Cold Spaghetti

Email from Emmy, Abeona’s Director…

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Aside from a few little outings, Saturday was all about the Endymion Extravaganza.

My Dad received a gracious invitation to the event through a work colleague who is a member of the Krewe of Endymion. To our luck, the host extended the invitation to include Paul and I. Tickets to this event are few, sold early, and quite pricey. In addition, our tickets were not actually for the general event, but were for space on a private, catered veranda overlooking the Superdome floor. What an invitation!! Our friends and visitors for the week, Matt and Laura, agreed to watch the kids (on their vacation!) otherwise, we would not have been able to go. (Thanks, again!!!)

We’ve heard two numbers for attendance at the Extravaganza: 12,000 and 14,000. In other words, a lot of people! Getting there — in the middle of parade crowds on one of the biggest parade days of the season — was tricky. We left between parades and had to drive all the way around the Quarter and enter from the East in order to get to the Canal Place, the one place we were told we could find parking. Then we met my parents in their hotel room, finished getting ready, and rushed out into the cold night to catch our bus to the Superdome.

Thank goodness my parents brought a coat (an off-white boxy number once worn by Grandma Betty) otherwise, I may have frozen in line. And what a line! At least 10,000 people were gathered from all angles waiting to enter the Superdome — all in formal wear, many carrying trays of food or king cakes and trailing coolers. Each guest was checked at arrival: for tickets, attire (women in dress pants are turned away!!!), and gear (we saw a guest told that he could not bring his cooler in to the event because it was Styrofoam!?)

The Superdome itself is an impressive arena. It was the first time I’d been inside. It is also the first and only time I’ve ever wondered if I was inside the Spaceship from the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Dome is a huge ring of lights that exactly mimics the movie. (I was shocked that we got through the night without my Dad humming those 5 notes.) The verandas were tremendous sections of scaffolding built over the Superdome’s seats going down the sides of the arena. Huge black cloths hid the seats from view and a series of stairs connected verandas at different levels. We were on the veranda closest to the floor and had a wonderful view over the room. The enormity of it all was hard to take in. We kept having to remind ourselves that there was a football field under all of it.

We had just enough time to eat and explore before the parade began to arrive. The Endymion parade leads to the Superdome, winds through it, and then ends so that the riders can depart and get the party officially started. The floats used to circle the interior edges of the ‘dome, meaning that those in the verandas had the premiere spot to catch throws. This was stopped last year, after someone was killed after falling off a chair and onto the floor below. Now the floats circle through the interior of the huge floor. As the parade neared, crowds gathered at the metal fencing used to create the enormous thoroughfare.

Paul and I spent the beginning of the parade on the floor in the huge crowd. I stood on a chair (fatiguing) and took photographs. When throws came our way, I ducked — they were terrifying!! Not the gentle, tossed with eye-contact throws in Uptown. After the event, we noticed that the backs of our tickets held detailed disclaimers about any number of horrifying injuries that could befall us at this party — and from those warnings, I think I was smart to duck. After awhile, we joined my parents on the veranda. Paul went back down to try and catch light-up throws for Will and I joined him for the last 5 minutes or so of the parade… and in that 5 minutes, we caught enough to fill a box. People leave this event with more throws than we have collected in an entire Mardi Gras season! The riders, known for throwing more than any other Krewe, unload all their remaining loot at the Extravaganza… watching the amount of stuff being hurled from these gigantic, flashing, beautiful, floats is truly an incredible sight. With the lights, live music, people, fireworks (yes, fireworks!), and unbelievable energy, extravaganza is honestly the best word to describe the experience. The pictures below do a better job of telling the visual story… what an awesome sensory overload!

