A female wearing something low cut, whose job it is to fetch beer when instructed. Must chug a beer if she spills one.

Grope mistress- This is a new position, suggested to me a few years ago. Also a female, (but would be really funny if male) The grope mistress is primarily there to keep the beer wench from being groped. (So, get y'alls minds out of the gutter) The penalty for said gropeage is determined solely by the Grope mistress. The prefered costume is as much leather as possible, and a little sign worn over the butt that says "Grope mistress" purely for the entertainment value.(Yes, I am slightly evil.)

Chauffeur- An important part of any Robbie Gras celebration, the chauffeur is responsible for making sure that no one gets behind the wheel drunk, and that everyone has somewhere to crash if too intoxicated to do so. Must be formally attired, with one of those funny hats.

If your town celebrates Mardi Gras or some other form of Carnival, attending said event (be it parade or county fair) is a must, as is making spectacles of yourselves at said event, be it through "Robbie Gras" signage, costume, or just being loud and raucus.

Any questions?

The Robbie Gras update

Well, Robbie gras is a scant 13 days away, so those of you planning to celebrate "the twelve days of Robbie Gras" better get crackin tomorrow.

I have been thinking a lot about what to do this year for my birthday of late, and had a few ideas, none of which seem to capture my current state of mind. Dizzy had suggested I try to set up a Kahunahhunt, but a K-hunt is an event unto itself, and an awful lot of work for some folk to not make it to the finish line. I had also thought about a scavenger hunt type deal, similar to what the amazing Dyno-man came up with for us to do last year, but again... way too much effort. This year, I'm thinking... I may just keep it simple.

I'm thinking a bar... I'm thinking some food... I'm thinking shooting some pool or some equally social type thing. I should have the 4th and 5th off from the ambition-draining-kink-in-the-social-life that is my job, so right now, I'm thinking the 4th,(Robbie Gras eve) with plans on riding the wave of ensuing merriment until the 5th (Robbie Gras day).

Now although this seems like a simple task... I have found that NOTHING is simple post-Katrina. I need to find a place that is open late enough and still fun for all.

Right now, should you be intending on joining me for Robbie Gras... plan on keeping from like 7ish-till on the 4th of Feb open in your calendar, and plan on being in the New Orelans Metro area. I also need a beer wench and grope mistress voulenteer. Apply the usual way at the usual time. Bring a swimsuit.

Experiment results... and one of those useless, unentertaining meme's I get tagged for...

Well, I hereby label my "head count" a failure. Dizzy seems to think that the reason I get so many hits from around the world is folks looking for the video game "DOA". Alas, we may never know...

And now, a Meme, tagged unto me by Drew you know, I get tagged for a lot of things... maybe I should start doing "meme mondays"

The Quatro meme...

Four Jobs I've Had in My Life:

1)messenger
2)mechanic
3)tourist information specialist
4)paranormal researcher

Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have:

1)"dude, where's my car"
2)"history of the world part 1"
3)"superman 2"
4)"the princess bride"

Four Places I Have Lived:

1)The open road
2)New Orleans, Louisiana
3)New York city
4)Planet Earth

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch:

1)Smallville
2)Gilmore Girls
3)Myth Busters
4)Battlestar Galactica

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation:

1)The blue ridge mountains
2)harriman state park
3)biloxi, mississippi
4)san fransisco, california

Four Websites I Visit Daily:

1)Bloglines
2)Postsecret
3)Atomic thump the return
4)hotmail

Four Favorite Foods:

1)Calzones
2)My mom's macaroni salad
3)Pizza
4)shrimp po-boys

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:

1)Upon the open road
2)Upon a calm sea
3)on a train bound for the orient
4)on a beach, sipping a mai-tai handed to me by a cute cabana girl.

Four People Whom I Tag Next:

1)Dave (Drew's right, you need to start a blog!)
2)Ray "Willy Wonka" Nagin
3)Bill Clinton
4)Dreamwalker

head count-- an experiment of sorts

It has come to the attention of the management that there are a number of overseas readers of Dogs of Atlantis, as well as many American readers that live in parts of the country that quite frankly, befuddle us here at DOA. If you click on the "clustermap" link on the right, you will see what I mean... Now some, like Dreamwalker from New Zealand, I know about... but others (like the ones in japan, europe, and northern canada) I have no clue who you are.

So in the interests of fueling my ego a bit, and so that we here at DOA can more readily anticipate the needs of our regular readers, I would like everyone who reads this post to check in by posting a comment, and tell us the following:

Where are you?
What do you do there?
What would you like to see more of in these pages?
Do I actually know you outside the Blogsphere?

I'm pretty sure that the reader furthest away will prove to be either Dreamwalker or RedRio... (NZ and AUS) so instead of offering a prize for that, the reader whose responses are the most clever will get to be in an original cartoon based on them here on DOA.

Let the games begin!

The DOA Management would like to apologize in advance for any rude, crude, stupid, offensive, or otherwise dumb comments that arise as a result of this experiment. The comments for this post should be considered R rated until proven otherwise... (we know how Rob's friends can be, but can only speculate about his strangers) so send the kids out of the room :)

Ahhhh... the life of a wageslave.

Well, the first day of work found me making a less than spectacular impression. I was two hours late (no one called to tell me that I was even added to the schedule) and I wound up locking my new boss out of her office for a few hours. I also found out, that while I didn't have to take a cut in pay, I get NO benefits and NO perks. Not even a discount at the vending machine. (sigh) I suppose that this goes in the "be careful what you wish for" category, but I keep reminding myself that this job is only the means to an end. On the job training... not an actual job. When I leave this job, i will have a much more thurough outlook on what it takes to run a hotel or inn, which is what I really want to be doing.

So, in other news... I noticed these comments on the ol message board from "deleted" who thinks I don't know who she really is...:
"Two questions I meant to ask...

1)I have heard (news) that people will lose the rights to their property if they dont return to NO. Can this be true?
2)Do you really play the accordion?"

WARNING: semi-political rant ahead... please take all precautions when reading. Safety goggles and gas masks are available in the DOA lobby.

Well, what you heard on the news is not entirely true. The city council has decided to give each neighborhood currently slated for "greenspace reclaimation" a chance to "prove their viability". In short, if enough of your neighbors don't move back, they will buy you out and come on in with the bulldozers. Right now, should you want to bail on the city and live in one of the neighborhoods in dispute, the city will buy you out for 60% of the current market value of the home. If the neighborhood proves "unviable" they will offer you 100% of the current market value, which will probably be much less if the neighborhood is "unviable".

In short, if you're an optimist that already came back, and rebuilt... and enough of your neighbors around you don't... you're just outta luck and your home will be forcibly demolished as they hand you a check for how much they think your home is worth, regardless of how you feel about it.

Land of the free, indeed. Makes me gag thinking about it.

The crucial saturation point for most neighborhoods is 5000 residents. Not an easy feat when you consider that many of these neighborhoods in question still don't have any power or safe water, and the city won't issue any more rebuilding permits until they consider the neighborhood viable.

Seems to me that the city is actively discourageing many of my neighbors from returning. Sure the levee breaches demolished their nearby neighborhoods, but what I think outsiders dont understand is, that doesn't make them any less or more safe than many of the other neighborhoods that were spared. THE ENTIRE CITY IS BELOW SEA LEVEL! I can't help thinking that if the breaches had destroyed say... uptown by river bend, we would not be having this conversation. If the levee had breached near my home, (and I owned it) I would be damned if anyone is gonna tell me that I have no right to live here if I'm gonna foot the bill to rebuild and reclaim my life!

