Volunteering: I Think I Retired or Something

This is a busy week. I went down to the Red Cross this morning to volunteer on their phones. They had enough people on phones so they put me on a computer, which is my natural milieu anyway, so I made labels. Even in a disaster, you need labeled, alphabetized files. Right? Riiiiight? Actually, I totally feel for them. They are swamped right now and in a state of barely controlled chaos, due in no small part to this incredible influx of volunteers. They called me Saturday about one missing piece of paper that they needed before they sent me down to Alabama or whereever; I asked them about it today, noone knew or had time to figure out what it was. So I said, okay, I'll work the kitchen for you at the Asheville Mall fundraiser (Wednesday, come on down!) and I'll do clerical stuff for you again on Friday. They were happy. It doesn't look like I'm going to make it down to the actual hurricane hit area, but there seems to be a lot I can do here. I'm busier than I've been in months, but I'm still not making any money. Damn. Priorities.

As part of my volunteer activities, tomorrow evening I'm going to go hang the art at the Mountain State Fair. This is my third year, I'm the assistant superintendant of Art, believe it or not. And every year they give me a really brightly colored shirt to wear with a big ole patch on it that says Mountain State Fair. Just a beautiful piece of clothing that somehow - go figure - I never wear. Ever. Actually I really enjoy it. On Wednesday I go back to help judge the art - that's really fun. Since I started doing that, we have seen a shift in blue ribbons from the creepy oil landscape in the big heavy expensive frame to the ballpoint pen drawing of Ozzy Osbourne on a napkin. Yeah. Art of, for and by the people, man!

After I get done judging the art on Wednesday, I'm going down to the mall to help the Red Cross. On Thursday night I'm volunteering at the Asheville Art Museum's wine & beer tasting, and then on Friday it's back to the Red Cross. And, last night at a candlelight vigil for the hurricane, I ran into a person I know who's organizing a re-housing in Asheville effort specifically aimed at Nola musicians and artists, so I'm going to go work with her too. Apparently I don't have time to get a job.

It was a party party weekend, much fun: the first picture is the Lexington Avenue Arts Fair, or as I like to call it, the Lexington Avenue Freak Fair, around which I walked with my younger brother and our old friend H, who lives near Spartanburg now. The night before that, both my brothers and A and I went to Hendersonville, where our friends W & M were hosting a barbecue complete with many old friends from Charleston and all around, including the inimitable Bon-bon and his traveling Grill O'Smoky Doom, the 2010 L, which is this amazing grill thing he built which uses a fire in a beer keg mounted under an old refrigerator to make insanely good ribs. As you can see, much fun had by all. It has actually not yet been too bad, this enforced family togetherness and stuff. Really. Not too bad at all.

Yet.