random tangents: 09.2005

9.29.2005

OOOHHH micheal....you've opened the can....

just in case anyone forgot:

what do ninja's drink?

WAAAAATAAAAA!! (say it and you will get it...)

water...

First things first:
Song of the day_Start me up_Rolling stones...this one goes out to all of those that woke up late this morning and had to BOOK it to work/school/other...

Now down to biness...i'm going out to messa verde and chaco canyon at the end of october for around 5 days!! how cool is that(atkin)...oh, and i'm accumulating a book list from manuel--yes we are on a first name basis....tania can have bijan, i've got manuel....

oh my god...did you know he is from mexico!! he talked about mexico city the other night and i was like OH MY GOD i can understand spanish and totally want to go to mexico city some day....
now i'm planning that for our honeymoon...
i'm still trying to find him a "bro" so that i don't feel so awkward around him....i have that rule stating that i can be the only one with the breasts, because i'm the girl...

Erin DeLanda

Erin Michelle DeLanda
Mrs. Erin DeLanda
Mrs. Erin Michelle DeLanda
Mr. & Mrs. Manuel DeLanda.....

OH, and there was this GIRL in class sitting right in front of me trying to pull off THE MULLET!!! she was COMPLETELY distracting me from my man because of her jacked up hair...so i had to take notes on it:

***THE MULLET*** on a girl???
-extreme layering??--very possible, first layer hits right under her ears and the next layer is below her shoulders, final layer is in the middle of her back---analysis: SUE YOUR STYLIST!! NOW!!
-a farah facet hairstyle that wilted? her hair WAS a little curly, but not teased enough to have seriously attempted facet-esque doo...
-a punky fashion statement--SOOO last year....although this was a trend, is it still? and is this girl a punk type--not really, read below....
-REDNECK--wearing a green courderoy jacket, dress pants, nice shoes and earrings...probably not...
-European....can't really tell...features are a little non-descript, but that could just be because i'm staring at the back of her head....

Conclusion from analysis: need more research, still to be determined....

9.28.2005

I have no real opinion about much today...nothing to comment on yet so i'll leave you with this,

THE SONG OF THE DAY: why georgia...john mayer...line that i am identifying with : "i wonder sometimes about the outcome, of a still verdictless life, am i living it right?" --deep dude, deep.
the other one: "don't beleive me, when i say i've got it down" (he means life when he says it..just a little clue in...sorry).
"everybody is just a stranger, but that's the danger of going my own way...but still everything still happens for a reason..."

i'm swimming in the deep end of the pool today...but don't worry i've got my arm floaties!!!
later my babies...

9.27.2005

i am now hooked up to the system....and if you touch my laptop again.... HELL HATH NOOOO FURY!!!

yeeeaaahh!! i got my laptop back after almost 2 weeks at their little computer resource center...brand new laptop, no programs installed as of yet, and they told me that my windows was corrupted and that they needed to reboot and reformat my whole computer.....that was on sept. 12th...but it's back now, and i'm excited that i can finally listen to music, watch movies, and check internet all in the privacy of my own abode!!! YEEEAAAHHH!!!
the people that run the place are really nice, and ubeleivably smart...i have probably met the next bill gates between turning in my computer, and then picking it up, or the newest generetional version of booger...

Song of the Day: Thank you very much o Mr. Roboto...

9.26.2005

Cheers and Jeers List:

Lets start with Jeers, this has been building up for a while now:

HSBC: you really suck...and because i don't have a bank in town i have to deal with you...really, you suck, try to pretend that you really are an international bank and try instigating policies where each branch isn't different from another. thanks.

Red Cross secretary in Philadelphia: lady, how many times do i have to tell you that i don't have any paperwork with me, and my wallet is lost now...it's all in new orleans...oh, my car?? yep it's there too, so there is no need to give me driving directions to your location, it's pointless. you would think that they might be a little more understanding...well in all it's ironic glory, jenn( the only other female roommate i have in the house) has put earrings on hold at tiffany's until she recieve's her red cross debit card...she wanted me to include her thanks to all of those that donated...(i booed her..but i would like to see if tiffany's would actually ACCEPT her red cross debit card...)

