personalised packaging

AUG. 26, 2015 New OrleansSeptember 2005The city that went under in the surging waters of Hurricane battery Katrina has not returned, not to the way it used to be.August 2015The city that exists now, a decade later, is a work in progress, an improvisation that is establishing a new normal.NEW ORLEANS — It is a wonder that any of it is here at all: The scattered faithful gathering into Beulah Land Baptist Church on a Sunday morning in the Lower Ninth Ward. The men on stoops in Mid-City swapping gossip in the August dusk. The brass band in Tremé, the lawyers in Lakeview, the new homeowners in Pontchartrain Park.On Aug. 29, 2005, it all seemed lost. Four-fifths of the city lay submerged as residents frantically signaled for help from their rooftops and thousands were stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor. From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee...

AUG. 26, 2015 New OrleansSeptember 2005The city that went under in the surging waters of Hurricane battery Katrina has not returned, not to the way it used to be.August 2015The city that exists now, a decade later, is a work in progress, an improvisation that is establishing a new normal.NEW ORLEANS — It is a wonder that any of it is here at all: The scattered faithful gathering into Beulah Land Baptist Church on a Sunday morning in the Lower Ninth Ward. The men on stoops in Mid-City swapping gossip in the August dusk. The brass band in Tremé, the lawyers in Lakeview, the new homeowners in Pontchartrain Park.On Aug. 29, 2005, it all seemed lost. Four-fifths of the city lay submerged as residents frantically signaled for help from their rooftops and thousands were stranded at the Superdome, a congregation of the desperate and poor. From the moment the storm surge of Hurricane Katrina dismantled a fatally defective levee...

"You can never be overdressed," said Inga, "you might need a bathroom.""I'm sure there will be enough bathrooms atPebble Beach.""There are never enough bathrooms, especially where there is money. The sinks get better and the towels are cloth, but there are half as many stalls, and such people take twice as long. I think just to prove they can."I was counting on it."And your plan," she said, "will depend on it."Inga was a survivor. Gorgeous, vain, judgmental and condescending, she had German-accented parts fluency in five languages. She was Audrey Hepburn with a bleached crewcut and two switchblades, one for a tongue, the other in her purse,for cutting cheese. She also carried a pocket ashtray,$39.95 at the uptown MOMA store. She'd never earneda dishonest dollar, what dollars she'd earned. She'd also never passed up a guest house in St. Tropezor Gstaad, even if she had to drive twelve hours non-stop in her 2...

"You can never be overdressed," said Inga, "you might need a bathroom.""I'm sure there will be enough bathrooms atPebble Beach.""There are never enough bathrooms, especially where there is money. The sinks get better and the towels are cloth, but there are half as many stalls, and such people take twice as long. I think just to prove they can."I was counting on it."And your plan," she said, "will depend on it."Inga was a survivor. Gorgeous, vain, judgmental and condescending, she had German-accented parts fluency in five languages. She was Audrey Hepburn with a bleached crewcut and two switchblades, one for a tongue, the other in her purse,for cutting cheese. She also carried a pocket ashtray,$39.95 at the uptown MOMA store. She'd never earneda dishonest dollar, what dollars she'd earned. She'd also never passed up a guest house in St. Tropezor Gstaad, even if she had to drive twelve hours non-stop in her 2...

Back when I was a young teenager, I saw something that changed my life forever--a solar electric panel. My parents had just bought remote, mountain property here in Colorado. Our family has always loved the outdoors, with fishing, hiking, backpacking and camping our favorite activities, and of course it's essential to have somewhere to escape the big city as often as possible. My folks were planning to build a rustic cabin, with kerosene lamps for light, a woodstove for heat, a gasoline generator for power tools and where "running water" meant my dad had to pick up the pace a bit carrying buckets up from the spring. The nearest power lines were (and still are) 11 miles away. After our camper was parked on the property and cabin plans were forming, we started going out to meet and greet our neighbors (always a good plan in the country). At dinner at our neighbor's house, we were all stunned that they had electric lights and a small stereo for music and radio! All ...