Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Sunday morning, feeling very cynical about the unproductive, uninspiring Displace Me event, Kristen and I went downtown. Atfer eating beingets at Cafe du Monde, we walked around aimlessly, taking pictures with statues and playing in a fountain until noon when the city livened up. At lunch, in true Nawlin's fashion, I had a supurb bloody mary and a bowl of gumbo. Cajun food is the best food. Oh, I was a happy kitten!

The coolest thing that happened the whole trip occured while we were waiting to be seated. A couple who was waiting on their food looked over and asked if we were in town for Jazzfest. We told them that we had come for another event and they offered us free tickets and bus passes to get there. We ate our lunch, hopped on a bus, and in fifteen minutes we were sweating like pigs under the hot sun and jamming out with the New Orleans Social Club.

If I had to come up witha slogan for the weekend it would be, "The best adventures are the ones you never see coming."

Addendum: For those who are curious, I have posted more pictures from New Orleans on my photography page.

The Gala

The gala was a blast. I got dolled up and went down there determined to meet some cool people. Boy did I! I ended up seated next to a couple in their fifties. I'll call them W and C. She is a nursing professor from another school in the state and he is a lawyer. We hit it off and cut up throughout the whole dinner- totally ignoring all the "Nurses are great, yadda yadda" speeches. Those women could talk all they wanted as long as the waiters kept bringing us more wine. And did they!

Afterwards the three of us went to a bar in the casino and had another drink. While there, I spotted a flock of men who were ALL extremely attractive. I mean, not one wingman in the group. I told W go get them and bring them back to the table so I could see why so many hot men were in one group. (Never challenge a lawyer). He brought them back and thanks to some liquid courage I asked them right away "Why are ALL of you attractive. The ratio isn't right. What's the story?" Get this. They were models! Ha. They were at the casino doing a shoot for billboards and mailers. At least I know I've got good taste. Heh. So we chatted for a little bit (they were a bit dull) and I sent them on their way.

After that W, C, and I played the dollar slots for a little while. We won $200! Granted, they put $100 in- that's still ahead of the game. When you play slots there is a woman who comes around and takes your drink order and comes back with your drink about 10 minutes later so that you will stay at the machine. Let me share a secret with you: Free drinks get you drunk faster. I swear they do!

W and C let me stay in their hotel room since I was in no shape to drive. Don't get all creative with what you think happened. It wasn't that kind of evening, don't you worry. I will say, it was strange walking through the lobby the next morning with bed-head and wearing an evening gown. W and C walked me out and I can only IMAGINE how scandalous it looked. One woman recognized us and you should have seen the quizzical disgust on her face. Priceless. People always assume the worst, don't they?

Plans

I've got an exciting week ahead of me. I am attending a black-tie Nursing Gala at the Beau Rivage in Gulport tomorrow night. I tried to find other nursing students to go with me but they were all too wrapped up in school work to do it. I will be going stag. One of these days I'm going to get to wear a pretty dress and NOT be all by my lonesome (although not anytime soon, it appears). I don't really know what to expect tomorrow night but it will be fun to get dolled up and go out on the town.

This weekend I am going to Displace Me, an event associated with the people who made the video on the Invisible Children that I posted below. There are 15 locations around the country where people will band together to 'experience displacement' being fed rationed saltines and water and sleeping under cardboard boxes. Documentaries will be shown and letters to senators will be written. It stands to be a very unique experience. I am taking my camera and my video camera and I hope to be able to capture some inspiring photos. The plight in Africa is always a tear-jerker for me, so any pictures of myself will definitely be taken early on in the evening.

One day I hope to go to Africa and offer humanitarian aid. I want to vaccinate and educate on how to stay healthy. I want to help build infrastructure, even if it is only in one small village. I want to help one child get the education needed to help the people in his or her home pull themselves out of the mire. Lofty, dreamy goals, I know. Reality has never stopped me from pursuing my dreams before, why should it with something as important as this?

Motherhood VS Career

I have finally finished a semester-long psychology project. When I signed up for Experimental Psychology I expected to read a plethora of journal articles (we did) and learn about famous experiments in the history of psychology like The Stanford Prison Experiment. I had no idea I would be conducting my own psychology experiment from the ground up. I came up with the plan, did the researched, performed the test, got the statistical results, wrote the conclusion and put it all together in APA format (which I'm getting quite used to after writing 4 papers in it over the past six weeks).

