This is MY Home

Last night I was watching TV and checking out my favorite news show, ESPN Sportscenter. To my amazement, the lead story on last night's broadcast was the sorry history of pro sports in New Orleans. This was the last straw for me. None of those players are from here. Is there ever going to be a day when I see one good article or story about my city? The negativity is starting to kill me. I must have missed the part in the history books when it was decided that New Orleans would be the place for all things negative in America. We, the citizens of this city must be crazy to live here. After all, this is the only place with corruption, murder, drugs, crime, bad schools, and poor sports teams. The rest of America is a paradise I suppose. I guess the millions and millions of people in prisons or in poverty around this country were all born here and we shipped them off to other cities so they could have a criminal justice system.

I am not going to sit here and allow the national and local media to lower my self esteem just because I love the place I was born. I love this city. I can sit here and think of many things that I love about this place and they have nothing to do with sports, jobs or economics. I am talking about that personal quality of life stuff that we do now or did as a kid that attaches us to this place. Things that you sit around and think about and it just brings a smile to your face. Today I am going to list everything I love about growing up and living in New Orleans. Of course this list is coming off of the top of my head so if you read this and I miss something please let me know.

What I love about New Orleans is.........

The Entire Harris, Louvier, Butler, and Baker family

Grandma's sugar cookies

Going crabbing with my family in St. Bernard

Mama trying to catch the same crab for an hour (highlight of any trip)

Buying frozen cups from Ms. Josephine and the lady on George's street (never knew her name)

Me and Devin building skatemobiles: We had the only ones that went straight.

Me and Devin making wrestling belts from beer boxes: You had to be there.

Skateland on Wednesday Nights in the Summer

Pattons Hot Sausage

Manuels Hot Tamales with my daddy on the way home from dropping my grandma off in the St. Bernard (this happened when I was four and I still remember it like yesterday)

12 kids under the patio of my grandmother's house all playing spades, pitty pat, and battle all day long in the Summer!(my sister started having nightmare about cards chasing her. Please don't hurt me Shell)

Crawfish Boils

Fish Frys on Fridays

Swimming on the levee

Mr. Lawrence's Sweetshop ( you could buy beer at 5 years old and nobody cared)

Suppers

My uncle bringing seafood from the Acne Oyster House (his picture is up on the wall in there)

Going to the old ice house with my grandpa early in the morning on holidays.

Walking into a bar room with my uncle as a little child and no one calling social services

The Lakefront on Sundays

Walking to the Riverwalk with the fellas after school

Having my first kiss in Peters Middle School hallway: I was a man then!

Joseph S. Clark Senior High School

Oliver Bush Playground

Humpty Head: You had to be there

Going to Krauss, Holmes, Maison Blanche, McCorys and Woolworths(loved those cinnamon rolls)

Standing in the cold ass weather waiting for that 30 minute gap in the Endymion parade(this will never change).

Mr. Bingle

Popeye and Pals

McKenzies

Second Lines and Mardi Gras Indians

Brass Bands (especially the Lil Rascals)

Junkyard Dog and Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Municipal Auditorium: You had to be there

Horseshoes on the Neutral Ground

Meeting Brian on Canal St. to try and get some phone numbers( I only got a total of two numbers in three years. That's a shame)

Getting banned from Our Generation TV show after making an appearance with my pro black partner Renee Wichu Keller. That could have been my big break but we were way to radical for TV at that time.

Papa Smurf

Zulu coconuts

Catching that Broad bus with Kendra to go to the school board building to work those cameras ( We should have went to school for that and started our own company).

A poboy from Genes before they started cutting back on the meat.

A seafood platter from Jack Dempseys

Drive through diaquiris

K&B 3 flavor ice cream

Kool Can

Pitch up tackle with socks: You had to be there


Finally: Devin (I miss you), George, Brian, John, Shannon, Dana, Joseph, Ryan, Eric, Cedric, Trevor, Angela, Damion, Fred, Kendra, Nicole, Renaldo (R.I.P.), Danita, Shandolyn, Renee, Wichu, Gaynell, Lonnie, Big Nose Ed, Chris, Wootie, Kenneth, David, Jerry, Joe E., Freddie, Gene, Lisa, Doug, Dee(R.I.P.) and the Truck

You guys make me want to do everything all over again the same way.