Anyway, to answer your second question, No... I can't play the accordion, but have always wanted to learn. The images on the Atomic Thump site are merely clever photoshop productions by yours truly. When we came up with the original idea behind Atomic thump, I thought it was important to have my character play an instrument no one would ever expect in a rock band... so it was either the accordion or the tuba. Tubas are way too heavy.

New Orelans Update

Well, things seem to be progressing nicely here in the Big Easy... it's looking more and more every day like the city is gonna be back, and in style, within a year or so. Mind you, there are still parts of the city without power, people are living in trailers, and there is no such thing as fast food here anymore as the average wait time at my local Burger King is 25 minutes; Popeyes (real Popeyes, mind you , not the uberbland brandon substitute)is 36 minutes... and DON'T get me started about Taco Bell! Such is life, I suppose. The storm did a mess o' damage, and there's no getting around it. People are coming back, though... as more FEMA trailers become available. If anyone can think of a way to make money off of used FEMA trailers, let me know... I think that in about a year, they'll be a dime a dozen down here. Might make for a neat theme hotel... "the Post Katrina experience".

I went down to the French Quarter with Dizzy a few nights ago... And it's still eerily quiet. Still, more things are open... and more people are out and about. I had some benigets, and a good Cafe Du Monde cup of coffee. I also ran into a good friend from my old job, who is still living on one of the boats till his Trailer comes through.

Mardi Gras will be going forth this year... a sure sign of my city's perserverence. In addition, there's only 28 days to send out your Robbie Gras cards, do your Robbie Gras shopping, and plan your Robbie Gras celebrations. Of course, all of you people who read my blog worldwide are welcome to come on down to the big easy for Robbie Gras, and I would love to hear from y'all. (Dreamwalker... I'm looking at you!) As plans firm up for Robbie Gras, I will of course keep you posted.

The super good news of the week though, is that I GOT A JOB! Not a hoax, not an imaginary story induced by too many Froot Loops. I'll be working the front desk at a local hotel, which is exactly what I was looking for. And to think that I was a whisker away from taking a job doing oil changes.

Trivial tuesday!

Okay kids... today's vexations for you to ponder:

in the category of "Stoner Humor"
1)In the movie "Dude, Where's my car?" what are the twins first names?

In the category of "super science"
2) What was the name of the first cloned mammal?

In the category of "humorous history"
3) Who was the only U.S. president ever issued a patent?

In the category of "pop culture"
4) Elvis Presley only ever made one TV commercial. What was it for?

Cheat if you must, but fair warning: Cheaters never prosper. (unless of course you count the neumerous Ivy leaugers whose parents pay for their degrees every year)

Should old aquaintence be forgot... New Years day, 2006

Well, New Years eve was interesting... full of old friends, bar brawls, and the usual NYE insanity. I would go into details, but as I explained to Lyric last night, it is sooooo not my row to hoe.

For those of you unaware of it, I recomend Postsecret. I find it endlessly facinating, and occasionally one really speaks to me, like this one here:



Happy New Year, Y'all... may the coming year be free of divorces, tsunamis, and freakin hurricanes.

Christmas day, 2005

Christmas settled over casa kahunah like a large, wet sack. I sat around most of the day, watching inane Christmas movies on ABC family, and then realized I was being an idiot. I needed to go out. Do something... Anything.

So, I called up Dizzy... Who I knew was in a similar situation, as her family was out of town for the holiday, leaving her and her cat alone in her house for the first time since Katrina. Now, far be it from me to intrude upon the first privacy that a friend has had since the hurricane that changed all our lives, but I figured that it was Christmas and maybe she would want some company too. So, I call and suggested we grab some dinner... So we did. Chinese Buffets are great, and open on Christmas :)

Afterward, Dizzy told me that Benny Grunch and the Bunch were giving a free concert at Mid-city lanes Rock and Bowl. For those of you not from New Orleans, Benny grunch is famous for their New Orleans themes songs, such as the Twelve Yats of Christmas, Santa and his Reindeer used to live right Here, and Aint Dere no more. His music is a combination of many different styles, from Rock to Zydeco, to Rap, and is always VERY funny. So I figured, what the heck, and we went.

Going into Rock and Bowl renewed my faith in my city. Here were at least a hundred of my neighbors, all gathered together, in the spirit of Christmas, listening to a band that is truly Uniquely New Orleans. When we arrived, and old friend of Dizzy's recognized her as we walked in, and have her a big hug. He then yelled at me "Don't know who you are!" and gave me a big hug too.

It wasn't long before Benny Grunch and the Bunch hit the stage, a unique blend of music and comedy. Aint Dere no more is about all the unique businesses in New Orleans that have gone out of business over the years, and has always been one of my favorites. But this year, Benny and the boys made a new version of the song, (which was enough for me to buy their post-Katrina CD)... Temporarily Aint Dere No More . A sample:

Ya see Grand Isle, it's way out miles in the Gulf of Mexico
Then I guess we'd go to Westwego for The Tarpon Rodeo
Here's a tale of two cities that were sittin' too pretty
'Tween the 17th St. Canal and Gulf of Mexico
When they both got dunked and sunk till they stunk
Now I don't wanna say "Ain't Dere No More"

'Cause they comin right back, you can quote me on that,
Twice as nice as they was before
Startin' with the Parish of St. Bernard -
Temporarily Ain't Dere No More

But if your boat needs gas while Hopedale's trashed
And you're lookin' for a hi-class crowd
You can join right up at the Southern Yacht Club
But it ain't gonna be right now.

Now who's got alleys so you don't have to carry
All your garbage cans out there on ya new mowed lawn
There was butterflies, parrots, squirrels, organic carrots
All of a sudden with the floodin' it was almost gone
But they're comin' back in hours, out plantin' little flowers
On the neutral ground all away out to Lake Shore
Never thought there'd be a curfew right here in Lakeview -
Temporarily Ain't Dere No More

After the traditional songs, Benny went into a few covers, mostly 50's dance tunes. Dizzy's friend, (the one with the hugging problem, now very drunk) then proceeded to grab his wife and dance, swinging her about and doing twirls and such. He then proceeded to grab his daughter and do the same, then he grabbed Dizzy and swung her around for a bit... And then, he grabbed me. I of course, rolled with it, and swung him around on the dance floor as hard as he had been swinging the girls. Had to grab his arm a few times to keep him from flying over the rail and into the lap of some unsuspecting bowlers, but it was very funny. Apparently, we were quite the sight, as the crowd around us was rolling in laughter as the song came to an end, and for a split second I was in the Old, pre-Katrina New Orleans... where things like that just happen and everyone finds it funny and rolls with the joke.

I love this town.

Reason #428 why I hate Frickin Christmas...

It's Christmas Eve... I'm bummed out cause I can't find "A Miracle on 34th street" on a single channel.

Bah Humbug.

A merry Festivus after all...

Well kids, last night I went out drinking and reminiscing (sp?) with an old friend. Lessee... need a good code name for this story, so, lets call her Dizzy. (Trust me, she'll love it.)