My study was to see if the women at a conservative Christian college in the Deep South would view themselves as more motherly or career oriented. I gave each participant a small strip of white paper and told the group that it was a PTC strip. I told them that a study found that motherly women tasted sweetness and career-oriented women tasted sourness then asked them to record what they tasted. They were forced to choose between sweet and sour. I found out that 61% of the participants chose the option associated with careers. Mothers were only slightly more likely to say they tasted sweetness than non-mothers and African Americans tasted sourness at a much higher frequency than Caucasians.

In my research I found that only 55% of working mothers spend more than three hours an evening with their children but more working mothers breast-feed more often than non-working mothers.

How do you feel about the work vs. home debate?

Invisible Children

This isn't a cheery post. There are not jokes, anecdotes, or anything of the sort. I want to share with you two disturbing, inspiring videos. I hope that you can find the time to watch them.






You can visit the website for this foundation here.

The schizophrenic serenade

I spend too much time on the interwebs.

After the Rain

When I woke up yesterday morning the sky was falling. The cats were freaking out and eventually the tornado siren went off. Luckily Hattiesburg is in a geographic bowl (or protected by an Indian blessing, depending on who you ask) and the only tornadoes that I've ever heard of coming into the city were during Katrina- which was eerie as all hell. The storm eventually passed, taking the tornado (they are only called twisters in the mid-west) with it. Once it moved on the sun came out to create a gorgeous afternoon. I walked over to campus and took these photos.

I watched Lost in Translation the night before last. I like that movie more every time I see it. I hated it the first time I watched it. I felt particularly in tune with it this viewing. The story is about a young woman who befriends an older man while her new husband is out pursuing a career and having a social life separate from their relationship. They love each other but they are living parallel lives, not a simultaneous one. Wesley and I are going strong, but I can relate to the female lead. Walter, my gay, blind, middle-aged neighbor, has become my Bill Murray- minus the odd sexual tension. Besides the similarities in two the relationships Scarlett and I are having, I think we are a lot alike in how we view the world and ourselves. There is one example I am thinking of- that will make this ramble cohesive with the rest of the post once you read it- that talks about photography.

Scarlett Johanson says "My pictures are very 'Girl goes through photography stage.' " I laughed hard enough to garner the cats' attention. She captured how I feel about my photos to a T. I still feel like my photos are missing a certain panache. I'm going to try and start carrying my camera everywhere with me. Maybe then I will be able to take more inspiring pictures.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Holy Jeebus!

I took a break from my Experimental Psy paper and wandered over to the Jesus of the Week site. I had to share this one with my homies.



Who says religion isn't funny? I'll kick 'm in the light switch!

What should I call this post?

Trust. It is something I have always struggled with, a thorn in my side. But a few nights ago something revolutionary happened. It was a life altering event for me. After years of struggling to trust, the thorn was finally removed. I opened my heart and my mind and shed my inhibitions about having faith in another human being.

This event, you ask. Well, it goes like this. I let a blind man season my food. No, really. (I had you going didn't I?).

My neighbor Walter and I have become pretty good friends. I'd say we are the highest definition of good neighbors. We help each other out. He makes sure I get a decent meal from time to time, keeps me from getting lonely, and entertains me with a myriad of fascinating stories about his life. When I was getting rid of the fleas (yes, they were fleas after all- how embarrassing), he let me sleep on his couch for a week. In return, I help him read his bills, sometimes read his homework assignments, and he rides to church with me on Sundays. It's a symbiotic friendship unlike any I can remember.

Walter is a wonderful cook and can work his way around the kitchen better than most seeing people I know (especially me). I mean, he can turn powdered cheese into a creamy, yogurty, garlicky, super-sauce for broccoli and keep me from burning the shrimp (how does he know?) at the same time. It's fascinating to be around him when he cooks.

The meal in question was a chicken breast that he cooked for me on the Foreman. He coated that sucker down in seasoning salt, sesame oil, onion powder, lemon pepper, and kosher salt. It took every ounce of strength I had to not to put a paper towel between the onslaught of salt and my poor baby chicken. But I restrained myself. I waited and watched. And hell yeah, I ate. It was wonderful. The tastiest, moistest chicken breast I have eaten in a loooooong time. Walter surprised me yet again.

Hey You!

Read This!

