Comments on davka: deer girl medicine: Best City To Embrace A Broken Heart In.

well a year too late, I say- thank you, Valkyrie! ...

2010-10-08T07:50:53.681-04:00

well a year too late, I say- thank you, Valkyrie! I might take you up on that some day..

and rest in peace Kirsten Brydum.

i was here before katrina, and left a year after, ...

2010-04-15T07:06:43.228-04:00

i was here before katrina, and left a year after, went to the pacific northwest. just finally came "home," if home is here.
new orleans is wild and beautiful and wonderful, and there is much more to her than just the french quarter. i live in a section that is slowly rebuilding, one falling-down house at a time. it is wonderful here. and if you ever think to come down this way again, please let me know, i have a place for you to stay, if you'd like one.
there is much beauty here. and peace, also, in a very strange, vibrant way. history.

New Orleans is it's own universe. It called me...

2010-02-15T16:19:04.507-05:00

New Orleans is it's own universe.
It called me and just when I thought I was only visiting, it kept me.
As an artist, a mom and spiritually, I grew beyond previous comprehension while living there.
Then it released me and once again I can hear it's faint call...
There is no other place like it.

No, I am probably not right. I am just so devasta...

2010-01-08T20:52:13.081-05:00

No, I am probably not right. I am just so devastated by my personal life and hearing about her knocked the wind out of me and I just couldn't face it at the time. I'm sorry for being harsh. I lit a candle and prayed for your beautiful friend that very night. My heart is big, I promise. I just couldn't bare it....

I apologise: you're right, i never should have...

2010-01-08T20:10:17.164-05:00

I apologise: you're right, i never should have posted that thought about Kirsten on your blog. thank you for educating me to a perspective that i am insulated from.

Actually, poorer people live with more violence, i...

2010-01-07T19:47:20.904-05:00

Actually, poorer people live with more violence, its only news when it happens to non poor, white people. Just being poor is violence.

And I wasn't blaming the victim, I was expressing anger at this subculture of priviliged kids that think it is cool to be poor until they are confronted with the violence that poverty brings out.

And furthermore, my blog isn't hiker's place to mourn for her friend in a way that contradicts my very positive expressions of appreciation for the city. I have enough dead friends and family to mourn, which was why I went on this vacation in the first place, so I don't need to add anyone else to my list and I don't need this person who has never once commented on my my blog before to show up and detract from my piece. Got it?

good.

Sadly, senseless violence can strike anytime, rega...

2010-01-06T21:54:40.816-05:00

Sadly, senseless violence can strike anytime, regardless of one's background, and to people from all walks of life, and also in broad daylight, on a campus, in a parking lot, or at home which is supposed to be "safe." When it does, please don't blame the victim.

thank you luddie bell, i've missed your voice!...

2009-12-17T19:11:22.871-05:00

thank you luddie bell, i've missed your voice!

Celebration. Higher voices heard when celebrated, ...

2009-12-17T13:59:00.824-05:00

Celebration. Higher voices heard when celebrated, thankful, rested, nourished. The garden has many plants no one listens to or knows of...The dead are angels in shadow...just one of us.

your words are deeply moving.
luddie bell.

hiker, and furthermore welcome to the world of tru...

2009-12-13T23:35:18.894-05:00

hiker, and furthermore welcome to the world of truly marginalized people who live with violence and death of friends and loved ones all the time, all their lives. they all wanted to be down- to be poor. Well, there is the real authentic taste.

thanks womananimal!

2009-12-13T23:33:36.122-05:00

thanks womananimal!

I'm sorry to hear about her. I'm sorry if...

2009-12-13T23:32:26.765-05:00

I'm sorry to hear about her. I'm sorry if you're hurting.

I have to admit it angers me to see white middle class idealist youth go slumming into the most impoverished areas of the country thinking dirty clothes and sleeping in the park will help them pass. It won't and it's disrespectful to use a city in desperation as a springboard for your "anarchist" agendas. I am not pinning this on this girl. I am very sad to learn of her murder and it's devastating, but we can't blame a whole city on this and it is very telling that a white girl gets killed and it's big news. People die here every day and nobody cares.

What was she doing riding around at night alone in the ninth ward? Did she think it was a joke?? Why did these kids stay in the ninth ward? Who do they think they are- do they think that they can erase their privilege by moving into the ghetto and that aligning themselves with poor people makes them somehow marginalized? That it's just that easy to understand a neighborhood and to make it out alive when so many people who grew up there don't?

ugh. i in no way want to be insensitive to the dead and to hurt you further, but these things need to be addressed and New Orleans beyond the French Quarter is no fucking joke and that's why you won't find me there.

this is so gorgeous and strong. your voice sounds...

2009-12-13T11:48:07.171-05:00

this is so gorgeous and strong. your voice sounds whole, with both hurt and healing. meeting your own prayer downriver? stunning. thank you.

I'll never be able to think of New Orleans aga...

2009-12-12T22:58:30.095-05:00

I'll never be able to think of New Orleans again without remembering the beautiful soul of Kirsten Brydum, and wonder if all that she accomplished in her short life would have been magnified a thousand times, had she not stopped there. I hope that she's not stuck there, wandering alone. New Orleans broke a lot of hearts that dark night.