Sean and Jacqui

Ramble on

2009-02-17T13:28:00.003-06:00

Are you ready to Ramble? hmmm?

Ok Ramblers, Its time to see each other again, as god intended, in costumes with lots of glitter, eyelashes and fancy wigs.

I hear that we are meeting at Will's house this year and begin our ramble with the Panorama Brass Band. BTW..I don't know if y'all have heard the PBB in the parades this year, but they sound even more fabulouser than ever! [sqeeeeel!]

Here's the details.

823 Spain St.
New Orleans, LA 70117

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Cocktail Breakfast 9am
March begins at 10am

Route
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2464819

Stops at:
R Bar
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
Jackson Square
Harry's Corner
Molly's at the Market
Spotted Cat

If you are attending this event because I have invited you, please make sure you hand me $25 each member of your group before line up. It takes brilliant thinking, diligent organizing, and hard cash to create this spectacular event every year.

There are things I love about my town today

2008-11-08T21:15:00.005-06:00

The first of these things I love is the almond croissant from Haydel's Bakery that I ate for breakfast this morning. Yes, indeed! I got out of bed and drove to Jefferson Parish and got one. There is really no need to ever eat the crappy marzipan filled stale excuses for croissants that are all over town. I loves Haydels.

Next, I love my house. I love it because its old and gorgeous and functional. Its cute without being flashy. The floors feel great on my feet. The tub is huge, the shower is great. My living room is somehow warm in the winter and cool in the summer. My bed is cozy. My dogs are sweet. I can hear the cars from the overpass and the underpass moving at different speeds.

Sean and I went for a really great bike ride today after completing our requisite lazy hours for the weekend. We rode to Audubon Park, then the fly, where we watched the barges go by in the sunset. Riding down camp street it occurred to me that there were a million amazing smells. None of them bad or overpowering. They were all getting along quite well. I smelled sweet olive, bbq, charcoal, campfire, and clean house.

I love a sunset in New Orleans from any view and especially on Saturday.

The juice box crowd knows how to spend a sunday afternoon

2008-10-19T17:54:00.004-05:00

These folks have been paaaartying down with the PJB at Sound Cafe. This is a beautiful day, with great music in a great venue. I love New Orleans.

A guilty pleasure

2008-10-19T17:52:00.002-05:00

This one was sent to me with the subject line "When Pumpkins Drink"

The most fun I've had since 3/16/2007

2008-10-19T17:38:00.004-05:00

The whole thing was gorgeous. It was fantastic to connect with everyone. Lauren is a delight and so were all the New Yorkers. It was great to meet some of Wess and Lauren's people.

Well, the picture above was taken from the kitchen window of Amelie. Unfortunately, my camera had no flash, but there is still quite a bit of happiness, and movement in the image. Wess and Lauren can be found atop chairs dancing the Hora in the center of the pic.

Really pople, MREs?

2008-09-08T13:54:00.003-05:00

I love that everyone loves New Orleans, but really, the MREs and the 8 oz bottles of water need to go to BR, Feliciana Parishes, Lafourche, etc. We don't need them b/c I took myself to the Whole Foods and bought some overpriced groceries, mineral water, and then had a dinner party. This is not what WE need right now. It is what some folks need, but not us.

There is a very significant way that Katrina offered an opportunity for people to feel better about themselves and their lives by volunteering their time to repair a problem that was actually way bigger than the damage to people's homes. In many big ways, this volunteering has been helpful, appreciated, and has had a noticeable impact on the recovery effort in New Orleans. It has also allowed New Orleans to remain stuck in a victim role.

It drives me crazy to see college kids walking around my neighborhood picking up trash. That trash is there because somebody, or a lot of people who are responsible for that trash are too lazy to do it themselves. Christians get to put an entry on their application to heaven called
New Orleans Relief Worker. If you really want to help us, bridge the gap between public need, and public policy, solve housing inequity, sit in a classroom and assist a public school teacher, but do not come pick up trash and hand out MREs and tiny water bottles.

Screw the cone of probability... seriously

2008-09-08T13:45:00.002-05:00

This storm actually sucks. It looks like it is coming here, but nobody seems to think it will. I have not decided to evacuate. If things go anything like last time, we will be much better off staying. More on that later.

Words from the safehouse

2008-09-01T12:16:00.003-05:00

I had a dream last night that featured the dark bands of a hurricane that suddenly took the form of an Octopus reaching down from the sky and swatting at everything on the ground. I hid in the closet as the octopus tore the house apart and sucked all the light from the sky. Fortunately when I woke there was only a fast moving grey sky. Sean is outside playing the trumpet as each note gets sucked up by the wind, and hopefully taken back home to New Orleans by this circular breeze.

I have a few things to say about this experience so far. Most notably Sean and I now identify as evacuators. We leave under any reasonable threat and pack a month’s worth of stuff. We will continue to do this even if we do not believe that the worst will happen.
We realize that this is what it means to live in New Orleans. We are completely aware that at anytime our home, stuff, town, and life as we know it could disappear and we would need to start over. We know that New Orleans will flood again. We left this time with our eyes full of tears and our hearts in our throats drunk with gratitude for 3 more years in New Orleans. We do not have a plan B to living in New Orleans. We do not want a plan B (at least not yet).

It is 11:44 on Monday the industrial canal is about spill, I have know idea what this storm will actually do but I suspect that it won’t do what we all thought. Good.

I know that many people have been watching the news, and it has been very scary. Please don’t let them keep you scared for us. I am not trying do downplay the seriousness of this storm, but CNN, MSNBC, TWC, etc… make tons of money by keeping people terrified and watching TV. They will never be able to tell you exactly what’s happening or going to happen. So given that we are evacuators now, just know we are ok and don’t believe the hype.

Our camp in Clinton LA is great. We are comfortable our dogs are happy; we are with good people watching movies; all is well.

XOXO Jacqui

2008-08-29T13:28:00.001-05:00

Listen up people, We are ok, we are thinking we are expecting the least and preparing for the worst. I remain unconvinced that this storm will become the cataclysmic event that occurred in 2005. These are the plans.

We will either evacuate to St. Francisville or Kansas City depending on the size and course of the storm. It simply does not make sense for us to go East or West, so North it is. If we are required to stay out of town for a while, I can work from anywhere and Sean will pick up gigs in KC. If we are out for more than a week, we will go to Wisconsin to stay with Dad and Jenny.

What about all our Floridians? hmmm? Have you purchased your plywood, flashlights and batteries yet? lots of water?

Take care, love to all,
Jacqui

Coming up for air

2008-08-13T20:37:00.004-05:00

In the last 2 days, it has been brought to my attention about 4 times, that my blog has been woefully neglected. If this keeps up, people might get the impression that Sean and I are sitting around eating ice cream and watching episodes of lost, and that wouldn’t be…well it would sort of be true….BUT, that’s not all we’re doing!

Sean for instance has almost completed our upstairs bathroom. HIP HIP HOORAY! Here’s to not having to negotiate my stairs in the middle of the night. I am going to wait until we install the hex tiles in the shower, before I go and post a picture, but it is gorgeous. He has been playing some music, but enjoying the slow season this summer.

I have been keeping busy at the agency, which has been both challenging and fun. Most people don’t know what I do, so I will tell you that since December I have been enjoying my new position at Peter A Mayer Advertising as an Interactive Producer. I launched the first site that I produced from start to finish last month. TA’DA It was very satisfying to launch that site. It takes quite a while to get these things up, so you know, I’m glad.

Kendal and Dwayne (our across the street neighbors) are making tremendous progress on their house. I think they may actually be living in it by Jan. this year. That is nothing to sneeze at, they have been working on that house for as long as I have known Sean. I so look forward to living near them. Kendal and I can walk to work together; we can spend Sundays bb-q-ing in yard. I sort of imagine that having the Johnsons across the street will be like having a slumber party every weekend. We can tuck each other in at night and wake up and have coffee on the porch. They need a shady pool.

We also have some sort of new neighbors around the corner, Elizabeth and Gary. They have been there for about 2 years, but it’s taken a while to get to know them. They have come all the way from Brooklyn to Central City New Orleans. Sean and I call them our fairy god neighbors. Not only did the have the grace to install a pool and share it with the neighborhood, but they also have brought Kundalini yoga classes, and some amazing Indian recipes, including panir cheese. They have also been instrumental in crafting the Central City social situation. More on that later.

Sean and I have been attending their yoga classes daily. That is one of the more incredible developments on Clio street. Elizabeth just informed us tonight that there is going to be a Kunalini yoga teacher training in New Orleans next year. Sean and I are both very excitedly considering going through the training. We have seen such drastic improvements in our lives, it seems that we should take the opportunity to take it to the next level.

Well people, I have to say, I am a little sad that we did not make it to NYC this year. Sean and I were both very excited, but in the end, it just didn’t make sense. Thanks to all who offered up places to stay, I’m sorry we were unable to accept. We will start planning for next year.

Speaking of New Yorkers, I am sooooo completely stoked about Wess and Lauren’s wedding. I hope to see lots of friendly faces. I am going to get a mazillion hugs. It is going to be very cool. Thanks for coming to New Orleans to get married guys.

Until next time, let love rule!

Xoxo
j&s

Holy Cow! We are all really cute

2008-02-06T18:40:00.001-06:00

Happy AshWednesday all. We made it through another Mardi Gras.

The 2008 annual ramble of the St. Anthony Ramblers was the predictable best of season event. It was very sweet this year with all of the fluffy chickens to cuddle with. Panorama was stellar, my wig was very shinny and pleasing, I got to see everyone that I forgot to call this year; really, it couldn't have been better.

P.S. I forgot some REALLY important credits:

2007-04-10T18:14:00.001-05:00

All of the musicians including Esquizito and the Panorama Jazz Band played this event for love not money. Also Brother Charlie Dale of Grace Baptist Church performed the ceremony as a gift to us. It was a beautiful and well thought ceremony that was just right as a result of their collective talents.

Also Joanne Hilton pulled some last minute strings to distribute balloons at the site, so that everyone knew where to be. This turned out to be a beautiful touch. It added amazing movement and excitement to the event... and it looks great in the pictures.

It was sooooo FUN!! (Click Here for Photos)

2007-04-06T18:44:00.000-05:00

Click on the title, and it should bring you to the web album. All photos are compliments of Diane Tripplett. I love them!

I have been dying to find the time to update this blog. It has been 3 weeks since the wedding and Sean and I have landed safely back into our normal life, but have not forgotten a moment of this spectacular event. I can say with 100% confidence that it was the best wedding ever. If being a wife is as fun as being a bride, I am in for a good time!