My Green wallet: you little bitch...where did you go...please come home i need you, i didn't mean it i swear, it's just my life is SOO frustrating without you....philadelphia is not a very safe place to wander around and i miss you alot. i've looked everywhere, and i hope that no one is exploiting you for their benefit.

CHEERS:
Cingular Wireless: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH for covering my roaming fees for the last month...it's added up quite a bit and you took care of it all in one phone call.

My neighbors on Pine and Osage(philadelphia): you guys have donated sooo much stuff to our cause, and even some artwork and books to keep us sane over the next four months...

TX Driver's License people in Austin: you guys got back to me SOOO promptly, and your direct help via email and phone have made things alot easier.

Harris Steinburg: did you REALLY have to steal our dignity(maybe i'm being dramatic, but come on...crappy move man) and introduce us to your normal professional practice class as the tulane students displaced by katrina?? we are already the debby downers when we introduce ourselves at parties...of course our program and year in school is one of the first questions asked after our names....then we get that face, and "ooohhh, i am soo sorry...." "so how many of you are there here??" We now simply introduce ourselves as KVG1 or 2(Katrina victim girl 1 or 2--i'm number 2 since jenn already knows some people here) and KVB1-4(katrina victim boy...you get it..)

WE ARE NOT VICTIMS WE ARE SURVIVORS BIOTCH!!!

A Cheer and A jeer:
Ivy Kids: some of you have been unbeleivably great, others....not so much...but please please please don't feel so bad for us--so many are worse off...and don't refer to our group as the katrina victims... we are different people and our stories are different...no offense taken, but please...worse things have happened in this world and i personally don't want my personality or identity to be associated CONSISTENTLY with a tradgic happening...shit happens, that's life...i'm in the process of getting over it, so should you...

9.22.2005

looking back over the last month i've realized how unscholastic this blog is....so now for another little school entry to balance things out:
My class list by erin keith

Wed 9-1 Elegance in Architecture/Ali Rahim(wrote contemporary technologies in arch. & contemporary techniques in arch.): Rahim is really great, and i'm loving the class. it's focusing on "elegance in architecture" as explored by understanding the theoretical discourse of emergent and dynamic systems in architecture, and the techniques involved in setting up and designing architecture within these types of systems....we have a 2 pg paper, presenting a reading to the class(5-10min) then at the end of the semester there is a 4 pg paper. if the paper is up to par, the paper will be published in an up-coming issue of AD. INTENSE MAN, INTENSE!!!

Wed 6:30-9 Urban Dynamics/Manuel DeLanda(the one, the only, the man....): i always thought that my little theories about different connections and patterns between history, politics, architecture, and culture were bogus and made me a whack job because i have actually sat down and thought about this...get a life erin, who does this?? MANUEL DELANDA DOES!!!! I heart manuel delanda SOOOOO much, and if he didn't have man boobs as big as mine and a good 30 year age gap, i would devote myself to him....oh manuel...let me just towel off your face....

Thur 9-12 Human Settlements/Tony Atkin(no this guy did NOT invent the atkin's diet craze...):
this is a pretty cool class...the guy reminds me a little of Ferrier--without the creepy sexual predator vibe--and we will be taking a trip out to chaco canyon in a couple of weeks!! UPenn is paying for the airline and we pay for the rest...not too bad, we'll probably be camping out anyways...i just hope the ivy leaguer's aren't princesses about it...well i'm kind of a princess so i can't really say that...

