Hippyana Herricane

Please bear with me through this last section or just look at the pictures and skim, I was on the plane and had more time to write.

If you can tell me what the title of this post plays on, you win a prize. So the big question friends always have is about the rental van that was my home for the duration of this adventure. No one is asking, "So how was the Boss?" "Did you see the Meters?" "Is D.L. Menard still alive?" It's: "Where did you park tonight? How did it go?" "I'm worried about your safety, be careful J.T. " "Have you had a shower?" "Where do you pee? "Don't you have to pee when you wake up?"

After spending two weeks on the gulf coast in September covering the aftermath of Katrina and the onslaught of Rita, I got pretty used to living in an SUV and eating MREs working for ANG. How's that for a bit of acronese? At least there was real food this time and the oysters and crawfish were back. I feel like on this fourth trip to NOLA I've come full circle by roughing it once again. So here's Hurricane Jane's wheels....a way nicer vehicle than I drive at home. The total age of my car and motorcycle there is 35. I hope someday a kind philanthropist will help support my altruistic artistic pursuits.



It really was quite a good little rig and it cost no more than a compact rental. The van's tinted windows and the power inverter which I brought to charge my batteries were my best friends. I must say the quarter is getting back to it's old sketchy self. It was the first time post-K that I felt like I truly had to watch my back, and parking has grown more difficult. Especially finding that primo cozy dark spot where the sun didn't hit until late and the cabs didn't cruise pass every 15 minutes. I was fortunate to have a great spot every night, but for security reasons I can't blog where in case I'm in this predicament the next time.



It often got a little warm in the mornings, but nothing like what I experienced back in the sweltering fall. I figured after all the partying each night, it was good for my system to sweat it out in my own personal sauna. If you want the intimate personal hygiene details, I'll be glad to share them with you. Let's say it was the longest I went without a shower since I used to crew offshore on sailboats. It rained pretty hard one night and I tried to walk under all the downspouts you would normally try your best to avoid. I need to use up vacation time at work and would have stayed for the second weekend of the fest if I had some friends with me to share a hotel. Those of you who know me well know I love winging it, but after a week the thrill was gone baby. Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.