Friday, April 11, 2008

V-Day

Well, V-Day in New Orleans starts at 10 Friday morning. There is going to be a special blessing ritual to cleanse the Superdome of the energy of those awful post-Katrina days. There will be lots of speakers and panels. Also, there will be massages and yoga and other such relaxation-related goings-on for the women of New Orleans (fabulous - I just wish some of the visiting counselors would be staying for good, since we now have only about 1/4 of the counselors we had here pre-Katrina - and we have LOTS more need now).

Alix Olsen, whom I LOVE, is going to be there tomorrow afternoon.

I will be attending the actual Monologues Saturday night with my cousin, which is truly in the spirit of sisterhood because I adore her and she's one of those busy, busy superwomen with whom it's difficult to schedule social time. So this will be a rare treat.

On top of that, I was expecting cheap tickets in the upper nose bleed section, but Mr.Me surprised me with more expensive tickets near the stage - for me and my cousin.

He also surprised me yesterday by setting up what had become a junk room into a real office. I have a desk, an adding machine with tape, the printer/copier/fax right there, four file cabinets. He set up files for all of my genealogy stuff, which had been in boxes for three years. I can now find all the tax stuff, all of the bills. Geez, I'm in danger of becoming a grown-up! Somebody save me from myself!

I guess maybe the office thing finally got done because Tuesday night at 7:30, the law school to which I recently applied called. There are one or two more things they need (proof that I paid my speeding ticket!?), but it sounds like I'm in. This school offers a public interest concentration, which could lead to some great non-profit, political, administrative, or other advocacy work. The school also has several different clinics in which third year students can work - and one of them does nothing but domestic violence work. Another does environmental justice work, which is just huge here in Louisiana. Not only do we have these terrible environmental problems caused by the petrochemical industries, but because the companies in those industries bought up land along the river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge that was once all sugar plantations, there are these African-American populations there, descendants of slaves, who are suffering the health effects of the pollution. Most of the white people who want to leave have left. In this area, around the antebellum home called "Oak Alley," has sprung up "Cancer Alley." The locals - primarily African-American people, sometimes living in relic "freedmen's" shacks - suffer shocking rates of miscarriages, leukemias that are rare in the rest of the American population, skin rashes, eye and nose irritations, and birth defects. I would love to do some environmental advocacy work. The law students at Tulane have actually won some cases in this region, have managed to keep some new industries from locating here. Of course, the evil state responded by changing the rules under which law students can handle these cases - requiring that the citizens form a non-profit BEFORE coming to the clinic (no, they need lawyers FIRST to help them form the non-profit!), that they prove the average income level of the plaintiffs is below poverty level, all kinds of hoops, things unheard of in other states - all because some law students won some cases against the petrochemical industry!

Ramble, ramble, ramble. And to bed.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you have a fabulous time! I also love Alix Olsen, so reading this made me all sorts of excited. Wish I could be there, but if you post afterwards I will love you for.ev.er. because of course, I want to live vicariously through you!

Goddessdster said...

Have fun at V-Day! I wish I was going to be there.

And is it dorky that I love my adding machine? I especially love the sound it makes as it's printing up the numbers...

droudy said...

Hey, Ceejay!

I'll be at the Monologues tomorrow night too, with my mother.

Congrats on law school! Hope it all works out. And give 'em hell!

NOLA radfem said...

Hi, M.P. Yes, I will definitely be doing a post about Saturday night! God, it was just great! You were there in spirit, whether you knew it or not. Women the world over were there in spirit!

Goddessdster, No, I don't think it's geeky or dorky to love the sound of the adding machine at all. There is something satisfying about it. Plus, it is so practical, because with an adding machine, you can trace your steps in a way that you can not with a regular calculator.

On the other hand, I'm such a geek - I may not be the BEST person to judge for others. Recently, my thirteen year old was on the cell phone with a boy named Bill. He and I ended up talking for a moment, and I ended up discussing the tradition of certain Anglo names having associated nicknames that don't seem related - Bill for William, Teddy for Edward, Jack for John, Sally for Martha, Polly for Martha, Peggy for Margaret (which led to examples from history, like Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson the wife of Thomas Jefferson and then Martha Jefferson the daughter, John F. Kennedy). My daughter was mortified and took the phone away, then told the guy, "Sorry, my mom talks about stuff like that. She's such a geek." And, bless him, he said, "No, not at all, I think your mom is cool."

Hey, Droudy. Wish I'd read this beforehand - maybe we could have met. In fact, maybe we could still meet for lunch someday.

I was with my cousin Saturday night. A few years ago, she helped me get a job in the business next door to her restaurant. It was a dress shop, which was just such a laughable fit for me, my skills, and my interests (although I did undertake a serious study of fashion related terminology; even so, the boss still had to have someone explain to me why USED Dolce and G(whatever-the-hell) jeans were worth $130). It was the only job I ever left without giving formal notice...I just didn't show up one day, and then never showed up again.

So, guess who I ran into on the way into the Arena? WITH my cousin, who had gotten me that job - the owners of that damn dress shop, right there on the ramp! I was mortified! I definitely wish I'd met up with you instead!!!

What did you think of the show? Oprah called in sick on us. Eve Ensler seriously needs to learn that the benefit of having a microphone is that one need not raise her voice - the microphone does the amplifying! I didn't think the Arena acoustics were the best. But those are tiny, tiny complaints. Overall, god, it was fabulous.

Did Charmaine Neville make you cry? I know the audience was half local and half tourist - and you could tell who was whom when C.N. talked about Katrina and then launched into "Do you Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans," because, for locals, there were no dry eyes in the house.

Take care, all.

Leigh C. said...

Mazel tov on the L-school acceptance! I couldn't make any V-Day events, unfortunately. I saw the Monologues when it last came to New Orleans at the Orpheum. Sally Kellerman was in it and it was so, soooo good. I thought the Arena might be too big a place to have it in, actually...but it's good to know it worked despite the no-shows, and the acoustics.

Arantxa said...

I look forward to hearing about V-day!

Jezebella said...

Hey gt, congrats on the law school acceptance! Go you! Hadn't seen you on the IBTP forum lately - hope you're doing well.

best,
Jez