This morning, I was reading the obituaries, as I often do, and I came across one that made me stop and read it a few times:


LIRETTE NOEL C. LIRETTE After almost twenty-eight years of living, laughing, loving and celebrating, Noel Christopher (Chris) Lirette was unable to find his way home and died on August 19, 1977. He will be forever remembered as a loving, and compassionate man who loved and trusted everyone. A memorial service will be held at Westlawn Cemetary in Gretna, La on Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 9:00 am with the Rev. David Baudoin officiating. Chris was a native of Marrero, La. and is survived by his wife Elizabeth Gautreaux Lirette of New Iberia, La.; his son Shawn C. Lirette of Lafayette, La.; and his daughters Michelle L. Solar and Wendy C. Lirette also of New Iberia, La.; five grandchildren; his brothers Houston Lirette Jr. of Augusta, Ga. and Michael Lirette of Milton, Fl.; his sisters Eunice L. Gambino of Marrero, La., Peggy L. Johnson of Lexington, Tn., Kathleen L. Ussery of Sussex, Wi., Sherrie L. Barber of Cumming, Ga. and many nieces and nephews whom he dearly loved also. Chris was preceded in death by his parents Houston S. Lirette Sr. and Eunice Brunet Lirette, and one brother Eugene Lirette.


Our paper often prints memorials, so I briefly assumed that's what it was, what with the 1977 date. But after rereading it, I could only conclude that he must have been missing, and his body was recently found. So I googled him, and sure enough, he had been missing since then.

http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lirette_noel.html



And then I turned up another link, where a family member divulges a little more information on a forum:

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2215931



How sad for his family, but I'm sure they are glad to have closure after all this time.


 

I haven't written about my trip to Austin with Jackie and Annette because it was just so fantastic, words could hardly do it justice. We had a great time exploring the city, visiting several cool shops, restaurants and bars. We had a blast hanging out and laughing our collective ass off with Bethany and Chris. We rode in a pedicab to escape an extra friendly homeless man, and had superb BBQ with Jackie's friend Rene. We got pedicures together (how girly of us). We drove past my dad's childhood home. And we laughed more than any of us have in ages -- especially at the Eddie Izzard show.

I can't talk about it. I don't want to spoil anything for Miss K and Tracy. Suffice to say that it was worth every penny spent on the trip. And I am overjoyed that he added a NOLA date to the bill so that I can see him *again.* The best part is that I get to take my nephew, who will be returning from Italy just in time! He was very envious that I was getting to see Eddie, but now he can too. Yay!

We took a cab downtown before the show in time to get an early dinner and have a few drinks. While we were sitting at the restaurant, anticipating seeing the Executive Transvestite, we had the rare privilege of seeing a real, bonafide Weirdo Transvestite! The first thing I saw bobbing past the window was the bushy grey ponytail and the blue tooth earpiece. It seemed a little bit incongruous, so I kept watching as he passed the glass door. I was completely shocked to see the fake boobs -- they didn't look like any kind of implants or silicone padding devices I've ever seen. They were more like the tops of Leggs Eggs sticking out of his skin-tight shirt. Upon seeing this spectacle, I got Jackie's & Annette's attention, so that when he walked past the door, we all witnessed the denim cut-off jean thong and the super saggy, wrinkled old ass!!! The guy was probably in his 60s, which is far beyond the age one should be showing one's ass on a public street. He wasn't wearing any makeup, nor was he otherwise adorned with anything fancy. Just an old guy, with his cut-off thong, silly fake boobs, and blue tooth earpiece. For some reason, the earpiece was the cherry on top!








artist's rendition
(and a very poor one at that!)   

Song Number 1 (name and artist): "The Supermen" David Bowie

Your favourite lyric from this song: " Nightmare dreams no mortal mind could hold"

Does this song have any bad memories attached? it really has no memories attached at all.

What genre is this? Bowie is a genre unto himself.

~~~~

Song Number 2: "Tracy Jacks" Blur

What's the last line of this song? "But it was always overrated "

Have you ever seen this artist live? No, and sadly, I didn't even see Damon's latest project The Good, The Bad, and the Queen several months ago when they were here. I heard very few people showed up. I'm such a moron!

Who does this song make you think of? It just makes me think of Damon and how cute he is.

~~~~

Song Number 3: "Fade to Grey" Visage

What's the first line of this song? "Deperir a gris - deperir a gris."

