2005

whilst one could argue that we've had our fair share of hell in 2005 here in new orleans, on this new years eve, i'd like to take a moment to remember some of the great things that have happened in 2005:

1. mardi gras - complete with surviving a very scary 6am cab ride. united cab's phone number will forever be emblazonned (did i just make up that word? i think i did) in my mind.

2. mcat class. specifically, spending st. patrick's day night in class with irish coffee. i don't think caley and i have ever been that giddy. only slightly more giddy that how we were every monday, wednesday, and friday at 10:30am in dr. toth's class.

3. making the committment to go to louies every thursday night. thursday is the new friday, after all.

4. tap class. "hmm catherine, you have the least experience out of anyone in this class. and since this is ADVANCED tap, you might want to think about dropping it" riiiiight, saying that to me only makes me want to stick it out. i may have no talent, but i sure had a hell of a good time making noise.

5. after four years in providence, finding the russian sub museum... and not getting out of the car to touch it.

6. getting a job catching mosquitoes. it will be very hard to top that summer job. i believe i still have my tyvek suit and "backyard safari bug vacuum" in the back of my car.

7. spending the night at beau rivage - learning craps, being classy, and making friends with the tommy bahama himself. a very swingin' night :)

8. being on a first name basis with the waiter at wintzell's oyster house in fairhope, alabama during "the great evacuation" oysters and beer for everyone!

9. getting the chance to know, love, and learn from two of the best doctors in new orleans. and since i've started wearing scrubs and converse sneakers to work, i will NEVER again have to wear real clothes to work. just scrubs and converse sneakers. in every color. that's fantastic. anyone need a shot?

10. weddings weddings weddings. it's beautiful to see couples who understand the committment they are making to each other and the SACRAMENT in which they are partaking.

11. old friends, new friends, and those people that have been right in front of me for a while now.

12. going through hell and still coming out on the other side. (much like dante, no?) being able to say that i was THERE the night rock n bowl, pat o's, GALATOIRE'S all opened. no one else in the country has the opportunity to say that.

wishing you love, inspiration, happiness, jazz, and a stronger levee system in 2006. cheers.



"... and the lights will guide you home"

maurepas st.

much to my father's chagrin, i've pretty much decided that i want to invest in a house here in new orleans. it's not as daunting as it seems, and the more i thought about it, the more the idea of renting an apartment seemed absurd. i might as well spend the money that i would be putting towards rent and utilities into a real investment. in the broader scheme of things, it would be the next "grown up" thing i do. it will be firmly planting my feet here for a while and showing that i do have faith in my city. you can't stop me. mwahaha.

so i've begun to look at houses. really just for fun now, because CLEARLY i'm not entirely ready to put down a payment. since one of my goals in life is to live in walking-distance from jazz fest, i obviously looked in mid-city first. yesterday, i drove around with my mom because we lived in a house right by the racetrack when i was born. (ok, so TECHNICALLY i guess i have already lived in walking-distance of jazz fest, but i'm not counting that.) our findings only showed once again that NOW is the time to invest in real estate here. there are tons of houses on the market - both damaged and undamaged. the neighborhoods around esplanade ave, moss st, city park ave are so colorful and full of character. camelback houses, creole cottages, shotgun houses that have been around for 100 years. there was a lot of activity - people putting up christmas decorations, talking to other neighbors, sitting on their stoops and porches enjoying a beer at 2pm on a cold, overcast saturday afternoon. i passed by the same guy more than once (not on purpose) and everytime he just waved and smiled. he must have been on his 4th beer and he must have known i was interested in the neighborhood. or maybe he was just SUPER friendly. i liked him anyway.

the point of my story is that i fell in love. i found this 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom raised shotgun house. 2 blocks away from the fairgrounds on maurepas st. close enough for me. i parked the car and went bounding up the front stairs to get a look through the front door while my mom took down the number. it was empty, but i could see a living room, a kitchen and down the hallway into one of the bedrooms. there was an island in the kitchen - perfect for entertaining because we know all good parties end up in the kitchen :) - and one of those hanging metal pan holders. (hi, another dream of mine). i got back in the car and called the real estate agent. of course, i have no idea what questions to ask so my mom is prompting me. i really must have shown my "greenness." the agent was nice and told me that the property had been under contract for a very long time, but she didn't forsee it falling through. she told me that the two bedrooms were carpeted, the bathroom was tile, and the rest of the rooms had pine flooring. 12 foot ceilings. a side yard and a backyard with 2 patios. off-street parking for two cars. no flooding.

