March 2007 Archives

So we're in the process of buying a house. And one of the things that's been really frustrating about this is that it's really hard to get insurance agents to call you back. Since hazard and flood is a big chunk of the monthly cost of owning a home, you really want to know how big of a hit you're going to take when you're trying to figure out if a particular house is even affordable. And sometimes you really just absolutely have to know this stuff at 2:00 in the morning when you can't sleep.

Well, last night I ran across actual honest to god free public information, at the web site for Alpha Insurance of Gretna. Included there is the actual rate sheet for the FAIR plan, so you can know precisely what the worst-case premium scenario is for homeowners insurance. And if you scroll down a little on the Alpha site, you'll find links that will tell you what your insurance premiums would be depending on what flood zone you're in.

I found this stuff through this post on the web site of Helen Krieger, who has a real estate blog which she updates frequently. There's more good insurance info in that post, and more up-to-date real estate news in the rest of the blog.

Apologies for my lack of posting lately. I think the last time I saw the light of day was Super Sunday (pics here), and since then it's been an endless barrage of offers and counteroffers and mortgages and insurance and inspections and roller derby and hockey tournaments and concussions and work deadlines. My entire social life these days consists of my daily breakfast and newspaper and chat with my favorite waitress at The Bluebird. Everybody I know says I look tired. Yeah, yeah...but am I still cute?

So apparently I am not the only person who can't get into their Gmail account. Google says the outage is affecting "a subset" of their users. Like, 10%? 98%? Can I get a Venn diagram?

Maitri is under some delusion that today is pi day. Being a virtuous girl, she of course is celebrating a virtuous holiday.

Manly men know that today is actually Steak and a BJ Day.

Since my vegetarian wife is out of town, I get to eat steak.

Sigh...

There are songs that I was obsessed with two decades ago, but the intervening years of funk obsession and jazz diversions and sometimes outright hating rock'n'roll while at the same time killing the 80's layer of my brain cells have completely erased any memory of them from my consciousness.

Which is why Radio Blog Club is so cool, because sometimes quite by accident you'll run across one of them.

There are probably still cracks in the walls at KTRU from me playing this really fucking loud late at night during my Wednesday radio show.

Scout Prime and the First Draft gang are coming down to New Orleans in a few weeks with a gaggle of readers in tow, to put in some volunteer time gutting houses with ACORN. They'll be here March 30 through April 1, and will be gutting on Saturday, March 31. Then that night, Dangerblond will be hosting Geek Dinner 3 at her house in Faux Metairie with the First Draftees as special guests.

Obviously, if you're geek enough to be reading this, you're geek enough to participate in either or both the work day and the party night. If you want to come out gutting with us and be sexy like these people:

(and I mean, seriously...chicks dig guys with big crowbars, and sweaty dusty girls are HOT) then get in touch with me (ragicali at yahoo dot com) and I'll get you the form you need to fill out for ACORN. No word on which neighborhood we'll be in, but work is generally from 7:30am to 2:30pm, and all equipment will be provided.

And regardless of whether you can make it out during the day, you definitely need to come to the Geek Dinner that night at Dangerblond's. You can RSVP at the Geek Dinner wiki.

Suspect Device brings us this Friday Funny.

It's totally true, I guess, but if Dunkin' Donuts brought back crullers I'd probably even let you do me with the strap-on.

Andrew Sullivan pretty much nails it:

Coulter's defense of the slur is that it was directed at an obviously straight man and so could not be a real slur. The premise of this argument is that the word faggot is only used to describe gay men and is only effective and derogatory when used against a gay man. But it isn't. In fact, in the schoolyard she cites, the primary targets of the f-word are straight boys or teens or men. The word "faggot" is used for two reasons: to identify and demonize a gay man; and to threaten a straight man with being reduced to the social pariah status of a gay man. Coulter chose the latter use of the slur, its most potent and common form. She knew why Edwards qualified. He's pretty, he has flowing locks, he's young-looking. He is exactly the kind of straight guy who is targeted as a "faggot" by his straight peers. This, Ms Coulter, is real social policing by speech. And that's what she was doing: trying to delegitimize and feminize a man by calling him a faggot. It happens every day. It's how insecure or bigoted straight men police their world to keep the homos out.

One of my favorite rollergirls (I can't say my favorite, obviously, 'cause that would get me in heaps of trouble, but definitely in like the top three), Victoria von Doom, has filled a void on Magazine Street by opening the only real coffee shop in the vicinity of Magazine & Napoleon.

Cafe Bayard is a cozy little place nestled between Miss Mae's and Casamento's, with great coffee and espresso, and now pastries and sandwiches and I think wifi too.

I plan on spending a lot of quality time there, 'cause the whole telecommuting from home thing is starting to make me a little nutty. All you Boulignites should stop by and support a new local business the way I know you like to.

Between the ACOE lawsuit traffic jam on Leake and the Brad Pitt traffic jam on Napoleon and the roving Presidential motorcade getting in the way Uptown, not to mention all the traffic lights that are still broken since the f-ing storm, this is a good day to not drive anywhere, and just stay home and spend quality time with the dog.

And Gina says, "Gee, Ray, you've shown a real big interest in walking the dog ever since Cate Blanchett started filming down the street".

Yeah, well...