Where did you first hear this song? MTV in the 80s

How about the first time you heard the artist? MTV -- the video was so weird and cool and New Wave in such a dark, weird, fashiony way. Steve Strange in his cool purple makeup, the red lips, the wonky eyebrow, that black stuff on his face... I just loved it, of course. I'm sure it's in no small way responsible for my whole guys in makeup thing... Here's the video for you!

~~~~

Song Number 4: "Waiting for the Night" Depeche Mode

Which friend could this be a theme tune for, and why? Why Mrs. Shreck of course! So she can go down into the village in search of virgin blood!

Write down the chorus:

I'm waiting for the night to fall
I know that it will save us all
When everything's dark
Keeps us from the stark reality

I'm waiting for the night to fall
When everything is bearable
And there in the still
All that you feel is tranquillity

Why do you like this song? It's quiet and eerie, and I like the keyboards. It's very mood-inducing. I suppose it reminds me of the way I felt when I was 14, and hanging out in my room with candles and blacklights and incense, and feeling all arty and angsty and misunderstood... I really do prefer night (dark) to light anyway.

~~~~

Song Number 5: "Precious Moments" The Posies

What kind of film would you choose this as the theme for? A quirky bittersweet indie film

Who introduced you to this artist? Literally? Ha! That would be my friend Laura Ferrara. Back in those days, my reputation as a Redd Kross "fan" (read: stalker) preceded me. Within 1 minute of Ken talking to my friend and me, he said "Wait! Are you those crazy girls who are obsessed with Redd Kross?" Haha. Yes, yes we were.

Best part of this song: the fact that when he says "the endless foil" in the second line, it sounds like he's saying "the loomis foil" which is something from "Spirit of '76" which is a ridiculous, but funny movie starring Redd Kross! ~ooooo~

~~~~

Song Number 6: "Wish it Would Rain" Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.

The fourth line reads: "and birthday parties, fun and games with donkeys' tails"

Is it one of your favourites? Why? actually, I love the album it's from, but it's not one of my favorites tracks. It sounds more like a missing Jellyfish track than the others, and some of the others are just fantastically amazing.

~~~~

Song Number 7: "No Thugs in Our House" XTC

How long have you been listening to this artist? The first time I heard them would have been on MTV in the 80s, the video for "Senses Working Overtime." I've always liked them, but I've never been heavily into them. I only recently downloaded this album.

What's the cover look like on the album this came from? It's a depiction of the Uffington White Horse (wiki quote) "The Uffington White Horse is a highly stylised prehistoric hill figure, 374 feet (110 m) long, cut into the turf of the upper slopes of White Horse Hill in the English civil parish of Uffington"

What's this song about? Parents being in denial that their son is not the good innocent boy they raised him to be, but is in fact, a thug.

Has your favourite song come up? Well, after XTC, Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" came up next. I have no absolute favorite Bowie song, but this would be in the top 10 for sure. And weirdly enough, Steve Strange (from Visage, see above) is in this video...

Since Sonic was sweet enough to give me his Nano, I can finally answer one of these surveys. Some of the answers are VERY HILARIOUS!

IPOD.SHUFFLE.SURVEY
PUT YOUR ITUNES, WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER, ETC. ON SHUFFLE.
FORE EACH QUESTION, PRESS THE NEXT BUTTON TO GET YOUR ANSWER.
YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
IF SOMEONE SAYS ''IS THIS OKAY'' YOU SAY?:	Mama's Room (Under the Influence of Giants)
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?:	Television (Japan)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?:	Quicksand (David Bowie)
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?:	Song 1 (the Posies)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?:	Intro (Gorillaz)
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?:	Time's Up (TV Eyes)
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?:	Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (David Bowie)
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?:	Queen Bitch (David Bowie)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN?:	Praise (David Sylvian)
WHAT IS 2+2?:	Death of a City (Ken Stringfellow)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?:	The Twist (Metric)
WHAT DO YOU THINKK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?:	God Man (David Sylvian)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?:	World Club (Bang Bang)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GROW UP?:	Meaningless Love (Under the Influence of Giants)
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?:	Down in the Cockpit (XTC)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?:	The Anvil (Visage)
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?:	Pollen Path (David Sylvian)
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY//INTEREST?:	Religious Holiday (Bang Bang)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?:	You Drew (Ken Stringfellow)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?:	Throwaway (The Posies)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?:	Don't Rain on My Parade (Japan)
Take this survey | Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site

Last night, Steve and I went out to dinner at a popular local Mexican place (Taqueria Corona in Metairie for those of you who know it). The restaurant is family-friendly, but it's not a "family restaurant" per se. There were about 10 or 12 tables -- mostly couples. One couple had a little baby in a high chair with them. Then there was the family sitting behind us, 2 kids (around 4 & 5), their mom, a grandma, and another grandma-aged woman.

