Bread and Circuses

    We sprung forward one hour this morning, and to no one’s surprise at all, the future doesn’t look much different, just darker. This has to be one of the dumbest things we still do each year. Last week, Beanie and I were out walking every day before work, saying hi to the rest of the neighbor dogs before I had to leave for work. Now it’ll be another month or so before we can safely take those morning walks again. Good thing I’ll have an hour more of daylight at my…paralegal job.     Daylight savings is just a reminder of how the U.S. loves to hang on to policy choices that no longer serve the majority of us. Other notable holdovers include the Electoral College and a Supreme Court with only nine Justices. 15,000 U.S. farms declared bankruptcy last year, but we’re all going to keep springing forward and falling back to stay in line with an agricultural calendar that hasn’t been relevant since I was a child. Good times.     This blog serves as a place for ...

      Happy Bacchus Sunday/Joe Cain Day to all who celebrate! Here we are, on the last Sunday of the Mardi Gras season. Here in Mobile, there were fears that it would be a rainy day, but the storms rolled through overnight and now it's sunny and breezy- perfect weather for everyone going to the parades today. We'll be sticking close to home, getting chores done and making some ramen for late lunch.     Today, I'm basking in the peace that comes from having made a big ask that I've been dreading for a couple of months. A warning in advance: this is going to be pretty vague, because there's still a lot of details to work out, but what I want to focus on is the ask itself, rather than what I was requesting. If all goes to plan, I'll have awesome news to share soon!     Those of you who know me, know how much I hate to ask for help. For example, when I was moving from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, my movers fell through, and I had to ask for friends and fami...

           It's been a weird couple of weeks, y'all. "Official" Mardi Gras season kicked off here in Mobile, and it has been one of the funniest, strangest experiences of my life. The people of Mobile will never hesitate to let you know that Mardi Gras "started here." They're very insistent about this, and they are correct. The first recorded Mardi Gras celebration in the United States occurred in Mobile in 1703. I'm not going to debate historical fact. Among the questions I have asked and have not been given satisfactory answers to: When does [name of parade] start tonight? What is the most popular parade? Which local high school has the best marching band?     No one has a firm idea of when the parades actually start here. You can ask five people and get five different answers. Answers also vary wildly about the most popular parade. Fair enough. New Orleanians also have their personal favorites, but people in New Orleans also are so particular i...

     What the actual fuck are we doing? I am so furious that I could, and have been, crying. While I was down here yesterday morning, taking pictures of flowers and making sourdough bread that would never rise, ICE agents were murdering 37 year old Alex Pretti in the middle of the street in Minneapolis. Because he approached the officers brandishing a gun and "wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement," according to Greg Bovino.     Or, you know, he had his phone in his hand and was recording the officers actively shove a woman to the ground and then put himself between the officers and the woman and attempted to help her. Same thing, right? I've seen the video. Alex Pretti never touched his gun (which he was carrying legally). He never had the chance, because he was pepper-sprayed, tackled to the ground by seven immigration enforcement agents, pistol-whipped, and disarmed. He was disarmed before they shot him at least ten times on the ground, and...

 Lord, don't we have projects around here! Beanie and I got up early this morning so I could start my first loaf of sourdough bread with the starter I've been working on for the past couple of weeks. My first starter attempt was a bust, so I started fresh this week with much better results. Now, we have sourdough slowly rising in the kitchen as I type.  I can hardly feel three of the fingertips on my left hand, because I'm also learning to play B's tenor guitar. I have small, very inflexible hands, so four strings should theoretically be easier for me to master than six. We shall see. Right now, I'm trying to learn my open chords so I can play some very simple songs (looking at you, "Sweet Jane"). Apparently, this will get easier as I get some calluses on my fingers. Let's hope this is true.  Also, I'm trying to get better about taking pictures. We're considering a trip to Ireland in the fall, and looking through my photos from my last trip the...

 On the B-HAG and being my own worst enemy     When I washed up in Minneapolis after Hurricane Katrina, I ended up working for the Minnesota Medical Foundation for four years. The Foundation raised money for the medical school and medical research happening on campus. It was there that I learned about the B.H.A.G. The Big Hairy Audacious Goal. Around the office, people called it the B-HAG. Basically, the B-HAG was the overarching goal that all the fundraisers were working toward. In this case, it was funding for a cancer research center. As you can imagine, you have to hit up a lot of rich people to get together enough cash for something like that. Everyone in the office had a part in this.     In 2008,  we actually attained the B-HAG. There was a big fancy breakfast for us, where they announced that we'd hit the goal with what was the single largest gift the foundation had received to that date ($65m for cancer research from the Masons). It was a great mom...