Not-New-Blog

Ok. So here it is. I read some fascinating blogs. They have funny stories about crazy things that happen, witty insight into such academic endeavors as el ping de pong, and all sorts of clever goodness. I thought that if I made a separate blog to only write reeeaaaaaaally witty things, I would be more inclined to do so. Silly me. If I'm going to be funny (ha ha or har har, hmm...), I will be funny here.
So yeah. I'm dropping the second blog. What silly person needs TWO blogs on which to spatter her ramblings in hopes of anonymous notoriety. Silly, silly, silly...
It will still exist-and even has a post- but that's as far as it will go.

Oh, and one other thing: Mad, where've you gone? I miss my DC buddy.

New Blog

La Dee Da has served a dual purpose for me. It has been my place to write about the everyday events of my life and my outlet for observations, political statements, and sharing of fun things I find online.

Lately the blog has become mostly a journal and a way to update my family on my life. I want to regain the focus on entertainment without losing the personal aspect of La Dee Da. Maybe if I have a separate place for such posts, I will be more likely to post them. I don't plan on updating it as frequently, only when I have something truly entertaining to give. I imagine I will be hitting the Draft button much more frequently with this new blog. The blog is called Eryn's Anecdotal Evidence, a place to share funny stories, opinions on current events, and bits of multimedia that I find. I hope you guys will like it.

Bumper Stickers

Asheville is in the Guinness Book for having the most bumper stickers. Anywhere you go in that town and you will learn where people hike, what their political views are (usually militant), how to best save the earth, where their critters go to school, et al.



However, Ashevilleans have something to learn from the stickered in Hattiesburg. In Asheville, you have to use multiple stickers to convey that you are on the same hippie-page as all of the other stickered hippies. All of your 'save the world- damn the man' stickers could be rendered null and void by one false move. For instance, all Che Guevara stickers must be removed post haste or the hippies will kick you out of their Utopian book club and Tips for Dreading Your Hair listserv. People finally read about their Hero to the People and realized he was quite the bastard. It's no longer cool to admire Che... unless you want to be a part of that group.

The rednecks know that the more simple something is, the better. All you have to do in Hattiesburg to be 'One of the boys' is have a simple silhouette of a deer's head on the back windshield of your car. It can't actually be on the bumper, this faux pas might as well be coupled with a 'Hillary for President' sticker. And it has to be a certain sticker (I haven't found a picture yet, but will); no substitutes allowed. As long as you can follow these few simple rules, no other bumper stickers are needed to join the club. Having 'the deer' gets you secret information on where the best 'kills' happen, which clubs have the loosest women, and which John Deer tractor is the best for your bush-hogging needs. It's a beautiful plan.

I actually saw a different bumper sticker today that got me thinking about this. It spoke volumes about the driver of the 1988 teal-green Ford, although not in the way I think the man expected it to do. The sticker said "I ((heart)) My Wife."

Now. This is a very nice sentiment but still a little over-done even if bought at a five-and-dime. What one notices when looking closely though is that this glorious bumper sticker was the man's award for attending a marriage reconciliation retreat. What this tells me is that this man screwed up royally and the oh-so-affectionate bumper sticker is his self-adhesive scarlet letter.

I've seen a few of these around town and it's pretty much well known that it means the man got caught. Now, I'm not saying that women don't cheat- I'm just saying that the wives are smart enough to lose the bumper sticker while cleaning up the double-wide.

I live in such a glorious town, don't I?

Alcohol Study

Right now I am in the alcohol studies lab at USM. They are testing to see if there is a genetic component to how alcohol effects your motor skills. I am in a little room with two computers, two chairs, and blank walls. There is another person in a similar room and a grad student giving the tests. We will be playing against each other to see who has the faster reaction time in computer games. So far I have peed in a cup, taken psych battery tests, and started to drink spiked OJ. They don't tell us how much we are getting, but I'd imagine I have a shot of alcohol in there. I've been given permission to goof around on the computer while I drink, so here we are.

In other news, I went to a conference yesterday for the Mississippi Student Nurse Association. There were five keynote speakers (four were interesting, one was useful) and recruiters from several Mississippi hospitals. I can't remember the word for the trinkets they give out, but I got lots of those. I'm such a sucker for that stuff. I still have all of the pamphlets and goodies from Episcopal General Convention last summer that I swear I'm going to read 'one of these days.'

I visited with Mamaw and my mom's parents whom I refer to as Dranmomma and Roy C. It was great to see them all.

There is a chance that I will be going to California for the National Student Nurse Association Conference in a week. I'll post more about that later. Until then, bottoms up!