well, it is apparent that i havent gotten to write about the things that have happened to me...like space camp. sure, a couple of days ago i was driving from somewhere outside of biloxi towards new orleans and i missed my turn, and ended up at some nasa base. it was early in the morning and i had nothing better going for me so i pulled into the rest area/welcome center and was pleased to find that they offer free tours.
the tour wasnt as great as it could of been, but after giving them my id and swearing not to tell their secrets to the russians or something, i was given a guest badge and waited for a bus to take me to the complex. there were a couple other people waiting as well. we didnt share any words with one another.
the bus ride was half of the trip and was kind of boring. nasa has 25000 acres in mississippi just before you get into louisiana and we drove through this to some of the testing platforms. this facility i was visiting just tested the engines that
 to the moon! |
send shuttles and things to space. for some reason they also make submarines and weather buoys for the weather service. seems like they dont go hand in hand and i never received clarification on this pairing.
so, these testing paddocks are similar to what you see when the shuttle goes off, except there isnt a shuttle. just an engine. we didnt get to see any tests but we were told that you can here these engine tests more than 100 miles away on a cloudy day. because the clouds hold the sound down and push it out while clear sky will allow the sound to travel straight up. interesting. what wasnt interesting was watching from the bus. they didnt allow us to get out and look at these huge platforms.
eventually we made it through the grounds, seeing a number of platforms and hearing some history. then we were deposited at the museum - still free - outside were a bunch of the engines and buoys and things that they tested there. i walked around outside and the bus left. it would come back in an hour. i went inside and explored a bit. i watched some videos about space travel, i got to practice landing a space shuttle (i didnt do very good) and then i just walked around more. it wasnt very exciting there and we werent allowed to go off on the grounds alone. so i waited for the bus to come back and left with it.
when i got back to my truck it was still pretty early. and i was on the way into new orleans. like i said, i missed the road i wanted to take it (the one that goes through the bayou and is barely on land for a large portion of it) and the road in front of me was the expressway. boring. i backtracked the ten miles or so for the good road. i was still about 30 miles out from new orleans and i hadnt made any contact with the people i was to meet there. so i took it easy. i drove and looked into lake pontcharain on one side, the gulf of mexico on another and the mississippi river delta on the other. it was pretty nice.
when i started getting closer to the city i saw my first katrina house. when hurricane katrina happened i beleived it was a big deal, but i didnt really follow it or know much of what was going on. in the years since then i have learned more about it and paid closer attention to some things. and i had read that much of the lower ninth ward was still (four years later) uninhabited and when i saw the first house with that spraypainted house i was taken by some shame or pain or something. probably just disbelief.
 many more where this is at |
surely there couldnt be a whole neighborhood that is still empty with all the houses having these X's spraypainted next to the front door. it would be a few more days before i went to the lower ninth ward, but i would find exactly this.
so, back into the city. the way i came up brought me right into downtown and i guided my way towards a visitor center. i watched a film in there about the history of nola and read some plaques and stuff. heres the thing about new orleans, i have never even wanted to come here. there has never been anything drawing me here the main reason that i came here on this trip was becasue i knew some folks here and would be able to take a shower! but so far i hadnt found any of these people and it was starting to rain.
so i went to the library for a bit and then i was back out into the night. i went to the french quarter...what else are you supposed to do? it was lightly raining so there werent that many people out there. it was friday night. i walked around for an hour or three, just up and down the streets of the french quarter. and when i felt i had had enough and it was late enough for me to find a place to park for the night, i did just that. still without finding my people, in a city that i wasnt too fond of, and i slept.
in the morning i read my book for a long time and then went to the library when it opened. i was only there for a short bit and then i found myself back in the french quarter. i dont know why there is such a draw to this part of the town, but it is the place to go. i started being in contact with melee, the person that i knew in nola. started being in contact means that there was some phone tag. and i was down in the quarter just enjoying it. it was nice out and it was becoming the place that you see pictures of growing up.
