I go down south

As most of you know, my Mom and her whole family are from New Orleans. We were convinced by my Aunts, who moved back into town permenantly about a month ago, that my family should come down for Christmas to check everything out.

So we did, and here's the deal: It's really really weird here, and not in the ways that I'd expected. For example, there's a bizzare level or normalcy going on. Parts of the city are just completely ok: all the stores are open and the streets are full of cars and people and life. I went down to the Quarter, had some beignets, and did some shopping without seeing anything amiss.

Bourbon Street ... and never fear, the sketchy bars are still open and doing business at 10 am!!

Then, 20 yards away from everything being normal, there are huge stretches of complete wasteland. These neighborhoods are filled with gutted houses, and still have huge piles of waste in the streets and have retained some of the stink from the summer.

These were once beautiful shotgun houses ... the waterline on the sides of the houses and the piles of junk are just everywhere.

This is one of the thousands of ghost cars that were flooded out, and now just sit on the streets:

This is an interesting picture because it shows the cross-shaped marks on the sides of the houses that the rescue workers made when checking for flood victims. They even checked the McDonalds:

And finally, here's an example of a FEMA trailer, which you see fairly often in front of drowned-out houses, sometimes all alone in neighborhoods that are now completely devoid of life:

So the city is now a patchwork, and every time we go out to a favorite store or restaurant, we have to wonder if it will still be there. That said, everyone here seems to be pretty optimistic about the city's chances. It seems as though the people who have returned really feel like they are involved with the recovery process and are invested in making New Orleans a better place.

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from Snap Judgments (aka: me) to you!

In the interest of Holiday cheer, The intern sends this your way...

UPDATE: The people at this cute little snowman making site have sadly taken it down. But it shall be back next year (If I can remember to post about it earlier)

Reply All:

We've all accidentally hit "Reply All" to an email we didn't intend to send to everyone on the address list. I once did this in a study group in college. In my email I pointedly and thoroughly insulted someone to whom I then breezily sent the email. Really smart Anna. I had to bake him cookies for weeks to get rid of the guilt on that one.

But these days, when something like this happens, you know what people do?? Start a Blog about it.

This is the story of what happens when some poor kid applying to law school accidentally hits the "Reply All" button: a maelstrom of emails began to circulate around this guy in a spontaneous internet community. But what is really really funny is that if you look at the very VERY first email that was sent back to this poor kid you will see that it was DAVIN* who sent it.

That's right. This is his fault.

*for those of your unfamiliar with the concept of "Davin" know that he is my little brother.

No gifts for the Intern this year...

I think he's trying to blind me! Look where he sent me in the name of Intergalactic Holiday Cheer!!

Yikes ... and yet I still sorta want to make it my wallpaper.

Visit Amy...

She's weirder than me ... and that's saying a lot ;)

I heart America

Hi all, I've just returned to the States for the Holidays yesterday, and my drive from Ontario always reminds me of how much I love America.

Here's how I could tell that I was home: the proportion of Winnebagos on the road multiplied exponentially. They all have such great American names, like "Conquest" and "Minnie Winnie" (Yes, "Minnie Winnie", and I'm not even kidding) ... maybe I should exchange my apartment in Toronto for one of these puppies so I'll feel a bit closer to home?

My new Minnie Winnie...

My favorite things...

Well, Regis and Kelly as well as Oprah are doing it, so I thought it was about time I forced all of you to read about extraneous yet cool items that you can purchase for your friends and family this holiday season. This works expecially well for me, as lacking a "studio audience" I don't actually have to go to the trouble of giving this stuff away free.
Ok, I know that slippers tend to be a last-ditch gift effort for moms, but the Intern informs me that now I can give slippers in style...

Unfortunately these are out of stock...

The marketing on this puppies is really fantastic: "The Cthulhu Plush Slippers are made of quality fabric and your feet will never be warmer than when they're tucked cozily inside a cute pair of demons. "

Also, for a real slipper gift idea, Christina is far more classy than I...