Dangermond.org

From Baidu’s company website: Many people have asked about the meaning of our name. “Baidu” was inspired by a poem written more than 800 years ago during the Song Dynasty. The poem compares the search for a retreating beauty amid chaotic glamour with the search for one’s dream while confronted by life’s many obstacles. “…hundreds and thousands of times, for her I searched in chaos, suddenly, I turned by chance, to where the lights were waning, and there she stood.” Baidu, whose literal meaning is hundreds of times, represents persistent search for the ideal.

Was walking Arlene around the bayou this morning after about a 4 hour night’s sleep and saw that someone had spray painted over the Bush Sucks tag on the bridge but the Fuck Lusher tag was still there. Obviously a Cabrini girl painted the Lusher part – and maybe someone felt guilty about dissing the President of the United States – who knows – perhaps they should have just added Vitter to Bush.

I came walking along the other side and saw the gentlemen who walked me home from the dinner party the other night and he was with a woman introduced as a neighbor. Hmmm.

As I turned down Dumaine to start our way home, a guy rode by on a bicycle and he said, “Hey, haven’t seen you for a few days.”

I said, “Been out of town.”

He said, “Welcome back, we missed you.”

Never seen the guy before in my life. But everyone is a friend in New Orleans.

To the guy with the guitar who made my day – have fun in Miami working on the Apple Store – it was great to meet you too! (By the way, the pout was for real.)

My colleague was telling me today that if you live in the past you invite depression, if you live in the future, you invite anxiety – so be present.

Sage advice.

I sat next to a woman on the plane who made me laugh out loud – she said her grandmother lived four houses from the breach in the levee and that when they went to see the house afterwards, it had spray painted across the front – NO REPTILES FOUND. Thank god for that, she said. Her grandmother, who was 95 when we all evacuated, said after a few weeks, “Well, I guess I’ve got to start all over.”

But what she first told me was that she was spending the week with her family on the Cape and was shopping when the piped in music started playing the song that came out right after Katrina – “I’m coming home” – and she didn’t even realize she was hearing it until suddenly she welped up.

Today is something special because after all it is a day of your life – can’t get it back – so treat it that way, do something special for yourself like drink out of your china breakfast cup or put flowers in your hair.

Relationships that run their course are best relegated to the past – embrace those who will love you and encourage you to take your eccentricities one giant step forward.

How best to describe spending a long summer weekend on a magical island surrounded by four bright, beautiful, funny and vivacious women?

Almost impossible.

From one who knows, she says how you feel about dating is based on the last date. Same with confidence – except I think you can fake it till you make it with the confidence part – let’s say your last experience (of anything) goes awry – just tell yourself this time it will be different – it forces positive change – because if you have doubt, you will invite a lack of confidence, if you have fear, you invite risk aversion, and if you frown, others frown with you. So kill them with a smile and you’ll see that the next steps get easier.

Was at some friends house across the bayou and what a lovely house filled with all the things unique to them both – other friends from the neighborhood were there and it was good to see them and meet two new neighbors – one who just dug a pool, the other who just remodelled a house on the bayou too. The conversation was really interesting – smart people talking about interesting things – I like grown up parties – they are so much more fun. It was amost like being in a salon with the host ensuring that the conversation stay interesting and piquant.