the streets were starting to be blocked off, a bunch more people were out on the streets. and on the streets, not the sidewalks. just walking around drinking in the streets, because thats okay here too. i walked around there for at least four hours. just up and down most of the streets, i paid close attention to bourbon street and decatur street. around dark i got myself a beer and walked around. i watched people singing karaoke in the bars. in one bar i saw a guy going down on some lady on stage. eventually she fell on the ground and popped back up.
i saw a car catch on fire randomly. a fire truck came and put it out and then the guys that were in the car started taking the stereo and sub woofers and things like that from the car. i thought that was strange, why not just move the car? about two hours after it happened i walked back by this place and the guys were still out there. no tow truck or anything, just a half burnt soaked car parked on the side of the street. i noticed that my phone had died and i decided that i would walk back to my truck to charge it and continue playing phone tag.
along the way i came across a parade of santa's. i stood in the road watching them all pass and thought about joining up, but decided against it. a number of these folks complemented me on my santa beard. but then i went back to the truck and melee and i actually had a chance to talk to one another. let me talk about this person melee for a moment.
i met her doing radio for
portland indymedia, probably in 2004. that year was one that i would never have again. i did a lot of traveling and saw many people who knew me and/or liked me. in short, i was popular. that was something that i had never really experienced and certainly didnt go about it traditionally. because, part of my personality was just being mean to people. so, i met melee and was mean to her. and i didnt think about it again, she was real young and seemed to be smitten with me, and i didnt want any of that. so i was mean and turned her away.
and that was it, i dont think we ever even had a conversation, but here i was talking to her for what should be the first time. and she is filling me in on the place we are going tonight. she doesnt really live anywhere in nola, she stays at two main places and where i was meeting her was the house that she regularly sleeps at. i got there first and met a person that i knew before. his name was matt pist. he traveled together for a few weeks in 2004 but he has since forgotten me. even though he met my parents. to be fair, i had forgotten him as well until this trip when someone reminded me of him and that he was the person that i had traveled away from new york with.
so, anyway. he and i went to the store with some other dude and bought some beer. then we came back to this place to hang out. if there were ever a place i did not want to be this was it. the epitome of the place i like least. first off, i dont really like dogs. and this was a dog haven. there were maybe six people up there when i came up. there were four dogs. the people were just sitting around smoking and watching tv. i sat there for a moment, met the folks that were there and proceeded to drink beer. something to make me a more friendly person.
shortly melee showed up and we talked to each other. she and i spent most of the night talking amongst ourselves, with matt being in there now and again. more people were showing up. not like a party, these people were just staying here. i found out that the folks who live in the house use
couchsurfing, and regularly have guests there. so, we were hanging out people busted out some guitars and were playing songs. the room was smoky the beer and whiskey were going down the hatch. life was good. this was new orleans.
hours into the night melee confesses to me that she has had a ridiculous crush on me. i turn away. this is not something that i want to here. so i go to the bathroom. when i come out of the bathroom she is standing there and proceeds to accost me. shortly thereafter matt comes into this room and finds us making out with one another. matt and melee date. so there was an awkward moment and shortly thereafter i went back into the room and listened to some music playing. shortly i said my goodbyes to folks and retired to my truck for the night.
i was fine down there. i was a bit drunk and debating whether or not i shouldve allowed this whole making out business to happen when there came a knock on the door. it was melee, who wanted to come into my truck with me saying something along the lines like "you didnt really think i wasnt coming down here?" but, honestly, it hadnt even crossed my mind that she might come down here. i wasnt terribly into the idea of having her in my truck with me, but she was persistent.
time wore on and we made out more. other things happened. i want to explain more of this away, but i also dont really want to commit these things to words.
eventually she went back upstairs - which was nice - and i got to sleep! it was very late/early and i was tired. i got up around 11:am and i was still tired. i went upstairs to find most people still asleep. melee was up and we chatted for a little bit. i just wanted to go sit somewhere and use the internet, she wanted to come with me but didnt want to ask if she could. eventually matt woke up and he took about an hour to get ready but the three of us eventually went out to some coffee shop just outside the french quarter.
matt and i sat there on our computers while melee sat there with her dog wanting attention. oh, let me get another thing out there.
