1) OLD PEOPLE ARE AWESOME
I have never worked so closely with old people. And damn, they can kick some serious ass. They swing sledge hammers, and they cuss, and they're funny, and they're thoughtful and they're awesome. I mean, I guess I kinda knew this... but not really.

2) I KNOW NEW ORLEANS BETTER THAN I THOUGHT
I have been basically confined to a bicycle for the last 5 weeks and that hasn't really stopped me at all from cruising around town... or limping... 9 times outta 10 both my tires are flat, which makes for a very different biking experience. But anyway, I know where I'm going and I know how to get there. I work with folks from out of town all the time, and once they hear I'm from here, the questions start flyin' and I'm surprised how many of them I know the answers to. I'ma lil navigator too.

3) I KNOW MORE NEW ORLEANIANS THAT I THOUGHT I DID
Well... they kinda know me. I was blessed to be, as one of my mom's friends put it "My mother in drag." We look just alike, is the idea. And my mom and her family have lived in New Orleans for 3 generations, so no matter where I go, someone spots me and we get chatting and then we end up having 101 excellent crossovers in out life, from friends, to camps, to relatives. Needless to say, I feel rather at home here.

4) PB&J JUST MIGHT BE THE REAL BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS
I have eaten more PB&J in the last 5 weeks than in my entire childhood combined and I feel pretty damn good. I do manual labor just about everyday, and just about everyday, I eat PB&J and that seems to be workin just fine.

5) THE NORTH SHORE IS AS CLOSE OR AS FAR AWAY AS YOU LIKE IT BE
My folks, and most others who I grew up with are on the North Shore, and I never see them. Unless they want to come see me. I mean, they're 30 miles away, across this big ass lake and there is just some sort of psychological thing where it can go either way. It is either totally IN the question to come across the Causeway Bridge and chill or it is NOT EVEN UP FOR DISCUSSION. Its funny. Either one works. Theyre is never any contest. Both choices are totally understood.

6) HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ACTUALLY IS A FAITH BASED ORGANIZATION
I had heard that before, but actually didnt believe it. Then I headed out to the Musicians Village and had Bible passages read to me from the back of a truck at 6:45am before I headed out to install a floor system. Apparently, Habitat IS a faith based organization.

7) NEW ORLEANIANS ARE BOTH TOTALLY OBSESSED AND TOTALLY OVER KATRINA
People dont want to talk about, but EVERY SINGLE TIME, the conversation turns back to Katrina. Whether they want it to or not, they do. 90% of all conversations in this entire city end up at one point talking about the storm, and when they finally break out of it and move on, they make their way back 7 minutes later.

8) NEW ORLEANS IS BOTH THE MOST INTEGRATED AND SEGREGATEDPLACE I KNOW
Well, kind of untrue, I mean Israel was pretty wild, but this place is WAY UP THERE. Black people live here and white people live here and they each have their little stereotypes and their bigotries and their racisms, BUT I have lived in New York for 8 years and that place prides itself on being so multi-cultural, yet I have had more interaction and totally positive interaction at that with black people over the last 5 weeks than I have in 8 years in New York. This place is totally segregated, yet totally integrated. There certainly is a palpable racism in the air here, yet a totally visible mutual respect and love for one another.

9) WHEN IN DOUBT IN NEW ORLEANS, SAY (ALRIIIGHT)
This is the standard New Orleans greeting. Not (Hello) or (Whats Up) or (Howdy), but (Alriiight). It means that its all good. Whatever youre talkin about over there, or whatever youre sayin, or whatever it is, its (Alriiight). Its almost Jamaican that way. Its ALRIIIIGHT.

10) HONDURAS IS ABOUT TO HAVE AN EMOTIONAL ATTACHMENT TO NEW ORLEANS
Dude, there are a lot of Hondurans here right now, and I have the feeling, not many of them are going back. I mean, New Orleans is pretty screwed up right now, but I have also been to Honduras and we make that place look like the Windsor Court. They have come in to fill the GAPING HOLE in manual labor and they are filling it well. They are kind and very good workers. Next in line of folks I meet are Mexican. But I would guess I meet 6 Hondurans to every 1 Mexican while out in the sketchy neighborhoods gutting. Can you say Papoosa Gumbo?