First, we met up for dinner at a Chinese buffet (mmmmmm chinese buffet) and got our eat on. I had just sat down when In walks two guys with guitars and a flautist (sp?). Not what one normally expects when eating chinese. So, as dizzy returns to the table, I point them out. "Fortunately, we are in a far corner of the resturant" I think to myself, "Not like they're gonna start carolling next to our table or something." Which they then proceed to do. I couldn't eat because I was too busy laughing, at both the situation (Christmas at a chinese resturant?) and at the fact that Dizzy was delighted by this turn of events. It only made matters worse then the lead guitarist introduced that the flautist and her friend were from iceland, and then they launched into an inspired version of "Feliz navidad".

That's at least three more cultures than I expected to be exposed to that night.

Well, they eventually moved on, and I chatted with Dizzy about what's going on with both of us. (had a lot to catch up on... when last I saw her, Charity and I weren't even dating, much less married and divorced) I was shocked when she told me that she had gotten me a festivus gift.

So I'm thinking, "Sure. She read my blog and just decided to call the christmas gift a festivus one to mess with my head." You see, true festivus gifts must be something you don't want, and something that the recipiant probably doesn't want either. So, I open it. Two copies of "the fellowship of the ring" on DVD. (yes, two copies of the same movie) She had gotten the boxed set, and so didn't want them any more, and I have never been one for the whole Tolkien thing.

It was indeed a Festivus gift. A Festivus miracle, as it were. I am SO getting a Festivus pole next year. I don't even need to shop for a Festivus gift for anyone, as at least two people are getting "the fellowship of the ring" on DVD, one of whom is certainly gonna be Dizzy.

Merry Festivus, Y'all

Ahhhh... the holidays. Part deux.

The amazing thing about one holiday is how it stretches into another. Basically, after halloween, it's all downhill to christmas. My friends and I have an anual christmas party, and this year it was at Drew and Stacey's house.

As you can see from the photo, we were all making with the merry. I'm the furry one in the back :)

Made out pretty well on the presents this year... I got all four Superman Movies from Ringo, The First season of the George Reeves Superman TV show from JavaFooFoo, A Superman alarm clock from Dave, and the old 1940's movie serial "the adventures of Captain Marvel" from Drew and Stacey.

Notice the pattern anyone?

Still, I found it hard to be in the christmas spirit most of the night. I dunno what is is about the holidays of late, but I have been finding it increasingly difficult over the years to keep that christmas spirit in my heart. I'm expecting Jacob Marley to come by any day now with his three pals.

Bah Frickin Humbug. I'm going with Festivus next year for sure.

But, still, it was great to have everyone in one place for a change. It's been a rough year all around, what with hurricanes and divorces (okay, one divorce... mine.) and other stuff that make up the fabric of our lives. It was nice just to kick back and enjoy a simple night in the company of friends.

Over the weekend, I hung out in Brandon and wound up buying a car. Drew now refers to me as the "CARhunah". It's a 93 buick, and runs really well. I'm thinking I could probably sell it for at least twice what I paid for it, as car prices here in New Orleans are fairly high right now. What do y'all think?

I made it a point to be back in New Orleans by thursday, to go to Pub Quiz at the crown and anchor. Ducky and I, amazingly enough, placed in every single round. For a team of two that always get their asses handed to them by the larger and smarter baby Boomer teams, it was quite the Christmas miracle. In the first round, we were named "Cat on a hot blue roof" and placed third. The second round we named ourselves "Chestnuts roasting in a FEMA trailer" and placed second. We were elated, and could have gone home right then and there, but in the third round, ("Grandma got run over by Katrina") we heard answer after answer and realized we were the only team celebrating each right one. We sat in disbelief when we were told that we got first place.

Merry Christmas to one and all. May your Chrismahanakwanzakus wishes all come true.

Trivial Tuesday

Howdy, Y'all... been up in Brandon all week visiting Drew and Stacey, and attending my merry little group's Christmas shindig. It's been fun. I will make it a point to tell everyone more when I have some more time to write, but the big news is that I bought a car! been like 10 years since I had one of my own, but in post Katrina New Orleans, it has proven to be a must.

On with the trivia:

In the Category of Trivial Television-
1)Name Tim Taylor's sons from "Home Improvement".

In the category of Classic Cartoons-
2)When recounting his life, where does Bugs Bunny say he was born?

In the Category of Manic Movies-
3) In "History of the world part 1", name two of the things that Mel Brooks promises we'll see in "History of the world part 2".

In the Category of "famous Firsts"
4)Who was the first Monarch to have a televised coronation?

Answers by the weekend, and as always... NO Googling :)

New Feature- Trivial tuesdays!

In our ongoing quest to have Rob make more regular posts, we are pleased to announce our first Trival Tuesday. Each tuesday, Rob will post a few triva questions, and put the answers in the comments by the weekend. We hope you enjoy this new feature, as we know Rob absolutely loves it.
---Dogs Of Atlantis management

Howdy there kids... trivial tuesday time. No cheating by looking up the answers on the internet please.

In the category of "Famous Firsts":
1)Who was the first woman to win a nobel prize?

In the category of "Classic Cartoons":
2)What was the name of Speed Racer's Younger brother and his pet monkey?

In the category of "Super Science":
3)What is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature?

In the category of "Trivial Television"
4)In the original 'wardrobe malfunction', what actress accidentally exhaled her breast out of her dress during the telecast of the Academy Awards in 1957?

For all the Pulp Fiction folks in the house...

This is brilliant. How they got Sam Jackson for it, I will never know. Nice to see that Jules found that direction, after all.

What to post when you have exactly zip, zilch, and nada to talk about...

"You need to post something!" Java Foo Foo admonished me the other day about my blog. She, like many of you check my blog all the time, and have been wondering what happened to me. Well, the fact of the matter is very little. As many of you know, I try to keep the tone of my posts light. In the spirit of DOA, I also try to give each and every post some kind of relevance to whatever is going on in my life, but I think y'all can tell when I'm faking it. Basically, I worry about boring y'all when the most interesting thing that has happened to me today was the dramatic decision to have cream cheese rather than peanut butter on my bagel this morning. So, I figure once a week I'll start reaching into the old DOA mailbag if I have nothing else to write.

First off, On 11/13, Dreamwalker from New Zealand wrote:
I am your 1700 visitor...Do I get a prize? And, hey...Where's the new blog. I travel a long way to read this. :)

Yes, dreamwalker, you do get a prize. Your comment is the first I decided to use for this feature. Visitor 2000 will get an artifact from the DOA office, either an original cartoon about the visitor, an empty can of sam's cola, or a dirty sock. I'll let y'all know when I decide which.

On 10/29, anonymous wrote:

Oh Great Webkahunah, Don't run away to New England just yet. Come back to New Orleans. Re-enroll at U.N.O. or Delgado. Learn the intricacies of running a hotel.

You're still young and Cute too. Meet a nice woman and date her. You never know, you might get lucky. (Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge)

Then the 2 of you can run your little cottage inn by the ocean together. And does it have to be New England? Virginia and Georgia are nice and a lot less Snowy. And you'd have a longer "Season" you'd be open for. And just think of the different styles of Cooking you could offer. New York and New Orleans.

I know it's your life and your decision, but I wanted you to know that one of your New Orleans friends would rather have you here than there.

To anonymous, I say: Who the heck are you, and are you female and cute? These questions have been plagueing me since I read that.I admittedly, need a date as much as I need a job.

I have also been putting some of my time and energy into The grand return of Atomic Thump. Mostly, I like doing neat photoshop manipulations, and then writing the background stories... My character in the band is "Big Daddy Scruptious", seen at the right. He was the accordion player in the greatest 80's heavy metal band you've never heard of... check it out if you like silly humor.