When Sean and I decided to get married, it took 6 months to come up with a plan. It took another 6 months to figure out that our plan was lame, and yet another 2 to decide what to do instead. That left us roughly 4 months to execute the plan, which involved renovating a house. It didn't seem possible, but we did it. This has made us very proud and still humbled by the amount of support and labor given to us by our friends and family. This was truly a group effort. I hope everyone is as pleased as we are.

For the last several months, my mind had been crafting a very clever, sweet and articulate speech that I planned to deliver at the wedding. The speech explained our gratitude and illustrated the process and reasoning that lead to our decision to host an event like this.

When the time came to deliver my thoughts, they no longer seemed relevant or useful. What I mean is, our purpose was so obvious and universally felt, that my words could not have enhanced anything.

Having said that, I am now at my computer holding the virtual mike, and I would like to tell spill my heart to you all.

The decision to marry Sean was an easy one. He is an amazing man and my life has been unbelievably improved since he entered it, and I believe the same is true for him.

The decision regarding how to get married was not so easy. It was a struggle to find something that represented us well. We entertained the idea of running off to get married alone and throwing a party afterwards. A few people had opinions about it and shared them with us. I believe that Esquizito's sentiments rang to the tune of "it's tacky and I will have no part of it" (he was slightly more eloquent, but we got the message). Ben Schenck reminded us that committing ourselves in front of others is kind of the point, and to sneak off may cheat us of the meaning behind the event. Merica thought the idea was a snoozer, but agreed to support our decision. My mother probably would have had nightmares if I had told her. My father continued to remind Sean and I, that whatever we decided to do would be just right.

Thanks guys.

As we planned the event, it became so obvious to us, that we couldn't get married without our people any more that we could live without our people. The fact is that we needed all of you to participate in our marriage in order to make it work. The decision to involve our friends, family and community felt like a decision to not build our castle out of sand.

Thanks again.

I also would have mentioned that my husband has laid his hands on every grain of wood in our house to make it beautiful. I am very proud of his work.

And then, I would have given an Oscar length speech about all the cool ways that everyone helped. If that had worked out, I never would have cut the cake!

Credits:
Speaking of Cake, Chef Kaysey Hasslock of Liaison Catering supplied the bulk of dinner, hours d overs, and the delicious and beautiful carrot cake. She also supplied the delicious and beautiful staff, Brittney, Chef Matt and Sam. Katie Malloy-Peck baked the chocolate bourbon grooms cake and her husband Bryan Peck (of Elizabeth's fame) concocted the cochon du lait. Chef Jerry Mixon from Cafe Amelie supplied us with the roasted duck app, and Melanie Kuffel sent the champagne. Beth at Swirl (mid city wine boutique) picked out just the right wine, and Dena was a godsend and keg mistress. James CrawfishMan Fulton was the boil king and site boss for the last month. His totally killer wife, Isa, lent him to us for many hours and we are grateful.

Several people contributed their free time and sweat to the rapid beautification project (AKA, Mission: get this shit DONE! ) which included gutting walls, rebuilding them, hanging and floating drywall, painting, sanding, finishing floors, gardening, digging up dirt, uncovering bricks, hanging lights, artwork and curtains, cleaning the darkest corners of our house and cleaning up a most unsavory trash pile in front of our house. Thank you Mom, Dad, Jenny, Bruce, Brian, Shelly, Katie, Red, Sidney, Debbie, Rebeca, Marley, Salvadore, Dena, Janice, Kathleen, Ken, Wayne, Shyanne, India, Daniel, and Greg.

Katie Triplett made it all simple. She helped me keep it all together. Diane and Tim Triplett, thanks for the food, and thanks for the fabulous photos. Olivia, thanks for the hair darling!

Wedding Information

2007-01-13T10:05:00.000-06:00

Hi Friends! Perhaps it is needless to say, but we have been a little too busy to update this blog in the last few months, but I have some info for you. This post should cover everything you could ever want to know about this event …and then some.

Just about everyone who reads this knows that we are about to get married in ooohhh, 8 weeks! Holy cow. The invitations will be out shortly, but I have some extra info that may be useful for all of you, particularly the out-of-towners. I didn’t want to stuff envelopes with a dissertation on New Orleans and wedding details.

First things first!

Date: Friday, March 16, 2007

Ceremony: 6:00 PM Coliseum Square Park- between Camp and Coliseum streets

Reception: 1729 Clio street, New Orleans LA, 70113

There will be a second line following the ceremony that will bring us to the reception. Anyone who has not yet had the opportunity to participate in a second line is in for a treat. I have created a map that outlines the route in yellow. The second line will be about 10 or so blocks and will be lead by the Panorama Jazz Band. It will bring us to our house for the reception.

For those who wish to miss out on all the fun and drive to the reception, you will be able to park in the parking lot at Fleet tires on Carondolet Street between Clio and Caliope. To do so, head up Camp Street take a left on Erato, cross St. Charles, take a right on Carondolet get into the left lane, dogleg over into the parking lot on Clio Street. We will have a hired policeman on detail between the house and the tire shop. There is also plenty of parking under the interstate, behind the house. Central City is by no means scenic, and unfortunately it is not particularly safe either. It is however, our home and because of that, it is just right for this occasion. Please be advised that your safety is important to us, so heads up.

The Wedding will be casual. Second liners be advised, sensible shoes are appropriate. Also, Coliseum square park will likely have plenty of dogs on such a beautiful day, so if dogs make you antsy, hold a hand, there will be plenty available. The menu will be yummy, and without giving away all of the surprises, carnivores, herbivores and omnivores will leave with full bellies. On that note, we will have crawfish, so don’t be so fancy you can’t feast.

St. Patty’s Day / St. Joseph’s Day weekend

I chose to have the wedding on this particular weekend, because it is so fun! Here is a link with the event listings from last year, which are always the same, so you can get an idea of what goes on: http://nola.live.advance.net/stpatricks/?content/events.html

Basically these are the events:

Friday: the best wedding ever
Sat: Cabbage tossing crazy Irish Channel Parade on Magazine

Green beers and Madness at Parasols (First and Constance)

Sunday: St. Josephs Day and the Irish Italian parade in Metairie on Vets Hwy. (that one is a little more family friendly)

Most everyone knows about St. Patrick, the missionary that saved all of Ireland, and is probably single-handedly responsible for the expression “Irish-Catholic”. St. Joseph, however, gets a bit trickier. He is either the less glamorous virgin father of Jesus who is noted for his chastity, or the Saint that saved Sicily from famine by bringing rain to the Island’s dying crops. Both have the same feast day and different reputations. Come to think of it, I think they are the same Joe… look it up. The feast of St. Joseph looks to me like a combination of Thanksgiving, and a symbol of solidarity and humility among the working class (that is not a scholarly fact, it is the opinion of a non-historian). Anyhoo, his feast day is on the 19^th of March, and this is a really big deal in the New Orleans-Italian communities. People spend hundreds of hours baking and preparing for St. Joseph’ s Day alters. You can find them in churches, homes, community centers…check the local paper that weekend and find one. My friend Elsa will be at the wedding and she knows where the good ones are, so ask her.

Lodging is as abundant as crepe myrtle trees in this city, so it should be easy to find a place to stay. We are in central city, which abuts the lower garden district. Both are about 1.5 miles outside of the French Quarter. The streetcar is currently trafficking people from lee circle to the FQ. Sean’s aunt and uncle Joanne and Dennis own a very cute, reasonably priced inn near the ceremonial park. It is called The Saint Charles Guest House (504) 523-6556. If you want to stay there, give them a call and tell em we sent ya. Don’t reserve online, make the call.

Staying in the quarter might be fun too, so I have some thoughts this, and remember nothing is really far away. For this reason I recommend using cabs to get around. You are not likely to get ripped off, arrested or lost… and it’s cheap (United Cab 504.522.9771).

Downtown Recommendations:

French Quarter

W hotel (CBD or FQ) – both nice stylish, swanky, corporate, clean, about $80ish a night http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/index.html

Dauphine Orleans – big rooms / suites available, a friend stayed here once and it was very comfy and easy lounge in. It is pricey, but it can also accommodate a few people if that is how you roll. About $100ish a night. http://www.dauphineorleans.com/index.html

Marigny

Royal Inn (above the R~Bar – “The city’s only bed and beverage” is in the Faubourg Marigny by all the cool jazz clubs, hippies, cafes, soul food, and wierdos. I love it!

http://www.royalstreetinn.com/

Also, for those of you who are like us, and are not financially endowed enough to get a swanky hotel, don’t let that stop you from coming. I have had people offer up sofas and floors and guestrooms for this event, so If you need assistance call me.

Whew! That was long. We can’t wait to see everyone.

P.S.
My mom says that she got a really good rate at the Ponchartrain Hotel in the lower garden district.

And

We are registered at Bed Bath and Beyond

And

The map I made didn't show up really well, so I will email the file as a pdf to adyone who asks

Oh! By the way, this happened. (YIPPPEEE!!!)

2006-12-31T14:46:00.000-06:00

oops! There was a story about this in the Piccaune in the metro section christmas day.
I hope they don't try that bs again.

Christmastime on Clio Street

2006-12-31T12:32:00.000-06:00

This year Sean and I decided to lie back and float in the proverbial current of events that flow around the holiday season. For us this came to mean, don’t freak out, over-spend, over-drink or over-plan. It sounds easy right? For those who have never tried this, I highly recommend it. It is way more fun than I can explain.

This year, Christmas was better than I could have hoped for. Mom came to visit and we had a great meal and visit with the Hiltons. Everything seemed especially calm and sweet: the cooking, the shopping, and of-course the excessive movie watching and cookie eating.

The holiday season always brings people that have escaped the paths of our normal life for one reason or another. Because of this, it seems, Mom was treated to the genuine Clio Street experience complete with warm neighbor reunions, homeless men looking for food, impromptu house parties, sudden brawls, and spontaneous drumming lessons and cookie baking with the kids next door. She really took all of this on very calmly. Even though Sean and I (usually) love the roller coaster of events that is endless on our block, we know it is not always amusing to everyone. Here’s to you mom…what a sport!

It was a huge treat to share the Hilton family Christmas with her! It is the opposite of our family’s typical holiday gathering in so many ways, but I never feel out of place or homesick when I am there. This Christmas I was reminded of how lucky I am both to come from such a loving family, and to become a part of Sean’s family. My blessings are abundant.

2006-07-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Algiers River Fest

2006-06-06T19:32:00.000-05:00

Farewell to Patrick

2006-06-06T19:21:00.000-05:00

Alas, the wind has changed directions and now the time has come for Patrick "Cutie Pants" Harrison, New Orleans accordionist (by way of Minneapolis) to return to the well mannered, safe, hurricane free, ice cube of a town that he came from.

As a Panorama groupie, I can say it has been a joy to have him in the band and in my town. I know the band will miss him terribly. He brought dignity, grace, charm and great hair to gypsy jazz accordion.

