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NEW ORLEANS - 19 January, 2005: Katy Reckdahl, a journo whose name has appeared in these pages since she wrote about me for New Orleans' Gambit weekly, has the distinction of being the first person here to ask if I'd been Jo'ed yet. I originally came up with the designation "Jo'ed" to describe how anyone who moved into close proximity of my pal Matt's girlfriend would inevitably suffer being victim to her irrationality.
The term seems to have stuck among the coterie of people in my own orbit in and around the French Quarter. That was easy enough as most of us have been Jo'ed at one time or another. My dear friend Scott, former High Poobah of the Winged Snake God, Quetzalcotl (now my honor) had it happen to him the first time he met Matt's girlfriend and has since been successful in never coming into her orbit again. Katy had it happen by simply leaving a message on Matt's answering machine, thanking him for helping her contact me for a follow-up newspaper article, and offering to buy him a beer for being the facilitator. Shawn, one of my former Nawlins roomies, swore that he would not put himself into the position of being Jo'ed after an appointment he and I had made with Matt to watch a parade and have a few beers. This is a partial list.
I compile this list on Poland Street, at the far edge of the Bywater district of New Orleans, because -- against all my earlier protest ations -- I have been Jo'ed again. Just as things were going positive here, with job interviews and money coming in from jobs I completed at the end of the year, Jo seemed to get upset that my life was going well against all of her (usually) negative predictions. So she decided to Jo me and make sure that I could be as miserable as she always seems to be. She decreed that I should leave the apartment she shares with Matt -- to which they had both invited me to stay through Mardi Gras -- and move into a hotel.
This decree hurt Matt, financially, as much as myself, because it required that he return funds I had only days earlier given him to kick-down for all of his help and support to me so that I could acceed to Jo's wishes.
I was faced with sleeping in a park, in the open, as a cold snap hit New Orleans, or find a way to fork out money for a hotel.
Matt was incensed and as flummoxed as was I myself, since, upon becoming their house guest, I had voluntarily done all of their dishes, cleaned their apartment and gone on long evening walks so as not to be underfoot. In short, I had attempted to be the perfect house guest.
That proved to be to no avail. It seemed to make Jo angrier, as each check arrived and I was offered more jobs, that she was being proven wrong. She found my successes a challenge to her worldview, I suppose. I know from conversations with Matt that she found it maddening that I could make my income sitting here in front of Victoria, my Memory Machine, and simply living online.
Luckily indeed, a blessing, my friend Nick had bought a house down here in the Bywater that he needed prepared for occupany on its open side of the double shotgun and we had worked construction together when I lived here before. He said that I could camp out at his new house, in exchange for making it more presentable and attractive to prospective tenants, and thus remove the need for Matt or myself to come up with money for hotel rooms as Mardi Gras rapidly approaches. El hamdur'Allah.
Thus I have begun this adventure in urban camping.
The stove is not hooked up yet, of course, so eating is a dicey matter. Catch as catch can. After I get things organized, Nick and I mean to hook up the refrigerator. He and his co-worker Drew will get the hot water going today and provide heat for the front two rooms of the house. With luck, we'll hang the last few windows, as well ...
THANKS & A TIP OF THE HAT TO SCOTT SALIN: When Scott and I first met upon my return to the Big and Not Easy At All, he shared a tidbit from his job as a cab-driver in this town. It seems that there was a dispatcher call in the wee hours for someone to pick up a fare in the 1100 block of Decatur Street. The fare was described as "a guy with a raccoon on a lease and a jar full of bees."That's the New Orleans Way.
21 January, 2005: It's been an interesting few days. Since I'm urban camping, there's been no telephone access, no Internet access and no food. You remember my old saw about people in New Orleans, Luv. Just about everyone will buy you a beer, but it's like pulling hen's teeth to get a sandwich. So I've been living on beer and water for the last few days, other than a slice a pizza from Nick.Matt comes over and is always ready for a beer, so he buys me a couple, too. He is usually the bearer of more bad news: my Brainfuse check has not arrived.
I tell myself, in my quiet moments before sleep, that Matt has more than vindicated himself by putting himself in the tough position (see my "The Problem of Heroism 2" essay a few Glass Houses back) by playing Damon to my Pythias (or Matt Damon to my Ben Affleck.) He has come through Big Time, as a friend, in a number of ways. At the same time, he has been questionable on his support of my own best interests: he's influenced me to move to New Orleans twice now.
When I awakened this morning, the Lord put it in my mind that I hadn't touched base with Scott -- probably the only other person up and alert at this time in the a.m. besides Yours Unruly and that he'd certainly help. Ten bucks right now could make a huge difference until the Brainfuse check arrives.
I telephoned him with my last quarter (one of the "luxuries" of living in the 'hood is that pay phones are, of necessity, cheaper than most places) and we shall rendezvous later this morning. El hamdur'Allah.
Between Nick's efforts and my own, his apartment is getting closer to being livable for his tenants (and me.) There's still work to be done, of course. Doors to be hung, finishing the windows, getting the shower going (I bathe,) hooking up the stove, et cetera.
I've been offered the job as a Community Organizer for ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), because of the hours, I'll likely have to give up my tutoring job. I'll know for sure when we meet next week.
Does this mean I'll be staying in New Orleans for a while, again? Lord knows. I still refuse to commit ...
WE BOTH HAVE TO ASK ourselves this question, my little loves: Did Rod borrow that money from Scott so that he could actually eat again or just to make sure that it could put this World's Magazine out when expected?Your answer is as good as mine.
