Category: General

I heard it Mardi Gras day and everybody went crazy when it can on and I saw this guy going to town dancing with a plate of chicken in his hand! I googled it, no good.

Bruce Nolan has a quote that captures nicely the way I feel about New Orleans, and choosing to leave it all those years ago. Substitute Atlanta for Chicago:

A friend who used to work at The Times-Picayune wrote me after Katrina. Her heart was breaking for the city. She said she loved New Orleans, but it made her crazy. She moved on. She said, “New Orleans is the man I’ll never get over. But Chicago is the man I’m supposed to marry.”

link

Today I was trying to get a welfare participant to come in for her appointment with me, so that I would not have to close her case.  I was explaining that the previous appointment she had missed would not be a problem, as long as she came her rescheduled appointment.  I told her to make sure she came to this second appointment, and she gave me a lengthy reassurance that she would be there.  My response to this shocked us both, I think.  I meant to say “Sounds good to me” or “Great, I’ll see you then.” 

What came out was “I like you.” 

I am an imbecile on the phone.  What followed was a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, before she said something like “OK, I’ll be there.”  We both got off the phone as soon as possible, and we both (I assume) wondered why I just told a 45 year old black woman that I liked her. 

My coworkers (who know that I am an ass) tried to reassure me, telling me that they had inadvertently told clients that they loved them in the past.  Yet this seems understandable.  One gets in the habit of ending a conversation with “I love you” when they are talking to their significant others.  No one says “I like you.”  Because it’s a creepy-ass thing to say.  Psycho-killers, the deranged, and weird children…that’s who says it.  Proud company indeed.

 So now I am left try to put this phrase into common usage, so I don’t feel so creepy for having said it.  I now tell people I like them every chance I get, and I encourage them to do the same.  This stigma must be defeated. 

That said, I would like to let each of you know that I like you very much.  Please pass this on.  It feels creepy at first, but gets better.

This is a public service announcement.

Tangelos (the abominate offsrping of the orange and grapefruit on sale in the local grocery store) are now officially added to the “Fruits to Juicy for Kent to Eat at Work” list.  The FJKEW list previously had only one entry, the kiwi fruit.

Wow, what a load of crap.

After all that patting itself on the back about tackling social issues through film and being the social conscience of America, too.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though. It is Hollywood after all.

I’m also disappointed that Mirrormask didn’t even get nominated for visual effects, costumes, or makeup.

The photo gallery is finally up and running.  Let me know if anything is screwy.

Here are the latest additions:

1. Sea Lions at the Georgia Aquarium.  I would have taken more, but it was way too crowded.

2. Mardi Gras 2006

Darn pictures.  Why can’t I get their titles to come up?

You’re going to have to forgive me, if you click on these, the gallery really looks like crap right now.  I plan on working on that on Sunday.

I need a good one real bad.  Someone please lay it on me.  I have decided to develop my own, and I am in sore need of some guidance. 

Be prepared. The site is going to look ugly for a little while. It should be back to normal by Sunday afternoon.

I hope.

In the first of many updgrades coming soon to elbuzzard.com, the photo gallery is currently being upgraded. Be ready for more functionality, and easier use.

In the meantime, you can check out my flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/elbuzzard/.

The backend blog section of the site will be upgraded as well, and the site will be undergoing a total redesign.

I’m thinking lots of pinks and purples.