Now I have no problem with people bringing their kids to restaurants if they are reasonably well behaved. But last night, it was the grandma, who in my opinion, wasn't well behaved...

There was a big screen TV hanging on the wall showing the NBA Playoff game between Philadelphia and Detroit. Personally, I don't give a crap about sports, but Steve likes Detroit and will keep an eye on their games if he can. And there were several other men in the place, including at least one employee who were also keeping an eye on the game. As Steve said, it was Sunday -- Sports Day. I expect that in bars and restaurants around here.

Well, Grandma saw one of the employees who appeared to be a manager type, and told her granddaughter, "it's the Remote Man." The man approached the table at Granny's urging and she told him that her granddaughter wanted to know if he would change the channel for her. He agreed, and asked what channel she wanted. He flipped to the station, and Hannah Montana was just starting. So now, a restaurant full of adults was made to watch it (unless they chose not to look at the TV, but it was so huge, every table had a clear and obvious view of it), and several of them had been watching the game. Then, the two kids got up and sat on stools at the counter so they could see even better.

Not that I hate Hannah Montana so much that my skin was going to melt if her show was on, but I just found it extremely presumptuous of that woman to do that. I was quietly complaining to Steve about her for the next few minutes while eating my dinner. After about 15 or 20 minutes, I noticed that basketball was back on. I didn't norice the switch, but obviously, the employee who was watching the game put it back on.

No sooner had I noticed than Grandma noticed too. She spotted the manager again, and loudly announced, "THERE'S Mr. Remote Man!" He walked over, looked at the screen, and said "Oh, someone changed it?" And Granny asked him to please turn it back. He said something about having a 6 year old of his own, and flipped it back to Hannah. I was really ready to hurl my bowl of beans at her head.

When I was little, no parent or grandparent of mine EVER would have indulged me like that. I honestly didn't hear a peep out of either of the kids. And other than moving to the barstools, they didn't do anything that made me raise an eyebrow. But if their Granny always treats them that way, they are going to grow up with an unjust feeling of entitlement. And their mother did nothing to discourage any of it.

So am I the only one? Or do you all agree that Granny's behavior was presumptuous and rude?

Yesterday, I was at lunch with Jenni, and at the table next to us were two couples in their late 40's early 50's. One of the women -- to look at her and the way she was dressed, I would have taken her for a snooty Republican with a summer home in the Hamptons. So I was shocked to hear what she had to say.

I wasn't eavesdropping, but I could tell they were talking about politics the whole time. One of the men declared that Obama is going to win the nomination and went on to give his reasons. But then that woman said she was going to vote for Hillary anyway. Well, our primary was months ago, so I didn't know what she was talking about. I guess no one else did either, because she went on to say: "Well Obama might get the nomination, but you can still vote for Hillary anyway." She said it like she was explaining a simple and obvious fact to a child. One of the men clarified how things worked, and she seemed genuinely surprised! "Really? I can't? I thought I could!" I was floored.

And this woman is the American Voting Public. 

Phil informed me a few weeks ago, that Parkview Tavern was planning to have an Art Market. There are a lot of artists who hang out at the bar, so it made sense. I decided to participate, though I didn't have much new stuff to sell. Just two new things really.

When I got there, I found out that aside from Phil and me, Bridget and Colin were participating as well. I think there were 12 or 13 artists altogether, selling a variety of items. I had a great time, made some new friends, and sold one piece for the bartered down price of $125! Last time I was in a group show, the one thing I didn't want to sell, which I priced $50 more than everything else, was of course one of the two things to go. Same with Saturday. I'd marked the piece at $200 simply because I didn't want to let it go yet. But a friendly girl from New Jersey just absolutely fell in love with it, wrote down my email and number in the event that she couldn't stop thinking about it, then eventually came back and bought it. Yay!

Here are the pictures from the event.


