Aftermath

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast Monday, decimating entire towns, and what was I doing? Entertaining the dance lady at the school.

While she was very chipper and happy (in the way that only underfed, blonde cheerleaders can be), passing out cookies to the children, and begging the parents to spend money on dance lessons and leotards sporting the school logo, life took a turn for the worse in much of the Gulf Coast area. Entire towns have been decimated, many were orphaned or widowed and many more were left homeless.

Metro's grandparents own an apartment building on Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Surely Metro thought ahead to evacuate Dr. Grandpa. I worry about him.

GIJoe's hometown in Mississippi has been erased. His family might have gotten out or gotten rescued, but we don't know. And he's stuck in Iraq.

One of the families at my school has missing loved ones. The missing were expected here in town Monday night but they didn't make it. Now the family is trying to get back into Louisiana to find their relatives, a futile quest with the roads impassable and not knowing where to look. Are they still in New Orleans? Are they among the 25,000 in the SuperDome? When they left New Orleans, did they make it to another town where they might be holding up?

Another of the families at my school has had 5 houses of relatives from the New Orleans area seek refuge at their house. We are currently trying to collect food, clothes and school supplies to help them get settled here in Houston. How many more will come?

The refugees at the SuperDome will be bussed to the Astrodome here in Houston over the next couple of days. It's not the Ritz, but it does have electricity, air conditioning and running water. Houston area schools have opened enrollment for the children to be put into our schools without the usual paperwork. Food stamp offices have been processing the displaced, giving them priority status and immediate assistance. Citizens of the city are even opening their homes to strangers. Of course, all around you can see the Hurricane Relief Funds. Elementary schools and churches organizing food drives and dinners for those in need. And my favorite radio station had a request telethon.

Despite it being an alternative rock station, for the right price anything could be heard on the Buzz today. "Little Nicki" commanded the Prince-ly sum of $500 while "We are the World" went for $1000. New Kids on the Block also got a feature but I missed it. How much does it take to buy airplay nowadays? The Buzz is also having an auction. The proceeds are all going to the Red Cross who is asking for cold, hard cash.

W. flew over the remains of N.O. today and he even cut his 5 week vacation a wee bit short to do so. You know it had to be so comforting for the stranded and newly homeless to look up and see the plane go by. Seems I remember other politicians visiting disaster areas and actually setting foot on the ground and shaking some hands, possible even saying some comforting words. Maybe he waved from the airconditioned luxury of his private plane.

Please do what you can to help those whose lives were devestated by Katrina. Give money if you can, donate food and clothes if you can. Involve yourself with the cleanup efforts. Help to rebuild. Pray. Pray for those who were lost, pray for those who need rescuing and pray for those who are starting all over again.

More updates

Ooops! I realized some updates that I overlooked.

My wonderful dating service has been fired. I think I've eliminated enough "matches" to know that their system just isn't working. I can hear you telling me to give them another chance. I have. So far I've given them 300 second chances.

Becky, my unisex match, never responded to my requests to communicate. Go figure.

E, the self-obsessed, self-promoting graphic designer that I worked with briefly has some legal issues brewing. How I'd love to get a ticket for that debacle.

The record label and I have parted ways. Actually, E created such a rift that the staff polarized on both sides of the issue. Half stayed "official" and the rest of us moved on to new projects.

After a long cancellation, rearranging schedules and possible bribing of officials, Toe Boy and the Talent are touring Brazil. I'll admit that I did not think the tour would happen. But the boys always have been full of surprises.

Whatever happened to...

It's update time on Nasty Little Thoughts, your opportunity to find out the latest news (all right it's mostly gossip) about selected characters featured here.

Hippie was put on notice on Monday that his services may be required at Cape Canaveral to fix the shuttle. If he's going to Florida, he better take me along.

The Ex, Mr. I don't ever want to be married again, is living in the 'burbs with his wife and their children.

Metro has made room in his 5 year plan for his wife and step-child and they are also living in the 'burbs.

Susie has taken a supervisor's position and is once again working the night shift, leaving her lots of time to enjoy Florida living.

The Golden Unicorn is leaving Houston to start a new relationship. Will she be starting a new blog?

LoanOfficerSix, an old internet friend, only stuck with blogging for 2 posts. Knowing that he's a talented writer, haikus being a particular strength, maybe he'll write again. I know I'll keep watching.

Brandy became a private nanny and is going to school. She's been preoccupied with creative writing assignments lately and she's defected to MySpace. Hopefully she'll remember her blog every now and then. PeachyPie has moved her blog to MySpace as well.

RHSCF is now in Germany. I've even seen pictures to prove it. He has asked that he be known by the new moniker "the Hatter", an homage to his collection of fedoras. Construction of gaming table version 2.o should be commencing soon.