Thur 2-6 Digital Media/Keith Kasemen(this guy worked for SHoP and did quite a few very kick ass projects...): Keith is kind of hot in that new york architect way(lives/works in manhattan)... i'm hot for teacher...just a school girl crush...his projects really are amazing, and he's having us learn Rhino, 3dsmax, illustrator, and photoshop....over-all he's a really cool guy and very personable...he's been one of the friendliest professors here so far, and seems to be the type that would go hang out with his students. very groovy baby!!! YEAH!!

Fri 1-4 Profession Practice/Harris Stienburg(this is the guy that runs Praxis): don't have too much of an impression yet...only met him once and the class only meets 6 x during the semester...

THESIS: Still to be determined....

9.21.2005

in my narcissistic mood, i tried to look up my own blog on the search engine for blogger website....now i'm considering renaming my title:

mental garage sale: everything must go

all right....it's another wild day for me, so here is my shpeel: out of all of the things that my mom yelled at me about last night to get done over the next couple of days(financial aid, activating a phone with more minutes and covering more area, buying groceries, buying clothes and shoes and a big winter coat), the issue that she pressed the most was formalized, hand-written THANK YOU NOTES!!! The fact that we are practically throwing a block party next weekend isn't enough hospitality to our neighbors.... HAND WRITTEN WITH ALL OF OUR NEIGHBORS FULL NAMES AND SIGNATURES FROM 5 PEOPLE(the students in the house with all different schedules) ON EVERY ONE??!!!?? i really wanted to ask if her dealer could ship something to philadelphia for me....

She said that i should show my southern hospitality and that this was how it was going to be expressed....finishing school is rearing it's big ugly chewbacca head...oh and that's another thing...apparently i have a new nick name as given to me by my insane roommates....the big chewbacca. you know you really get to know people alot better when you live in close quarters with your school friends, and then they drive you INSANE!!! WHY am i called the big chewbacca?? am i a star wars freak? am i covered in hair from head to toe?? do i make the chewbacca sound when i laugh?? NO...they just like to call me the big chewbacca...i've asked them several times why, and they just say that i'm a big chewbacca....Why did i have to shack up with bored and sobering up New Orleans students.....WHY?? oh yeah, i'm one of them. The collective maturity level of our house is probably 13....they locked me in the basement(laundry room) and turned out the lights the other day...fuckers. My undergraduate time was never this insane. sometimes it's funny, but most of the time it's pretty annoying to live with 22/23 year olds without some sense of ridiculousness about them....am i becoming an old fogey chewbacca....MAYBE.

AND KEEP IT DOWN, DOWN THERE, SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO GET THEIR BEAUTY SLEEP....a girl has got to keep her coat looking glossy...

Erin M. Keith

UPenn School of Design Student

then again maybe they are just trying to keep me young...(**thinking**) Not quite...

Other nicknames from my past: Er-Head, E-Rock, Er-Bear, The Mouth, and Loud Girl, and how could i forget: sleeps in theory, now to add this one to the list....

9.20.2005

what if i like my life here so much that i don't want to go back to new orleans....what then?
i like my room better, and i don't have as much clothes/books/crap laying around here, i kind of like my air mattress on the floor with just a fitted sheet and a super comfy faux suede blanket...it's become my minimalist zen room....

9.19.2005

PS....the song of the day...I WILL SURVIVE by gloria gainer...all women and gay men to the dance floor please...and only i can sing into my hairbrush...not you.

As if my life wasn't complicated enough right now....i lost my wallet...NOW it officially sucks to be me....but i will be getting a pennsylvania state id today AND i'm planning to work my way over to the red cross today to get a 360$ check and then go cash it at a shady check cashing place(which of course will be located right next door to a pawn shop...).