I think that he and New Orleans were fond of each other, so I am sure he will return. I hope we see him soon!

....and now, the leader of....

2006-06-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

The Panorama Jazz Band!

Art

2006-06-06T19:10:00.000-05:00

...That is all I can tell you. Oh, from Vera Cruz

Jaja and the mariachi

2006-06-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

Vera Cruz Mexico 2006

2006-06-06T19:05:00.000-05:00

Clockwise from top left: Mark Rubin and the Child of one of the Mahogany Brass Band fellas, JaJa and Ben, Hotel View, and ummm a cool shot of a drum and some sneaks.

New Orleans Jazz Festival 2006

2006-06-06T18:59:00.000-05:00

Ohmigod! It was totally Rogan Schenk's first Jazz Fest ever. I think he had a really supergood time. I know we did. Panorama played the first set on the first day of Jazz Fest this year. The food was perfect, the music was amazing, and during every set, there was a tearjerking moment when we all were able to feel how good it is to be home. Fantastico.

Algiers River Fest

2006-06-06T18:57:00.000-05:00

!Hace Color en el sol!

2006-06-06T18:54:00.000-05:00

John Gross experiences another unforgettable moment with the "Sol" Models

"I am very famous in my barrio" ~ Sean L. Clark - Vera Cruz Jazz Festival 2006

2006-06-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

Yep. He said it. He wasn't kidding either. The Panorama Jazz band just returned home from a very exciting trip to Vera Cruz Mexico, where they played at the Segundo Annual Vera Cruz Festival de jazz (which I assume is pronounced "yazz"... like "yackie")

I did not attend the Vera Cruz gig but everyone agrees that it was super awesome. The guys were asked for autographs, taught a clinic, hung out with the Mahogany Brass Band, bought guyaveras, ate well, slept little, and totally rocked the casa. Sean had a million cool stories from hanging with the mahogany guys.

My better half even scoped out the potential of building a life as American X-pats in Mexico. It is always good to have a back up plan. We’ve got some numbers now and feel ready for the next revolution or hurricane (which ever comes first). Can we bring our dogs to Mexico?

I hope that Ama, Rogan, and I are able to attend the next Vera Cruz festival with the band. Even better, maybe we can sneak into Cuba afterwards.

It has been a little while since I have posted anything so, I will continue to add a slew of pictures that include events like both N.O. and V.C. jazz fests and the Algiers River Fest. Enjoy.

Springtime in New Orleans

2006-04-24T16:03:00.000-05:00

Sid and Kaysey

Chris at the Wynton Marsalis second line

More second line

JASMINE!!!!!!

The excitement of the Mardi Gras season has been absent since Ash Wednesday. The weeks that produce French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest produce a far less dramatic and probably healthier brand of happiness.

Sean and I went to FQ Fest this weekend. We ran into friendly faces everywhere we went. Our mellow climax of the festival occurred on Sunday where we collided with a very hung over Chris and Rose at the Wynton Marsallis second line to Congo Square. Needless to say, it was fabulous. Even better, after the second line, we sat in Jackson Square with some crawfish sausage po-boys and mango freezes. Even better than that? We went home with some new CDs: The Hot 8 Brass Band, Jelly Roll Morton, George Ben, and Trombone Shorty.

Awesome.

Indeed, spring has arrived in New Orleans, and I could not be happier. For every discouraging humid thought I have in the summer that questions my devotion to this city, my heart quickly produces memories of New Orleans springtime.

During this time of year an army of sweet smells attacks our olfactory systems: confederate jasmine, sweet olive, night blooming jasmine and roses. Crepe Myrtle trees become heavy and droop after a rain and the café’s fill up with neighborhood regulars chatting with hopeful smiles.

100 + degrees and 100% humidity will come soon and everyone will be crabby as usual, but for now we are all rolling around in our short and beautiful spring season like little piglets in a cool mud puddle.

Stuff is happening yall!

2006-04-04T18:31:00.000-05:00

Sean has been a weatherboard replacing fool. He's been on the roof for about a week replacing the front of the camelback.

The door

2006-04-04T18:26:00.000-05:00

I am not kidding, If I see Sean standing in the shop staring at this door one more time, I will scream! He is very proud, and he should be, it is gorgeous.

This door had about 120 years of paint on it. Since it was broken during the storm, i thought it would be a good time to strip it. Unfortuantely, I learned that it was not the best time to strip the door, after I began the process.

Since we October, we have had a half stripped door with a piece of plywood where the glass pannel should go.

My boss came over and told me her boyfriend had a dip tank, so we were finally able to finish the door. Since Sean began

Also in the works

2006-04-04T18:12:00.000-05:00

The Carver Theater of the historic Storyville district is owned by my new friend Dr. Eugene Oppman. He has dedided to restore this building and return it to its intended use. I have decided to help him with this project.

This project has become one of my favorite projects. At it's best it will be tremendously helpful in stimulating economic development in the Fauborg Treme, provide a much needed venue for the performing arts community, and house a non-profit arts organization.

Somebody send me the money!

Today I met with a bunch of people from the N.O. cultural network. I was delighted to run into some friendly faces. People seem genuinely excited about the re-opening of this theater, so wish us luck.

More office

2006-04-04T18:05:00.000-05:00

would ya check out that yellow couch? iloveit iloveit iloveit!

It truly does take a village...

2006-04-04T17:49:00.000-05:00

Well, the Idea Village has given our magazine a quaint style-less glorified cubical for an office, so now, I only work from home when it makes sense. Actually, this is really fantastic. I can now meet clients in on office without dogs, dog hair, or dogs jumping and barking. Fantastic! It is also located in the CBD, which is about a 10 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride from home, depending on if I am wearing a skirt or pants...(that is, until I get a real girl's bike).

Idea Village is a group that helps creative and (ah-hem) talented entrepreneurs establish themselves in the crumbling city of New Orleans and beyond. They have put these "idea catchers" everywhere to remind us all to capture "the big idea". I have been enjoying the chance to work around some really smart people and their projects. It is good.

Plus, it makes me feel like a grown up.

Check it out

2006-03-09T09:37:00.000-06:00

The official site of the St. Anthony Ramblers a la Jonah Langenbeck
http://www.stanthonyramblers.com

Aaawww

2006-03-07T21:50:00.000-06:00

Cass and Heather Cooper renewed their vows 18 hours after the wedding, this time, in Jackson Square

Mardi Gras

2006-03-06T11:50:00.000-06:00

More Mardi Gras Photos

2006-03-06T11:43:00.000-06:00

Get Awesome Mardi Gras 2006

2006-03-01T19:25:00.000-06:00

The ressurection of the ninth ward float

2006-03-01T18:26:00.000-06:00

Brian and Katie Peck Designed the original "Get Awesome" float for the "Mystic Krewe of the Flying Donkey". Alas, their home in the lower ninth ward sustained about 10 feet of water, leaving the float destroyed. The float and the mystic flying donkey mascott were removed from the rubbel a while back. The float without hope and the donkey , no longer flying, with only one scrawnny feather left on his back, sat in our back yard for about a month.

On the Monday before Mardi Gras (Lundi Gras) William miraculously brought it back to life, while Katie Tripplet and I made flowers, and Ryan sculpted a huge copper Fleur de Lis.

William also made our "Get Awesome" sign as a tribute to all of the loved pets lost in Katrina.

I hope that our float reminds people of the tenacity of the lower ninth ward. Most things are salvageable by the power of community.

Everybody GET AWESOME

2006-03-01T18:07:00.000-06:00

The last day ...Fat Tuesday, yikes, we made it! We were all so glad to see it come near, and even gladder to see it pass. The achingly long (2 mile long) car-ride home was filled with so much anticipation to see our soft clean beds, that it easily paralleled our wait for this holiday.

The day was fabulous, as always. Everyone was there from all parts of the globe. The Panorama Brass Band served up another juicy helping of joy and laughter. They really make our Mardi Gras special every year!

I chose to re-run my costume theme, “Get Awesome" as a tribute to the true get awesome cowboy of Portland (if you don't know what that means, it's worth it to ask). I usually retire a costume theme after each use, but I have had a hard time letting this one go. In fact, next year, I may just have to get awesomer.

If Katie Peck is back next Mardi Gras, we will all "Get Totally Awesome". She was missed. Everyone who was not here to help us celebrate was missed.

It's here! It's here! It's here!

2006-02-26T01:01:00.000-06:00

It is about damn time too! I have never before been so excited about Mardi Gras as I am this year. Kaysey said it best..."This year, we are doing it for ourselves". This year we are celebrating the tenacity of our own culture and our right to celebrate the unbridled joy that lives somewhere in the hearts of everyone. Hurricanes can destroy our homes and levees can be broken, but our spirits refuse do be drowned this year.The shortage of marching bands has not gone by un-noticed. Neither have the substitute high school bands from out of town. I am grateful for their presence, but it is just not the same. I am certainly not complaining, only noting that their music and their moves leave me with a bittersweet feeling.This season promises to be particularly joyful, since Cass and Heather will be Married Lundi Gras evening. The event of their marriage will be a gorgeous union and a reunion since so many old friends will be in town.On Tuesday, the St. Anthony's Ramblers will be rolling bright and early from the Treme to the quarter following the Panorama Jazz Band. These guys have been playing non-stop for about 2 weeks. I hope our appreciation of them gives them the energy they need to march through the quarter all day long with their instruments.I can't wait to post the pictures of the Tuesday Second Line!By the way, These photos are all stolen from others (thanks Jonah), since I have been way to busy dancing, screaming and catching beads so far this year. I will bring the camera on Tuesday.

Behold....

2006-02-26T00:56:00.000-06:00

There are not many pictures more perfect than this.

All of em!

2006-02-26T00:52:00.000-06:00

Congratulations Jack

2006-02-26T00:39:00.000-06:00

Sean went to visit Tallahassee a few weeks ago to celebrate his nephew Jack's Baptism. I wish I could have made it, but duty called. I have never actually seen the entire Clark family at once, a situation that I am sure will remedy itself shortly.

I almost forgot...

2006-01-27T13:31:00.000-06:00

We have sort of set a date! I picked March 17th. Later I realized that it was not only St. Patrick's Day, but also my cousin Olivia's (who never reads this blog) anniversary.

I would really like some input on this one. Sat 3/17/07 is the Magazine St. SPD parade. It is super fun! Among other traditional throws, they toss cabbages and potatoes. It would sort of be a travesty to have everyone come here that weekend and miss the parade. What does everyone think about a Sunday wedding? I am asking you all because most of you will be coming in from out of town. If this plan would create obstacles, I would rather not do it.

I have about 14 months, but let me know what you think.

