New Kitty

Everyone, met Botsy. Botsy, meet everyone. The little booger won't stay still long enough for a good pic. 

Merry Christmas

What I love the best about living in the 21st century? If one cannot think of anything profound to say, one need only google it!

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic.
-Unknown

There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.
-Bill McKibben, Author, Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case For a More Joyful Christmas

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.
-Agnes M. Pharo
-Hamilton Wright Mabi

Last year my mom sent me a huge box of my birthright Christmas ornaments, but I was too broke to buy a tree. This year I was still too broke, but I did it anyway. I carefully hung all of my “Jacqui” ornaments from 1976 till about 2000. I cleared the usual clutter from the mantel to make way for my grandmother’s elegant Christmas Hummel dolls, decorated tacky little stockings with glue and glitter to represent every heartbeat in this house, and spent HOURS stringing popcorn and cranberries on fishing line. Afterward we ate roasted pumpkin seeds and drank bourbon eggnog with nutmeg.

I finished this project 5 days ago and have been since, basking in the glow of my display. Honestly…it is super gaudy, and I totally love it. There is something so wonderful about the fact that it is all mine. My own holiday rules, my tree, my ornaments, my cheap tree skirt, and my history all rolled up into one. I am at the brink of beginning my own family and traditions with Sean…. exciting, huh!

I am thrilled about this holiday season. My only regrets are that I don’t get to have all of you with us.

God bless us, every one!
Merry Christmas,
Love,
Jacqui, Sean, Smiley, Dotty, Julia, and Botsy

If you haven't read it yet, I sugest, amazon.com

Why New Orleans Matters" by Tom Piazza
I find myself trying to explain this all the time. Although, I typically want to answer, "Duh!", this author has a better answer. Tom Piazza has authored some wonderful pieces on jazz, food, and New Orleans, but this book is all of the above plus politics.

The voice that his plea takes on, reminds me of... a wife, perhaps from the French revolution, pleading an irrational King not to through her lover into the guillotine, because she loves him and needs him, and can't imagine her life without him. It's like, "sure, he stole a loaf of bread.... but he was hungry, and I love him!"

Piazza has effectively captured and translated the constant Post-Katrina buzz that is deafening in New Orleans. His words are so familiar, because I have spoken many of them myself, or heard them in conversation. The concepts in this book are not revolutionary if you already love New Orleans, they are just validating. Which, I might add is something many of us need these days after over exposure to crappy media and N.O. bashing from politicians. (By the way, did anyone hear what Bill O’Reily said about poverty in New Orleans? It was brutal)

I don’t know how well it would translate to non-lovers of my city. Somebody get it and tell me. It’s ok, we know who you are and love you anyway!