Dangermond.org

We have a running joke here in this house – who is the bigger donkey – and sometimes I admit it is hard to discern which of us is. I’ve been thinking a lot of how the older we get the more we become who we are and having recently seen QED examples of this smack dab in front of my face, I have to say that I have, admittedly, been a little curious which of my traits is becoming more pronounced. So today when I saw my horoscope, I thought, ah, of course, that would be one – stubbornness. My mother was want to say that she would do the opposite of what someone told her because she just hated to be told what to do. Often times, this wasn’t exactly the best decision on her part. For my part, I am stubborn, but usually it’s about going forward – I tend to persevere because I am unwavering in my direction. This is good and bad, depends on the day and the way you flip the coin.

January 23, 2011

1. Taurus (4/20-5/20)

   It’s not exactly true that you’re stubborn — not exactly. Fixed, maybe — focused, determined, relentless for sure, and definitely fond of routine — but stubborn? Well, stubborn is a bit harsh — and it’s usually only used by those of us who can’t seem to finish projects as consistently as you do. There! Anyway — when a new authority figure arrives with a whole new way of doing things, just because you’re not tickled about it doesn’t mean you’re stubborn. You may even be right!

A friend is about to embark on repairing her marriage where a long-term infidelity has been uncovered. Is it possible? Hard to say. You never forget, you never forgive, but I guess for some you learn to live with it. People wonder how is it possible to have an affair for so long and the only real answer is it’s complicated and you can go back and maybe connect the dots that got it all started but you can’t go back and undo it.

Is a kiss infidelity? Is sex infidelity? Or is loving another person infidelity? Is it possible to love two people at the same time? What are the odds for recidivism for those who have had an affair?

A friend of mine was approached in a work setting by her boss and she told him right away, “I am not a cheater.” She later told me she didn’t know why she said that, but it just came out. She said she doesn’t know if she would never cheat – but she knew she would never cheat with him.

I saw a cheater today and I felt like a duck had walked over my grave. People make a mess out of their lives and then they die.

We’re having a couple of cold days – oh boo hoo, you say, we don’t know anything about cold down here in New Orleans – well, we like it like that. We are not much for cold weather – we’ll endure heat and humid days that would knock the knees of the average human to be able to not be cold. So knowing that I have to get on a plane and go to New York next week is about like pulling teeth. It’s bitter cold there. It will be 7 degrees there tomorrow night – that isn’t even a temperature in my opinion – if you don’t have two digits it ain’t right. 7 degrees. It will be 18 when I land on Monday and we’ll see a warming trend of it getting to 32 on Tuesday – woo hoo.

I hate cold weather – it does nothing for my hair or my skin or my attitude.

A friend stopped by today, she’s my go to friend for talking about work and she quit her job yesterday. Amazing. She had her own business for years and then she decided to go work with a start up and thought that it would be a good experience for her, but instead she realized yet again how she is not cut out for the corporate world and it’s endless round of meetings, personalities, and so forth. She was in a very good mood.

Gal Holiday is back in town after having left for California and they played at Rock N Bowl last night. We went and had a blast. I hadn’t been to the new Rock N Bowl location and it was a little taste of Americana meets New Orleans and it was a perfect showcase for the band. They were tighter than ever and I think I danced from the time we walked in the door till we left. The usual suspects were there – the tall thin man and red headed lady who have their own dance and performance, the two gals who line dance, and we were flanked by a number of thin blonde women who were out on a Saturday night (only it was Friday). A friend showed up with a friend from Brazil and I watched him watch this scene and thought to myself – he is possibly freaking out. As I was cutting a rug, a woman came onto the dance floor with a bunch of hula hoops and then I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Afterwards, we went to Buffa’s and a couple of our friends met us there. The joint was jumping and we had to sit at the bar, whereupon a woman befriended one of our friends and she was a trip – she wanted to talk football and she kept throwing out the most inappropriate racist jokes – needless to say they were all jokes about blacks and jews. My friend kept telling her “I don’t like that” as she would roll one out, and finally I turned and said, “Okay, really, I’m Jewish and I have a black child, so you are offending me on every level,” and she thought I was kidding! Good grief.