we've met sooo many of our neighbors now...and they are all pretty great. my favorite so far is this new york fashion designer from the early 90's named batina. she is still doing trade shows, but she has all of these avant garde black and white photographs of her designs in poster form on her walls...AND over the weekend she just kept showing up at our house with anything from pots and pans, to dishes and mattresses and a tv...
we'll just say that had she seen us picnicing on the floor last night with chinese, she would have shown up 10 minutes later at our door hauling a table on her back!!!
she's got soooo many cool stories about when she lived in soho as a bohemian arts mecca before it became the shopping area we now know. lots of fun. most of our other neighbors are families and grad students...pretty quiet. we are actually the loudest on the block probably...[THE WHOLE HOUSE, NOT JUST ME OKAY!!] oh, and we have dubbed our house the KVAG: Katrina Victim Architecture Group, but will probably shorten that to VAG-and knowing the maturity level of our house it will be pronounced as the first syllabul of vagina...
"hey did you hear theirs a party tonight at the VAG house?" funny because we do have 4 guys and 2 girls....come up with your own dirty joke from there...
oh, and we had to find another roommate, since one of the original arch students that is here found another place to go...so now there is this guy david who is going to be moving in sometime this week. can't discern an age yet, but he looks to be anywhere from 21-26, vegan, smokes, not a student--just moving to the area from scranton(?) new jersey or new york{to all original northeastern dwellers, please forgive this southerner for her lack of directional/city/state navigation} kind of a skitsy hippy type, but seems really cool from the 20 minutes that i talked to him.

" you might be a redneck jedi if you hear 'luke, i am your father....and your uncle...' "

yep, i know it's lame, and yep i know you love me for finding it!!!

ok and also i didn't think that the culture in the northeast would be all that much different....but it pretty much is, ALL THE WAY AROUND....and i like it!! i am still feeling a little like a fish out of water, but most of my housemates are from the northeast so i do feel like i'm slowly but surely being assimilated...

9.14.2005

personal thoughts/observations: katrina on-going...

it's been really interesting to personally deal, and watch/help others to deal with this whole thing. not 10 minutes ago a woman exiting the architecture building stopped 3 of us(us meaning transient tulane students) and started to discuss her personal story of how her son's best friend was to be a freshman at tulane this fall...having been forced back into his parent's home and then deciding what to do from there about his college career. she said that he was very depressed and stressed out about the whole situation. her story kind of surprised me...although it shouldn't have. it was a perspective of the situation that hadn't occured to me and i remember my ELATION at 18 to be moving out of my parents' home and beginning my life as an adult(ha ha ha)....but still.

for the others in our group of 6-10 students we all pretty much know each other's situations: what year of school, family locations and if they lived near the worst of it, if you knew people that were caught for some period of time afterward, how you got out, what you may or maynot have lost, etc....
the perspective that my friends and i, and many others have of this whole ordeal is so strange and alien to me. i find that the people that i meet try very hard NOT to ask myself or the other students about our "stories"(they ask if we need anything, and are glad to have us)... for fear of propriety i can only assume...even my good friend micheal apologized for asking via email since i hadn't gotten a chance to check in with everyone to let them know i was alright. it's not insulting, or an overly personal question to ask, and even though i've been asked a thousand times, i don't mind talking about it because i know that i'm not one of the worst off in the whole thing...it almost makes me feel a little better to ease peoples' minds that yeah, i'm doing okay. i take it as a simple and sincere sign of friendship..."are you doing okay?" "do you need anything?"

i take that back...i did meet one guy's cousin at a local bar and he was very very drunk(and i'm saying this assuming that he had a higher iq than what he displayed on that evening...) ask us this question: so you guys have all of your stuff back in new orleans, and you pretty much have nothing and are homeless right now....so what's that like??
my answer: well, it kind of sucks right now.
later this same cousin asked one of my friends (who is a foreign exchange student from pakistan) this question: "so what is it like being from central asia?"--at least he got the continent right....
my friend's response: "i don't think i can answer that right now because i've had a couple of drinks..."(enter change of subject here....)