All I can say is that after working on the Alison Weir interview, an important piece of media criticism and online journalism, I could not indulge in the Nawlins way of being late ...
24 January, 2005: EATING has moved onto the agenda for sure.With the proceeds from Scott, I bought a loaf of bread and liver cheese, some chips. Wolfed almost the entirety down in a single night as I hadn't eaten in a couple of days. The next morning only a few slices of bread remained.
Matt came over yesterday afternoon and took me to lunch at a barbecue place down the block called The Joint. It's a place I'd taken him to for dinner the evening my earlier checks arrived, reported here last week. He said he figured I'd probably gone a few days without food by then.
He also let me know my latest and overdue paycheck had not arrived in the mail. I find this development vexing and quizzical, to say the least ... Maybe today or tomorrow.
A small, independent and outspoken magazine like this one can't reach you every week without the support and patronage of its readership. As our way of thanking those who have committed to keep your World's Magazine here on your desktop through their generous donations, we feature their names and cities here in our Roll of Honor.
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TALK TO THE HAND
PART OF BEING JO'ED is that an inveterate News Junkie is cut off from access to the news. So, the "News to Rod" feature has to be in abeyance for a few weeks. (Trust me: I'll find another way back to my life-line.)Nick says he can let me use a radio, so I'll, at very least, have National Public Radio (NPR.)
LATER: Nick and his girlfriend, Kirsten, came by. He surveyed my work and then dashed off to bring me more supplies. AND I have the radio! Music! And news! This is working out.
AFTER READING THE WEIR INTERVIEW, which is the centerpiece of this edition of your World's Magazine, keep a few things in mind:
- NO, we are not anti-Semitic at GENERATOR 21. But, YES, we are heterodox and thus open to publishing various points of view on important issues.
- YES, we absolutely love hearing from our readers and it will continue to be our policy to publish, unedited, all e-mails you send us about articles published here or directed to our writers, myself, and our contributors but; NO, we aren't about to get involved in a flame war. Think before you hit the "Send" button on your e-mail program.
- Finally, we fully understand that the situation in the Middle East right now is complex, serious and controversial. We offer views in this publication to attempt to help all of us unravel some of that complexity and, perhaps, bring an end to the controversy for the good of all the stakeholders here and abroad.
If anything, articles like this one are a move toward more perceptive, not less, dialogue.
We believe, as part of the Loyal Opposition, that these views not only need to be aired but also should become part of the focus because of the policies and positions being taken by government that so impact our own lives and those of the rest of the planet.
The Adventure Continues
Tomorrow I begin my new job as a trainee Community Organizer for ACORN. It's a full-time job, which I'm glad of, but the trainee wage is less than exciting, as you might imagine. In addition, some of my friends (Scott and Nick immediately come to mind) have warned me about the organization's less than stellar employee-relations track record.
As Matt has indicated, the position, if it works out, does fit my M.O. as a self-avowed socialist and dissiden. You're not supposed to expect to get rich if your mission is to change the world, are you, my lovely?
I am relieved to simply have the Job Search, which seemed to have become never-ending, finally bear some fruit.
Since I'm completely cut-off from online access right now, it would have been difficult to trawl for anything better. I'm still trying to work out how to get this edition to your desktop and the caress of your eyes today.
Perhaps I am the only one who cares that this reaches you on the day I propose it should but I should -- at the very least -- endeavor to please myself.
Keep me in your prayers, as I keep you in my own. And, hey, don't be afraid to send a donation or a love note in this direction.
THINGS I PRAY FOR THIS WEEK
1. My friend, Terry.
2. Success and recognition on my new job.
3. Good Luck in New Orleans this time.
4. A clear vision of where Providence needs me next.
"Work like you don't need the money,
"Love like you've never been hurt,
"Dance like no one is watching ... "
Love,
Rod
Rod was a columnist for the Andover News Network, where he wrote over two hundred articles on web design and development issues. He was principal writer and Editor for IT Manager's Journal, where he reviewed technology issues weekly, producing 383 editorials. He became the Managing Editor for Electronic Mail/Newsletter Publications at Andover.net at the end of February, 2000, and left in September of the same year. He was a contributing writer for ACCESS Internet magazine, which appeared both on- and offline for 10 million readers in 100 newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle, New York Post, Boston Herald, Austin American-Statesman, Denver Post and Orlando Sentinel, among others. Rod was the US reporter for Silicon.com, a division of Network Multimedia Television in London, UK, reaching 3.5 million European readers, until May, 2001.
In 2002, he worked as Assistant to the General Manager of a Big Easy company that does restaurants and nightclubs. He did stints as the Resident Philosopher at three separate gin mills in that city in the French Quarter and the Marigny, earning his stripes during two successive Mardi Gras seasons. Oh yeah, Rod's had Day Jobs working construction. Mostly renovations of old New Orleans structures, houses and a bar. Sometimes he designs Web sites for other people so that he can get his creative juices flowing the way he can't at a staid publication like this one. And he's been the instructor in Editing for Internet Publications at the Novi Sad School of Journalism in Yugoslavia. Our Resident Philosopher is now resuming his hejira. He is in training as a Community Organizer for ACORN and hopes to make positive change for other poor people like himself. Now he needs to find an angel to hire him to do this magazine ... In his spare time, he chases women in the manner that a fly pursues a spider. 
He continues to be committed to integrity, chastity and a dose of humility.
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