Ruben continues to be an inspiration through his illnesses. If you like digital photography, visit him on Flickr Friday. He'd love to include your pics in the slide show.

My big dysfunctional family continues to stay at Trisa's flop house. Estimated (and very much prayed for) time of departure is mid-October.

Did I forget your favorite character? Drop me a line and I'll update you best that I can.

I've been asked to go to MySpace, but you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Me and my Nasty Little Thoughts are staying right where we are.

Good eats?!

I grew up thinking my diet was limited. Mom's recipe repetoire consisted of ground beef, chicken, pork, canned tuna, noodles, sauces, green beans, corn, peas, ranch style beans, and potatoes. Sounds rather limited and repetitious at first glance, but Mom had skills (not Julia Childs kinds of skills, but she had a good 20 meals that were her stand bys and sometimes we'd throw all caution to the wind and make frozen pizza.

As I've grown up and paid more attention to the eating habits of others, particularly those I date, I am grateful for Mom and her old faithfuls. I'm glad she insisted on a green vegetable with dinner and didn't allow the serving of two carbs in one meal. She managed to give me a sound nutritional foundation and over time, I've expanded upon it.

Not so for everyone, however. The Ex would not eat tomatoes, onions, peppers or pickles and was scared of green peas. The man would eat salsa, ketchup and spaghetti sauce, but wouldn't eat the actual ingredients used to make salsa, ketchup and spaghetti sauce.

Thinking back, I've witnessed bizarre eating ever since I can remember. My grandfather would fry cornbread batter like a pancake, tear it into pieces, dump them in a bowl, and slop it up like breakfast cereal after adding a generous amount of buttermilk.

My brother got up one weekend morning, and decided not to wait on our parents to rise before having breakfast. Since they would sleep til 11 or later on the weekends, you can't really blame him. I heard him digging through the fridge for a while, and when he came back from the kitchen he had a sandwich--peanut butter, American cheese and cold left-over pork & beans.

My aunt (Hippie's first wife) had a weird snack that she turned me onto. She would eat nacho flavored Dorito's spread with cream cheese. (Have you ever had nacho flavored Dorito's? They quit making them for a while, but I have some in the house right now....In fact, earlier today I was hankering for some cream cheese.)

My sister was a total food phobe from the get go. She wouldn't eat foods that were mixed together...casseroles, mixed fruit/vegetables, soups, etc. She was totally hung up on textures and refused things lumpy or bumpy...tapioca pudding would send her into hysterics. She will not eat things that jiggle to this day. No custards, jellies or jello. But she'll eat sushi and oysters on the half shell, which just doesn't make good sense to me.

Her friends, founding members of the Kook Aid gang (about whom I keep promising a post and just never seem to do it), had truly frightening eating habits. Chiquito would eat any food (except onions and peppers), and the longer it sat out the more appetizing it became for him. He'd buy fast food in bulk, leave it in the bag on the counter and eat it for days, soggy buns, wilted lettuce, reheated mayonnaise...nothing would stop him. He had a never ending bowl of dip made from velveeta and wolf's chili. He'd nuke it and eat on it, leaving it out to congeal and form a protective layer across the top, only to nuke it and eat it again a day or two later. If it seemed he were ever in danger of running out of dip, he'd just add to the mixture already started in the bowl. My stomach and intestines are cramping in revulsion even as I type.

His sister, having equal food hang ups, refused to eat the meal I'd prepared and went into the kitchen to cook for herself. She started by scrambling some eggs. Then she added some of the mashed potatoes I'd made. And a can of tuna. And parmesan cheese. And then she topped it with ranch dressing. AND ATE IT!

A friend of my mom who stayed with us for a while, once offered to cook dinner since we so kindly gave her homeless ass a place to stay. She announced that she was making spaghetti. After an hour or so, when dinner wasn't ready yet, I went into the kitchen to see what was so complicated about spaghetti, especially since we had prego in the pantry. I arrived in time to see her pull a roasting pan out of the oven. She removed the lid and the noodles and tomato sauce were simmering alonside smoked sausage links and corn on the cob. My father took pity on us kids and took us to Denny's.

My friend's husband, who won't eat vegetables, puts jalapenos on his baked potatoes and hot sauce on his toast. My ex-roommate would eat cereal with water in it because he hated milk. Another roommate ate vanilla ice cream topped with Tony Chachere's cajun spices. (I myself prefer orange sherbert sprinkled with Nestle's quick.)

The other night Hippie at a hamburger with a fried egg on top of it. And the list goes on.

So here's a challenge for you. Do you have a weird food episode to share? Can it top the scrambled eggs or spaghetti I've mentioned above? Come on, tell us all about your good eats.