am i depressed like the above displaced freshman? sometimes...but not too much anymore. i try not to watch the news or read articles about katrina too much recently because i'm almost afraid i'll get pulled into another 6 hr tv session, switching obsessively back and forth between msn, cnn, and bbc. i've tried to do the "count your blessings" thing, and it hasn't been too hard as of recently. it's actually easier to notice the little kindnesses when you are really down and out...you don't take as much for granted i think. have i cried about it? yeah, a little bit on a couple of occaisions, but not too often. i'm okay.

am i sleeping well? no, not really...i was already an insomniac and this has made it worse...i'm at around 4 hours a night and around a pack and a half a day on cigarettes...not good.
am i eating well? not really recent situations make it hard to have an appetite, but will come back soon...

otherwise, i guess i'm okay.

I HEART FEMA!!

Moved in to the dirty, still being renovated house last night and actually slept there, and am living like the minimalist i knew that i would be had i not collected so much random crap even before katrina hit. not bad, not bad at all, the house needs a good cleaning in a giant dishwasher and disinfectant tub, but....
I'M NOT HOMELESS ANYMORE, AND I HAVE MY OWN ROOM AND I GOT UP AND SHOWERED AND WALKED TO SCHOOL THIS MORNING AND I'M ATTENDING MY DREAM SCHOOL--UPENN--RIGHT NOW SO I DON'T CARE!!!!! YYYEEEAAAAHHHHH!!!!

funny side note: when accessing our schedules and class lists, all of the tulane kids are listed as "Hurricane Katrina Guest Students"---NO JOKE!!!

"Katrina, party of 8, your table is now ready....yes we have a table for you in the upenn section...great, it's right over here...."

we'll just say i have a bed(inflatable), a desk(ikea rocks), a bookshelf(so does walmart), and a side table(little pallette on the floor so i can stack stuff without it getting dirty). oh, and i have 2 small lamps. that's it!!! LOVING the fact that after this semester is done, i can simply sell all my stuff in a garage sale, and just jump on a plane back to NOLA!!! Transient living is the life for me(if i had an unlimited financial resource like a sugar daddy or a unbeleivably rich soon to be deceased uncle that LOVES me...). i have to say that once you get over the stressful nature of the situation(it takes about a week and a half-personal experience), it's kind of liberating...very neo-walden-esque type of experience.
the only thing i have for wanting is a rug, and some close toed shoes...the floor boards of my room in the house are pretty jacked up and the splinter count high....i'll basically be wearing shoes all through the house until i can afford a rug...THEN it's barefoot season again.

BUT DON'T GET ME WRONG...it HAS been expensive signing a new lease: deposit, 2 months rent up-front, buying some kind of furnishings(sleep and study aparatii along with purchases for "the house"--cleaning supplies/dishes for 6/trash bins/etc)
for all of these expenses i'm both filing for FEMA and looking at the red cross donation distribution. i cannot beleive how much money i've ended up spending in the last couple of days...from a guesstimate: probably around $2,000 total in the last week....paris hilton's pocket change, but for me: welcome to panic attack central, your train is leaving.
upenn faculty & staff are doing a great job setting us up with a financial aid/private loan counselor to see what we can apply for in terms of money options, and we have had some of the administration in architecture offer us the use of extra supplies for our desks up at the school, so we all think that beyond groceries, and a thicker blanket and coats soon, we won't spend too much more on stuff. WHEEWW!! now THAT would make me feel MUCH MUCH better....

i'll write more about my classes soon...still trying to figure out/finalize my schedule, HOPEFULLY to be completed by the end of this week...
bye for now!!

PS. it's sooo funny(weird funny not haha funny) that my life would NEVER have been this exciting/fun/scary/stressful/memorable/invigorating/broke/unimaginably lucky/ homeless/ had i gotten into upenn the first time i applied...
this whole situation(insert katrina experience here) has pretty much changed my life and the way that i will percieve things from this point on....both in the best and worst of ways, but as i see it right now, the best of ways has the upper hand....