Here we are at the hotel, waiting for our bus:
The crowd arriving… a football field is under all of that!
Looking out into the crowd (towards the stage) as we wait for the parade to arrive:
Stilt walkers were included as ushers for the parade — the one on the far left is the son of friends of ours. He had also walked the 6 mile parade loop two nights before on stilts. Last year, he did the same route for several Krewes riding a 6 foot unicycle. (Seriously talented guy!) We didn’t know he would be in Endymion so it was a cool surprise!
Tailor Hicks was this year’s Grand Marshall. We missed his stage performance, as we left on the 12:30am shuttle to get back to the kids. It was the longest amount of time I’ve ever been apart from Kate – about 11 hours (we were stuck in the parking garage for an hour and didn’t get home until 2!)
Journey was another headlining music performance. They played after Taylor (at around 2am) so we missed them as well.
Styx was yet another headliner. They were the last stage show at around 3am. Yup. Missed them, too.
Every Krewe has it’s maidens… these ones had pretty awesome costumes!
Crowd shot — lights, spotlights, confetti, streamers, throws, music, dancing, crowds….!! A float as seen from the floor:
Crowd detail from the floor:
My favorite party-goers from the night! This couple (whose names I never did understand) watched the entire evening of madness from their wheelchairs on the edge of the floor. The gentleman told me that he rode with Endymion for 11 years, “in the 1800s.” I gave them beads at the end of the parade.
When we finally went upstairs, my Mom told us to find Dad “in the middle of all the girls.”
Endymion boasts “the largest floats ever assembled” and they are not kidding. Those things are GIGANTIC. They are intricately beautiful in detail and almost too much to take in, with flashing multicolor lights, themed decor, and hundreds of riders. Many floats are in several parts with their own generators trailing behind them.
Seeing it up close helps to get the scale of how big the room is when the floats are further away… errr… downfield?Here you can see one float way behind another. The scale is quite hard to describe.
A sense of the incredible length of the floats.
The crowd in front of the stage. See all those arms up? The riders actually get throws that far! Orthopedics must get a ton of business from Endymion Krewe members this time of year. The title float, Endymion’s Endangered and Extinct Species. Themed floats included the Polar Bear, Dinosaurs, Whooping Crane, and others. This title float sat on the outer rim of the Superdome after it wound around the crowd as a beautifully lit backdrop.
Title float in the distance with video view above. Each of those streamers were wider than I am tall.
Multiple floats near and far.
Catching junk… the American way…?
Beautifully detailed floats…
See the float lit up in the background?
The lights on the floats and the spotlights in the room changed color constantly. It was a different sight at each second.
Can you spot Paul in the picture below?
More float detail…
And more flag!
In addition to the live bands playing on stage, bands were also on many floats. Plus, the standard marching bands within the parade itself. Many layers of music floating around as the parade went by and wound through.
Colors, lights, sounds…
Crowd view.
After the parade… party-goers have loot everywhere. Folks start to pack up and get ready to enjoy the rest of the night. Krewe members join their family and friends as the main musical acts get ready to take the stage. Al Green was the first major headliner — he was great. We left as he was finishing up his set.
Looking out from an upper balcony over one of the verandas. What a great view of all the action!
It was an overwhelming, incredible night — a complete extravaganza!!! We hope to go this year… (except next time, stay in a hotel downtown and arrange for all night babysitting!!) We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to go and had an incredible time!

The last conversation I had with Helen Hill was a friendly hello at Abeona — we both wanted to say more but were overwhelmed with our kids at the time. I had hoped to send the images from Oak Street Cafe to her over the break and we had talked about getting together for New Years, neither of which happened. So, it may sound silly, but it was very important to me to get the images to her family directly. We dropped them off in a sturdy folder with the flowers and cards at their front door. Soon after, Emmy and Renee (friends and Abeona instructors) visited the memorial. They saw the folder and recognized it; wanting to keep it safe, they gave it directly to a family member and showed the photos I took. They were very well received, and were brought directly inside the house to Helen’s family. Media swarmed. Emmy felt they all were piranha-ish… with the exception of one British man who she felt was very respectful and caring. She gave him my phone number.

… And this is how I met Charlie Varley. When we first spoke, I had no idea who he was and acted very suspicious. Photography is a funny medium. It can easily be exploitative and I am very sensitive to this. I consider it a privilege to photograph people and feel that, particularly where children are involved, a photographer needs to be very careful with their work. So at first, I was very unsure how to handle Charlie Varley, who wanted to send some of my work to several news sources that were preparing memorial articles for Helen. By the end of our conversation, I was assured and agreed to send him some images. Then I googled him and realized who he was… when I sent him the photos, I wrote that I felt like I was sending a crayon sketch I made at age 10 to Picasso.

