tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-297756572024-03-05T23:49:09.069-06:00gris-gritsmusings and ramblings on life and motherhood in post-k new orleansALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.comBlogger511125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-5975480330097101272019-05-24T21:14:00.004-05:002019-05-24T21:27:36.127-05:00Dad
It has been a year since we held your hand and told you we loved you, even though you couldn’t respond. It has been a year since we performed last rites and you that you could go.
It has been a year of grief—of missing you. And a year of relief that the “real” you is either released or at peace, gone forever. I’m still not sure which I believe.
It was five years of watching youALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-1679582095928044692017-06-09T20:48:00.000-05:002017-06-09T21:13:59.204-05:00TJLThis year, at some, point, I will be saying goodbye to my dad. It may be this Tuesday, when my sister and I go to meet him for lunch--the first time that we will see our dad in almost a year. It may drag on for months, with phone calls and a few awkward visits. We're both going to try our best to keep it light--to tell him we love him--to not let him drag us into arguments about his perceived ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-66385399912454745762017-02-04T20:00:00.002-06:002017-02-04T20:04:50.409-06:00Cold as a Razor BladeI have started this post and erased this post over and over again. Because I don't know what to say or how to say it.
I've been estranged from my dad for almost three months. It's a hurt that is inside me constantly. I don't talk about it with anyone, really, other than my sister--sometimes my husband.
Because what is there to say? Hi, I'm Andy. My sister and I had our dad committed for being ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-45082172008908418842017-01-31T10:08:00.000-06:002017-01-31T10:20:43.251-06:00HomeHome - By Warsan Shire
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well
your neighbors running faster than you
breath bloody in their throats
the boy you went to school with
who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory
is holding a gun bigger than his body
you only leave home
when home won't let you stay
no one ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-2446197316670584922016-12-03T23:36:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:37:14.650-06:00ElevenI hate the Elf on the Shelf a whole lot--and my daughter at age eleven, HAS to know it's me, right? I'll realize, in a panic, when it's bedtime, that I haven't done a damn thing with the elf.
And yet, still...go big or go home, right?
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-74407577256766581282016-11-30T21:39:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:48:54.721-06:00Dear Liberals:Dear Liberal Friends:
Hillary is not going to suddenly be declared the victor because of recounts in a few states. The people who make up the Electoral College aren't suddenly all going to grow a conscience and vote against Trump. The Republican controlled Congress isn't going to use the 25th Amendment to declare Trump unfit for office, nor are they going to impeach him. And if they did, we'd ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-19554547966479200522016-11-29T19:23:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:43:02.460-06:00Pride and Joy 2On the Friday night after Thanksgiving, I got a phone call that my father had fallen down (again), was unconscious (again), and was being rushed to the ER (again). By the time I got there, he was trying to check himself out against medical orders for the third time in as many weeks. The doctor was furious.
As you may know, it's impossible to reason with a late-stage alcoholic, so my sister, ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-24726017503926178942016-11-28T21:29:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:30:20.432-06:00Everybody KnowsEverybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
Everybody talkin to their pockets
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
And a long-stem rose
Everybody knows
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-30122395457853103762016-11-22T01:00:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:42:46.762-06:00Pride and Joy 1True confessions: my dad is in late stage alcoholism and they think the melanoma has moved into his bones. It's a race now to see which one will kill him. I know this is way too much information for the internet, but it's so much easier for me to tell you this way than in person. Because in person, I will tell you everything is great. Because it's painful to share this shit. So if you have seen ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-83499258022728652982016-11-16T21:56:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:56:31.846-06:00ArmandKenny and I found out we lost another friend to cancer this past week.
Armand was an incredible person and a brilliant chef--he got his start at Commander's under Paul Prudhomme, then moved on to become head chef at Gautreau's, before moving to the MS Gulf Coast in the 1990s to open his own place. His food was as amazing as he was.
When Kenny and I started dating in 1994, he worked for Armand, ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-26112350957544741582016-11-14T14:58:00.000-06:002016-12-10T21:58:41.954-06:00Yes, Yes, Sweet Jesus, YesALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-62706218947571835152016-11-12T22:01:00.000-06:002016-12-10T22:02:21.701-06:00Cinemax Theory"This election, you had two major Presidential providers. One offered you the Stronger Together plan, and the other offered you the Make America Great Again plan. You chose the Make America Great Again plan. The thing is, the Make America Great Again has in its package active, institutionalized racism (also active, institutionalized sexism. And as it happens, active, institutionalized homophobia)ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-79824355183326095652016-11-11T21:04:00.000-06:002016-12-10T22:05:04.212-06:00Thoughts for the Horrified"But I’m not ready to accept that this is inevitable — because accepting it as inevitable would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The road back to what America should be is going to be longer and harder than any of us expected, and we might not make it. But we have to try."
