Third Coast Progressive

My views on the world.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Here we go!

It's Friday and I'm ready for the 4-day weekend. My friends are coming to visit from St. Louis. Rob and Jenn lived in New Orleans, Arabie, near the industrial canal. Needless to say, Katrina took all their belongings. If they'd have known what was going to happen, they at least could have saved their priceless photos from family and our college years.
They're coming down to visit family, friends, and to check out Destin, Florida for their anniversary. I'm a little jealous that they will be in Destin, known for its beautiful beaches. I was able to take my usual Memorial Day trip to Pensacola, FL. It was nice, but was almost ruined b/c the friend I brought is a mean drunk. I was verbally abused the entire trip and nearly became violent, which is completely against my nature. I will never bring him anywhere again!
Anyway, back to my St. Louis friends. Rob is my fraternity brother (PIKE) and Jenn is his gorgeous wife. Rob and I were great friends in college, room mates just about the whole time, till he left to live in Tennessee. As is common for people who come from this part of the country, he couldn't stand it and had to move back to New Orleans. I really do suspect they will move back eventually.
Since they lost everything in the flood, I thought it would be nice to copy all of my pictures from college and give them a set. This includes many pictures of parties, trips, old digs and the early years of Rob and Jenn's relationship. I just discovered that you can have old pics scanned and recreated. Ah, technology. I won't be able to get the pics in time for their arrival, but it's nice to know I can eventually hand them a complete photo album of pics they lost.
Also coming to visit this weekend, Susie, who works for FEMA; Beth, who works for the University; and possibly Jack, my hippie friend (also frat brother). All of these are friends from college, who I've kept in touch with and, finally, they all moved back home. I'm a really lucky guy to have all of these friends. Even if some of them are Republican (a dirty word in my book). No one is perfect I guess.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Keeping up.

Gosh it's hard to think of something to write in this blog daily or even weekly. Guess I'll come up with something.
Not too much going on right now. I've painted a wall in my living room. I've had paint chips taped on the wall for a year and finally decided to go ahead and paint at least one wall. It's so intimidating to think of painting the entire living room by myself, so I made a commitment to what I thought I could do easily. It turned out very nice. I had originally chosen an orangy brown color for my wall, with a suede texture. It's that Ralph Lauren paint, so it's pretty high quality. Well, when I got to the Home Depot, I changed my mind and bought a gallon of a different color. It's called Greenstone (still from RL) and turned out to be the exact same color as my couch, an olive green. It didn't look like that in the store. It has a granite texture. Looks real good. Now I will have to get up the energy to paint the other walls. I'll do them one at a time too.
I'm liking my new job as a system programmer on a mainframe, although I'm getting tired of the training. I don't think I'm getting as much out of it as I was at first. There comes a point when you just need to start doing the work. I've been assigned a couple of small projects, so things are getting a little more interesting. I like the folks I work with, so that's a major thing.
My friend at work has decided to set me up with one of her friends. I'm happy about this b/c I've been single for so long, I'm ready to expand my horizons. I just don't know if I'm now so used to being single, that having someone around (if it comes to that) might be annoying. I'm not going to let that worry get in the way of meeting new ppl though. You never know what may happen.
Politically, on Larry King last night he had all the women Democrats from the Senate, which of course includes my Senator, Mary Landrieu. She really is great. Can't understand how some ppl don't like her. Probably just jealous. She's pretty, smart and sensible.
All in all the show was great. The ladies have some great ideas and really should be listened to. It's a shame that the RepubliCON Senate won't even listen to them. They are fighting for the average American, including veterans, who have been shafted by the CONS. The CONS have cut funding for veterans health care and other veteran programs and during a war! They claim to be the 'patriots', but really are just political hacks, rubberstamping anything the president wants. They need to be run out of town. Hopefully that will begin this November!

Friday, June 16, 2006

TGIF

I'm really happy that Friday has come this week and it's raining. I can safely avoid yard work this weekend and focus on fun things. Since it's my granny's 85th birthday this weekend, I'll be taking her back to Lake Charles/Sulphur, LA, where she is from. She had to move in with my mom after a fall that broke her hip. It occurred right after hurricane Rita hit her town and neighborhood pretty hard. Her house had only minor damage, lots of missing shingles, shudders ripped off the walls, but not a single broken window.
Her neighbors, two doors down and really all over the town, weren't so lucky. Most damage was caused by trees falling, and many houses were completely destroyed.
Anyway, we'll be going to visit her sister and nieces this weekend.
When I get back, I have tentative plans to visit my friend Susie, the Sulau, in Lafayette, LA, Cajun country, where I attended college. She works for FEMA, here in BR, now, and wants to celebrate her recent promotion.
Politically this week, Carl Rove was let off the hook in the Plame scandal. So, he's back to his disgusting dirty tricks. I'm sure he's behind the recent Congressional theatrics where the RepubliCONS brought up a resolution that they support the president's (failed) policy in Iraq and won't be setting a timetable. This is obviously a trap. If Democrats vote against it, CONS will use it against them in the next election. Even if they vote FOR it, it could be used against them. I live for the day the CONS get what's coming to them. I just hope the American public is not duped again by these criminals, most of whom have no military service, or any family members in the conflict. They really have screwed up this country. I'm heartened by the recent stories of a potential alliance between libertarians and liberals. I've be a libertarian leaning liberal for a while and they're finally catching up with my philosophy of individual liberty being supreme. The CONS always claim to want the government out of citizen's lives, but that only applies to their constituents interests. Such hypocrites!