when i was in buffalo i started smoking cigarettes. i glossed over it pretty much entirely on this blog, becuase i didnt really want to be a smoker. i had been determined to stop smoking as soon as my tobacco ran out. it was this morning that it did run out - sunday morning. i am happy to say that once i decided not to smoke anymore it has barely crossed my mind since then and now i can consider myself a nonsmoker again. or, hopefully, i can be like aleister crowley in 'diary of a drug fiend' and use drug to my advantage. use them freely and without abandon and not get addicted because my mind has them beat. maybe. but for now i am going to settle with being a non smoker. my lungs are happy, but i have always liked smoking.
so, once matt was ready the three of us went out and sat a cafe for an hour or so. melee wanted more cigarettes but had no money. matt gave her some, but not enough and she came back blah blah blah. after awhile we went and matt bought a pizza that we shared. i like matt, he is a nice guy. then we went and walked around the french quarter some more. we were walking around there for a couple hours it felt like, and after the night before and everything my body was simply drained.
i asked them if we could go back to the truck soon, which meant going back to the house. i let melee know that i wanted some time to be alone for awhile, to just be away from people. it felt strange having to explain this, but she was also determined to spend as much time around me as she possibly could. so i had to get away. i went to a parking lot somewhere and parked. i got in the back of my truck and laid there reading in the light. eventually i fell asleep and didnt wake up for hours.
then i drove away from the parking lot to a street nearby and parked for the night. the next day i was on my own for a bit more. i texted melee but since she doesnt have a phone it was to someone else and when she got it it was much later. anyway, i took advantage of this time. i was planning on leaving the next day, tuesday, and i still hadnt actually gotten to the ninth ward. so i set off for it.
 the crushed house |
and it really was a forgotten place. it is only a mile or two outside of the french quarter, but they are literally worlds apart. as soon as i crossed the industiral channel to get into the ninth ward i saw a house that had been flattened (and i thought, but didnt confirm that this might be where the tanker came ashore in the ninth ward) and the entire block it was on was boarded up. it looked as if no one had been there for ages.
i drove around for awhile, i got out periodically and walked around a few blocks. it was creepy there. there ere all of these houses without doors or windows, some boarded up but not all of them. it was like the world had come to an end and i was waiting for the zomie/vampires to come out and attack me. i went into a couple of the houses, and a school. at one point i found a couple of cats that i made some noises too. they followed me around after that. it was pretty amazing, two of them, the followed me for about eight blocks and into some of the ruins.
i dont have the words to describe what this place looks like and what it feels like to be there. eerie would be the best i can come up with. i drove more and came upon this set of tri-plexs. they were kind of off on their own, wrapped in cyclone fencing but the fence was torn down and vehicles could drive in there. it was one
 zombie/vampire = bad |
block on either side of the road, these pastel colored houses. i walked through them, the mold and festering smell was powerful. i kept hearing noises and was terrified that someone was going to jump out at me.
it was at this point when i got a text message saying that i shouldnt be in the ninth ward after dark, this was from matt. it was almost dark now so i decided that it was as good a time as any to get out of there. i drove slowly through the ninth ward again, wondering what will come of this place. then i went back to the house where i was the other night. it was just after 5:pm, when i pulled up matt was leaving for work.
i went up and the scene was much like the first time i came up there. some folks were watching tv and melee was putting on makeup. there were many dogs running around. i sat down and watched some tv. this went on for about two hours. again, more people came and went (including more dogs) and around 7:pm it was time for us to go to the bar. and, wouldnt you know it, we were going to the dog bar. st. roch's is where we went, a bar that allows dogs inside.
i was visibly having no fun sitting in the apartment watching tv. i wasnt saying much and i was only moving to push dogs that had tried to lay on my feet of of me. melee picked up on this and we left a bit before everyone else. we got to the bar and i bought a pitcher of beer. it wa cheap pitcher night which is why we were going. there were a bunch of dogs in the place and i wasnt entirely happy about this development.
shortly more folks in our party showed up and more people were buying beer so i drank more and became more and more friendly. i chatted with some people i didnt know and was having an okay time. some of the couchsurfers had come to the bar, i hadnt met them yet because i wasnt actaully staying at the apartment. they were three people that just didnt fit together well at first sight. they had met up on couchsurfing to travel together. a short chubby woman with a bit black eye, a tall balding guy wearing a tshirt and glasses, and then a hippie girl called sunshine.