We are still here

2006-01-26T22:39:00.000-06:00

Yes, it’s true; we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. We have made a conscious decision to step up the pace and behave like grown ups. Honestly, it smarts a bit, but it’s probably for the best.

Sean has been working like a dawg! He is pretty much gigging and working carpentry jobs all the time. Mostly, he has been playing with the Panorama Jazz Band about three times weekly. Occasionally he plays with the ever popular and always classy AJ and Mark Monistare. As far as the carpentry goes, Grace Baptist has him busy renovating Brother Charlie’s house. This is a blessing. It is nice to work around people that he loves and respects with sweet reciprocity.

I also am finally working. I am the new marketing director of Weddings Noir magazine. It is a small bridal magazine targeted at a multi-cultural audience. I’ve got big plans for it. Hopefully it will be a tremendous success. Most of the time I get to work from home in my slippers, but occasionally I have to dress up and wear big girl shoes.

Ok, guess what! We totally bought a truck. Yes indeed, we are the owners of a 2002 Ford F150. It is so sweet and fancy, and best of all, it will get us all out of town next hurricane season. Yeah, we have been reduced to this kind of thinking.

We reached our breaking point of our fabulously boho hippie life when my alternator broke in the same week that Sean’s (2nd) transmission broke, along with his blinker and windshield wiper handle. I am a little bummed because I had hoped that our imminent fancy car purchase would be a small sensible economical car for ME! Alas, Sean’s truck broke more and first. Therefore, if we can have one good car, it needs to be a truck, and it needs to be capable of holding not only all our stuff, but our little dog family also. If that means we need a gas guzzling road hog, then so be it. I can wait for my mini cooper.

We miss and love all of you. As soon as I can locate some batteries in this town, I will take some pictures of all things fabulous and post them.

Happy New Year

2006-01-01T12:40:00.000-06:00

Last night, Sean and I drove home from a New Year’s Eve party at Cass and Heather’s house in the Fouburg Marigny. We skipped the pilgrimage to the quarter, and went home. We took the long way home, driving through Bayou St. John and Mid City. The annual Orleans Ave. Bonfire was about to begin, but we drove on. Die-hard renegade firework handlers were working their magic under the cloak of fog. There was a moratorium on fireworks this year. It seems that the FEMA blue roofs are not only very flammable, but they actual melt, and drip molten plastic fire into the very homes they guard from exposure to natural elements.

As we left downtown, cars poured in towards the quarter. The parking situation was panicky. The mid city revelers were a little calmer, despite their decision to disregard one of the better temporary laws in the city. It seemed as though the pull of the down-towners was driven by an urge to flush 2005 five with as much synergy as they could possibly muster. The Orleans Ave. group appeared to be driven by a very familiar determination to not let their traditions be killed by Katrina.

None of us really want to give her anything else.

We finally hopped on I10 to head home. The highway was foggy and quiet. I rested my head on Sean’s chest and stared out his (side) rearview mirror. As I looked at the dark and hazy highway disappearing behind us, I considered 2005 and looked at the time. 11:50.

It has been decided by most, that 2005 was the absolutely worst year ever. I argue that the first half was pretty good. If the events of this year, both good and bad, were measured in quantity, I think the good would exceed the bad. Unfortunately, this year, it does seem appropriate to measure by weight. In that case, it might have been the worst year ever.

Sean and I parked behind our house at 11:56 and ran inside. We plopped down on the bed and gathered our dogs around us. We waited 4 minutes for the countdown, and gave each other a sleepy kiss to celebrate the new year. It was a good moment. I felt lucky.

Lucky to be in our home, alive, with our dogs, and our stuff. Lucky to be loved and to love. Lucky to have turned 29 this year, and finally graduated college. Lucky to have amazing friends and family.

This year I want to celebrate all of these things. I want to pour my attention into the things that I am so grateful to have.

Sean was asleep by 12:02, dreaming of a peaceful new year.

By the way, your Christmas cards and gifts have been sent. Sorry about the timing.

resolutions:

2005-12-31T11:36:00.000-06:00

Resolution: 1.the state or quality of being resolute (resolute: firm or determined, unwavering) 2.a course of action determined or decided on 3.a formal statement of decision by a legislature 4.an explanation as of a problem solution 5.the fineness of detail that can be distinguished in an image

Last night someone told me of a New Year’s tradition she and her family had established about a decade ago. “Instead of drafting your own New Years resolution, write one down for all of your family members, and they will do the same for you!”

O.K., I thought, it sounds fun and could possibly be endearing. But, all I could imagine is a family sitting around opening envelopes and looking at one another with knitted brows and nervous tummies reading lists of what their loved ones think is wrong with them. “You want me to…” “…loose thirty pounds?”, “…stop snoring?”, “…be more assertive” “…go to confession more often?”, “…get a better job?” “…take karate?” “…wear green more often?”, “…be nicer?”

Clearly she and her family are much braver about criticism than I am.

I think that this year I will replace my big new years resolution with 365 daily resolutions. I don’t think that I can be absolutely firm or determined, or unwavering about 1 thing for an entire year. The small resolution plan seems to co-operate better with a fluctuating environment.

What ever your resolutions are, good luck with them, and enjoy all 365 days this year.

Good Luck

2005-12-27T18:03:00.000-06:00

I don't know, but I've been told that each black-eyed pea eaten on New Years Day offers some indiscriminant amount of good luck forwarded towards your next year.

So, If you don't eat black eyed peas on Sunday, we will know who to blame for the next hurricane!

I will have a big fat pot of beans at my house on Jan 1st. All are welcome. You bring the beer.

Funny Hats by jacqui

2005-12-26T21:45:00.000-06:00

Home for the holidays

2005-12-24T00:02:00.000-06:00

I usually go somewhere for the holidays, Texas, Florida, Covington, North Carolina…whatever. This year, Sean and I were able to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas right here in New Orleans, which was the only thing on our wish list anyway. This is the second year in a row that I have celebrated Christmas with the Hilton’s family and friends. Admittedly, I am left feeling slightly melancholic about missing my families, but the Hilton Christmas is always, delightful, tasty, and full of goodness. I feel very special to be included in their holiday festivities.

The bummer about the holiday season is that we would need some serious Santa skills to be able to see everyone in a single Christmas. So, until we wise up and trade in my Toyota for a sled with magic flying reindeer, we must always choose and rotate family to visit. Leaving town on Christmas has its benefits, but every time I go away for the Christmas, I miss seeing my friends that come home.

This December we celebrated the steady stream of re-entrants from the whole hurricane thing as well as regular Christmas visitors from the north. Staying home this year allowed us to see: Jason from Chicago, Wess, Stephen, Rebecca, and Ed from NY, Patty and Elsa from Arizona (?), Jeff Finn from the sort of generic SF “bay area”, Ryan Finn from a sailboat, and Katie Finn from Panama, and of Course Daniel Bobeck …from heaven. We are lucky.

So I am concerned about this year for a lot of reasons. First there is the “is N.O. safe” situation, (which I have decided to believe that it is in fact safe, cuz it’s more fun than thinking it’s not). Second, we are trying to plan the funnest wedding ever on the smallest budget ever. I have decided not to reserve anything until hurricane season 2006 closes. Third, we have become vastly more popular this year, and everyone wants us to visit. This is indisputably cool, but we are feeling a little stretched. Here is the deal: My dad has asked us to visit in the spring, Debbie has asked us to visit in Feb., Mardi Gras is in late Feb., Caroline has asked us to visit circa Easter, Paul and Anto are getting married in Ireland in September (we are pretty devoted to going to witness this), and the Bioneers conference is in October. Even if we are fortunate enough to bypass another heart wrenching hurricane season…. how are we going to get it all done?

Ohmigod! I almost forgot! Rebecca Louise Gibson is engaged to be married! Congratulations Reba and John! That will require some traveling too, I am sure.

The reason I am posting this, is because I want you all to know, that we will try our best to see everyone….

We love you and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Home for the holidays

2005-12-23T12:58:00.000-06:00

I've been fielding a lot of questions lately...so here it is

2005-12-17T14:16:00.000-06:00

Last night, Jeff Finn came into town. When I saw him I gave him a big hug and crocodile tears quivered in my eyes. He is the first hello I have met that really meant good-bye, since I have returned. He has permanently relocated to the bay area, but he is from here. He has always seemed like a fixture here. Even though his mother tells me this is a good move for him, and I should encourage him, I can't help feeling devastated at the notion that he won't be here any more.

After work, he and I went out to Mimi's and sat in the cozy upstairs tapas bar sipping brandy and eating goat cheese croquetas (yum), exchanging stories of evacuation, and "what's it like now", then realized that it was almost CERFEW (yuck), and ran to The Saint, a crusty rock n roll bar that we used to frequent after work at the Rue.

We talked and noticed who was there, and who wasn't. The thing about this bar is there is never any surprise concerning who will be there. It is always the same lower garden district, vespa driving, hipsters that we worked with at the coffee shop, and Juan's Flying Burrito. A good friend came to hug us hello and talk to us.

Jeff noted that being back in town, made him feel like an ex-patriot.... running into old friends and acquaintances, asking what happened to them, how they are...etc. Everyone has a dramatic story of near escape, evacuation, living with people, or worse, not living with people, and reunion. Everyone except those who were not so fortunate. It becomes very difficult to think of these people, and yet totally unavoidable.

Jeff and I have a friend in Mississippi whose parents lost EVERYTHING. Every scrap of anything they had has been taken by the tidal surge. Jeff remarked at how horrible it was to see his father's house destroyed, but absolutely nauseating to see the barrenness of Mississippi. He said "N.O., forget about it, Mississippi is the real disaster.

Sometimes, I feel the same. But it's just different. Does that make any sense?

This bitter sweetness here that is created from the joy of homecoming and the extensive losses of our community and friends is actually very familiar. New Orleans has ALWAYS been bittersweet.

I love that our restaurants and musicians and traditions are returning. I hate that the bulk of our community is feeling unloved, and neglected in other cities. There was a headline last week that said "How can you have Mardi Gras if we aren't even there?" This was a quote from a disgruntled evacuee in Atlanta. This might seem silly to non-New Orleanians, but really! If there are no high school student, who will supply the marching bands and flag girls? That's the best part! No home = no families = no flag girls in sequins shaking their adorable rumps to a badass marching band, covering a hip-hop song with jazz overtones = no Mardi Gras worth a damn.

I don't think we have ever needed Mardi Gras so badly, as we do now. That is the manifestation of this city's tremendous creative energy. God bless those stranded in other parts of the world. The pull to come home for Mardi Gras is very strong.

