August 31, 2005

Hello all. Thank God we survived Hurricane Katrina. We were without electricity for a day and a half and I started to go through computer withdrawal. One friend brought us some Chinese food on Friday. On Saturday, my godbrother and his mom, being ambassadors of goodwill from a neighboring county, drove from their home in Palm Beach County and brought us a big cooler of ice with sodas in it and a variety pack of potato chips and cheese doodles.

But here's where the Indian blood in my mom took over in a bad business deal. Like I said, they brought us a big cooler of ice with sodas in it and a variety pack of potato chips and cheese doodles. My mother decided to give them the jumbo shrimp, gourmet Chinese sausages and ackee in the freezer because they'd probably spoil in her estimation by the time FPL restored the electricity.

Little did Kemosabe mommy know that the electricity would return a couple hours later, so we basically traded the jumbo shrimp, gourmet Chinese sausages and ackee for cheese doodles and sodas! It was like the Indians selling Manhattan for nothing all over again.

I didn't mind what she did actually, I just enjoy telling that story to tease my mother. My mom is a bit delicate. If she gets a paper cut on her finger, she'll think her finger is broken (when it's not). She was a pillar of strength and composure during the storm (ok, not really). Every few minutes it was, "What was that noise?!" She was so jumpy, which I found very amusing. When the wind would shriek through the trees, it sounded like a train mixed with a "eeeeh" sound, which scared her.

I thought the best thing to do was sleep through it (as I slept through most of Andrew). However, not with mommy around. She was so nervous and jumpy that each time I was falling asleep she'd yell something to me from her room down the hall and wake me up. A "Did you hear that?!" and her favorite "What was that noise?!"

You know those parents that know you are sleeping and call to you anyway and say "are you sleeping?" as a way of waking you up. She got so scared at one point she asked me to stay in her room.

I had a bit of a blonde moment after the storm. When the electricity was out I forgot and said to my mom, "I'm gonna charge the lawnmower" to which my mother responded "With what?" I forgot the electricity was out and it's an electric mower. Bought it off the internet and assembled it myself. Please, hold your applause!

On a serious note - I feel truly sorry for the people in New Orleans and Mississippi. The damage I saw on television that occurred in those two places is terrible, particularly New Orleans, especially the reports of water rising up forcing residents into their attics. That had to have been a traumatizing experience. I pray they will recover from the damage quickly and get their lives back to some level of normalcy soon.

Speaking of my godbrother, he's driving now. I'm so proud of him. He drove my mother, his mom and I to the supermarket and he did pretty well. When I told him he is a good driver and better at driving than his mom, his mother said "Oh, please!"-cough- hater!
I joked about that because his mom is Maria Andretti.

SIDE NOTE: A bit of a joke. A few months ago my godbrother and I watched a basketball game between UNC and UK. Didn't know which team UK was and made the mistake of wondering out loud. He laughed and said "What did you think, it meant UK as in England?" That's the thanks I get for not telling his mom who really broke her favorite mug and who really broke the living room ceiling fan by throwing a ball at it. oops, did I say that out loud. Don't worry John. She won't read this site. Too many big words. Just kidding.

Hey, she even makes jokes at times that sometimes she is not the smartest. I helped my godbrother with his homework over the phone and by email for years. One evening I was out and didn't know he needed help that day and his mom left me a hilarious message saying how dare I not be home to help her son with his homework. She is smart though, as much as she jokes that she's an airhead.

I remember one time I helped him write this great essay when he was 14 and the teacher gave him an A-. He was happy with the grade, but I wasn't. I told my godbrother over the phone "an A-? she must want me to slash her tires." My godbrother laughed, however, I'm a grown writer! You don't give anything I contribute to an A- (just kidding about the slashing tires joke, I have never and would never do that, I just joke around that way).

I bought a camera phone this month. It's pretty cool. It's got everything on it. I finally put a song ringtone on my phone as opposed to polyphonic. I used "You Are A Child Of Mine." I love that song. I recommended it as song of the week months ago. One morning when the alarm clock radio went off (yes, a musician actually using an alarm clock) that song was playing on the radio and it really woke me up and was so uplifting. And for me, a non-morning person, to be cheerful in the morning is truly a feat.

SITE NEWS

Album re-release next month. Also, major site updates throughout next month. Film Review - I've added a film review for the movie "13 Going On 30." To read it please click here

ARTIST OF THE WEEK

The artist of the week is the group Out Of Eden. They've been putting out really nice music for years now. Their web site address is www.outofedenonline.com. Their latest is titled "Hymns" and is available on www.Amazon.com.