at some point in the night sunshine noticed me and wanted to touch my beard. that happened for awhile and then things were a blur for a bit. i was talking and then not, milling about, etc. sunshine had a mint and showed it to me in her mouth in such a way that suggested she wanted me to remove it with my own mouth (i hope that was verbose enough.) and this, i did. so, the two of us were making out a bit in the bar and i asked her to come outside with me.
why she did, i do now know, but sunshine invited melee outside as well. i was looking forward to getting away a bit, but oh well. the three of us were outside making out for awhile. then melee pulled some dominatrix thing with sunshine and scared her off. at this point i was drunk and just wanted to be away from people sleeping. i went into my truck, but melee came in there shortly afterwards. we made out and messed around for a bit until some came knocking. there was something with melee's dog inside and she went to deal with it.
i cleaned up and came out and was ready to ditch the joint. everyone was leaving, headed back to the house, melee got into a bit of a fight with some of the bar people about her dog and then we left. we got a bit lost on the way back and i couldnt think of anything i wanted more than to just be by myself. but we got back to the house. it had been raining heavily and i was parked in a large puddle. we went upstairs and people started talking about the night and that stuff. i asked sunshine if she wanted to come out to my truck with me, but she said no.
then i snuck out the back door and went to my truck alone. i didnt announce leaving, and the way i was parked there was a puddle a couple inches deep around most of my truck. i jumped onto the bumper and then got inside. inside i locked the door with some hemp that i had there (for that reason). then i got undressed and started to go to sleep. my plan didnt work. minutes later melee was standing in the puddle knocking on the door. i feigned sleeping. she finagled her way around the cheap lock and into the truck. all of my defenses failed.
once inside we mightve talked for awhile, but mostly she just made out with me. eventually we had sex. shortly after that she left the truck and i was free to just sleep. which is just what i wanted. i have half a mind to explain this a bit more, defend my actions and the way that i am writing about them, but i am not going to. that is just how it was.
in the morning i sat in my truck and read for awhile. i wanted to just leave, but (if you remember) i also wanted to take a shower. that is why i came here! i hadnt showered since i left richmond (almost a month) and after some of the things i had been part of i really wanted to just be under water. but i also wanted to get out of there, there wasnt much good coming from this and i didnt want to get stuck for another day. so i went into the house, melee was still sleeping. the odd van folks - including sunshine - were packing to leave. we talked for a minute.
then i went outside again and had to make a decision. this house did not have a shower. they had a series of gallon jugs filled with water that you poured over yourself to wash. not the ideal way to break my showering fast. the other option was going with melee to the other place she stayed at in algiers, a toll bridge away, a showering there. it was already noon and i wanted to move far fast. i made the decision to just water jug it. i gathered my showering things and went back upstairs.
i woke up melee and told her this, then went and poured a gallon of water over my head. then i continued, it wasnt that bad, but certianly not the glory i was looking forward to. when i emerged melee was up and not looking happy about me leaving. she was doing the if-i-pout-and-act-sad-enough-maybe-that-will-make-a-difference thing. well, that doenst make a difference to me. i had on my happy-to-leave face. which i generally have when i am leaving anywhere because i dont think about what i am leaving i think about what i am going to. but in this situation i think i wouldve been smiling regardless of what i was thinking.
so i asked if she wanted to come outside to see me off, she didnt seem very enthusiastic about that. once outside, however, i gave her a hug and she said that she wanted me to take her to algiers so i could take a proper shower and she could make me food and stuff. it was already almost one in the afternoon and there was no way i could stay for that, so i told her that as lightly as i could and got in my truck to leave.
now i hadnt dont any map reading or planning since before i got to nola. here i was setting off with about 50 miles left in my gas tank and the general idea of heading north. after getting away from the house i parked on the side of the road and looked at the map. i decided to take the expressway west on 10 and then north on 55. i figured what i had in the tank could take me at least until i reached 55 and then i could think about things more.
with that, i left. i drove all day and ended up in jackson mississippi. it was raining heavily again but very warm outside. and i was happy.