Our personal photographer – Marc Pagani – documented most of the evening all except for the last part:

We’ve worked out a system here where T has two nights at the coffee shop and I have a night for yoga and meditation and a night out with friends. It was hard getting used to and I have to admit at one point last night I was thinking about missing Tin since I left before he got up from his nap. I went with a friend to Three Muses and saw Luke Winslow King, who I adore – the chemistry wasn’t just right for some reason, something in the air, but the food was delicious eggplant caviar bruschetta with fried garbanzo beans – yum! At the next table was a couple with their two-year old daughter – the dad kept spinning the girl as she danced to the band. I kept thinking Tin would love to eat dinner in a restaurant with live music (note to self). My friend was telling me how she met an interesting guy at a funeral (his ex wife’s funeral). We then had a night cap at Nona Mia and it was hopping – so good to see our neighboring businesses doing well.

I want to cut the chord to Cox Cable but I’m so not techy that I don’t understand even how to fix my iPod player’s connection other than jiggle the wire. I just read about a family who cut the chord and they give excellent ideas for getting quality programming at only $7 a month from Netflix. I am going to do all of this except it makes my head spin to read about it right now. Soon though I am cutting the chord for Cox Cable. Soon.

The yoga message is about happiness and how it is not a thing to be gotten but the getting that is happiness. So true. But the example used was Americans vs Europeans – how Americans are all about buying things they think will give them comfort (television, cars, vacation packages) while Europeans are all about pleasures to be had (sharing a meal with friends, going to hear music, watching a cultural event). I know my European partner is all about pleasure and she loves going back home where in Zagreb people take time out of their busy lives to share a beer or a coffee, or simply sit in a square. Here she’s always trying to grab me as I’m running through the house. Hey, I’m on a journey!

So when I was headed to yoga, down Orleans Avenue where the street has been ripped up for over a year now, and the projects that had been torn down are still under heavy construction with some not bad looking housing, and the rest looks blighted, I saw Evan Christopher and Tom McDermott mugging for a camera shot in front of John and Mary Food Store. They have a new CD coming out, which must have prompted the photograph.

Coming across WWOZ’s airwaves was Eric Lindell singing I’m a Lucky Man.

Orleans Avenue is a contradiction – sometimes I imagine inheriting a zillion dollars and fixing all the houses up, and sometimes I cannot imagine wanting to drive down that street if it were all fixed up. Why is that? What is it about the broken side of New Orleans’ charm that makes me feel good, home, happy? Most people would consider it a blight if they drove down Orleans Avenue – they would think to themselves who lives here for godsakes? And yet I know people who live there, Leah Chase has her restaurant on Orleans, the Mardi Gras Indians march down Orleans for Super Sunday.

Coming out of yoga, I saw Luke Winslow King, my favorite new musician and I told him, “Hey, you’re my favorite new musician,” and he said, “Hey, thanks!” and if Tin were around he would have said, “Heys for Horses” since he hears it so much around here. But hey, what a life huh – in just a few miles I saw three super talented musicians – and that’s New Orleans and Orleans Avenue will always be a mix of this and that, but isn’t that what OM means, this and that?

The way the world is going is towards, actually, a good place much to the surprise of those of you who read the news so often. Go looking for a hypodermic needle in a haystack and you might find one, but trying looking for the sun’s golden rays reflecting in the straw and bingo, you should call yourself lucky just for looking. There are enough people recording the evils and wrongdoings of the world, someone needs to focus on the good – balance – om.

A friend recently sent me this YouTube video – unlike the double rainbow acid out of his mind guy, this one is subtler and put a smile on my face. A guy finds a roll of film – how quaint – and decides to find the photographer who is more than likely European.

I have a pair of pajamas a friend gave me a million years ago, they have camera and film all over them. Tin always plays with the buttons and looks at the images and I tell him, “You will most likely not even see a roll of film in your life” as film like corded telephones are vestiges of my past but not anyone who is young today.

In yoga the other night, I was lying there in savasana and Shantala was playing over Michele’s iPad in the dark space – I opened my eyes for a moment and saw the mural that spans the wall of this huge room and it almost appeared as if the mural went with the song, Purnamadah, so beautiful.

Today I saw four pelicans in the bayou so this is a 4-Pelican day – a day to practice a random act of kindness – even a smile to someone else could make their day.

OM – Purnamadah Purnamidam Purnat purnamudachyate. Purnasya Purnamadaya Purnamevavashisyate.

meaning,

That is whole, this is whole, from whole comes out of whole. If Whole is subtracted from whole, still whole is left.

From the NYT just now:

House Votes to Repeal Health Care Law

The House on Wednesday voted to repeal the Democrats’ landmark health care overhaul, in a largely symbolic step

that the new Republican majority said marked the beginning of an all-out effort to dismantle President Obama’s signature

domestic policy achievement.

Leaders of the Democratic-controlled Senate have said that they will not act on the repeal measure, effectively

scuttling it.

A House majority voted 245 to 189 to repeal the measure.