I was surprised to receive a wonderful email response from him. For one, he encouraged me to protect my work by adding a photo credit to the images and made some suggestions in that regard. Before sending them on, he embedded my credit into the image file for me. Second, he said wonderful and encouraging things about what I had done: “very professional and not at all amateur if you ask me.” He went on to say some personal things about being a parent and covering this story. It was, in every regard, a kind and thoughtful message.

Quickly following on the heels of Charlie’s message, came a phone call and email from Schroeder. Another uplifting and friendly bit of light coming unexpectedly.

Yesterday was my birthday. These little pieces of kindness and thoughtfulness were wonderful presents!

After taking photos at the Abeona Winter Formal two weeks ago, Paul and I went to Oak Street Cafe, our favorite local spot. While there, we visited with Helen Hill and her son, Francis. Francis attends Abeona; we got to know him and his parents (mom Helen and Dad, Paul Gailiunas) in the kids’ Sunday music class. Over breakfast at Oak Street, Helen gave me a photograph that she took of Will and Kate during a Music Together session. We talked about local photography resources, growing up in South Carolina, getting together for a “family” New Year’s Eve party with other Abeona parents, and laughed as Francis pointed to the Cafe counter, requesting donuts. When Charlie (the Oak Street pianist) sat down to play, Helen and Francis went over to the piano — and I took pictures of them.

We are just getting to know Helen and Paul. Paul is a physician and co-founder of a community clinic; Helen is an artist who grew up in Columbia, S.C. They are also musicians and involved in social activism efforts. Like the other families that make up our Abeona family, Helen, Paul, and Francis represent the kind of people that make us want to live in New Orleans. They are, like us, a family that has chosen to be here because they believe in the importance of making the world a better place and are willing to do the work that is required to see that happen.

The phone calls and emails reached us late this afternoon. From the Times-Picayune:

In the sixth New Orleans murder in less than 24 hours, a woman was killed and her husband shot in their home at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday, said New Orleans police, who found the bleeding husband kneeling at the door of the couple’s Faubourg Marigny home, holding their two-year-old son.

The toddler was not hurt; the husband, 35, underwent surgery at Elmwood/Charity Trauma Center, police said. The woman, 36, was pronounced dead at the scene. But friends identified the Marigny couple as Helen Hill, an animator and filmmaker, and Paul Gailiunas, a doctor.

We are feeling and thinking many things right now. But there is one thing that is important for us to get across.

Before you dismiss this grand tragedy and tremendous loss as a causality of living in New Orleans; before you blame the citizens, the local ‘leaders’, the corruption; before you resolve to forget this city and recommend its decay and elimination — remember that THIS IS OUR HOME. And it is important, vitality important, to all of us. New Orleans and its rebuilding should be a symbol of what our country stands for — that the suffering among us matter, that resources should not be saved for the needs of a privileged upper-class, that the incredible contributions of this city be celebrated.

PLEASE BE ACTIVE. GET ACTIVE. Make New Orleans matter in your life, because it does. HELP US. Help us build back a beautiful, strong, safe home.

This Friday Abeona held an end-of-summer party. After enjoying two days of wonderfully temperate (low 80s) temps, the end of the week sweltered back up to the mid-90s in relative heat. Pool party? No problem! Paul and I took the morning off to share in the event. (Well, actually, we dropped Will off at his normal time and went down the street for breakfast at Oak Street Cafe — and THEN went back to the house for the party!)
Paul juggled; I played photographer (note: we have become addicted to our hobbies.) In the picture above, I capture Kate thinking on one of her nefarious plots of world domination. “Yesssss….”
She didn’t last long in her Bumbo. And I got more input from other parents who were there on our Bumbo issue: she’s probably a little young to sit for that long and she’s HOT in the thing. There’s hope yet for our intented Thanksgiving centerpiece!

The kids had a blast at the party. They attempted to make homemade gelato (it was too hot for it to properly set, but they had fun rolling the cans as part of the process), played in a pool, with a hose, and in a newly built sandbox, and painted the sidewalk with special paints and chalks. The teachers were amazing. Everytime I am there, I learn so much — and leave feeling so thankful toward this community of people helping to raise my kids.
I am just posting a few pictures here (just ones that are mostly Will and Kate). Abeona has posted more of the shots (ones not on the blog) here. Check them out, they are really fun!

