I'm begging you for mercy, why won't you release me?

Well, on the 3 year anniversary of Katrina, I'm having to prepare for another possibly disastrous storm, Gustav. I lived in Mandeville for Katrina, and while we didn't experience the amount of destruction other areas (such as the New Orleans area, Slidell, and Mississippi Gulf Coast) had, there was a lot of tree and storm surge damage. The storm surge was isolated to the area surrounding the lake, but the fallen tree damage was unbelievable, almost. I remember the first day we came back. It was like a ghost town. There were signs up and down 1088, saying, "Looters will be shot!" The camouflage of the National Guard was everywhere. It was the most surreal experience of my life. Living on the Northshore, we were accustomed to evacuating for nothing. Coming home to just freshly watered grass, no damage whatsoever. It wasn't the same this time. It's hard to put into words, really. The movie theatre I ended up working at was on the Weather Channel because one of the outside walls was completely ripped off, and that theatre was destroyed. By the time I started working there, a few months later, it was still closed off because of black mold. Of course, it ended up being the IMAX theatre, but it still smells funky. Just seeing places you go to on a regular basis on the Weather Channel because of the damage is weird! My favorite coffee shop, Java Grotto, was on the lakefront. It was this great little place, where you could just chill and smoke cigarettes and talk to creepy people. It had an atmosphere I still cannot find today. The shop was completely gutted because of the storm surge. Just weird shit, man.

And now, we are preparing ourselves for another Katrina. I just don't believe it's gonna happen. Storm systems are notoriously hard to predict once they hit the Gulf. Why should this one be any different? I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. I also registered to be a volunteer at LSU in the event of a state emergency. I just hope I won't have to wait months to go back to school again. It was hard enough for me to actually be motivated to come back in the first place, I'm not sure how a hurricane would affect that.

I GOT ELEANOR BACK! When I finally saw her, I almost started crying. I did cry afterwards. I mean, this cat... she really is the love of my life. I know it sounds fucked up, but she really does give me strength. So not having her during a time when I really needed her, killed me. I'm so glad I got her back before the storm. There was no way in hell I would leave her out there to die. I would have had a search party going on for my baby.

In any event, since this is a music blog and all, I'll get back to the important topics. Oh, wait... I'm still on a quest for new music. I'm about to check out "Los Angeles" by Flying Lotus, seeing as how I'm in a serious hip-hop mode. Oh, and in an hour, I have to go to a meeting for my Music Appreciation class. That's all I got right now. I've got other things on my mind...