Hey, I gotta spend my free time doing more than playing City of heroes, people.

Ahhh... the holidays....

For those of you out there concerned about such things, I created an Amazon.com wish list this year. I don't use the silly things myself, but I confess they do give me ideas. While I don't suspect anyone will actualy buy me anything off the list, I figure they will be able to glean my clothing sizes from it, as well as the fact that my world revolves around super heroes. Gotta love the holidays, or so my therapist keeps telling me. Feh. I say we go with Festivus this year, whose only gift giving rule is that if you give a gift, it has to be something you're sure the recipient will hate, and you would never buy for yourself.

Some fun holiday picks:
Stacey took this great pick of Me, Drew and Papa Steve drooling over the fruit of our labors, trying valiantly, and in vain to keep ourselves from picking at the bird.
Drew doing the carving with no rhyme or reason at all. Me trying my hardest not to jump in and take over for the sake of the turkey.
Photographic evidence of our delicious experiment to deep fry snickers bars. Don't mock me till you've tried my ways, people.

Fryday and Festivus.

Well, the first Fryday went great. We threw two gallons of corn oil into the turkey fryer yesterday and went to town. My buddy Dave, who was without much to do the day after thanksgiving, (as his lovely wife Danielle had decided to brave the Mall on the busiest shopping day of the year) was coaxed into joining us. Interesting conversation:

"Dave! We're Fying! You have to come!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Dude. Deep fried snickers"
"Ha ha ha ha ha"
"Come on dude! Bring a movie and something to fry!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Rob, I..."
"Come on!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Put Stacey on for directions"

As you can see, it wasn't the hardest sell. I think I had him at "deep fried snickers". So, after he arrived, we got to frying... The Menu:

we made the batter and dipped everything in the oil ourselves, mind you...

Deep fried and battered Snickers Bars
Corndogs
Battered and fried Oreos
Fried apples
Fried pickles
Homemade potato chips
Homemade French fries
Deep fried biscuits

Ah, doesn't it just make your arteries harden thinking about it? Everything came out fry-tacular. The biggest surprise to me was the fried snickers bars, which I had doubts about. Little did I know that they would turn out to be a little piece of fried heaven. The biggest disappointment was the Oreos. After the snickers, they just couldn't measure up, I suppose. The thing I was most proud of were the potato chips.. I sliced them as thin as I could, dropped them in the oil, Stacey hit them with the Tony's, and they were easily as good as anything from Frito-lay. The Fryday celebration I think, may become an annual one.

Speaking of made up holidays, we've entered the Festivus season, and this is brilliant, for all of you scratching your heads wondering what the hell I'm talking about. I think I may just ditch the whole Christmas thing this year, and get me an aluminum pole.

Now if only I had a few supermodels to wrestle me to the ground.

On the day we give thanks.... for fried turkey! 2005

Well, kids... thanksgiving, and with it the holidays, are upon us. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and one of the few I think should be adopted worldwide. I really think that it's important for us all, no matter our background, to step back every so often and just be thankful for what we have, and the bounty of riches, both material and esoteric that have been bestowed upon us in the course of a year.

That's a pretty heavy thought... must be all the turkey I ate. You think fish is brain food? I scoff in your general direction, and pity those who deny the cerebral cortex boosting power of a huge plate of Turkey.

But I digress. I decided to spend the Holiday with Stacey and Drew up in Brandon. Yeah, I was effectively marooned there for a month this year, but holidays are always best spent in the company of your closest friends. This year, Drew deep fried the turkey. I had to promise my Mom, (who reads my blog, and is fully aware of Drew's talent for accidentally shooting at innocent roofs, and attempting to catch chainsaws) that I wouldn't allow him to hurt himself, or more importantly, me in the process. I assured her that despite news reports to the contrary, frying a turkey is a fairly safe thing.

"Have you ever done this before?" Mom asked.
"Well, no." I said.
"Has Drew?"
"No, but there's a first time for everything."
"Is anyone there who has done this before?"
"Mom, plenty of people fry turkeys every year without incident."
"Is that a no? You stay away from that fryer, Robbie."
"Stacey's Stepdad is here. He's fried one before."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Ma. I'll be careful, Ma."
"Promise me you'll be careful. Drew too."
"I promise Ma."

I felt like a ten year old asking permission to go sledding with the neighborhood troublemaker. Sheesh. Anyway, for those of you keeping track of Drew's antics, the frying operation went off without a hitch, only took about a half hour, and produced the finest turkey I have ever eaten. (Note to the Cerio family readers- better than the famous Barbeque Kosher bird of 87!) The operation went so well in fact, that it left me and Stacey wondering what else we could fry. We pondered all kinds of things... from the mudane (potatoes, corndogs) to the downright silly (Oreos, pickles, hard boiled eggs). We finally decided that today, the Friday after thanksgiving, we were gonna experiment. We bought pickles, potatoes, oreos, hot dogs and batter, and of course, snickers bars. It will be glorious. I'll make it a point to post the results tomorrow. I keep thinking we should rename today "Fry-day". Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.

So, on a final note... the things I'm thankful for this year:

1)That my Friends and home survived Hurricane Katrina.
2)That the tragedy gave me an opportunity to visit my family.
3)That despite mankinds' best efforts to the contrary, the world continues to spin safely on it's axis for yet another day.
4)That despite another rough year, My blog is still funny enough to keep Y'all coming back.

Happy thanksgiving to you and yours, and may the coming months give you much to be thankful for.

the silly games we play...

Well, I've been tagged twice on this one... so I guess I'll do it...

The gist of this Meme:

1. Go into your archives
2. Find your 23rd post
3. Find the fifth sentence
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog
5. Tag five other people to do the same thing

Well, mine was:

"It turned out to be less than that... (Props to Mrs. Spanky’s Dad for the 411 on the alternate route.) but in any case, there was no way I was gonna miss the opportunity to visit the hometown of my hero, Superman."

From the now infamous Indiana road trip.

Well, lets see... five other people who I would like to see their results of doing the same (and my prediction for the fifth sentence):

1. Anthony Scilia- "Damn, them italians are a surly bunch"
2. George Bush Sr.- "I still can't believe I threw up on the Japanese ambassador."
3. Bill Clinton- "Bought some cigars today while Hill wasn't looking."
4. Jesus- "It irritates me sometimes when here I am ready to spread my fathers word, and all they want is loaves and fishes."
5. Stephen Hawking- "I'll tell you, if I never hear another Helen Keller joke again, I'll be delighted."

"See you, Me and Julio down by the schoolyard."- On the road with Rob day 21 till journeys end.

Well, it's been a while since I got back to New Orleans, and I'm sure there are those of you that have been wondering why I never really finished my Road Trip tale. The reason is that in real life, there are no neat and tidy endings... The story tends to go on.

Pretty heavy thought for a Sunday morning.

But still, there is more that needs be said. I left Massachusetts fairly sure of my desires. I wanted to own an inn, and figure I need to start working toward that goal. Of course, I know exactly zip about the mechanics of owning an inn, which is a problem. As I made my way into upstate New York I realized that while I love the hospitality industry, and the tour company I work for, I am on the wrong end of the business to bring me nearer to my goals.

What I really need, I realized, is a hotel job.

