One-Eyed Girl

The best things in life are ragged. So is One-Eyed Girl, a post-Katrina documentary about Bay St. Louis put together by some guys from Texas. It has just the right amount of history and scenery to capture what I wish everyone could experience of Bay St. Louis. Somehow I trick myself into thinking we are our Wal Mart and our hideous Highway 90 strip. Or worse, we are only as FEMA and State Farm will describe us, not much different from Florida or South Carolina or any other hurricane-prone area. But this film really got behind that to the damage and the debris and the gorgeous old oak trees, the locals, why we stayed, why we rebuilt, and who Bay St. Louis is. It paints us in that Big Fish light that I love. The hazy mornings, the Spanish moss, and so many steps to nowhere.

Chinese Earthquake not Unlike Katrina

I pretty much ignored the earthquake in China, but I finally got curious, and a story about how many of the dead are children in a country where families are only allowed one child piqued my curiosity. This story literally made me cry.

I can’t believe we’re being allowed into China and that these quotes are being allowed out. I’m so glad it’s happening though.

I can’t believe the government’s inability to deal with the situation. It’s just like Katrina, and it makes me sick every time it happens to someone else. I thought we were all healed up. I thought FEMA was all patched together. Granted, this isn’t the U.S. government in China. But it’s the same thing, the same idea. The Chinese prime minister shows up and acts like help is on the way just like President Bush did almost three years ago. The Red Cross puts out help commercials instead of actually sending out help. And, we’re left with church groups to help rebuild our communities.

I feel for these Chinese people. I know what it’s like to not know if your loved one is dead, and for it to take three days to find out. I know what it’s like to feel as though the government has cheated you out of everything. You can only hope in situations like this that next time it will be different, or that next time you can be self reliant. Luckily your kid will dig out of the rubble. Your parents will do something absolutely stupid like ride out the storm on a sailboat. You won’t need the government because somehow you’ve risen above that. But that’s a sick, sick hope.

P.S. What I mean to say is reach out to the survivors and the relief effort! I went through a terrible thing (Katrina – lost my house, my parents survived on our sailboat, and I had many friends who lost family members) about three years ago, and I know how nice it is to have that Red Cross bus show up with a hot meal or a free blanket when you have absolutely nothing. China needs our help!