If Rick Blaine had lived in New Orleans and not Casablanca, he would have had the opportunity to say this a lot.

Last night we enjoyed the Pfister Sisters at “The Big Top,” an art gallery/funky space/music hall/non-profit arts education center. They have “Friday Night Music Camp” from 5-7 with live music and art projects for kids. Our Music Together class met there last night. Will made a hip little glue-paper-cutout design on origami paper and everyone got their groove on to the swing-back songs. (Note: that little boy is not Will, but he was pretty darn cute staring up at the stage!)

Early this morning, we followed up the previous night with another art project: foam stickers. Will *loved* them.

Then we had our last summer session of Music Together. Paul joined us early on, which is great because it allows us each to take a kid. About halfway through the class (once Will got really crazy) Paul left to finish a project for Abeona House in the next room. After class we hung around to speak to Renee (the music instructor, an Abeona teacher and our friend), nurse Kate, change a poop, and catch-up with some Abeona events.

An example of how living is New Orleans is not all beads and cake: Paul’s project was to add rails to a changing table to “bring it up to code.” The table was a donation from another, very well established and respected preschool, the Newman School. It had been used there for many years. But because that School has been around for awhile (and has a history of serving the “society” generations), they are somewhat extempt from all the bullshit Abeona has had to deal with. To show the ridiculous level of the “code” — this particular changing table is actually deeper than the other with-bar changing tables in the House, yet the inspector refused to let us open without adding bars to the table or removing it. Rather than throw it out, Paul volunteered to put his woodworking skills to it, using scrap wood we had in the back. Hopefully, Paul will blog soon about some of the other hoops Abeona has had to jump through; he can tell the stories better than me. Seriously: New Orleans is an AWESOME place to live. If it weren’t a completely unique, amazing experience, no one would put up with the crap we have to deal with to live here.

I digress. After class, as is our tradition, we headed down a few blocks to Oak Street Cafe. Friendly staff who know us, eat up our kids, and serve great food. Plus the NOLA charm of live piano, blue plate specials, local coffee, and neighborhood style — we love it.

Paul is juggling in the park with the NOLA juggling club and the kids are napping as I write this. I’m not sure what this afternoon holds, but we’re off to a great start!

After a great french-toast-and-eggs breakfast, Paul, Will and I headed out to City Park to the Mid City Art Market.
It could not have been a more perfectly beautiful day… clear skies, wonderful temps, light breeze, flowers everywhere. City Park, which was flooded in the post-Katrina 17th Street Levee breech, is beautiful. Volunteer clean-up crews and local non-profits have been instrumental in putting several of the park’s amentities back up and running, including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Botanical Gardens, and Storyland. The market was held in the Botanical Gardens, which were just re-opened on March 4th. The gardens lost virtually all of their collections; it is amazing how wonderful it looks considering the devistation. We browsed the Market, met Heather Elizabeth of Heather Elizabeth Designs (and her sister, Holly!) — where Paul bought a bracelet and earrings to “surprise” me with as a Birthday gift… not my birthday, but Kate’s! We also splurged on a fleur de lis stained glass piece to hang in a kitchen window, something we’ve been talking about getting for a long while. After strolling the artists booths, we ran into our friend Leigh Ann, who joined us for a walk through the plant sale and for a Juan’s Flying Burrito lunch. The end of our morning was spent in Storyland, which is a park full of child-sized scenes from classic children’s tales. Among other adventures, Will climbed aboard Captain Hook’s boat, visited Ole King Cole’s castle, sat in Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage, and went into the dark recesses of the belly of Monstro, the blue whale. He had a *blast*. I took a ton of pictures… so many that it seemed appropriate to put up a photostream in the old Flickr account. Feel free to browse!

Mondo Kayo and Pete Fountain’s “Half Fast Walking Group” kicked off the morning! These two local traditions march before Zulu on Mardi Gras morning. We did get one of the medallion necklaces from Pete’s group and it is one of my favorites from the day. This was also the first year since they started in 1961 that Pete wasn’t with the walking club for Mardi Gras morning (he was ill).