This epiphany washed over me as I made my way to the Lake George area. The company I work for in New Orleans has a sister company there, and I figured it couldn't hurt to check out their operation. So I did, and then wound up following the lake up through the Adirondacks to Ticonderoga. It was a beautiful drive. The fall foliage was in full color around me, and as I passed through all these quaint little lakeside vacation towns, I kept saying to myself that this is something I want to work toward. I want the inn on the water, yet in the mountains. I want an off season where I have a chance to pursue other things. I feel like I could finally be at peace with myself.

Realizing that it should be easy to find a hotel job in New Orleans right now, I turned my rental car south for the first time in a month. I spent the night at my Aunt's house again, and said my goodbyes the next morning.

The drive home was uneventful. I stopped briefly in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to tour the chocolate plant, and headed home from there. Feeling for the first time in months that everything was gonna be all right.

TRIP TALLY:

Miles traveled: 4734

Average price for gas: 2.57 a gallon

Lowest price I paid: 2.29 a gallon

Number of hotels I stayed in: 10

Nicest of the bunch: The Comfort suites in Connecticuit.

Having a renewal of spirit: Priceless. :)

"Goodbye to Rosie, Queen of Carona..."-On the road with Rob day 18-20.

So, I found myself on Cape Cod with no real sense of purpose... Unsure of myself, unsure of my future, and unsure of my life. The dark grays of the North Atlantic on winter's edge seemed to echo something within me. I cruised along the scenic route along the beaches of the cape, through the dunes and along the blacktop in a kind of personal fog.

Still, the realities of my existence kicked in, and I found a room for the night at a quaint little inn in Orleans. "The Ship's Knees inn" is one of those picturesque New England inns you see on the travel channel. Very weathered, on a hill, and just oozing with charm.

Plus that, it's only five minutes from the beach.

I caught the inn during it's off season, which meant that it was really just me and the innkeepers. I was actually surprised that I was able to find such a place during the off-season, as most of their competitors simply close up after the summer. It was owned by this really nice couple, the Butchers, who live on the property with their family. They were great at pointing me toward local eateries and attractions, and for the first night since Katrina hit, I got a really great night's sleep there.

Truth is, I envy their lifestyle. Long before I came to New Orleans, I had always sworn to myself that the way I would someday retire was to have a little New England inn of my very own, and I always envisioned it much like the Ship's Knees. Part home, part hotel, and just generally a fun place to live and work. Slow enough in the off season months to keep you sane, busy enough in the on season to keep you comfortable.

The next day, I went to the beach and saw a seal. At first, I thought it was a plesiosaur... I have never seen seals in their natural environment, after all... And the black head popping up in the north Atlantic took me aback a bit. I realized how stupid I had been and got back into the car, headed across Massachusetts toward upstate New York, feeling renewed, with one thought in my mind: How great it would be to own my own inn.

But where? How? Was this the answer I had been looking for?

"Takin my time but I don't know where"- On the road with Rob- days 9-17. "Really! Where am I going?"

Well, folks... Although I know many of you were waiting with baited breath for more stories from the road, the realities of finding internet access around the country proved far more challenging than I initially hoped they would be. So, here I sit in Brandon again, intent upon returning home tomorrow. So, what happened to my lost week or two? "let me splain... No, is too much... Let me sum up."

I had a great time.

Okay, maybe brevity isn't the best way to go here :)

I spent about a week in NYC catching up with my Dad and Mom, and assorted other friends. With Dad, this involved massive amounts of sitting around on the couch and watching TV. With Mom, a dinner or two. It was the first trip to NY I've taken since I moved to New Orleans that I didn't once go into Manhattan, and spent all my time on good old Staten Island.

Having said that, S.I. is no longer the place I grew up in. The differences are subtle but alarming... A new house or two here, an increase in traffic there, a shopping center in some woods I was too chicken to go into as a kid. Ahhh... The price of progress, I guess.

I had left Brandon feeling... Well, for lack of a better term, "Rudderless". I realized as I headed up I-95 bound for New England, that even before Katrina, my life lacked any serious direction. This feeling really galvanized itself to me on the trip up there. I talked about this a little with Dad before I left NY, and his answer was remarkably un-Dad like: "All of us lack direction, Robbie..." He said to me, "No one ever really knows where life will take them... But sometimes, that's just how life works. Sure, you can plan, and dream, and prepare yourself to take advantage of things, but bottom line is you don't know where you'll end up." He backed up this statement with a few choice examples from his life I won't go into here.

Normally, Pop would have been a wise ass and handed me a compass and a map. The apple falls not far from the tree I guess.

Anyway, I left NYC headed toward Cape Cod in something of a fog, both literally and spiritually. I began to think about all the advice people have given me over the years and what Dad had said as I made my way up the Connecticuit coast, and to Mystic, CN. Mystic is a beautiful old New England town, rich with history, culture, and charm. I looked around for a bit, and even did a little job hunting. Unfortunately, everywhere I went I received the same reply: "Sorry, we're not hiring now, come back when our season starts up again." I spent the night at a really nice hotel with a nearby Indian casino. The casinos don't have an off season, but even lacking direction I knew that I don't want to work in a casino.

So where did this leave me? Bored, alone, and with a full tank of gas in the car. Cape Cod was not far... But part of me wondered exactly what the point would be in continuing my journey. Had I already found the answers I had been seeking? Were they just not what I hoped? Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of the trip to find out, readers.

By the numbers:

Lowest price for gas: $2.21 per gallon

Stupid place name: Pickle's Knob

Realization: The native Americans have quite the racket going with them casinos.

"I'm on my waaay"-On the road with Rob days 3-8 "A New York state of Mind"

Well, I'm sure many of you have been wondering what happened to me after I left the blue ridge mountains.. I'm sure many of you have speculated that the earth itself opened up and swallowed me whole... well, that's in a way true.. but I'll get to that in a moment.

The trip has been very wet thus far. I mean almost non-stop rain and drizzle since I left the parkway on saturday. It's to the point up here in the Tri-state area (NY, NJ, CN) that there is a lot of flooding. Just what I needed... more freakin flooding. I swear, I am so living on a houseboat.

Well, on saturday morning, I had actually considered going white water rafting... but the weather sucked, so I instead, went to a cave.

Don't laugh... only been in a cave once before. thought it would be neat. Again, I figure the whole "extremes" thing applied here... I went from 6000 ft or so one day to 560 ft below ground the next. How cool is that? I was surprised to find that the cave was still higher (above sea level) than new orleans. go figure.

From there, I drove up through virginia, but I passed on DC and went streight on to NYC. I don't know why... I guess I was homesick. Soon, the beautiful blues of the Blue Ridge mountains gave way to the angry greys of the north atlantic in fall. Quite the change.

Seeing Mom and Dad again was great. My parents are some very cool, if quirky, people. I also had the opportunity to visit my Aunt upstate in New Paltz, NY and bond with my cousin Jesse over video games.

Ahhhh...nothing brings the generations together like "Need for Speed 2".

So, My aunt is one of those italian-american ladies you read about... the kind that feeds you at least once every half hour when you walk in the door. I must've put on at least ten pounds, and was only there for a day or so...

I've also had the chance to catch up with a few folks from the old days... seems everyone I knew "back then" is now married with at least two kids. I feel so out of place... like my life has lacked direction or something these past few years.

On that note, I also have decided to extend my trip a few days for some more "reflection time" on my part. My life does lack direction, and with the knowledge that it will be at least mid-november before my job really kicks in again... Maybe I can find some. New York is a very lonely place, and I don't feel it will ever again be my home...