This is the piece that sold. Sadly, I never managed to photograph it before [[iframe]]d it. And you can see my reflection in the glass. Haha.




A blurry view of the top of my table.


The front view of my table. It would have been nice to have easels or have them hanging, but this was my first time at a market. Next time I'll know better.


Colin sitting with his display (except the big one next to him, which isn't his).


Phil's display area.


Bridget's photographs.


Someone else's stuff -- I'm not entirely sure whose... Phil?


More from Colin. Steve wanted the orange cat, but someone bought it. And Mel painted the flowers in the toilet. Her only thing, she's never even painted before, and it sold!


Another view of other people's stuff.

There were two guys who showed up after I took these pictures, and I really should have photographed their stuff. One guy made these beautiful handpainted religious medals which you can see here. And another man made little sculptures of Mardi Gras Indians out of  used paint tubes, beads, and other little things. They were so inventive and cheerful, and it was the first time he's ever sold a piece of art in his life. I had to give him double high-fives for that!

Anyway, the people who organized it said they want to do it again, and I am definitely going to get in on it. I just have to come up with some things that are smaller, quick, and affordable. For those of you who are familiar with my magnets, I'm thinking I might do those again (little bitty individual hi-d arts on a magnet!). 'Cos people really want to buy things, but they aren't all willing to shell out $100 or more.

Jackie, Annette and I are taking a road trip to Austin in early June. I can hardly wait, as I've been eager for a a road trip for some time now, and Austin is as good a destination as any. It's the reason for the trip though, that has me in such a tizzy. We're going to see Eddie Izzard!!!!! I'm sure Jackie would like me to add that she and Annette will be seeing the Cure the next night as well. I never was a big fan. But Eddie. Oh me, oh my. I don't know how I'm going to handle myself.

This morning, I pre-ordered the tickets (being a member of his fansite and all). Check this out:

When I was growing up, I always felt like I was bound to be different. My older sisters were just 18 months apart, and I was 4 years younger than my middle sister. They were much closer -- sharing the same friends, borrowing each other's clothes. To them, I was often the annoying little sister. They had the same initials, SLP. I'm HRP. They had a few matching (but in different colors) dresses and sweaters. I would wear them eventually, as hand me downs, but had no one to match. When my mom joined a gym, she signed them up too. But at 12, I was too young, and I felt left out. Again. My (evil, horrible) grandmother would invite the two of them over to her house without me. Or even worse, on vacation without me. These things hurt me so much. I wanted to be like them and do the things they did. But even down to the most petty things, Difference was thrust upon me.

Another matching thing my sisters had of which I was envious was their Christmas stockings. My mom had made them long before I was born. They had sequins, and rick-rack, and a jingle bell, and Santa, and little stuffed toys on them. Their names ran across the tops, all shiny and beautiful.




By the time I came along, I guess my mom had lost the pattern, or didn't feel like doing all that work again, so I just got a crocheted green and red stocking. No name, nothing fancy, nothing sparkley. Out of all of us, I was the one who would get most excited to help my mom decorate for Christmas, and every year as I hung up the stockings, I asked why mine was so boring and different.

Of course, now that I'm grown up, I understand why things were the way they were, and I am proud to be different. Even as adults, they are much more similar to each other than to me. And I prefer it that way.

This Christmas, as soon as I arrived at my parents' house, my mom greeted me. I complimented her on her hip new leopard print sweater, and she said, "That's not the only thing around here that's new!!!" I looked around for new furniture or a rug or something; then she turned me toward the fireplace. I saw a stocking there that I'd never seen before. "Oh, the stocking." I assumed it must be for a grandchild or something, until I walked over to inspect it more closely. It was beautiful and sparkley and covered with little stuffed animals and a big fairy princess. And there, hanging from the hook-loop was "Hi-d" cross stitched onto a little stuffed cupcake! It was mine! I'd finally gotten the stocking I'd been dreaming of since I was a little girl! After that, she and one of my sisters confessed that she'd been working on it for months. One time, I went over for a visit, and they made sure to clean up the kitchen table of every scrap of evidence, as they were positive I would notice one little sequin or bead and become suspicious. She even took it with her to Italy to work on when she went to visit my middle sister. I was so overwhelmed and happy, I couldn't stop myself from crying.

And though I received many other womderful, practical, and exiciting gifts, nothing will mean as much to me as that stocking.

Here it is (and notice, you can see my former green & red stocking hanging below it).