The single most hurtful thing that pokes at me lately is the discussion about "we can't afford levees". What type of shit is that? We can afford a war, an enormous tax cut(which according to the NYT is 3X the cost of new levees), petroleum subsidies to serve SUV drivers, and probably insurance bail outs, but not levees? People are really scrutinizing our local government for it's inability to recover, but virtually nothing is worth doing until a protection system is put together.

What can be done without protection? Who will come home and rebuild, and develop, and invest, when our safety and equity is uninsurable? The only reason it is uninsurable is because congress has said so. Are we not American? Do we not send our tax dollars to Washington and our children to war? Do we not sacrifice our ecosystem for access to oil and natural gas? Have we not provided this country with beautiful music, seafood, art, and above all a playground for ivy league brats and square people that need to let loose and pollute our streets with daiquiri cups and vomit? Yes, we sit on the sidelines of Bourbon Street and clean up the mess as best we can in the morning. Yep. The people who live here do that. You’re welcome. New Orleans is the concubine of America and it is embarrassing that we have misunderstood this relationship for centuries. We have served this country and the very notion that the United States of America thinks we aren't worth protecting makes me want to defect, or sell our city to Castro. We are pretty angry here. Maybe it's just me.

There are so many problems here, but why don't they seem worth fixing? I am no political genius, but if we compare the cost of investing in New Orleans now vs. the cost of endless disaster relief, I will put my money on the preventative maintenance option.

I am sorry if I have alienated any of our loved ones with this diatribe, but I felt compelled to publish my thoughts on this.

2005-12-10T21:15:00.000-06:00

New Kitty

2005-12-09T14:05:00.000-06:00

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

Merry Christmas

2005-12-09T13:14:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-09T12:41:00.000-06:00

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!

Weeeee are so excited

2005-11-21T15:08:00.000-06:00

This little bird's days are numbered. William has outlined an out of sight menu for our Clio St. Thanksgiving dinner. It is very elegant, but I am determined to squeeze in some sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and canned green bean casserole with Derkey onion rings and cream of mushroom soup.

Our friends Paul & Anto from Florida, their moms from Mobile and Ireland, and our neighbors William and Matty T will attend our Thanksgiving feast. Anyone else who is around is more than welcome to join us.

I hope all of you enjoy a day of full bellies and exhausted sighs cuddled up with your families watching re-runs, drenched in gratitude for each other.

2005-11-15T21:26:00.000-06:00

New Floors, wrecked door, new threshold, mantels and my new and totally awesome cowgirlboots...The best views we could muster of our new digs

Back by popular demand

2005-11-14T18:56:00.000-06:00

OK already, we are home, AND back on line!!! Sorry about the wait Suzanne.

I have been procrastinating quite a bit about publishing a re-entry post. Ya see, I wanted to write something dramatic and elegant….but um...uh..eh-hem, it’s just hasn’t come to me yet. So, I guess you get what you pay for folks.

Once upon a time a storm came and destroyed my city. This, I was told was a good place to begin.

As it turns out, my house, and the majority of my neighborhood seems to be in tact. My life is mostly in tact. Some things like mail and grocery shopping, or traffic from the West Bank can be discouraging. However, I am able to shop, dine and visit with neighbors like nothing happened.

But something did happen. Something awful happened. Even though I am home, it is really easy to forget. Sometimes it is like a bad dream or Grimm fairy tale where everything ends up mostly ok, but something indefinable and sinister remains pulsating in the back of my psyche. I am still trying to define this event from every perspective I can think of, but it’s too hard right now.

Today in New Orleans the reminder of our tragedy comes in waves of smell. The smell of rot assaults my senses like shock treatment at the oddest moments. It’s different than you might think; it’s not like the early days of Post-Katrina when everything just reeked. The smell is literally sticky and it had adhered itself to every item in the city. At this point every item that has been deemed salvageable has been somehow liberated from the sticky stink by way of soap and bleach. It is the discarded items that were destroyed by the funk, whose smell haunts everyone’s nostrils as we encounter them.

There are still piles of people’s precious things and trash and houses lining all of the streets. Most of the refrigerator corpses have been taken to some sort of mysterious black hole. This fact is at first comforting but if I think about it for long enough, my comfort dissolves and is quickly replaced with a totally overwhelming feeling of despair for the already delicate environment. I can’t even wrap my mind around the desperate situation surrounding our precious marsh.

Sean and I have been spending the majority of our time mending our home. These activities have kept my attention very much contained to the small sphere that surrounds my life at 1729 Clio St.. I have been forcing myself to go to neighborhood meetings and read the paper, but honestly, it is much easier to just sand the floors and paint the walls. Those tasks at least leave me with a sense of real accomplishment.

We got a new roof for the camel back. The tile color is called dessert sand, and it looks smashing with the black tile on the shotgun (or front) of our house. We have also fixed up the yucky apartment in the front of the house and moved in to it. It looks beautiful and I will post photos soon. Now, we don’t have to walk through the funky alley, and we can be in the front of the house and represent. Unfortunately, the new apartment is not bigger, but it will be soon. As soon as Sean moves his shop junk into the back room, we will have a bedroom and I cannot wait! I miss my big kitchen with the fabulous view, but this is good too.

I want everyone to know that our exile in Florida was as wonderful as it could have been. It was super cool to get to hangout in Sarasota and meet all of Sean’s friends and family. We both really appreciated that so many people came to our engagement party. I have not been quick to send thank-you cards because the mail isn’t really working correctly. Sorry about the bad bride etiquette.

It has been years since I have been able to pal around with my family for a whole two months. That experience was wonderful. I miss everyone a little bit more now (don’t get excited mom). I am tempted to write an Oscaresque speech thanking each and every person that has been so helpful to us during the last few months, but I’ll refrain. Besides, chances are, if you are reading this you deserve a gianormous thank you from Sean, Jacqui, and their dogs. It is because of you that we were able to weather the storm, as they say.

That is all for now, but I PROMISE I will post some pictures this week.

there'snoplacelikehome...there'snoplacelikehome...there'snoplacelikehome...

2005-09-21T09:27:00.000-05:00

I have been clicking my heals for weeks now, maybe I should get my ruby slippers checked out.

When we first arrived in Florida, after escaping Hurricane Katrina, people were friendly. They were sincere, kind and generous. Most of them had a fondness for New Orleans that they were glad to talk about. Our Floridian hosts described America’s romantic European city whilst flecks of sweet memories glistened in their voices.

We sat at dinner tables and smiled and listened to stories of wild nights on Bourbon St., fabulous dinners, hangovers, musical experiences and near criminal misses. None of these stories really resonated well with Sean and I, but we patiently listened. It is so common that people who “JUST LOVE New Orleans” when they visit, wouldn’t dare live there. If we stuck around for after dinner drinks, most people would tell us about why that is true also. Among other reasons, they most frequently listed crime, pollution, and corruption, poor education and heat.

We have absorbed comments like: “you’d be crazy to go back” and “this kind of thing never would have happened in Florida” and “why didn’t those people just leave?”. Honestly, I have no response anymore. I can’t really explain myself so that they will understand. I even feel like, having some of these people actually adopt my sensibility of this subject would be an indicator for me to re-evaluate my logic. However, I have made it a priority to explain my love of New Orleans to myself. After all, my stay there has not been entirely easy.

I can forgive people trying to wrap their minds around the guns, sneaker looting, rape, and murder. None of that makes sense at first glance. It frightens me that I think I might understand it now…at least conceptually. Regardless of these comments, and the truths that make them, I want to go home.

We New Orleanians withstand lives of perpetual heartache and outrageous joy. None of us are able to escape the tragic poverty. Not even those of us who live in fancy mansions in Audubon Place. It permeates everything.. Similarly, we live on the front lines of crime, disease, addiction, and a tragic education system guilty of many crimes including social genocide. I like this because you can never notice your fortune without being aware of someone else’s lack of fortune. It activates our sense of gratitude.

It is also true that a great many of us have lived in anticipation of “the big one”. Believe it or not, we have known for some time that a storm like Katrina was imminent. I am guilty of conveniently redefining immanency to mean…sometime within this century. Alas, like our fearless president, I have allowed my mind to define the global warming problem with the same logic. Denial or survivalistic optimism?

I digress.

I did mention outrageous joy. I love a city that closes down every thoroughfare in town for a few weeks every year to allow parades to pass throwing toys to children…and adults. Where else do grown adults get to dress up in glitter and dance down any street in the city with their own band? Come to think of it, why is that such a strange idea everywhere else in the world? Why is it that every other city in America forces the bars to close at 2 am, and doesn’t even let you walk around with a little daiquiri? I have lived in those towns, and I promise, it doesn’t reduce the probability of drunks littering the streets at any hour. Rules do not always insure safety.

In the years that I have inhabited New Orleans, I have shared many beautiful drunken sunrises with good friends, but that is not what I love about that city. In fact, as I slowly grow older, I have become quite fond of sober moments. In fact, Mardi Gras day is far better when your mind isn't so polluted that the colors and music are dulled.

I love the baton girls and the flambeau guys and marching bands. I love the spring afternoons, sitting in the park with an iced coffee and a friend. I love dew covered crepe myrtle trees and night blooming jasmine. I love being stuck in traffic at 2 in the afternoon, because some random second line is escorting a slow moving homemade convertible with a girl in a ball grown down a road headed to a crawfish boil. In reality, what I love the most about New Orleans is that it defies arbitrary social convention.

I am now in Florida, drowning in arbitrary social convention. The oppression is outstanding. I mean it, even at the Library. What I am learning is that I need that city, because everywhere else is lame. I really can’t make it sound smarter than that. I want to go home and sit on my porch and talk to my neighbors, ride my bike around town, take my dogs to the park, hear music, eat red beans on Monday, wear an evening gown to Pop-eye’s, and have a 4 hour conversation with everybody in the Rue, about nothing, over coffee and cigarettes. I am anxious to be somewhere that feels good, like I belong there. It is the one place that has ever felt like home to me. I went there by myself. I planted my roots there. I fell in love there. I want to live and die there.

In the unforgettable but often forgotten words of Steve Perry: "the wheel in the sky keeps turnin. i don't know where I'll be tomorrow"

2005-09-16T00:17:00.000-05:00

WARNING!
I posted so much tonight that some of it has already been archived, so there are more pictures to see. Click on the archives for the most recent posts.

I also decided to post some drama free pictures. I hope this will lighten some hearts.

To be quite honest, this adventure has been well balanced by joy and distress. We have been forced into some very good spaces during our flight from a very bad one.

We have had time to visit with friends, family, and children. We have reconnected with friends and loved ones from everywhere. Katrina has given us no alternative but to realize the love that surrounds our lives.

The pictures I just posted scan the last month. It has come to my attention that I have seriously done some traveling over the last several weeks. I have been to Whales, Milwaukee, and Madison Wisconsin as well as Chicago, Tallahassee, St. Augustine, Sarasota, and Tampa. Here are some pics.