By the numbers-

Miles traveled so far- 1509.6

Price of gas in NYC- 2.89 per gallon

Price of gas when I left Brandon- 2.79 per gallon

Friends caught up with- 3

friends left to go- 5

Moment of clarity- When I beat Cousin Jesse in the second game we played, and he looked at me and said: "Whoa! Robbie's got game!" (I owe it all to the Ronald J. Nunez school of driving...convieniently located in Fun Arcade)

"I don't know where I'm going.."- On the road with Rob- days 2&3- "Top o the world, Ma!"

Well, as you all know, New Orleans is 6 or so feet below sea level, and I decided while planing this little voyage that I wanted to get as far above sea level as possible. Try 3752 feet! or the altitude of the Bluffs lodge where I spent last night. I drove up the blue ridge parkway, and loved every second of it. beautiful winding road through the mountains, tunnels through solid rock, viaducts over deep chasms, with wonderful overlooks every few miles. It was great!

"there aren't many places like this around anymore" the check in clerk told me as she handed me my key, and apologized for the lack of phones, televisions, or internet service in the rooms. When I pulled out my cell phone, she just laughed at me. Apparently, I would need to climb the rest of the frickin mountain if I expected to get a signal, and even then it was iffy. I ignored the "stupid city folk" look in her eye and spent the night enjoying the mountain air by the outdoor fireplace. The folks I met were friendly and brimming with curiosity about my all-but-destroyed city.

Somewhere, around when a deer scampered across the field behind the hotel, I realized the clerk was right... there aren't many places like that anymore... It was also exactly what I needed. I headed north, the next morning (after trying some of the best black cherry preserves on the planet) and got as far as maryland. there is much more to day 3, but I'm tired and need sleep.

Miled traveled day 2- 150 day 3- 500

Cokes drunk on trip thus far- 8

Best quirky church sign- "Wal-mart isn't the only place for saving"

Revalation of the day- every road goes somewhere.

Stupid town name du jour- "Cooch Gap, NC" (snicker...)

Price of Jar of Black cherry preserves- $10.00

Price I would have still paid- $50.00

Most disturbing natural wonder- Natural Bridge, VA... somone roped it off and they charge you 18 bucks to even glimpse it! I passed in horror.

Oddest fact learned- The blue ridge parkway constructin began September 11, 1935.

New York or burst tommorow!

"Well i'm on my way"-Rob from the road day 1-"Chasing Katrina"

Well, dear readers, I am indeed on my way on a month or so road trip to "find my placein the world" I drove up through alabama into the Great Smokey Mountains of tennesee and the carolinas... So named because in certain types of weather, the fog formations make them appear to actually smoke! I never would have known this had I not seen it with my own eyes. One thing that suprised me though, was how far the devestation left by the hurricane that has uprooted my life extended... I realized at some point that I was actually following almost exactly the path the storm had taken after it passed over louisiana and mississippi... I was still seeing downed trees and signs as far north as tuscolusa, alabama. Powerful storm. Powerful images.

Observations from the Road today:

Distance traveled: ~600 miles- from Brandon MS, to Asheville, NC

Average price of gas: $2.89

Stupid town name du jour: Chunky, MS.

Unusual sight of the day... two people running after a runnaway trailer labeled "$4000 takes it"

Great revalation: I think too much about a particular woman.

Great revalation #2: Paul Simon writes one hell of a road song. the first three tracks of his greatest hits album are the greatest!

Great revalation #3: I have no idea what the "coast" button on the cruise control does... and 70mph (110 kph- thinkin of all you european types) is no time for me to find out. anyone know?

Till tomorrow, y'all... the Blue Ridge Parkway beckons.

Seven things you didn't know about Rob

7 things I plan to do before I die:

1. Pee in all the oceans of the world
2. Drive up the California coast from L.A. all the way to Portland. Maybe next week.
3. Be a Dad
4. Perform a Miricle
5. Write a book
6. Run for public office
7. Become Notorious

7 things I can do:

1. Fly a plane (fly, yes… land, very iffy.)
2. Sail a boat
3. Make others smile
4. Anger sleeping bats with my laugh
5. Work out a mystery in the first three chapters
6. Sing
7. the “cowboy shuffle”, “the electric slide”, and the “Texas two step”

7 things I cannot do:

1. Ride a horse
2. Juggle
3. Make a really good Alfredo sauce from scratch
4. Build a functioning auto engine from a block of steel
5. Get blood from a stone
6. Change the course of a mighty river
7. Bend steel in my bare hands

7 things that attract me to the opposite sex:

1. A pretty smile
2. A great sense of humor
3. Deep, Dark Brown eyes
4. Dark, silky hair
5. A high tolerence for “geek speak”
6. The ability to converse well on a variety of subjects
7. A willingness to listen

7 things I say most often:

1. “Not for nothing…”
2. “Sweet”
3. “mmmmm...(whatever is aplicable)”
4. “the point is…”
5. “anyway…”
6. “so…”
7. “antiquing”

7 celebrity crushes:

1. Jeri Ryan
2. Lauren Graham
3. Rachel Ray
4. Catherine Zeta-Jones
5. Christie Brinkley
6. Terry Farrel
7. Teri Hatcher

7 people I want to do this:

1. Sleepy
2. Sneezy
3. Grumpy
4. Bashful
5. Doc
6. Dopey
7. Steven Hawking

Down the Mississippi, down to New Orleans.

"I wake up in the morning
And I raise my weary head
I got an old coat for a pillow
And the earth was last night's bed
I don't know where I'm going
Only God knows where I've been
I'm a devil on the run
A six gun lover
A candle in the wind"-- Blaze of Glory, Jon Bon Jovi

That phrase echoed in the speakers of the jeep as I left Brandon this morning... Somehow, the soundtrack of my life never disappoints me. I was bound, as you probably know, for New Orleans, or at least my little corner of it. It's hard to describe how I felt as I put the cruise control on 75mph (120 kph for all my metric-using fans) and told myself to just keep the damn machine pointed south, and three hours later you should be there.

The trip from Jackson to Brandon isn't quite like a drive to the corner store, after all... And even if it was, I would probably have just walked and saved the gas.

The trip was uneventful until I hit Manchac... about 50 miles or so from New Orleans... Manchac is basically a fishing village on the bayou. It's home to Middendorfs, which serves the best fried catfish in the south. The simple functionality of the homes there always impressed me... no-nonsense numbers on stilts, only accessible by boat, built with only fishing and sleeping while fishing in mind. Most of them, sadly are gone now. Middendorfs is still there, but didn't look like it would be open for business for a while. I also saw standing water where there used to be a patch of land that comprised the town... Reclaimed by the swamps around it.

As I passed over the bonne carre spillway, I could see the train tracks that carried me safely out of the city a month ago... Or, rather what was left of them... The railway was washed out in many places, and Amtrak crews were trying to rebuild.

I went south there, across the river and along route 90. Destruction and trash was still everywhere... Couldn't go more than two blocks without seeing a building down. I started to worry at this point. I pulled into my Job's satellite office to see if there was any word... But the best I could get was "maybe in a month or two" not the most optimistic answer, but better than I hoped... I have a job when the company resumes operations... Probably in a month if all goes well. Good thing.

From there, I went straight to my apartment. The checkpoint to enter the parish was surreal, but one of New Orleans finest smiled and welcomed me back. Still there... no broken windows or doors. no flooding. Just as I left it. Relief washed over me as I was startled by a c7 cargo plane passing twenty feet over my house. The military is everywhere in the point, as it has become the launch point for the relief efforts on the eastbank. Very surreal. I also saw my neighbor, Keylee, outside washing her car. Her husband, Jack was one of the brave ones who stayed through the storm. One day, I'll have to sit down and buy that man a beer.

