tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post1047575123512008712..comments2023-10-31T04:15:34.653-07:00Comments on Barefoot and Laughing: Strange day, and clarifyingKirstinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-46626176642264688442008-01-08T04:53:00.000-08:002008-01-08T04:53:00.000-08:00What great comments! What great work!I loved what...What great comments! What great work!<BR/><BR/>I loved what Ann said in her comment. <BR/><BR/>God bless you in this work Kirstin.<BR/><BR/>Don't feel like you have to answer every comment that I enter. I just want to stop by and offer my almost daily support to you sister!Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181529277715646835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-51685146674583941472008-01-07T18:06:00.000-08:002008-01-07T18:06:00.000-08:00Thank you, Kirstin. This is not an original thoug...Thank you, Kirstin. This is not an original thought of mine: witness is a form of resistance. So is lament, for that matter. <BR/><BR/>And you will be a much better actor for having listened and looked and pondered. It would be much more dangerous if you barged in and acted without having first listened and learned.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for taking time to write to us in the midst of it all. Blessings to you -- and to the city.Jane Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13814517077774999407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-79575672654030494732008-01-07T17:32:00.000-08:002008-01-07T17:32:00.000-08:00Wow, Kirstin, I'm so behind. I had no idea you wer...Wow, Kirstin, I'm so behind. I had no idea you were down there! *smacks head*<BR/><BR/>Just reading and catching up with your posts, which are amazing. A friend of mine who's in law school went to NO in the summer of '06 for a volunteer legal aid internship. I know the experience changed her life.<BR/><BR/>Well, God bless and I'm glad I got caught up with you. Keeping you all in my prayers. ((hugs))Episcopollyannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09347096541544792553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-9282047879637636992008-01-07T16:20:00.000-08:002008-01-07T16:20:00.000-08:00Hi Bruce,Yes, it was Michael's. Thanks for the ti...Hi Bruce,<BR/><BR/>Yes, it was Michael's. Thanks for the tips!<BR/><BR/>I'll take your point about survivors to heart.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-78520962267983794812008-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:002008-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:00Hey Kristin! Try going down into the Marigny to th...Hey Kristin! Try going down into the Marigny to the Flora Cafe or Mimi's, both at the corner of Royal & Franklin, downstream from where I suspect you rented your bike (Michael's?). Actually, there is also Sound Cafe' around the corner at Chartres & Port. Very comfortable and local to the bone. You will meet friends at any of these locations, particularly Sound Cafe'. Ask the Street Car driver where to transfer to the Car that goes along the river all the way to the Mint at the French Market, then you can walk a short ways up Frenchman Street {killer music every night}, right on Chartres and on downstream to Port. NOCCA Performing Arts High School is two blocks past Sound Cafe...and there is a 24 hour full grocery/deli on the next corner over on Royal~Mardis Gras Zone. All have wifi. You can walk it during the day. This was my neighborhood until the Storm + six days of the flood before escaping over the bridge in a pick-up truck with dog Flora (named for the cafe'), guitar, back pack, water, dog food and bicycle. Living still, on the long road home.<BR/>When you traverse the City, especially on foot, you can take short-cuts through the axles of the wheels so to speak. Look at your map, how the streets wrap around the river, then you can see the "center" of the "wheels" and go for those. The may streets get into pretty woogie angles but that can be fun too. You might try the Magazine bus too. Forget Left/Right, North/South in your directionals...you are in a city where the sun rises and sets on the west bank. There are no straight lines in New Orleans. However, Elysian Fields is lined up exactly North/South with the North Star, from the river all the way to Lake Ponchartrain.<BR/>Brad Pitt's project, "Make It Right" is building real homes for real survivors who really want to return to their home, New Orleans. It is a NO BS operation, seeded with over $5,000,000 of his own money. Angelina does not have anything to do officially with that project. She is however quite busy, with her own (30,000 acre) elephant sanctuary in her son, Maddox's, home town and of course traveling the world for the UN. They do live in the city and ride their kids around on bicycles on the weekend, even try to go to McDonald's in a mini van. What I am getting at is, I went to see the "pink boxes", at night, and had a pretty gratifying experience. All those pink boxes are gone now. The scaffolding went to Mardi Gras parade infrastructure. The pink fabric is being incorporated into handbags for further fund-raising. The solar cells that lit the installation at night will be incorporated in the many different designs of the houses to be built, chosen by the returning survivors. Everything is recycled. Of all the dozens of folks in New Orleans I have talked to about the "Make It Right" project not one person ever once referred to the Pitt~Jolee family as "Branjolee". They deserve as much gratitude for their efforts as you or all the others who have blessed our city with the kindness of strangers.