Thoughts for the HorrifiedALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-82747457959100987052016-11-09T10:00:00.000-06:002016-12-10T22:09:22.852-06:00DoneI'm done.
I'm done with everyone's racist, misogynistic, nationalistic, homophobic bullshit.
I honestly thought we were making progress--that we were maybe one or two more generations away from true progressivism, from caring about our fellow men and women, from wanting everyone to have dignity and quality of life.
I see now that I was naive. I see now that I was vastly wrong. We weren't. The ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-15667139760677556492016-11-02T22:29:00.000-05:002016-12-10T22:29:55.343-06:00PortraitsDuring the fall of 2006, I started thinking about Christmas presents for family, as well as about wanting a picture for myself of my rapidly growing daughter, so I decided to see about getting a portrait of Emmeline taken.
I had a friend at work who was dating a photographer, so she put me in touch with him. She told me that he had lost his studio and all of his prior work in Katrina (his ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-72902563179014367062016-05-04T21:35:00.001-05:002016-05-04T21:47:05.961-05:00Loving an AlcoholicLoving an alcoholic is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad thing.
Loving an alcoholic is living in secrecy--because when people ask you how he's doing, what can you really say? Anything but the truth. The truth is shameful to him. To you. The truth is a secret that no one really wants to hear.
Loving an alcoholic is grasping at straws. Deluding yourself. Willing it to be so, only to watch ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-30598845886221111602015-08-27T22:46:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:38:19.717-05:00Dear America
Everyone else here is writing "Dear New Orleans"
posts this month. I feel the need to write a "Dear America" post.
I've tried really hard to refrain from Katrina anniversary posts. But some make
it impossible to do so. So here we go.
Dear America: Shut up. No, really. Until you are also
willing to judge everyone who lives in an area that could be hit by a tornado
(which could really be any ofALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-4913059564601713272015-08-17T08:40:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:40:47.880-05:00Fifth Grader"I'm only letting you take this picture so I'll have memories to look back on."
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-41713148563435666622015-08-14T19:41:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:42:20.336-05:00The Rainbow Bridge
I am sad to report that Phil, one of the feeder fish we won
with a ping pong ball at the Atchafalaya catfish festival, has passed on to
that great pond in the sky. Emmeline conducted a lovely ceremony for him, and
we honored his short, sweet, wet life. Steve, our other feeder fish, is
recovering in the loving fins of our other goldfish, Dorothy, Elmo, and Oscar.
Long live Steve.
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-4111560961880579372015-08-12T22:43:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:44:10.985-05:00Why Your Team Sucks
This article made me cackle. Who Dat, bitches.
"As Drew Brees enters his twilight years we’re totally
fucked. Brees could kill and eat a baby on local tv and we would throw a parade
for him. We’re going to keep him around until he’s just a pile of parts
tweeting out ads for his Jimmy John’s franchises."
Why Your Team Sucks
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-73146913749762000772015-08-10T23:00:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:46:31.211-05:00Texts from Kara
Texts from Kara. Bc it's been awhile. And I'm missing her
hard tonight. And bc giraffes.
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-8771209405124693322015-08-09T23:47:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:47:27.617-05:00Clearance
Kenny: I came THIS CLOSE to buying a toilet at Lowe's.
Me: But we don't need a toilet. We have one.
Kenny: I know, but they were ON CLEARANCE. They were on sale from $300 to $100.
Me: But we don't need a toilet. We have one.
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-83512979159308074812015-08-08T15:48:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:48:40.125-05:00Space!ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-34908650575159259422015-08-07T21:49:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:53:20.681-05:00Notorious BIGGER?
After successfully lip syncing Forgot about Dre on my porch,
Kenny and I have decided that I should quit my job and become a rapper. Now I
just need a rap name....
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29775657.post-53288344520748095972015-08-06T20:52:00.000-05:002015-08-28T15:52:36.014-05:00Palin, Where Art Thou?
I like the GOP debates better when the audience cheers for
letting people without health insurance die. Is that coming up?
ALMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11332007394769106255noreply@blogger.com0