9.11.2005

all my respect and love to those who have helped us keep our spirits up and those who have given us a place to stay. good friends like you are hard to find.

today is 9/11...this day has alot of meaning to everyone who has lost so much both in 2001 and in 2005. rebuilding from both of these losses is vital for going on in life.

"HOME IS WHERE YOU THROW THE LAST OF YOUR SHIT THAT YOU DIDN'T LEAVE IN NEW ORLEANS."

we found a place....wheeeww. classes start tommorrow morning and myself and the 5 other tulane arch students have LOTS of errands to run so we'll be moving in by tommorrow night if the house is still available(which it probably is since the guy that showed us the house was out of town for the weekend). SOOO....WE AREN'T HOMELESS ANYMORE!!!
YEEEAAAHHHH!!

Another part of the reason why i'm soo glad is that there has been some awkward moments between mo & i and the couple that we are staying with(to respect their anonimity we'll use their initials: r--the girl, and aj--the guy). nothing dirty just a little awkward, and i'm leaving it at that.

9.10.2005

PLEASE HELP US.

3-4 students in philadelphia need housing desperately. if you live in the philadelphia area, preferably in the upenn area. please please please contact me asap:...

9.09.2005

so today was a bad day, but maybe tommorrow will be better...hope is a light in the darkness of the world. right?

maybe. i have less than 500$ and i have no place to go. even if i file for a loan right now, it will take a good 7-10 days to direct deposit it into my account. i just can't play with these ivy leaguers.

prostitution is looking pretty good right now. i would have an interesting job, i would be serving the community, and getting paid to pretty much do nothing.
until next time kids...

9.08.2005

texas may be the friendly state, but philly is DEFINITELY the city of brotherly love...

first day at upenn...i cannot even beleive how nice all of the students, faculty and people are here. mo and i are staying on this couple's couch, and they even gave us KEYS to their apartment. the dean himself greeted us personally and then even came by later to check on us. we had almost all of upenn's administrative staff welcome us(5 students) and then proceed to walk us through the whole process of integrating into the school. the couple that we stayed with bought us coffee this morning, and then a friend of theirs that they introduced us to WALKED us personally to the student center to get our id's. we've been given a zagats guide, a full map of the city, a map of the campus, a tour of favorite local pubs and eateries, the book store, AND the couple that we are staying with even offered their advice on getting a place for the 4 of us(the tulane students that showed up today and are good friends).
all together today has been one of the most exhausting of my life, and one of the most stressful, if for nothing else we are currently without an address...but we are posting AND searching on craigs list and we have 4 people on the case. it's going to happen soon. tommorrow is just another long list of places to go and people to meet with, but i am finding comfort in the fact that it seems as if the whole city is looking our for us right now.
goodnight.

9.07.2005

FINE ALREADY...I Am SOO TIRED OF WAITING AROUND so here is my decision...upenn took me today so that's where i'm going to be... done. i'll be in philadelphia tommorrow morning at 11am for orientation...

ok, well it looks like my decision is asu....

our dean was asked some questions by a grad/thesis student that was already enrolled at another school and these were some of his answers....and as dean his word is pretty much the final answer....which pretty much makes my decision. when reading it i felt like i was reading an email from my dad.

3. at asu, we will be providing a schedule of classes that matches therequirements for thesis and graduate students. 4th year students might alsobe able to do this. so if you are already current in your curriculum, youshould be ok.

4. if you don't go to asu, you won't roast in hell, but maybe feel singedbecause of the great time you missed. it is not possible for me to issue ablanket answer to this question, as it will depend entirely on what eachperson takes wherever they are, and what state their progress was in beforethe hurricane. sorry.

5. if you aren't at asu, it is probably a better idea for you to take a regular studio and plan not to do a thesis.

the one thing that somewhat comforts me...approx 5 hrs to vegas, approx 6-8 hrs to LA....wild west here i come.

