..

current mood

curious about that 8 percent tho

I did an audit of my Facebook friends. Occasionally I'll see a post by someone and I can't even remember who they are or how I know them. I'd like to say it's a product of my charm and wit, that I'm connected to so many strangers, but more likely it's a result of one of those late-nights at the bar when it seems like you and your drunken comrades will be friends forever and then the next day you accidentally mop up spilled coffee with the napkin they wrote their numbers on.
Anyway, here's what it looks like for me. At 15%, work is a bigger chunk than I'd anticipated, but there are people from the King Street McD's which for me is almost ancient history. Acquaintances are people I've met on my own and for some reason wanted to connect with, but never really have. Friends, friend of friends, family, you get it.
The intriguing one is Not sure. I may spend some time researching that one. Why do I hang on? Why do I care to see "Bro Tino's" status updates if I have no idea who the hell this person is?
More to come.

life goals no asterisk

Traveling alone is such a fertile time for me, for reflection and decision-making.
On this last trip I came up with some directions or goals or what-have-you:
--Stay positive (think of the nola guy who lost everything to Katrina, think of the woman who lived in a cabin in NC for 2 years with her husband and 2 kids waiting to return, both of them radiating enthusiasm for life)
--Hang with good people (no more wasting time with those who have agendas or aren't nice)
--Be of service (keep volunteering, keep listening and noticing)
--Do more things that contribute to happiness (no backing away from the h-word, no getting complacent or smug or judgey, be honest and say what you mean)
Well anyway all this said, I came home and nearly immediately got my feelings hurt, picked a fight with a friend over text no less, snapped at my fella. They wouldn't be goals if I was already there but the road looks long and I will have to keep this all front of mind, tattooed on my forearm or something.
Or something.
*
I saw at least a half-dozen establishments last week with a sign that says "Be nice or leave."
*
Lots of people say "asterik" instead of "asterisk," I'm sure there's a linguistic reason.
Kind of like "mute point."

a lil lol

I read two articles on Jonathan Franzen at lunch today: one penned by a Financial Times writer who interviewed him over a self-consciously mid-range English lunch, the other written by an inmate in a federal prison headlined: Stop Sending me Jonathan Franzen Novels.
One pseudo-fawning, the other an impatiently brutal takedown, both ultimately an indictment of an over-privileged and hugely successful white dude who can't quite admit he was born on third base.
In any case, I enjoyed the dismantling. I re-read The Corrections earlier this year and found the tone so sneering and tone-deaf and cliche'd, I wondered how I'd enjoyed so much the first time.

#sbpamelia

Back from some travels and I'm tired and happy. I visited some family in the Florida panhandle, then spent a week helping renovate a house in New Orleans. St Bernard Project is close to my heart, helping families 10 years post-Katrina to get back home. A buddy went with me and we shared an Airbnb shotgun house, complete with an early-morning wakeup call from the rooster next door. We installed drywall and cement board, painted and spackled and mudded, cut baseboards and learned to use a nail gun. Green Corps students came in twice, upping the energy and noise levels. The SBP site supervisors, serving through Americorps, were bright, funny and skillful twenty-somethings. Most days there was some impromptu dancing and a long line of running jokes by the end of the week.  And always, we kept in mind the goal of returning the Hendersons home by the end of October.
Evenings, my buddy and dined like royalty and listened to stellar jazz, on the outdoor courtyard at Bacchanal, then on Frenchmen Street at Maison, dba, 3 Muses, and Vaso. We drank Sazeracs and Abita beer and sobered up with street pizza and beignets and groceries from the Mardi Gras Zone Supermarket.
I don't quite know how to wrap up my thoughts quite yet.
There's more to come.