February 15, 2007 Mud and boobies

My inaugural blog! What an exciting experiment this will be...and how bombastic of me to think anyone wants to read about my life! Welcome, i will try not to bore you.

getting you up to speed in a nutshell, i arrived in new orleans two weeks ago in a wicked storm that made the Mississippi look black. i moved into my accommodations in Lakeview, new Orleans, which is two blocks away from where the levee broke on the 17th street canal. the visage of tragedy was in the beginning, and continues to be gut-wrenching.

since my arrival, i have partied with pimps and thieves, danced to Cajun punk, and ridden my bike in a parade, and drawn caricatures on Bourbon Street, and most recently obtained a job jacking up houses with "Jim" (above driving).

   One of my contacts here is linked to a gang of theives. Most of them are about my age but look like they are fifty with their teeth like old corn. They hang out at the coffee shop where he works that is run by the workers for the workers. sitting on the dimly lit edge of town, it is open round the clock, and the line between who works there and who is reading, playing chess or sitting outside puffing a joint is blurred. They are a tatooed, peirced, dreadlocked, leather-wearing group making even me feel like a soccer mom.

Above is a bar that houses the local Klezmer Cajun rock scene, and I had a most fabulous time with the Zydopunks. there i met some fellow New Yorkers, who are hitchhiking, couch surfing and dumpster-diving cross-country. they believe that money should be removed from society and that our economy should run on social currency. hmmm.

After the show, around 2AM, stopped by someone's house where the floor was strewn with costumes, and we rode our bikes in a parade called the Krewe du Jieux, which is comprised of Jews dressed up as non-Jews impersonating Jews, adorned with big prosthetic noses, devil horns, and fur coats with gaudy jewelry, they parade through the streets in the wee wee hours of the morning, banging on drums made from kegs and strutting to the harmony of the Hava Nagila. Being in a parade one learns that when you wave to people, they wave back, and they will dive to catch just about anything you throw to them-even if it is just a prosthetic nose..


   I drew caricatures on Bourbon street where i made good cash, and acquired many beads and feathers, even without showing my boobies to anyone. but there was much boobie showing going on and the Mardi Gras scene is every much a caricature of itself as you can imagine (see picture of drunk man at top). its a sea of drunks, barely able to stand looking for excuses to disrobe. i found a great spot in front of a jazz club where no one bothers me about setting up. One night a woman doubled over in front of my easel as if she was going to puke on it, and i swiftly moved my set up out of the impending projectiles. it pays to have cat-like reflexes in this line of work.

I think if i ever go to Mardi Gras again, i will have a prosthetic monoboob made. that should earn me some good beads.

In less sexy news, i am now back in Lakeview where i have obtained a job helping "jim" jack up houses. It is grueling unskilled labor involving hours of digging holes and dragging cinderblocks and steel jacks under houses. wearing waders, we wallowed in mud up to our knees and spent hours removing sand, mud and clay from around footings of houses that were up to seven inches higher on one side than the other.

when i first met jim who is about 60, i thought, has this dude ever had a shower? He is covered in dried mud all the time and and his long greasy hair and beard are tangled and beaded with more dried mud. after working with him, i see why he always looks like this. he is the strongest man i have ever met. he is not that tall, but his torso is like a lead pillar and his fingers are cement blocks. his favorite phrase, which he recites at the most indignant muddy moments, is "ain't life grand?".

he worked in the corps of engineers for seven years, and so i was excited when he offered to give me a tour of all the levees, pump stations, and canals. this city is an engineering marvel. and now, i know what a levee looks like after hearing about them with such frequence on the news.

more soon to come....