2005-09-16T00:15:00.000-05:00

FugeeLA

2005-09-16T00:08:00.000-05:00

The Saladinos

2005-09-16T00:05:00.000-05:00

Chicago

2005-09-16T00:02:00.000-05:00

The Midwest

2005-09-15T23:59:00.000-05:00

Sean and Jack

2005-09-15T23:58:00.000-05:00

Visiting with the Peck family in Clearwater

2005-09-15T23:55:00.000-05:00

Jenny and 5 day old Alex.

Hey yall, we went in.

2005-09-15T23:51:00.000-05:00

Well, we couldn't take it anymore. Sitting in Floridian paradise, unable to know what to do with ourselves was becoming too much to endure. Tuesday afternoon Sean and I left for New Orleans.

We were told that all roads were closed, and no persons would be allowed in. The previous days had been filled with reports from friends and family who had gone, but we had also seen both violent and amicable evacuation scenes on television.

Our decision to go back was truly hinged on the fact that we had nothing better to do. Besides, all of this pretend peace of mind was driving us nuts. We keep trying to act like we are on vacation, so that it doesn’t make all of our hosts miserable, but really we (at least I) sort of feel like screaming every few minutes. Sometimes an impulsive road trip is the only cure for a restless spirit.

We employed our good ol’ American senses of conservation and filled up the F150 and drove about 1400 miles roundtrip in order to …. Um…collect our thoughts? We also collected some practicals like tools and work clothes.

We arrived into Covington (across the lake from N.O.) at about 3:30 A.M.. It was really dark and silent. The 11:00 curfew was in effect and nobody was around. The proud trees that proliferated Covington were collapsed and stacked like dead soldiers after a battle. I still can’t believe how sad it and scary it felt. We tried to come up with some kind of strategy or story, because surely someone, some kind of gate-keeper will ask us something…right?

We decided that perhaps a nap was in order, so we parked in front of Merica’s house and slept in her driveway until the mosquitoes woke us up. Sometime after 4 A.M., we decided to head for the causeway bridge.

The entrance to the bridge was heavily guarded by police and the electric sign insisted that the causeway was “closed due to weather”. As we got closer, we grew even more nervous. The truck in front of us was the only other car we had seen on the road. He was carrying palates of bricks. He stopped and spoke to the guard, then moved through the gate. We didn’t stop. We just waved that country truck wave, and the guard waved back.

Yeah. They didn’t ask us for our story. That was a very cool disappointment.

Once we arrived in Metarie, we could see that patches of power had been restored, but largely it was an empty abandoned city with no sign of life. I 10 was barricaded. At least, someone had barricaded it recently, but it could have been easily breached.

We drove down river road. The only things we could see were feral cats, broken oaks, and army HumVs. Nobody actually cared that we were there, driving around unofficially.

When we arrived at our house, it was dark. The glass pane in Doug’s door was broken and the door was left wide open. Clearly, someone had been sleeping in our beds. We were too scared to go in, so we went and sat in the truck near a well-lit area where the press was camped.

As soon as the sun made an appearance, we entered our home, Sean with a flashlight and I with (don’t laugh) a billy club. I’m a little embarrassed about my weapon. Much to our astonishment, all was well. Someone had clearly rummaged through our drawers, but it looked like all they took was our change, some clothes and our bikes. Too bad about the bikes, but if they helped someone, I am pleased.

The damage to our home is minimal. The town will be hard to fix, but it can be done with some solidarity, patients, and elbow grease.

We have heard that people will be allowed to return next week, but we are ready to wait until it is slightly more inhabitable. The trash, flies, and lack of water, is a little overwhelming. Not to mention the chaos of re-entry.

Sean will likely go back in 2 weeks. With any luck, William will join him and help him fix the fence before I bring the dogs back. In the mean time, I will try to work and get some income for a while.

I have posted some pictures for everyone. There are more on my other blog http://ccmuses.blogspot.com

I don’t know who is reading this anymore, but I would love to collect some photos of our friends that are scattered about. If anyone can, please send a picture so we can all have a look at our loved ones, safe in their space. Email me at nolajacqui@yahoo.com.

2005-09-15T23:40:00.000-05:00

Ben and Ama, your house looks fine. The picture all the way to the left shows the only evidence of damage. It looks like a less than 1 ft high watermark. It seems that you somehow, stayed dry. Yeaaaah!

2005-09-15T23:33:00.000-05:00

First st. lost a tree and 2 windows, but otherwise looks great. Christians tree house and legos are perfect and Sean has already started cleaning up the pool.

2005-09-15T23:30:00.000-05:00

MJ's sustained some roof and fence damage, but the Crown Vic looks fabulous as ever.

2005-09-15T22:38:00.000-05:00

Considering the circumstances, I consider us very lucky. As you can see in the bottom picture, some of our neighboors were not so fortunate.

2005-09-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

Bummer about that fence. How it ended up behind the tree, I don't know.

2005-09-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

This is basically how we found it.

Nesting Place

2005-09-04T08:23:00.000-05:00

I would not be so bold as to call this place "home", but we will be here in Tampa for an extended period. It has been said that falling leaves land at their roots; perhaps this is why Katrina's wind has blown us back to west Florida.

We just arrived here last night after taking a detour to Tallahassee where we spent some time with Sean's nephews Jack (almost 2 yrs) and Alex (5 days). Jenny and Charlie were as sweet and kind as I imagined. We intended to leave Minerva in their care, but at the last minute decided that we would need to choose between putting her down or take her with us. Abandoning her was simply not an option. We were not ready to let Katrina take our home, our lives, and our dog. We decided to bring her to Tampa.

I must say this is the best part of her trip so far. The dogs were greeted with bbq rawhides last night and pig ears this morning. Every dog should have an Aunt Katie!

I feel comfortable here listening to the click of dog feet on my mother’s floor with the smell of blueberry pancakes and bacon pouring out from the kitchen. Comfort food and puppy dogs can be amazingly effective healing instruments.

Since the last inventory post, I have located many of the missing persons (thanks to Merica). There seems to be many people in Covington. I was not aware that it was open...what is the deal?

We will be here looking for jobs, and working until we know what to do with our lives now. It is rumored that homeowners will be allowed back into the city to view, or salvage their homes. Is this rumor valid?

Love to all.

My new contacts numbers are:
Kathleen's: 727.725.1020
Mom's (Peggy)727.734.8729

Inventory

2005-09-01T10:19:00.000-05:00

I can't seem to focus on any single thought since the faces of everyone I know in my community are flashing behind my eyes. Where are all the people we love? Are they safe? Please let us know if you have any information about the unknowns. These are the people I just thought of, we may add more.
love,
Jacqui and Sean

Let Love Rule

Those we know are ok:

Sean and Jacqui
Jeff Finn
Ryan Finn
Daniel Bobeck
Jenny and Jay
Laine, Joanne and Dennis
William Czjaka
Kaysey, Steve, Cass, and Nick
Ben and Ama
Julie Louse
Randy Clark
Gipson Blanchard
The Foultons
The Saladinos
Red Devit
Kathryn Wheat
Duane and Family
DJ Soulsister
Christian and LiLi Barahonna
Ren and Bobby
Peck Family
Katie and Claire Triplett
Obriens and Rose
Cass, Heather, Kay and LouisChris Radcliff
Paddy and Elsa Mackey
Jordan
Lloyd and Mya
Jude Mathews
Shannah and Jonah Langenbeck
Sarah and Rick
Mike Lenore
Jackson Kowles
Jeffery Chamblis
Millie and Willie Clark
The Montalbanos
Bradley Sabin
Kate Cromwell
Chris Radcliff
Billy and Nikki Southern
Ren and Bobby
Amelia
Sunshine and Jheri
Joe and Crispin
Sonny

Unheard From:

Scotty and Jennifer Rattery
Jerry Ropollo
Missy and Dave
April and Jeremy
Ruby Nunnery, Leslie, Rob, and Remmi
Earnest
Greg Surry and Julie P
Paddy and Elsa Mackey
Noel and Gretchen
Jessica Thompson
Mark from Circle Auto
Monistare Family
Grace Baptist Family
Dave Morris
Doug Dietrich
Angela and Julie
James Clark
Michelle and Eric
Renne Morrisey
Mac McLaughlin
Brian Whitead
Dave and Billy Constance

Contact info

2005-08-30T21:38:00.000-05:00

O.K. Here is the long awaited contact list. I know that many people are worried about us. The 504 area code seems to be cursed by a defunct network.

Keep in mind that we will be moving around quite a bit.
Email:
sclark88@hotmail.com
nolajacqui@yahoo.com

Jacqui cell: 504.460.1667
Sean cell: 504.495.4265
Paul’s House: 904.460.1030

Jacqui’s Mom (Peggy):727.734.8729

I also intend to maintain this blog to keep you all abreast of our adventures.

I just can’t say it enough, Thanks everyone.

We are all ok.

2005-08-30T09:45:00.000-05:00

The past few days have given me a new reverence for technology. Through cell phones and email, we have been able to tally the heartbeats from our loved ones. Most of my fellow refugees have been sitting cozy in Texas and Florida. I am overwhelmed by the sweetness of the refugee treatment by the way.

I am concerned about a few people. Has anyone heard from the Peck Family (Bryon, Katie, and Jakob)? I also want to know where Jeff and Daniel are.....guys, call us.

It is unbelievably sad to see our city in ruins. We have no idea what we have left.... except our selves and our families.

While I am wrapped in sadness about all of this, I am also overwhelmed by the weight of love that is being piled on us from every direction. Admittedly, I am not surprised by this (blush), but I am taken aback by it. Thanks to everyone for the support.

Hurricane Katrina

2005-08-28T03:06:00.000-05:00

I really had hoped to find time to update everyone on my fabulous trip to the Midwest, but no sooner did I arrive in New Orleans than I learned that my fair city is under attack by Mother Nature. Hurricane Katrina will be here by Monday and the local population has divided itself into 2 types: those who evacuate and those who drink. The last time I checked the Karaoke Cam on NOLA.com, the Cat's Meow party is still groovin.

The residents of 1731 Clio St. were hurriedly preparing for the greater part of the day before falling into the drinkers’ camp; albeit for a short period of time. The upgrade of this hurricane to a category 4 with aspirations of category 5 brought about a very sobering circumstance.

It would be an understatement to say that our phones have been ringing endlessly due to our loved ones filling our voice mails with warnings of doom. So if your calls were not answered, that is because we have been diligently trying to make responsible decisions.

To ease your darling minds, we are evacuating in a few hours. Our plan is to head East into Florida. We will be cheerfully arriving at one of your homes soon.

I don't want to ruin a good surprise!

Fear not family, we are fine.