9.06.2005

eaney meany miney mo...still haven't recieved word from upenn...it's 9pm in northeast....CMON JOAN WESTON!!!

9.05.2005

News Junky Assessment/Analysis:

Chris Matthews:"is that foul smell that you spoke of earlier dead people?" thanks chris...we could have all just assumed that it might be the smell of dead people or a dead animal, but you are the news guy that wastes no time or bullshit.

Geraldo Rivera: i love how you made special note to get yourself on camera helping to carry an elderly woman in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs...even more i love how the guys in military gear kept having to push you back from helping...because you weren't. you are my ultimate drama queen and for this i both love and hate you...

Rita Crosby:
a) transexual
b)heavy smoker
c)recovering from tb
d) you really are a man, man.
e) all of the above

is it bad to continue watching her show for if nothing else because she may actually one day use the phrase "hey there sweetcakes..." on tv? revolting and yet she has the hypnotic draw of the character pat from snl.

there are many other news people, but these three are the targets above all, and the most fun to make fun of.

oh, and today i FINALLY figure out what i'm doing...by 6pm(at the end of the business day) i'll know where i am going to be in college for the next semseter.....THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME!!!

watch out for the angry pelican...those things can get MEAN.
a little school spirit for the dislocated students...i like shiny things. i kind of wish i had brought some of my tulane schwag with me, especially to wear as i go shopping for replacement items....of course i could just spend 14$ on having a t-shirt made that reads:
"katrina made me her bitch...but please don't make me yours. give me a discount." on the back:"tulane student-- formerly in new orleans"

Illa Berman--assoc. dean of arch: making plans for all the grad students @ IIT

Reed Kroloff--dean of arch: the whole school of arch is being moved to either georgia tech or arizona state

Doug Harmon--design/build professor & one of the thesis advisors: the design build is now making plans to be stationed in baton rouge to help with the rebuilding efforts for the same class credit amount that would have been recieved for the initial project

upenn--school that myself and 2 other students are applying so that we can stick together: we will make a decision on tuesday afternoon as to your entrance...

he said, she said, they said...if i knew it was going to be THIS kind of party i would have just stuck my dick in the potato salad. in better news, i have pretty much found out that my grad dorm, car, and many of my friends' homes in the uptown area have little to no damage at all....of course this information was assertained from satellite photos of the city, and from photos that people took of the general area of uptown....

my plans: i would LOVE to go down to baton rouge to help with the rebuilding...but i know that doug harmon and byron mouton(thesis advisors) would not be as able to work with me on my thesis as well as other professors...my ideas just aren't necessarily their bag baby...

well i got a laptop REALLY cheap and with the extra memory that i bought i should be good to go for a while, until i get my pc back....

9.03.2005

how to begin....wow how things have changed over the last week. this is my personal little therapy session so here goes:

i had 4 friends from tulane evacuate at the last minute to dfw. they've been here for about 5 days and left today to go back home to nyc & tri-state area. most of my friends got out okay, but i've heard recently that a couple of of the other grad students with family homes in mississippi and the effected area are in the process of helping their families, and are PERSONALLY dealing with the rebuilding and evacuation efforts.
as much as i probably could, i can not complain, i feel guilty when i do as the news stations never cease to show me how good i really do have it, and yet....it's just really hard right now to deal with the crazy whirlwind of emotions that i have presently.

all of what i currently have with me in dfw(that i can take with me when i have to move to another school) is what i could fit into a duffel bag, backpack, and a purse.
no car--at nola airport, my keys are with my roommate in ft. lauderdale--but hey if bush can land there then i have hope for my car, no computer--all files unaccessible, all arch books and supplies worth thousands of dollars....BUT, i do have my life, and food in my stomach and water to drink--though dallas might be in a drought soon--still hot here.

