These were taken in Biloxi and Gulfport Mississippi in October 2006:
NOTE. Taken in 2006. Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. I took these ONE YEAR AFTER the hurricane hit. I went to the Mississippi Gulf to film the reconstruction for my 16mm class. I had no idea the only thing they'd be rebuilding were casinos. There was a reason I wanted to go to Mississippi and not New Orleans. The damage in Louisiana was much worse, of course, but I felt like its poor neighbor got forgotten about. Maybe that's why it's taking so long to rebuild.
You can blame FEMA. You can blame George W. Bush. You can blame levees, poverty, CNN, blame whoever you wish. But, I think when something that big comes along, there's only so much you can do. But in that, you better every, single thing you can.
The first thing I thought, the first time I stepped foot inside the burned bar, was "This looks like Hurricane Katrina."
It's been three years since Hurricane Katrina. It's been 6 months since the Golden West fire. I'm much closer to resolve, but I'm not there yet. And now, as Gustav looks poised to hit the same area again, I wonder what there is left for it to destroy. I can't even imagine how horrible those poor people must feel, watching and waiting... again. It would be like watching the El Rey go up in flames. Shudder.
So, I'm keeping lots of good thoughts floating around for the Gulf Coast. I hope you all are too.
Sinus issues are actually full-blown head cold. My brain has been replaced by mashed potatoes. I made a pretty bad decision and went to watch Flood the Sun and Git Some at the Stove last night. The show itself was an amazing decision, but attending while being so sickly was not. (It doesn't matter how much I love and trust my boyfriend, I still hate me some scene whores. Your shoes have no purpose other than to man-hunt. And lemme tell ya, these are the kind of dudes that doesn't work on...) I hardly ever subject myself to cold medicine these days, because I'm really sensitive to it. Normally the only time I let myself Nyquil-out is if I take a sick day. But, being at work, nodding off, is bad news. Well, I let myself have some Nyquil last night and DEAR SWEET BABY JESUS was that a good decision. I slept really well. But, to counteract, I had to take the day cold medicine today, so that I would, in fact, stay awake at work. It's a miracle I cant type this, let alone answer the phone. On top of being mashed potatoes, my brain feels like a caffiene coma. If that makes any sense.
Boyfriend's school schedule has ruled out our lunch dates, something that makes me sort of sad. Like a lighthouse in a sea of desperation, lunch with Kyle was a fantastic break in the day.
This past weekend was, hopefully, the last trip I take to Denver for a good, long while. I don't mind that drive too terribly much, but dang, let's go somewhere else. At least each trip I've taken up there has been a completely unique experience, from bar hopping in Trinidad to heat stroke at Mile High and now, rope burn at Red Rocks. Only two things have remained constant: 1) Marky's gone with me every, single time; 2) I've gotten sick everytime I've come back. My sinuses are driving me INSANE. I now know how capable I really am of discomfort.
And speaking of discomfort, we fit 5 people in a Dodge Neon for this trip; me, Joel, Casey, Marky and Sam. NO REALLY. But, by doing that, it meant we only spent $20 each on gas for the trip. That is freaking incredible.
We hit the road at about 7 on Thursday night, stopping in Raton so that Marky could get some dramamine. We made it into Denver close to 3am and went straight to sleep at Sarah's apartment. We got up the next morning and ate Silver Mine Subs and went to the venue.
Red Rocks is pretty. We really had absolutely no idea what to expect crowd-wise, so we got there at about 1.
We were the first people in line.
And in fact, the only people in line for almost 2 hours. People didn't start getting there till 3. But, we kept ourselves occupied.
Sambro brought his skateboard and his long board, so we puttered around the parking lot.
Classic Cat and Marky. I really must apologize for the image quality from here on out. My camera is sinking fast. And while I wait to move, I can't justify spending $1,000 on a D-80. Why, financial responsibility, WHY?
When we got really bored, this happened:
Which I put on youtube under the title ULTIMATE BACKYARD BRAWL: BENNETT VS. SYLAR. I can't wait for people to comment.
The show itself had a great lineup: NoFX, Bouncing Souls, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Street Dogs. But, the venue wasn't the best place for punk rock. All the seats are built into the ground, so having an open pit was next to impossible. People did still do it; have ridiculous pit action close to the stage, but it was seriously the most dangerous activity I had ever seen. Between that and the "barrier" made by metal poles and nylon rope, our crew got pretty banged up. But, I don't think anyone of us minded that much. The Street Dogs were okay. Every time I see them, all I can think about is how they're not the Murphys. And how if I told any one of their fans that the Street Dogs were pop punk (which they are, in fact), I would get punched in the face. The Bouncing Souls played a great set, the Bosstones were fun dance time, and NoFX hardley screwed up! Overall, it ended up being so, so, so worth it.
The next day, we slept in, got up and ate at Illegal Pete's which is like Chipotle but better. Then we went to the Cherry Creek mall so Marky could spend $225 on new sunglasses and so we could spy on the bacon slide.
I call it: Breakfast at Play.