After catching up with Keylee fro a few minutes, I opened the door to my house, still half expecting a horror to await me inside. Everything was just as I had left it, except for the mouse bait, which had apparently been eaten by that pest, Pepino.

Yes, it was vermin, but I had named the mouse which had been keeping me up at night with all that rustling. It's dead now (it did eat all the poison) so get off my case. Of course I never did find the body, so.... Maybe Pepino just moved to Florida or something.

I gave the house the once over, and everything was fine. The power was on, the hot water was still hot, and even the cable TV worked! I even opened the fridge, thanking the good lord for the bachelor lifestyle that only had it filled with Mustard, Teriyaki sauce, and some fritos... no smell to speak of. Then, like an idiot pushing his luck after not getting electrocuted the first three times he touched the third rail, I opened the freezer. Completely oblivious to the two pounds of shrimp and pound of venison I had in there.

For weeks when the house had no power.

Sometimes, words fail you in trying to describe something... But if you take the worst smell you've ever smelled, add a few tons of rotting trash, and microwave some limburger cheese on top of it, you get the idea. Keep in mind, folks... I grew up downwind of the world's largest landfill. I know from stink. Nothing ever prepared me for this, though. Still, remember that I was a boy scout, and came prepared for this... Face mask, vapo rub, disposable gloves, trash bags, 409, vinegar, baking soda... I was set, and it took me a few hours to clean it all out.

I was sitting on my stoop for a while after, having a sandwich and a coke while the house aired out a bit, when my cell phone rang. It was Donald, who lived in Chalmette. For those of you unaware of what that means... chalmette was part of the city that was under twelve feet of water, and still under three feet of muck. He was calling to ask me how my place was, and to tell me that while he still has a job, he and his Dad had nowhere to stay.

I realized several things in that moment as I figured out how to answer...
1) Despite my whining to the contrary, I had lost virtually nothing compared to some others.
2) My friends are something else.
3) I still have a job, a home, and friends in New Orleans. How could I have ever been thinking about leaving?
4) I wouldn't be needing to use my apartment for at least a month... And have always wanted to travel a bit, anyway.

I offered my place to Donald on the spot. He mulled it over with his Dad for a bit, but accepted. I felt totally like I was "paying forward" the generosity that Drew and Stacey have this past month.

They picked up the key, I grabbed a few of my things, and was about to leave when my EX-MOTHER-IN-LAW calls my cell phone. Similar situation to Donalds.. But ten minutes too late. I felt bad, and I tried to find them a place to stay, but had no luck. It didn't help that she started the conversation with an insult, and refused to tell me anything about how they were, or where... Even though I have been trying to contact them since the storm to make sure they were okay. I spent a solid hour and a half driving around to every B&B I knew, every landlord I thought might have a place open, and asking everyone I knew in my neighborhood if they could take Char and her family in. I called and apologized to Her for not being able to help. She huffed, and hung up on me.

I hate that woman. SO glad the divorce is final.

Anyway, I left for Brandon confident in my future for the first time in months, stopping briefly to check on Kristen and her family (her neighborhood flooded, but is now habitable... Story for another blog.).

I have some money... The bills will be paid... My apartment is being used for a good cause... The open road beckons... And my life will be waiting for me when I return.

A good day. :)

"Well I'’m on my way
I don't know where IÂ’m going
I'’m on my way
I'’m taking my time
But I don'’t know where
Goodbye to Rosie the queen of Corona
See you, me and julio
Down by the schoolyard"-- Down by the Schoolyard, Simon and Garfunkel

Homeward Bound...

"And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
And ev’ry stranger’s face I see reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home... where my thought’s escaping,
Home... where my music’s playing,
Home... where my love lies waiting
Silently for me." --Homeward Bound, Simon & Garfunkel

I know... starting the entry with a Simon and freakin Garfunkel quote? am I loosing it? where the heck is the typical Billy Joel reference? I'll get to it, I promise. the S&G quote is a little appropriate right now.

Well, kids... The time has come. Tomorrow, for the first time in a month, I am going to make the trek further south to Algiers Point in New Orleans, Louisiana. I am homeward bound for the first time in a long time.

Home. I'm going home.

Except, I suppose... I'm really not. It's a funny word.... it's more than where you hang your hat, or where your mail comes to, isn't it? the past few weeks have taught me a few things about what "home" really is. My home is where my friends and job are. My house is really secondary to that, I suppose. Being that I still have no job, and my friends are scattered to the proverbial winds, I suppose that apartment back in New Orleans, regardless of it's condition, is no longer really my "home". Knowing that, my plan is to grab what few things I have that matter to me, pack up whatever else I have time for, and head back to Brandon for now.

It's funny making the list of "essentials" in my head... deciding stuff that is really important to me... things that no matter where I hang my hat, make it my "home". I think a lot of you would probably be suprised at what I think is important to me at this point... other than the obvious stuff, like my clothes and computer. I find myself wanting most of all to grab the pictures of my family, (Right now, somewhere, my brother is feeling his blood pressure rise in satisfaction upon reading that.)I find myself wanting my wedding pictures, and the painting Char gave me on my 32nd birthday, (even though my divorce was finalized on the 20th- ladies, take notice... parents, hide your daughters!) I find myself wanting the framed copy of "footprints" my aunt gave me when I first moved into my own place, (even though she sent me a new one as part of a care package two weeks ago) and most of all, I want my freaking teddy bear.

Well, gotta run now... wish me luck. I will of course check in with a blog entry tomorrow, and let y'all know how everything went. Now, more words of wisdom from the piano man...

"Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Indiana early morning dew
High up in the hills of California
Home is just another word for you

If I traveled all my life
And I never get to stop and settle down
Long as I have you by my side
There's a roof above and good walls all around
You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome
I need you in my house 'cause you're my home" --You're My Home, Billy Joel

Settling into life in Brandon...

So, life goes on, apparently... right or wrongness of it being irrelevant. As many of you can imagine, it's been a long month or so. I still haven't gotten back to my apartment to survey any damage and/or take inventory on my stuff. I have come to the conclusion that I will not be returning to New Orleans anytime soon, but still don't intend on doing much else but enjoying Mr. and Mrs. Spanky's hospitality until such time as I can.

Oh, why haven't I gotten back yet? Well, while some of you may have heard that the Mayor lifted the mandatory evacuation of Orleans for Algiers Point, (where DOA headquarters sits) that lifting lasted all of a day. they opened it Monday, I was planning to go down there Tuesday, but by Monday night, FEMA talked the mayor into closing the parish again because of hurricane Rita, which was still days away.

My frustration level peaked at this point, and I have no doubt that if I was prone to high blood pressure, it would have blown my freakin head off.

So, here I sit, in Brandon, waiting for Drew to do something foolish. He hasn't done anything really blog-worthy since the chainsaw catching incident, but as we were repainting the frame for the back door last weekend, I kept looking at him with a scene from the Simpsons in mind: Lenny, Carl and others are gathered at the doorway to sector 7G, all intently watching Homer at work. Then Lenny says, "Okay... everyone be quiet... he's about to do something stupid."

Ah, life in semi-rural Mississippi. Gotta love it. At least until THEY LET ME BACK TO MY FREAKIN HOUSE!!!!