another issue that i, and the other students, have had to deal with is the misinformation factor. let me paint you a scenario:
8am: watch cnn/msnbc/weatherchannel/20/20/dateline and others for over 6 hours a day: waiting to catch a looped clip of your neighborhood[by the 3rd hour we figured if they DON'T show your neighborhood you're probably doing okay, and MAYBE your house wasn't too trashed or even looted, but again WHO KNOWS!!] on the phone almost every 10 min. calling people and checking location and life status...

holy shit dude, i'm just 25, i'm not mature enough to deal with REAL issues like this--THAT is why i went back to college--to live in an idealistic nebulous state where my parents could still get phone calls at 2am if something bad happened. where classes are DESIGNED to sheild out the real world and focus on whatever book or issue that was going on...a place where we could still dream of saving the world...a rant has begun to form and i'll end it here...

6pm:drink ourselves into retardation at night to ease the tension and try to stay positive--4 am was our bedtime as after too many drinks we would go back and discuss what had happened and then what could/would/ and of course SHOULD happen over the next couple of days...drinking is of course supposed to keep the new orleans spirit alive...so much for that fucking voodoo

8:30am: first phone call of the day where my grandmother reads to me from the paper what they said about the city and especially tulane the day before, i love her dearly for watching out for me but it always ends in her expecting me to LEAP out of bed at that INSTANT and be on the phone for the next hour trying to get on whatever list or website or whatever....very rarely happened as i have been hung over every morning for the last 5-6 days.

9:30am: phone call from my uncle, repeating everything my grandmother told me an hour before--again reading straight from the paper--but changing it slightly...

then back to watching hours of tv with information coming out of my ears, to have both my mom and dad come home and repeat everything they saw on the news(they mostly wanted to talk about tulane and what they KNEW was going to happen, and what i should do that very instant--again i love them dearly, but the last time i checked my ID told me i wasn't getting any younger...could have fooled them. we'll always be our parents children though, right---in SOOO many ways that is a double edged sword.

CURRENT STATUS: tulane is closed for the semester(duh). the students are being expected to contact schools in their home state for emergency enrollment to programs all over the nation. no school is expected to provide housing or dining expenses, but will only charge tulane tuition prices for the students, who will only be attending said school for 5-6 months.

i'm looking at upenn, carnegie mellon univ. and univ. of texas...last two options are looking slim as u-t has already had over 100 requests for entrance as of 2 days ago, and carnegie mellon-though listed as a school that is accepting effected students--has not responded to emails and has NOTHING posted on their homepage or links available.

myself and 2 other arch students are trying to stick together and go to the same school--preferably close to a friend/relative. it's just been such a traumatic week, watching things change so quickly, having to hurry up and act on information that may or maynot be fact, then wait for anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of days for a response. personally i'm run kind of ragged right now, so if i've snapped at anyone, been rude, caulous, or dismissive....I am trully and utterly sorry, and my apology is a sincere one. for all of us from nola it's like we've had a family member die. our memories of the city itself, before even the memories of people that are still there, are almost completely shattered...i know it will rebuild, but man...

FINALLY....i will give a THANK YOU to everyone that has called me, emailed me, whatever(8:30 am-4am) i really, really appreciate your concern...these are the times when friends are the most valuable things in life to have, and damn am i wealthy. thank you. to everyone that has donated money, time, heartache, whatever....THANK YOU.

i'll stop now, because i am getting kind of sappy...I LOVE YOU MAN!! NO I REALLY DO MAN!!!

when i have about 10 minutes, i'll update what's been going on, and how things are proceeding...
had 4 last minute evacs from nola come to visit and they left this morning for nyc/tristate area...

life is a bitch, and then you marry one...katrina, you are a big fat dirty whore, and rape is a crime.

bush, you are a pansy, and i really hope our mayor ray ray(mayor Ray Nagin-new orleans) gave you an earfull and a swift kick in the johnson...

for those news junkies out there try and find the phone call that ray ray made to cnn...GREAT STUFF!!!

random tangents