Looking to the future

2005-08-18T19:43:00.000-05:00

Now, what to do with this pesky degree?

Yup. I went for an interview. I got the job. Whether or not or want it is a whole-nother story.

I never expected to get the first marketing job I applied for after school was over, but I did. I could just take it and enter a world that I am very skeptical of, or keep looking. buh.

Bamma

2005-08-15T14:25:00.000-05:00

Is this heaven or Alabama?

Bamma

2005-08-15T14:23:00.000-05:00

My new favorite picture. As we should be, on the beach.

Bamma

2005-08-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

I have actually owned this tent for about 5 years and this is the first time it has been used. To be quite honest, I was pleased that I remembered how to set it up.

Bamma

2005-08-15T14:13:00.000-05:00

Yikes bugs! Gnats, everywhere.

The Last BZA meeting and Bamma

2005-08-15T13:15:00.000-05:00

aaah...sigh.
I promised an update, so here it is one week late.

I guess the meeting went as well as it could have. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter in the slightest because the stop work order did not arrive in time and the house has been permanently placed on it's piers next to our home. The temporary cradles have been removed, and the I beams have been taken away.

I would like to say it looks more stable, but it actually looks to me like it is leaning more in our direction. Keep in mind, I am not an expert, and I am slightly biased.

We have had a very emotional week. It can be difficult to see the symbol of our community’s disregard for our safety and well being every time we enter or exit our home.

So… we went to the beach. I learned that we are not as outdoorsy as we think we are. Camping at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores Alabama was so awful it was hilarious.

We had a partially grassy spot between driveways and next to a very still…. retention river (?). We set up camp with our frog friends and got chewed by gnats and skeeters.

The notes sung by the billions of little green frogs are slightly comedic. They reminded me of little old men telling jokes that only they think are funny. I imagine that if you looked closely at them, their little faces all looked like George Burns.

We spent a chunk of our day at the beach fishing in the surf and swimming. It felt really really great.

I almost forgot to mention our vacation dining spot, Hazels, “everybody loves it!’. It was….ummmmm, funny. Props to Hazel, wherever she may be.

There is nothing like a tent in Alabama to help one realize how good it is to be home in a soft bed near good restaurants.

The big picture

2005-08-07T03:01:00.000-05:00

It seems as though the last few posts have been out of sequence and are a little unclear.

Thursday: Mom and Bruce came to town with their hotsy totsy convertible. Dotty and I thought this was a gift for us, but alas, it was just a rental car. We will try to overcome our sorrow.
Oh, and I bought a treadmill. SWEET! But I have no place to put it....bummer.

Friday: Mom and Bruce and I went to UNO to pick up my diploma. To my dismay it was actually there.... they did it right. I never need to go back unless Joanne makes me walk. I promise I will make you all sit through one of those ceremonies next time.

Also, Sean and I went to visit the lawyer. By the time we got back, a crew had begun lowering the house next door. I rode my bike to city hall with the quickness. I was told that even thought the work was unauthorized, this sort of thing happens all the time and they had no intentions of sending anyone down there to stop the illegal activity.

I have never felt more crushed in my life. I am desperately fighting to preserve my belief that all good things are possible. I do not want to loose my enchantment with justice.

The meeting is on Monday; I will post an update then.

Also, Sean went fishing and caught 3 trouts and a redfish.
The day ended with a dinner at Adolfos, the restaurant upstairs from the bar sean was playing in. Bruce couldn't come, so it was just William, Mom and I. Paul and Anto met us later.

Saturday: After the farmer's market, we all went out to lunch at Fortissimo: Sean, Myself, Mom, Bruce, Joanne, Dennis, and Christian. It was a great time, I was glad for parts of our families to finally meet.

After Mom and Bruce left, Sean and I began working on the back room. We stayed up until 3 AM and got quite a bit done.

Back on Track

2005-08-07T02:55:00.000-05:00

Mom and Bruce left this evening after a wonderful visit. It was an admittedly low-key visit, but nonetheless, eventful. Shortly after they left, we started kicking ass on the “laundry room”.

Make it Funky

2005-08-06T13:22:00.000-05:00

Mom, William, Paul, Anto and Alma Ruth went to see Sean "let love rule" Clark play with Rebecca Barry at the Apple Barrel during Sachamo Summer Fest

How's this for ceremony

2005-08-05T19:02:00.000-05:00

This is my actual commencement ceremony. Once again....not with a bang but a whimper....no offence intended to the lovely privateer.

2005-08-05T18:59:00.000-05:00

What a day! City Hall AND a diploma.

The BZA Flyer

2005-08-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

The flyer.
This is really impossible to read. I did my best, but I couldn't figure out how to resize this appropriately. This is what it says:

This house was moved to 1731 Clio St and then placed without a permit by a city employee.

This act occurred without fines, orders or repercussions.

The house is larger than the lot that it was placed on and has been sitting in decay for almost 2 years.

The fate of this house will be decided by the BZA this coming Monday.

Please help support sustainable and responsible development in our community by letting the city officials know that the rules designed to insure our safety and protect our investments apply to all residents without discrimination

You all should know....

2005-07-26T09:23:00.000-05:00

I had a meeting with Gordon Russell (the TP writer) last week. He is the one I said all of those mean things about a few posts ago, author of the first article.

He is neither dumb nor maniacal. He is actually very nice. It was a very healthy experience to be confronted with neutrality.

Also, he gave me a lot to think about.

BZA Meeting

2005-07-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

The Board of Zoning Adjustments Meeting is Monday, August 8th. Sean and I are asking for anyone who has the opportunity and desire, to attend. The meeting will be held at city hall. I do not have a time yet, but if memory serves the last one began at 1:00 pm. We should be the last on the docket.

We are calling people to our personal cause. We are also urging the community to command the BZA to put community interests before the individual interests of city employees.

Anyone who is interested in atending the meeting, please email me at nolajacqui@yahoo.com

Let Love Rule!

Another article from the T.P.

2005-07-19T09:11:00.000-05:00

Move oversized house off lot

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Re: "Get your house in order, city blight-fighter told," Page 1, July 5.

After reading about Lisa Mazique's house on Clio Street that is legally too big for the city lot she plopped it down on, I wonder if being director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority gives her special privilege to break the law.

I felt sorry for Sean Clark when I saw how close she had set her house to his. I imagine when he looks out his windows, all he can see is her complete disregard of his legal right to have the house next door six feet away.

Why isn't anyone telling Lisa Mazique to move that house? Why does she have more legal rights than Sean Clark?

Karen Atherton

New Orleans

One more piece of support. Thank you Karen. We appriciate this. There will be a BZA meeting about this at the begining of July, so we really want to have a huge number of supporters there with us. Local friends should expect "invitations"soon. Far away friends, we welcome your powerful thoughts.

Oh yes he did girl!

2005-07-18T22:34:00.000-05:00

This is perhaps no more shocking to anyone than it is to me, but Sean has asked me to be his wife, and I said yes.

This is both true and a test to see who is out there.

I know these are sub-par photos, but it is sort of late and I promised a picture by morning. Besides, I am having a bad hand day and I put some mosquito repellant on, that instantly ate off my nail polish.. Yeah, creepy. I do promise a better photo later. The ring is beautiful and featuring an appropriately non-traditional opal in a white gold setting with small diamonds around it.

We are very very happy! I feel like my heart might just explode. I am very much looking forward to our journey, I suspect that laughter and love will be abundant.

Please send us your blessings and love.

Finally, someone with some sense....

2005-07-09T15:01:00.000-05:00

This was found in the editorial and opinions section of the Saturday paper....you know Saturday, the day of the week with the lowest circulation.

Oh well about the timing...I am still pleased with this one.

It's called a measuring tape

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Lisa Mazique says she had no idea that the 19th-century Greek Revival house she plopped down on Clio Street was, by law, too large for her lot. And she says she had no idea that she didn't have the proper permits for the move.

But those arguments aren't acceptable.

Ms. Mazique is no run-of-the-mill would-be home renovator; she is the director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. That is the quasi-city agency charged with expropriating blighted houses and turning them over to buyers who are willing to refurbish them.

The expropriation process is a maze of regulatory red tape, and Ms. Mazique has been its manager for some time. She of all people should know that there are rules and regulations to follow in moving a historic building or renovating a bedraggled old house. Plus, anyone with a tape measure could have figured out that her massive two-story house wouldn't fit properly in its new location. "I didn't know" doesn't wash.

The fact that the city's Safety and Permits office erred in issuing a permit to move the house without requiring the corresponding foundation permit for the new location is worrisome as well. If the agency had done its job, it would have been apparent that Ms. Mazique's house would crowd the Clio lot. Now its bureaucratic sloppiness is causing grief for her neighbors.

The most aggrieved neighbor is Sean Clark, who has worked hard to refurbish his Clio Street home. Now, Ms. Mazique's ramshackle house is perched precariously close to his tidy home while she tries to get renovations under way. Ms. Mazique says that will happen soon, but more than 18 months have gone by with no resolution.

Meanwhile, Mr. Clark is unable to convert to a traditional mortgage, as he had hoped to do. Nor can he get insurance for his lovingly renovated house.

Whether Ms. Mazique blithely made this move without thinking of the requirements and consequences or just decided to go ahead without the proper permits and seek forgiveness later, she has done Mr. Clark a great disservice. This is an awful way for the head of a public agency to conduct business.

My Letter to the Editor

2005-07-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

This was my completely ignored respnose to the first article.

Date: Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Dear Editors,

I am writing in response to the piece that Gordon Russell published in the Picayune yesterday titled “Get your house in order, city blight-fighter told”.

I find it commendable that the Picayune has finally decided to share this story with the public. I am however concerned that there was some vital information that was overshadowed by Mr.Russell’s concern for the mentioned parties. The aim of this letter is to help the Time Picayune reveal the truth within this story.

I implore you at the Times to investigate the history of the 1731 Clio property at the Safety and Permits office. You will surely find that Ms. Mizique has failed several inspections and a few of them were “over-ridden” by Chief Dwyer, in order for her to lay foundation.