It became clear that even though we had talked about coming home on Saturday, that wasn't going to happen. We all wanted an extra vacation day. So, we stayed and IMAXed the Dark Knight. How jealous are all of you? It was fun, the IMAX experience was pretty worth it and I think I appreciated it a lot more the second time around. Then we went to Dave N Busters where me and Sarah had the most intense game of air hockey on record.
Sunday morning, we got up and started our drive home.
Three dudes in a back seat, 2 guys, and a girl in a pizza place.
By far, the most eventful stop on the way home was Fountain Colorado. Because of construction, we ended up detouring around the famous fountain and Joel, who swore we wouldn't stop the whole way home, was incessant that we go see the fountain.
We finally got to the gas station we had originally intended in going to, where Joel bought the best shirt known to man:
and the best hat known to man:
We stopped at infamous Russell's Truck Stop outside of infamous Springer to take pictures of infamous dog pooping signs, which they have for sale inside so people would stop stealing them.
Casey, having a bit of gum trouble.
We made it home in time for me to pass out by 10. Nothing weak about that weekend, for sure. It's always brutal to come back to work after having the best vacation. Sinus drainage doesn't help either. WHINE.
In other news, I still can't find a job and I'll be spending most of my week in Edgewood watching the DNC with my momma. It's tradition.
LOS ANGELES - Barack Obama is getting praise from Nashville, courtesy of one big, patriotic country star.
Toby Keith, perhaps best known to non-country audiences for his post-Sept. 11 song "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue," says he's a Democrat, and was impressed by the senator from Illinois.
Keith, an Oklahoma native, has said in the past that the 2002 song — which included lines aimed at the Taliban like "we lit up your world like the Fourth of July" — was more patriotic than pro-war.
Asked while promoting his new movie Beer For My Horses about the role of patriotism in the current presidential election, Keith replied: "There's a big part of America that really believes that there is a war on terrorism, and that we need to finish up.
"So I thought it was beautiful the other day when Obama went to Afghanistan and got educated about Afghanistan and Iraq. He came back and said some really nice things.
"So as far as leadership and patriotism goes, I think it's really important that those things have to take place. And I think he's the best Democratic candidate we've had since Bill Clinton. And that's coming from a Democrat."
...
Yes, that's right, the star of Beer For My Horses thinks it's beautiful, BEAUTIFUL, that a presidental candiate got some learning on the middle east. And correct, the singer of lyrics like "we lit up your world like the Fourth of July" is a democrat.
"The brain is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. In mammals, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, equilibrioception (balance), sense of taste, and olfaction (smell).
While all vertebrates have a brain, most invertebrates have either a centralized brain or collections of individual ganglia. Some animals such as cnidarians and echinoderms do not have a centralized brain, and instead have a decentralized nervous system, while animals such as sponges lack both a brain and nervous system entirely.
Brains can be extremely complex. For example, the human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons, linked with up to 10,000 connections each."
I think it's the hardest thing in the world when our brain fails us, when we don't have control over it anymore. I have been fortunate enough to have never made it so far as to losing complete control. I've tittered, I've tottered, but luckily, I've always come up strong.
I've had my days when I didn't want to get out of bed. All I wanted to do was to not be bothered. I didn't want a single distraction, all I wanted was to be alone with my thoughts, regardless of how somber they were. I don't know what makes your brain do that, why you seclude yourself, why it seems like such a great idea to be unhappy. But, it is. And you surrender to it.
We've all surrended. But that's always been the scariest part for me, not being able to come back.
I know it's not my job to make anyone better. You've got to be able to do it on your own, or it never really works. Still, you've got to be there, you're a friend. Something about it scares me so much. I'm terrified that I'll say the wrong thing, completely throw off any kind of stability. I try to be as good as possible, and in that, I worry too much about it sometimes that I forget to act.
Every time I'm tittering, I've been so lucky to have the group of friends that I do. They're much better at it than I am. Sometimes they know what they've done, how grateful I am, but most of the time, I feel like I fail in acknowledging people. Mostly because the smallest things have the most significance to me and I worry that they'd find my gratitude a little misplaced.
The best Oklahoman I know told me once, when I was completely isolating myself, "i hope your heart heals soon". Just something about that, something he didn't think twice about typing in an aim window, made me so hopeful. My heart was healed soon enough.
Whatever it is that's swimming around in your brain, whatever thoughts are plauging you, just know that I'll do anything in my power to help pull you out. Because you've done the same for me. I hope whatever's plauging you gets to be managable. That someday, you'll want to get out of bed at 7am, take a shower, go to your shit job, make a fucking difference. That someday, it doesn't hurt to be alive. Never expect perfection, but you deserve to be on top of the game. I guarantee that.
Chances are if you care enough to read this, that's about you. I hope your heart heals soon.
I'm too close for comfort to age 30. New Mexico is home but I'm finally tough enough to love living in the midwest. I've got a film degree that I never apply in my professional life but I'd never trade it in for a different one. I love the basics; good music, good food, good movies and good books. But I'll stop almost anything for good company. I can't shut up about the Thunder, especially Serge Ibaka. I'm hopelessy awkward. I only hope you think it's adorable.