Monday, June 12, 2006

Monday, Monday

Well, the weekend is over and I didn't get everything done that was on my to-do list. I painted the living room. I had selected several potential paint colors and placed the chips on the wall, where they stayed for the past year. At the last minute, however, I changed my mind and picked a different color, an olive green with sandstone texture. I was a little worried at first, but it looks good.
I also completed some of my yard work over the weekend, including using my new edger to edge my driveway. It looked like it hadn't been edged in years. I filled up an entire garbage bag with the edgings.
Now I just need to mow my backyard. It's such a task. It's a big yard and the grass is thick from the full sun. And the weather is so hot, 97 in the afternoon.
The hurricane season is only a few days old and there is already a storm in the gulf. It looks as if it will hit Reddington shores, where my friend Dan lives. They showed the beach there, on the news, this morning, and the clouds looked ominous. Sure hope we don't get any big storms this year. Sure could use the rain though.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Almost the weekend

I always look forward to the weekend. It's not like I don't like my job or the ppl I work with, but I love sleeping late and completing my yard work and house work. I don't seem to have much time for anything else. I'm really eager to use my new edger. I was finally inspired to buy the edger when I started getting comments from friends and family that my yard looked overgrown and it needed edging. Luckily, it was right around my birthday and I used my birthday money for the purchase. I was able to use the edger for a short time right after I got it, but quickly ran over the power cord and nearly got electricuted. I've now had to dispose of the power cord and will have to purchase another this weekend.
Politically, this morning, CNN and EVERYONE else is reporting the death of that terrorist dude. I just hate it when the media latch on the something so sensational and run it into the ground. I don't think this story is important at all, worth no more than a two minute story at the top of the news. Nothing in Iraq will change b/c of this death. Someone is always ready to fill the shoes of someone who has been 'martyred' . Oh well, that's my two cents.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

6/6/06

Monday, June 05, 2006

Weekend

Just had a great weekend of celebrating my birthday. Went to a nice restaurant for lunch Saturday, with mom and granny. I didn't like what I got, but everyone else did. Did enjoy the crawfish dinner I got Saturday night in Lafayette. My good friend Susie brought me to dinner there. We like to go there every year for Xmas eve, but it was my choice for my birthday. I met Susie in college. She was the sister of a member of Chi Omega sorority. I was in Pike. We had lots of parties with Chi O's.
Also saw my friends Kim and Kyle. Kyle has been a friend since high school. Kim I met when I went to college at USL in the '80's. I introduced them and they got along swimmingly; got married a few years later. They credit me as being responsible for their getting together. Kim works at an art gallery in Lafayette's downtown. She always gets me nice presents. This year, she bought me a nice wooden bowl, piece of art. It is made of several different types of wood, intricately designed and put together. I love it.
Well, the weekend is over and I'm back at work. I am enjoying my new job. The ppl here are very nice and have a sense of humor (for the most part). I still miss my friends at the place I was laid off from. I still see them, but will miss working with them for a while, I'm sure.
On the political scene, today I'm irritated with Republicans again. Bush is pandering to his evil political base and pretending to support a Constutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. His poll ratings have gone down, so he has to throw out some red meat. What a goober. I sure hope this country wises up soon and replaces the skunky RepubliCONs. Even Ross Perot would be better than what we have.

Friday, June 02, 2006

Friday.

It's Friday and I'm glad I can sleep late tomorrow. I've been so tired lately. Could be that I've been so busy, with going to Pensacola for Memorial day, and all my birthday stuff. My co-workers, who I've only known for 6 weeks, had a pizza party for me and a few of the other early June birthdays. We also had cake.
Well, it's hurricane season now and I'm kinda worried about what's to come. Last year was bad enough, but if something enters the gulf this year, I think people will panic. No one wants to go thru another Katrina or Rita, even here in Baton Rouge.
I certainly don't want another disaster in my state, but there is a certain thrill when a hurricane hits close by. Everyone huddles in their houses around the TV, til the electricity goes out, then it's the radio that gets the most attention. The skies slowly turn grey and the wind picks up. Rain starts to come down in sheets and before you know it, the trees are bending with the wind. After the storm, everyone begins to emerge from their houses to see what damage occurred.
It's certainly inspires meeting your neighbors!

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Day One.

Well, Here it is, my first post on my first blog. Guess I'm kinda behind the times. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do or say on this blog. My passions include politics, food, Louisiana, travel, food, and food. In other words, I like to eat. Well, I'm from Louisiana, so what else would you expect??
So, I guess I should give a little personal info. I was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana on June 1, 1967, the first day of hurricane season and the summer of Love. My mom and dad were divorced when I was 5 and my mom and I moved to Baton Rouge in 1975. Except for a 7 year stint at The University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, I've been in Baton Rouge ever since.
I am a system programmer in IT. I am newly employed here, after being laid off in February 2006 due to budget cuts caused by hurricane Katrina.
I am single, gay, own my own home, have a dog (maltese).
Well, that's all I'll post for now. I'm about to go to lunch in our cafeteria. I'm very excited b/c we have these wonderful cooks, who cook soulfood for us in the cafeteria. I've been eating lots of greens and cornbread, which I recently discovered I love.