One truth that was somehow denatured in this article is the actual role of Felicity Street Redevelopment. When this house was first placed, so inappropriately in its current place, citizens asked the neighborhood organization for their support in correcting this action at the BZA meeting. Felicity Street refused support. In fact, one employee of Felicity Street attended the meeting on her own accord. Louise Martin, head of Felicity Street Redevelopment was concerned that her employee’s presence would imply that the organization was concerned about this issue, and stated that she did not support her employee’s decision to attend the BZA meeting. She was very verbose with her refusal to assist the neighborhood in fighting this atrocity. Felicity Street Redevelopment and Louise Martin, knew about the plans to move and place this house at least one month in advance. I find it strange that Mr. Gordon’s article described what seemed like sincere concern on the part of Felicity Street Redevelopment since they obviously avoided acknowledging this problem for a very long time.

esson well learned” attitude displayed by Ms. Mizique. This statement was clearly intended to mislead the public. Liza Mizique works in the N.O.R.A. office, in fact, isn’t she the director? It is not remotely plausible that she did was unaware of the appropriate permits required to carry out the act of moving and placing a house. Ms. Mizique has employed a strategy based on the opinion that it is better to repeatedly ask forgiveness than permission. Lisa Mizique is notorious for unethical behavior. There are at least two central city residents who have had legal run-ins with Lisa in the past and it has been said to me by more than one person that she has abused this position since the Morial administration.

Clearly Kennon Davis of Brown’s Dairy has nothing to gain from Liza’s position. Right? Successful and intelligent business men like Mr. Davis are in the habit of giving away valuable property that people have offered good money for….Right? It may behoove Mr. Russell to inquire further into Mr. Davis’ motives. I realize that Mr. Russell went out of his way to explain the ethical foundation of this transaction, but I find the explanation does not quite envelope all of the elements of the deal.

If the property does actually endure some kind of renovations, it will be profitable. The profit contributions that result from this project will fall into someone’s pockets. It is unfortunate that the director of N.O.R.A. is far more focused on using her position to advance herself personally, than using her personal contacts to advance the community that she has been chosen to serve. Is this ethical?

I must admit that Gordon Rusell’s article was quite intriguing and raised many questions. For instance, exactly who has ordered Ms. Mizique to get her house in order? Is it possible? This house is neither safe nor permissible, how is she expected to get a permit? How will she do this without causing further injury to the residents at 1729 Clio St.? Will she be forced to purchase the property on the Baronne side of the house since the house is currently on it? What if they do not want to sell? Who will insure the safety of the neighbors? Is Ms. Mizique an incompetent city official or a crooked one? Will she be allowed to maintain her position after she has grossly abused it? Why has the zoning commission been so gracious with her? Currently her variances are expired and she hasn’t made any progress. Will she be given more variances? Will public opinion have any influence in that probability, or will this outcome be strictly based on her connections? Is everyone allowed to fail an inspection and have it “overridden” or is this a privilege reserved for city employees? What does Ray Nagin think? What do your readers think? Since this article was printed I have received many phone calls, have you?

There is so much more I could say about this situation, but the point of any of it would be this: this situation is obviously wrong. I certainly hope to hear more about this story in future issues. I hope that the Times Picayune staff is committed to delivering the truth to the community.

Sincerely,
J.M.Gibson

Concerned Citizen

###

Jacquelyn Gibson
1729 Clio St.
New Orleans LA, 70113
460-1667
nolajacqui@yahoo.com

The First News Article

2005-07-09T14:50:00.000-05:00

This is the alarmingly condescending piece of trash article that took Gordon Russell more than 1 year to write. Does he think this story is acceptable? Does he honestly take his readers for fools?

Get your house in order, city blight-fighter told
Her rundown home yet to be renovated
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
By Gordon Russell
Staff writer
The house in the 1700 block of Clio Street is in many ways like thousands of other dilapidated structures in New Orleans.

It dates to the 19th century. At 4,000 square feet, it's big and rambling, with two porches and multiple galleries, a classic example of the Greek Revival style.

What sets the Central City house apart is that it's owned by Lisa Mazique, director of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, the quasi city agency charged with seizing and selling blighted housing. And although the building isn't legally blighted, according to the city's definitions, it would certainly meet that description in the eyes of most any passer-by.

The redevelopment authority requires those who buy rundown properties from its inventory to renovate them within nine months, but Mazique's property has been sitting in its current state for twice that long.
In part, the delays are be due to circumstances outside her control. Mazique has had to negotiate a maze of bureaucracy and regulation that has delayed her renovation plans.

But critics, some of whom have tangled with Mazique over past neighborhood issues, said the problems are of her own making. Mostly, they stem from a single mistake: She moved the house from a nearby location to a lot that was not legally large enough to hold it, an error some say a city official should not have made.
No one is more aggrieved by the situation than next-door neighbor Sean Clark, who moved into a forlorn structure seven years ago and turned it into a home. The proximity of Mazique's building, along with its apparent precariousness, has thrown a wrench into Clark's plan to take out a traditional mortgage on his place.

But first, he must obtain homeowners insurance. And no right-thinking insurer would take on the liability, given the circumstances, said Joanne Hilton, Clark's aunt, who holds the current mortgage on the property but would like to shed that responsibility. "It's a fire waiting to happen," Hilton said.

Mazique understands the criticism, but said she has been trying to lead by example. Things just haven't gone as smoothly as she hoped.

"I saw this as an opportunity to put my money where my mouth is with respect to redevelopment," she said. "I regret more than anyone the time it has taken to get the appropriate approvals and permits."

Neighbor eyed lot

When Clark bought his house seven years ago, 1731 Clio was an empty lot. The neighborhood was iffy, but Clark, a drummer, decided to take the plunge. Lacking a full-time job, he couldn't get a traditional mortgage, so his aunt offered to underwrite the deal by taking out a second loan on her own home.
The idea was that he would pay a third party the amount of the note each month, building up his credit rating and eventually helping him qualify for a mortgage. Meanwhile, as a further cost saving, the property would be uninsured. After a few years, he'd get a normal mortgage, which would require him to get insurance, and Hilton would be freed from responsibility.

Things went according to plan for about five years. Clark paid the note on time, and he renovated his home. Meanwhile, he said, he was taking care of the lot next door, hoping eventually to claim title to it. Clark said in a letter to the city that he contacted the redevelopment authority in hopes that the lot would be declared blighted, allowing the agency to seize it and sell it to him. But that process, which Mazique's agency does not control, never occurred, perhaps in part because Clark was maintaining the lot.
What Clark didn't know was that Brown's Dairy had secured an option to purchase the lot. The company wanted to expand its parking area, and two houses on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard were in the way, including the one that Mazique eventually moved to 1731 Clio.
Demolition was not an option because the house had been nominated for landmark status. Mazique and Kennon Davis, general manager of the dairy, both serve on the board of the nonprofit Central City Economic Opportunity Corp., and Davis mentioned to her that he had a house he'd give away to anyone who would move it.

Mazique, who lives nearby, was interested but had no place to put the house. Davis let her take over the dairy's option for the lot on Clio Street, and the deal was done.
Davis had to move another house that stood in the way of the parking lot expansion. So he paid for the cost of taking down the power lines and other impediments to moving a house. In the end, Davis said, he paid about two-thirds of the cost of moving the two houses, and Mazique paid for one-third.
Some of Mazique's critics have questioned whether it was appropriate for a public official to accept a such a valuable gift -- one worth thousands of dollars, perhaps tens of thousands of dollars -- from a private company.
But experts in Louisiana ethics law said such gifts are forbidden only when the person or company giving the gift is regulated by or has other contact with the agency that the public official works for.
There's no evidence that Brown's Dairy has ever had any dealings with the redevelopment authority, although both the dairy and the authority have been active in the Central City neighborhood. That mutual interest led to the gift, Davis said.

"Lisa's position in the city has got nothing to do with me donating her the house," Davis said. "Her position doesn't do me any good, necessarily."
Actions criticized

Moving a house requires two city permits: one to move the house, and one to set it down. Mazique didn't have the second permit. And had she applied for it, presumably it would have been denied because of the lot's small size.

Mazique said she was not aware of the need for the second permit. And a city official familiar with the process said the problem was "really a mistake on Safety and Permits' part." The first permit shouldn't have been granted without the second one, the employee said.

Immediately after the move, workers began pouring a foundation. From his vantage point next door, Clark could see immediately that the house was too big for the lot and complained to City Hall. The law requires a 3-foot side setback; Mazique's house is flush with the property line. Safety inspectors ordered Mazique to stop work until she secured a variance from the Board of Zoning Adjustments.

That wasn't easy. Word had gotten around about Mazique's blunder, and some board members, as well as audience members, chastised her for being a city official and not knowing, or at least not following, the rules.
Board member Errol George made an unsuccessful motion to deny Mazique's request for a variance. Instead, the board approved the variance in April 2004. George is still irked.

"I think moving that house in that condition to that location showed a flagrant disregard for the public interest, especially the neighborhood residents that were directly affected," George said. "And I think it's unconscionable that the property hasn't yet been rehabilitated."

Unstable condition

When the redevelopment authority sells a blighted property to a private buyer, it requires that the blight be eradicated, whether by renovation or demolition, within nine months.
Mazique has owned the Clio Street property for about 20 months, although she has been hamstrung for some of that time by permitting problems.

In December, leaders of the Felicity Street Redevelopment Project, a neighborhood group, decided they had had enough and hired a structural engineer to look at the building. The engineer found that the house, still on the cribbing towers erected at the time of the move, had shifted.
"I believe that this condition is very unstable and could result in further movement and collapse of the house," wrote the engineer, Ashton Avegno Jr., in a letter that the Felicity Street group forwarded to City Hall.

The house has not fallen, but if it were to do so it could hit the Felicity Street group's headquarters, a stone's throw in the opposite direction from Clark's house.
That would have done nothing to smooth relations between Mazique and the Felicity group. They have tangled in the past. In particular, the Felicity group has been upset that Mazique declared off-limits certain properties in the neighborhood that the group had targeted for purchase through the redevelopment authority.

The properties in question were held for authority's "land-banking" program, through which groups of properties are marketed in bulk to groups that build clusters of low- and moderate-income housing.
Mazique's placement of a dilapidated house near Felicity Street's headquarters has only soured the relationship further.
"
It's awful, and a moral outrage, that the woman in charge of the agency that is charged with eradicating blight has allowed a piece of property that she controls to remain in the condition that it's in," said Owen Kendrick, director of the group.

Getting her footing

For her part, Mazique said she takes responsibility for the errors and said she believes she has cleared all of the remaining hurdles. She got the variance more than a year ago, and more recently has applied for and received permits. Last month, concrete footings were poured and piers were set, and Mazique hopes to lower the house soon and begin repairs.
"It's been a very intricate process, and we have complied with every step," she said.
She said she didn't want to predict when the house would be renovated, but said it would be "within a reasonable amount of time."

"We're going to start immediately on making the improvements," she said. "I'm looking forward to the rehabilitation process."

Once things get going, Mazique said she hopes the criticism will die down and everybody will be happy with the result. Meanwhile, she said, she has gained new perspective into what renovators face.
"I do think it's going to be a good project, and the neighborhood will be very pleased," Mazique said. "While there have been a host of unforeseen delays, this has been an eye-opening experience. It's been a lesson well-learned."
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Gordon Russell can be reached at grussell@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3347.