Into the breach...

Well, we have returned. Actually, we returned the day we left, but y'all know how lazy I can be sometimes; Why, just the other day I instant messaged Stacey, (who was in the kitchen) to tell her to bring me some cookies in the next room. Yup... pure unadulterated laziness.

I know it seems like I'm being a little glib in the face of disaster, but like Pops Kahunah always said, "sometimes you just have to step back and laugh."

Slidell was quite the mess. The eye of Katrina passed right over the town, destroying a lot of stuff. Fortunately, we encountered no looters or anything. Getting to Drew's childhood home was not as challenging as we had feared... until we tried to pull into his driveway. A huge pine tree (like a hundred year old pine tree) had been snapped in half, and stretched across the front of the yard, limiting our access. We hiked around through a neighbors yard and approached the house.

Many of the trees surrounding the house were like the one out front... snapped in half by the storm. there seemed to be no water damage though. We entered the house and walked cautiously around, checking each room for any sign of intruders or damage.

Drew's 70 year old Mom kept trying to get ahead of us, not seeming to understand that there could still be danger here. She's quite the fiesty old bird. As I entered the "great room" (so named because its...uh... great) I completely missed that there was a huge six-foot tree limb poking through the ceiling. In my defense, I was looking down for water on the carpet and such, and missed it until Drew said "Uh.. Rob?" and pointed it out. Fortunately, that seemed to be the only damage to the house, and it caused some minor water damage in that one part of the house. Drew breathed a sigh of relief, feeling very lucky indeed. Little did we know how lucky.

The next thing I did, was leave Drew and his mom to bicker, and walk with Jose (Drew's mom's neighbor, who was with us) to check his house. We climbed over, under, and around downed trees to get over to his property, and the sight that greeted us there was one I will not soon forget...

There were two massive trees that had fallen across the roof of his house, smashing his front porch, one of which was a huge old tree that has simply snapped. When Jose opened the front door, the smell was awful... the entire house had been standing in at least two feet of water for an unknown length of time. The water had destroyed everything below waist level in his beautiful home. (think of your home now... what would be left?) The stench from two refrigerators worth of spoiled food permiated the house. I have never before smelled anything that actually made me puke, but when I foolishly opened one of the fridges, that did it. We went out to the garage, and could tell by the water line that there had been at least four feet of water in there, completely flooding the car that jose had lest behind. I came back inside to find Jose cleaning the dishes... "a little like re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic..." I thought to myself.

We spent the rest of the afternoon patching holes, salvaging valuables, and thanking God that none of us had chosen to ride out the hurricane. We headed back to Jackson emotionally and physically exhausted. I could tell how stressed Drew was, because to follow his blowing a hole in the roof incident, he at one point tried to catch a falling chainsaw. (it wasn't turned on, but still!) I swear that boy should have just joined the circus as a daredevil.

Ladies and Gents... I have said it before, and I'll say it again... A category five hurricane is nothing you ever want to f**k with.

And now for something completely stupid...

Well, friends... when the going gets tough, the tough get stupid. Today, Drew and I are going into the hurricane-ravaged town of slidell with his mom and a neighbor to check on his childhood home.

There are a lot of things we're worried about with this little expedition... Fuel being the most worrisome. It's a 400 mile round trip, and the range on Drew's jeep is only about 300 miles. Normally, this wouldn't present much of a problem, but gasoline is scarce in the gulf south right now. We also worry about mob violence... the last thing any of us wants is to be stranded because someone stole the first car they saw. So, to use an old hunting term, we're going loaded for bear.

Packing the car for this was surreal... Water and food for two days (just in case)... roofing supplies, a chainsaw to clear downed trees, and a couple of guns for our personal protection. I feel like we're in one of those post apocolyptic "Mad Max" movies.

I'm very uneasy with the guns.... I was always taught not to even bring a gun unless you are prepared to use it. Don't know that I am, but I suppose I'll cross that particular bridge when I come to it. Yesterday, Drew scared the crap out of us by accidentally firing one in the house as he was checking to see if it was loaded. Fortunately, he only blew a hole through his roof, which he later sealed with some caulk. I keep kidding him that if something bad happens, all we need to do is make sure the bad guys are in an attic.

Well, we're about to leave... I'll check in tommorrow as to the condition of things along the Northshore.

The Fall Of New Orleans

Warning: This post may lack the humor and candor you have come to expect from us here at Dogs of Atlantis. The management apologizes for our remarkable lack of a sense of humor in the wake of hurricane Katrina, and promises that as soon as said sense of humor returns, we will attempt a return to what passes as normal around here.-DOA Management

"Do you do that every time you leave?" my next door neighbor said to me as I uttered a quiet prayer for the safety of my home as I left that morning, feeling slightly foolish as I flippantly told her, "Only when there is a Cat 5 hurricane headed this way."

"I'll see you in a few days..." I said as I left the lighthouse that serves as the office for the New Orleans Steamboat Company; Never thinking that it might be in fact, the last time I would see many of my co-workers.

"Looting? It would never come to that after a hurricane!" I snickered at the ignorance of a delightful South African couple I had met on what I would later find out would be the last train out of New Orleans for a very long time.

My hometown has all but been destroyed. Mobs wander the streets, taking what they need to survive and then some. The only rule is the rule of the gun. Personally, I have been rendered functionally homeless and jobless, unable to access what little funds I have in my bank accounts, which were all in local banks. As my good friend Javafoofoo put it, "Our beautiful city, our culturally enriched city is quickly becoming a no man's land"

There are a lot of things that are going through my mind right now. My emotions are all over the freakin place.

First, gratitude that I find myself in the company of my good friends, who you all know as Drew and Stacey from the comic strip. It is soley by their good graces that I currently have a roof over my head and food in my tummy. I have thanked them about a billion times for this over the past few days... but it still doesn't seem like enough.

Secondly, I feel a good bit of old-fashioned fear for my future. I have no frickin idea what I'm gonna do right now. Everyone I talk to to let know I'm okay asks me this, and I'm running out of glib responses.

Third, I feel a tremendous amount of sorrow for my friends and neighbors that I know chose to ride out the storm in their homes. So much is being made of the refugees in the superdome and the convention center, that I think we've forgotten completely about the people that are still huddled in their homes with no water, power, and dwindling supplies. My friend and co-worker Mack is among that number. When I spoke with him on tuesday, his phone was still working, and he had banded together with some neighbors in his apartment complex to share food, water, and mutual protection. This was before the mall across the street from him burned to the ground.

Fourth, I feel a lot of anger toward the Federal, State, and City officials for not being better prepared for this. FEMA has been saying for years that exactly this scenario would play itself out if a Cat 4 or better struck our city. Admittedly, they were all overwhelmed, but why weren't better provisions made to equip the superdome to function better as the shelter of last resort? Surely they could have spared a storage room or two to pack in a hundred thousand MRE's, and enough water for a few days. they know the superdome's capacity... they could have worked it out.

Lastly, I feel a great deal of despair... at knowing my life will never be the same after this... my friends have been scattered to the four corners of the earth, and it may be a very long time before I see any of them again... If I ever do. I long very much to be handed a very cold beer by a beautiful woman in my neighborhood bar, laughing together at the latest supermarket tabloid news, or something equally meaningless.

Okay... starting to cry now, and I can't afford to replace Drew's keyboard if I short it out. I will keep y'all posted. Thank you for letting me rant about this a little.