<BR/>I so enjoyed your post and really thank you for getting into New Orleans in such an intimate way. Yeah, it hurts because you are real.<BR/>When you look at us, please see survivors...no longer victims. That will make it easier to sit down for a visit...survivor to survivor.<BR/>Thank you,<BR/>Bruce<BR/>editor / NO News LadderNew Orleans Ladderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11170392509652492681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-67314786467351727072008-01-07T13:20:00.000-08:002008-01-07T13:20:00.000-08:00Thank you.Suzer, if you can come here, do.Laura--I...Thank you.<BR/><BR/>Suzer, if you can come here, do.<BR/><BR/>Laura--I might call you. Thanks for the offer.<BR/><BR/>Ann--wow. Thank you so much for that. I feel I'm only doing what somebody has to. Thank you so much, for this image.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-78121116477586870922008-01-07T13:10:00.000-08:002008-01-07T13:10:00.000-08:00You are witnessing our burning bush- the voice of ...You are witnessing our burning bush- the voice of god speaking out of the wreckage --- Moses was not much of a talker so God sent him Aaron - you are the Aaron for those who cannot speak. Barefoot and laughing through the tears - on holy ground. Prayers and blessings surround you.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287169546184325690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-53402957493642590592008-01-07T10:03:00.000-08:002008-01-07T10:03:00.000-08:00Yes, indeed, Kirstin. Thank you and I'm praying. ...Yes, indeed, Kirstin. Thank you and I'm praying. And remember I am always here by phone or email if you want to process it more individually than blogging....Dr. Laura Marie Grimeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10372741914558791844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-35847251164974050532008-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:002008-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:00Thank you, Kirstin. I've never been to NO, but am...Thank you, Kirstin. I've never been to NO, but am getting to "know" it through voices like yours. I look forward to more of your observations, and to hearing the stories of those you interview. Your witness, and theirs, is much needed.Suzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03529580138314011952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-88420057417343025862008-01-07T09:08:00.000-08:002008-01-07T09:08:00.000-08:00Thank you so much, y'sll. It's good to know this ...Thank you so much, y'sll. It's good to know this is helpful.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-89157437635742662612008-01-07T09:04:00.000-08:002008-01-07T09:04:00.000-08:00All I can say is WOW. Your witness is powerful and...All I can say is WOW. Your witness is powerful and we are all blessed by your writing and experiences.Rachelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930235556546609531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-24086475658856104822008-01-06T23:18:00.000-08:002008-01-06T23:18:00.000-08:00thank you. thank you. thank you.thank you. thank you. thank you.Jennifer Garrison Brownellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10170014214291920971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-5989130113906381802008-01-06T20:31:00.000-08:002008-01-06T20:31:00.000-08:00Thank you so much, Fran. It's good to know that p...Thank you so much, Fran. It's good to know that people need what I'm doing.<BR/><BR/>Blessings.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-16793924755346274872008-01-06T19:23:00.000-08:002008-01-06T19:23:00.000-08:00As someone who had been to New Orleans a number of...As someone who had been to New Orleans a number of times before Katrina, but not at all after, I selfishly say... I need your story, your words.<BR/><BR/>That is really not the point - the point is that the story must be told and retold, with different sets of eyes and different hearts.<BR/><BR/>And the work that you will do there matters greatly at many levels.<BR/><BR/>So as always, I wish you peace and blessings and I look forward to more updates.Franhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07181529277715646835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-43409642324513483372008-01-06T16:37:00.000-08:002008-01-06T16:37:00.000-08:00Mimi, thank you. So much.Mimi, thank you. So much.Kirstinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07928583212781425068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14755785.post-55710797894987763332008-01-06T16:27:00.000-08:002008-01-06T16:27:00.000-08:00Oh, Kirstin, what writing! You told the story, an...Oh, Kirstin, what writing! You told the story, and you told it well.<BR/><BR/><I>...the whole time I was in the Lower 9th, I felt like I was staring at the grave of a community.</I><BR/><BR/>And you were, Kirstin. You were.<BR/><BR/>People need to see. People need to hear the story. You are doing your part.June Butlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01723016934182800437noreply@blogger.com