oh sweet unrequited love, you taunt me so.

but dont' think i won't continue to call the agent to check to see if the transaction ACTUALLY goes through because i really loved the house. i spent last night with an abita restoration ale in one hand and my computer on my lap while i looked up decorating ideas on realsimple.com and southernliving.com. i want to have a bathroom and paint it BRIGHT blue. like, the brightest jesuit-blue-jay, beau-rivage-pool-awning, type of royal blue. i want wall space to hang the black-and-white new orleans photos and my vintage london prints. i want to be able to hang kaylan's red chili pepper lights in the kitchen like she had in her kitchen uptown. i want refrigerator magnets! i want more bookshelves! i want to make my own artwork. yeah, it has been fun dreamin.

my dad is just going to have to get over it. i'm here to stay. now i just have to get into med school and i'll be set.

i read chris rose's article tonight when i fiiiiiiinally got home from work. you go into reading his articles thinking that he's going to have something witty and insightful to say - with a few quotables. instead, this article literally took my breath away. and i cried for maybe the 3rd time since the storm. the title of the article was "katrina: the storm that keeps on killing." in it, he talks about the next threat to the city, and what might be the next stage of the grieving process for some, unfortunately: suicide.

in my daily exploration of the nola.com blogs, i saw that the article generated a lot of buzz - people who were speechless like me, people who were angry, people who were disappointed that rose would use his space to write something so grave. suicide is scary to me. not because i'm afraid of death, but because it's scary that someone can have no hope. there is always hope. sure right now, it doesn't seem like it. nothing is getting DONE. politicians are arguing. wasting time while people STILL sit without electricity or gas or basic services. trash still sits on the neutral ground. refrigerators still sit on front lawns. neighbors have left. favorite places still remain closed. and of course, very very few things are opened past 10pm. my dad told me definitively that antoine's was NOT going to be open for christmas eve dinner, and that was when i felt like i really lost something. crazy i know. it's just dinner, right? "it's time to make new traditions!" i can hear you say. this way, we'll be able to leave for florida earlier and not have to drive all day on christmas day. (dont' get me started on my feelings about being away for christmas) but still. we've been going to antoine's for as long as i can remember. we sit at the same table every year - between the taylors and the mannings. in the same room with the big christmas tree that always has TONS of silver tinsel. i don't ask much for christmas (i got my snow last year, so it wasn't included in this year's letter to santa), but to have one of our traditions remain when everything else has changed, that would have been nice. so this christmas - no antoine's and no st. patrick's. because of katrina and because of my dad's deeprooted desire to get out of the city now more than ever. that makes me sad.

sure, it might be DIFFICULT to have hope. but if you don't have hope, what do you really have? i think about that guy in lakeview who lost everything, but bought a generator to hookup his christmas lights. talk about a beacon of light.

i don't think you can explain it to someone "on the outside." i just got back from a weekend in providence - seeing the wonderful people who put up with me and my randomness, and consequently, i guess the people who know me best. and, inevitably, when asked, "how is everything down there?" i think about the GOOD stuff like when rock n bowl and pat o's opened, or the galatoire's block party, or how all the artists are back in jackson square. while that still doesn't convey the sadness that is still in the air, at least it shows that there is hope for us. dr. czech was close to understanding. i went to the czechs' house on saturday afternoon - i had babysat for them for 2 years: 2 beautiful and smart kids, aged 4 and 5. i had dr. czech for chem lab sophomore year, and while chem lab was NOT my thing, we hit it off because of a common love: new orleans. (when i graduated, i gave them a bottle of wine and the river road cookbook.) dr. czech was good about asking tough questions like how it REALLY is down here and how i am REALLY doing. he and his wife seemed to "get it." i promised them that jazz fest was definitely still happening in 2006.