this woman’s work

Pennie’s family is from New Orleans and up until Katrina hit, her mom’s family was living in the ninth ward district. During Katrina, Pennie’s mom was separated from her family and spent a couple of days living on a bridge waiting for helicoptors to take her and the other people waiting with her to safety. And for awhile after, no one was sure where Pennie’s little sister was. (It turned out that she was staying in a neighbor’s attic waiting for rescuers.)

Guess where they moved after Katrina? Houston.

Send them your prayers, will you? Especially Pennie’s little sister who’s just a little younger than Noah. I’m worried for them.

We spent about six hours there yesterday, mostly people-watching and looking for bare-breasted women. I told Kristen and Abby that it’s like a grown-up version of Where’s Waldo. Kristen was there in part as an official photographer for the event and she was looking for folks who accurately illustrated the spirit of ComFest and topless women with painted breasts certainly fall into that category.

We stopped by Amy’s booth, which was looking gorgeous with lots of little (and bigger) pretties. Although she was fully-clothed, she was also a grand example of the spirit of ComFest being joyful and welcoming and ready with hugs.

I’m feeling absolutely exhausted today. I saw on Abby’s twitter that she got up and did all sorts of fun, active things, which I find astonishing because, seriously, I am hammered. All those people! All those crowds! I couldn’t stop scanning them — too much information coming into my addled brain. I just start to shut down and it wears me the heck out. But I sent Noah out to pick me up a Diet Coke because I’m going out with Leslie tonight to join the celebration for a friend who just got her MFA in creative nonfiction. Go Lia!!

I always think (and dread) that I’ll run into someone from my former life as a self-centered, pseudo punk rock teen at ComFest and you know what? These last two times I’ve gone I haven’t. It’s gotten so big that it’s impossible to see everyone there (it used to be that it was impossible to avoid anyone there) so I not only didn’t see people I wanted to avoid, I also didn’t see people I wanted to see. Rats.

Although I don’t know if Lisa Mirman made her annual trip up from New Orleans this year so maybe I missed her ‘cuz she wasn’t here. Ack! I miss her!! Must go dig up her email now.

I need to see if I can work this out here. I find it easier to free-write with an audience (creative exhibitionist that I am). I’m working on an essay that I hope to turn into the first chapter of this book so I can hurry and get the proposal on out like NOW and I’m stuck, as always. This is really long and mostly pointless rambling (I’m typing this sentence after putting 900-ish words of freewriting below the cut) so feel free to skip it. And if you go ahead and read — welcome to the disjointed, babbling, back and forth process that is me free-writing.
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Quietly Mothering is doing a survey on putative father registries. Can you help her out?

And Copyscape can tell you if someone’s copying your blog somewhere out on the internets.

Finally, tagged by Anti-Racist Parent! The meme below the cut!
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New Orleans blog: Looka! They’re trying to wash us away.

The Republic of T. » Blog Archive » Compassionate Conservatism

Two shaky House incumbents, Democrat Melancon and Republican Boustany, hope response to hurricane rallies voters behind them. House Republican campaign chief Reynolds touts chance to market conservative social-policy solutions; Rep. Baker of Baton Rouge is overheard telling lobbyists: “We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn’t do it, but God did.”

Baker explains later he didn’t intend flippancy but has long wanted to improve low-income housing. (emphasis added)

Head over there to get Rep. Baker’s email address and phone.

Just wanted to let you know that Lisa Mirman is here and she is fine! (For those not in the know, Lisa is a long-time Columbus-ite who relocated to New Orleans and has lived there for the past six years.)

House updates in the cut below!
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But I can’t stop thinking about it.

When J was planning on parenting she was living in New Orleans in the 9th Ward District. I keep thinking, What if she didn’t make an adoption plan? What if she and Madison were down there? Would they have gotten out?

It’s just nuts because they ARE both out. They ARE both safe and sound. But I can’t read about Katrina or watch television because I see J and Madison on the face of every woman and child they show. Last night I had to make up a story where they both evacuated way beforehand because it’s like I’m being haunted by some alternate universe and I need to give it a happy ending.

It seems like the ultimate hubris to co-opt a tragedy this way; I don’t know why I can’t turn that part of my brain off.

There’s still no word about J’s little sister. My god, she’s Noah’s age. I am praying that she is up here with relatives and since J was in transit, she had no way of finding out.

In my eyes Trey called it right; this kid’s a hero.
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That’s where Madison’s birth family lives. J doesn’t know where they went and neither does her father. It may be that they were in the superdome. It may be that they were able to get to relatives in Texas.

I don’t have anything else to say about that. We are thinking about them an awful lot.

We are cash-poor with house buying right now but our our blood is still good.