New Orleans Photo of the Week

I took this photo in June 2004, during my last trip to New Orleans. The angel's wings may be broken, but the majestic being will fly again.

Season of Hollow Soul

Yes, I have a tendency to be melodramatic at times, but I just can't stop the tears as I write out a check to the Archdiocese of Detroit for its Katrina Relief Fund. This is the second time this summer my heart has been broken: first by a woman and now by a force of nature named after a woman. I guess the old adage is true: you learn about what it is you love most whenever you lose it.

I don't have words for what New Orleans means to me. I'm Detroit born and raised, but I've never felt more at home than when I visited the Big Easy. If you've been there, and you're a certain type of person, then you already know what I mean. If you haven't and/or you're not, then I probably can't explain it in any case. This isn't meant to sound condescending. But New Orleans is an atmosphere, a mood, the echo of a nearly extinct way of life, none of it easily articulated -- at least not with conventional adjectives or verbs. It is a place, an experience like no other. I loved Paris, I loved Madrid -- but they weren't New Orleans. That's the best I can do.

I and several regular readers of this blog (for the first and maybe only time, I'll admit there are more than two) were scheduled for another visit to New Orleans in early October. It looks like that trip will have to be scrapped now. Whenever I get down there next, it will obviously not be the same. But I'll take some comfort in the fact that New Orleanians are not ones to quit or be bowed. They will recover and rebuild. It will take a long time, and much that has been lost cannot possibly be recovered, but the spirit of one of the world's greatest cities will not be destroyed. This I know.

Do I feel bad for all the other people and areas affected by Katrina? Well, sure, of course. But my heart is and always will be most with New Orleans, and that city's devastation hurts me like, well, only one other thing could hurt me. Tonight I am truly heartsick... again.

If anyone else is interested in following my good example, here's the info for the relief fund:

(Make check payable to) The Archdiocese of Detroit
(Memo) Katrina Relief Fund
1234 Washington Blvd (C5)
Detroit, MI 48226

If you aren't Catholic, or even religious, Detroit's Channel 7 has a list of other groups and links that might be more to your liking.

"We're Kind of a Different Breed of People Down Here"

At the eleventh hour, some hardy Quarterfolk face down Katrina with typical New Orleans "what-me-worry" fortitude. God bless them; it looks like they'll need it.

Katrina and the Waves... and the Lightning, Thunder, Tornadoes, Etc.

As of this writing, Hurricane Katrina is a category 5 monster threatening the northern Gulf Coast. I hope New Orleans is still standing when I take my next trip in October. Ugh, it looks really bad...

We Have Beer!

After a Thursday night session of gonzo brewing, there are now five gallons each of mild and IPA happily fermenting away for the upcoming housewarming party. Mmm, I'm already thirsty.

Get Your Move On

Posting may be a bit sparse for the next week or so, as I pack and move stuff to my new digs. Also, I'm still having problems with my Internet access, since Comcast sucks. Anyway, the beer for the housewarming party should be brewed in the next two days. I'll have more details about that whole thing soon.

Apartment for Rent, Like, Now

The moron who has been screwing around the last two weeks saying he wanted my apartment after I move out backed out on signing a lease yesterday... right after I signed the lease on my new place. Which means, thanks to this dipshit, I'm now stuck with two leases less than two weeks before I move.

So now it's time to appeal to my vast readership and see if anyone is in need of, or knows anyone in need of, a swell one-bedroom apartment in the Old West Side (specifically, Third St. near William) to move in to the first week of September. Here are the specs and selling points:

• Approx. 550 sq. ft., third-floor, one-bedroom apartment with good-sized storage cage for your golf clubs and other junk you never use
  
• $680/mo. rent includes off-street parking, gas heat, and water -- only electricity/AC is extra (my bill has averaged around $28-$30 a month)
  
• Coin-op laundry facility downstairs
  
• Five-minute walk to downtown, 10-15 minute walk to central campus
  
• Small balcony for drinking beer outside on warm days
  
• It's in an apartment building of 10 units, but the building itself is in a nice neighborhood of historic old houses and stuff
  
• Landlords are local, cool, and responsive
  
• Quiet neighbors (the building is brick and steel so it's nearly impossible to hear anyone else anyway)
  
• Bedroom is large -- I have room for a queen bed, two dressers, a bookshelf, and my computer station -- and the closet is quite sizable too

The only real drawbacks are that the kitchenette isn't exactly huge (which since I can't really cook hasn't been much of an issue for me) and there is no separate dining area. You won't be hosting any big parties here, but it's a nice place for one person at a good rent for the area.

