"This is the most magnificent discarded living room set I have ever seen"

Sunday is an idle day here at Common Ground, which I believe is welcomed by many after a week of some strenuous manual labor and some psychological battles (some of which are ongoing--and it should be noted that these are not my battles), and of course, Mardi Gras, that day of overblown hedonistic festivity that couldn't possibly live up to its reputation and yet somehow in the lack of recollection of so many, can't not be as amazing it's supposed to be. Work did stop for Mardi Gras, and virtually everyone at Common Ground went out to the parades--the Zulu parade seemed to be the biggest draw, featuring not just your standard beads and plastic cups being artlessly strewn about, but also coconuts. What made the parade truly memorable to me was that about half of the participants were in black face. All that revelry with a legacy of racism staring us in the face. These were black people in black face too. I'm unsure what to make of it all.

My past two days were largely spent working on a powerpoint presentation for VIP-types who came for the grand opening of 1800 Deslonde Street (what will be offices for Common Ground's legal, tech, and bioremediation services) and then also helping break soil in preparation for a rose garden outside of 1800. The whole event was put together in two days, which is a remarkably short time considering it featured multiple musical acts and free food for a crowd of about 100. It was minor miracle. I was approached to create a flyer for it on Wednesday evening, we had it printed and ready to be distributed by late Thursday morning. Until I started work on the flyer the administrative director didn't know the party was happening. Organizational troubles persist.

To keep things light, games of chess are abundant and there were a couple evening viewings of Ratatouille and Juno.