If you're interested, you can reach me here or email dmb at beer dot com, or contact the landlords directly at Michigan Commercial Realty, 734-662-5500 (web: www.michcomrealty.com, info@michcomrealty.com -- reference 439 3rd St. #8).

Suds, Soliloquies, and $avings!

I promise I won't keep posting coupons all the time, but here's another paperback sale coupon, good through this Sunday. Grab the latest Oprah book for these final weeks of summer. You know you want to.

Comcast's Awesome Customer Service

So I called up Comcast yesterday to complain about my intermittent Internet and TV service, as well as the fact that the technician who was supposed to show up last Wednesday to fix it never came. I argued for a while to get a reduced bill for this month, which, if you ask me, wasn't enough of a reduction, but at least I haven't had the problems this Chicago woman is having with Comcast. Not yet, anyway. I suppose it's possible my next bill could be addressed to "Ball Sack" or something.

(Link pilfered from DataWhat.)

Sacramento Photo of the Decade

And here I am with the White Whale. If you look really closely, you can see all the fine cracks from where I was re-glued after she shattered me into a thousand little pieces the night before.

A House of a Different Color?

The Ann Arbor News profiles an upcoming development called "North Sky" that will apparently eschew the uniformly beige, cookie-cutter McMansion look in favor of the architectural and design principles of New Urbanism. New homes that don't look like crap -- that's an idea I can get behind.

Book 'Em, Dano

Here's another coupon, good for 25% off one book tomorrow through Sunday. But don't bitch to me about the short expiration; I don't make the rules, eh?

Ann Arbor Photo of the Whatever

I should have some more of these developed soon (yeah, I use an old-school camera, so what?), but in the meantime, here's more of that crazy-ass mural in the South U area. As before, I have no idea what the hell the artist is trying to say. Give it your best guess.

Service and No Service

Well, I've tried to blog a couple times recently, but for some reason my Internet service keeps randomly going out for hours at a time every night. The good folks at Comcast don't seem to know why, so tomorrow I get to leave work for a few hours to come home and try to figure out what time the service dude is going to get here.

And speaking of service, the collection agency sent after me courtesy of my former landlords in Midland is trying to serve me with a court summons. Luckily I'm never home during the day, and lately I haven't been home at night much either. I hope I don't have an unwelcome visit from someone else tomorrow.

In fact, I'd like to begin my hate campaign now against All State Management of Lansing, Michigan, the owners of my former apartment complex and the biggest bunch of fucking assholes I've ever encountered. Coming soon to an Internet near you: a detailed negative review of this asshole company on every site that rates apartment complexes and the people who run them.

Help Keep Antiwar.com Online

If you have a few spare (tax-deductible) bucks, consider giving them to Antiwar.com, a truly awesome and effective site. They're in quarterly pledge week mode and lagging far behind in their goal. If they don't meet it, they'll have to shut down, which would really suck. And yes, I put my money where my mouth is with monthly contributions. I urge both my readers to consider donating, too.

Zombies Take Over San Francisco

Pictures and stuff of a recent flashmob are up at Laughing Squid.

(Link pilfered from Mark Maynard.)

Big House-warming Party

I'll be having a housewarming/tailgating party at my new place Saturday, September 10, the day of the Michigan/Notre Dame game. Current plans include two kegs of homebrew (still working on the recipes, but will probably be an IPA and a mild) and more than likely grilled meat and other stuff. If you're local to Ann Arbor and feel like hanging out that day, drop me an email at dmb -at- beer dot com and I'll add you to the party email list (assuming you're not some kind of fucking psycho).