There is a good list of charity options to help Hurricane Katrina Victims here. [via Shutterblog.] If you are in the Houston area and want to help the refugees that have made it here, a more “local” list can be found at the SciGuy blog on the Houston Chronicle site - the latest list is here.

Michelle sent out the information on the Red Cross shelter on the Northwest side of Houston at Spring Tabernacle on FM 2920 near I-45. They are taking donations, including clothes. I will be doing another closet cleaning pass tomorrow - the things I own seem a lot less important when I think of the people that now own nothing - and taking things over there this weekend.

After reading about the Katrina Aftermath, I have to wonder - will New Orleans be allowed to rebuild?

I know that for the rest of the country, that may sound like a crazy question. “Of course! People would want to rebuild their homes! It is a historic city! They have to rebuild!”

However, I’ve been through two bad floods in Houston in the past 11 years (October, 1994 and June, 2001) and if an area was flooded out and the government stepped in to buyout for their homes, they were not allowed to rebuild their homes. Entire subdivisions in Houston have been wiped off the map due to this rule related to federal funds.

So what about New Orleans? What will happen there? Will they be allowed to rebuild? If a city is below sea level to begin with and takes so much effort to keep the water out, isn’t it nature’s way of saying that the land needs to be reclaimed by the ocean? Should their be a city there between the Mississippi river and Lake Pontchatrain?

This is a hard question for me to ask since Mike’s family (the Tremoulet side) is from the New Orleans area. But I still have to wonder…

The refugees from the Superdome are being brought over to the Houston Astrodome. I have bags of clothes I was going to give to Northwest Assistance Ministries, but now I am looking for an organization that will take them for the hurricane victims. If you know of one, please let me know.

I didn’t realize that my lens had fogged up from the New Orleans humidity when I first took this photo. I’m not sure why I didn’t delete it then, but now … now, New Orleans as it was is just a hazy memory.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, no matter where you are from.

Between kicking off the reading for my Biology and Chemistry classes and watching the news, I haven’t been online much in the past two days. I’m too stunned every time I watch the video coming out of the states east of us - I keep thinking that could happen here at any time. I am just thankful that we live at least an hour from Galveston and that Houston is at least above sea level. These days, it is the little things that give me some peace.

Mike, Jason & I visited Mike’s Great Aunt Yvonne when we went to New Orleans this summer. She is safe and sound in Baton Rouge, but there is no word on her house yet. She lives on Gentilly Ridge, which is one of the highest points in the city. She left behind family heirlooms that are at least 100 years old; I hope that her house and the contents are all in good shape when she returns.

Off to do some more reading. School update coming soon. For more information on the situation in New Orleans, you can check out their Metblog.

Today is the big day. The one I have put off for 15 years.

Today, I return to college.

I’m nervous. I’m scared. And after reading the first 20 pages of my chemistry book, I’m convinced that I’ve lost all of my brain power in the past 15 years.

I asked my Dad last night, “What if the other kids don’t like me?” He said, “Who the hell cares, you are twice their age.”

*sigh* At least I am returning with 15 years of wisdom and experience. That should count for something.

Once again, I’ve ignored the news for a few days - only this time, I knew there was a hurricane out there. Living near the Gulf Coast, ignoring the news this time of year is not a good idea. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Katrina is a category 5 hurricane and about to hit New Orleans. Man. That is going to be one hell of a storm.

Mike’s great aunt who lives in New Orleans has left for Baton Rouge. Hopefully her house - and everyone else in the city - will come through the storm intact.

It has been awhile since a hurricane has hit Houston. I know our time is coming soon.

In case you weren’t aware, Yarns2Ewe is having a GREAT moving sale this weekend! *EVERYTHING* in the store is 15% off (including the Koigu! Yeah, Koigu!) and all of the books and the clearance items are 30% off! The sale is only through Sunday, when they will close up shop for a few days while they move to their new location on Blossom Street. Yes, Blossom Street, just like the book. How cute is that?

I’m getting ready for school next week, and I’m accepting the fact that my time online will be cut back again. This is forcing me to look at my surfing habits again - there is only so much time in the day, you know? So I am going back to my trusty RSS feeds. I love using NewsGator Online. Love, love, love it. The interface is pretty. If I accidentally click on a feed, I don’t have to worry about it marking it as read if I’m not done with it. I can access it from any computer, which is important since I use 2-3 different ones. I have my “Subscribe to Newsfeed” bookmarklet, so it is easy to subscribe to anything. I have folders set up for News, Friendblogs, Geekblogs, Knitblogs, and Photoblogs.

I need to finish converting everyone to using my FeedBurner feed, so if you read me via an RSS reader, can you switch your subscription over to this one?

I’ll miss seeing the pretty site designs, but it is much easier to zoom through the feeds. I’ll try to comment as much as I can still. That is the one bad thing about feeds - people forget to go and comment. Hey! You! Reading this on a feedreader! Come here and comment every once in awhile, ok? (It is the Internet equivalent of being told that you never call your mother, isn’t it?)

I’m not sure what it is all about yet, but they definitely have my Attention. [via Chris]

A man gets on a train and starts to stare at a woman. Then he “exposed and began molesting himself on the train.” So she caught it with her cell phone and posted it to Flickr. She also took the photos to the police, and they are looking for him. [via Kottke]

I’m not sure if I would have been thinking clearly enough to have snapped his photo with my phone. I hope they are able to catch the guy!

I had no idea that dogs could get the hiccups. Poor Chloe, she was sleeping in her bed here by me and she started hiccuping - her body is shaking with each one. (Ok, I’ll admit it - it is amusing and cute. But I still feel sorry for her because it has to hurt!)

At last! I’ve started posting the photos from day 4 of our honeymoon! The photos are from June 4, 2004 - and not only was it the 4th day, it was also the day with the most photos. Consider yourself warned. The first round of 23 are online, taken around Buckingham Palace. You can view the whole album here; below are some of my favorites. (Click to view larger at Flickr.)

Part of the reason I had so many photos from that day was because we got to meet up with D and Pix that evening. Those photos will be coming later. I’ll post here when they are ready.

I took Chloe to a TTouch training class a week ago, and afterwards we made a stop at Eleanor Tinsley Park so I could take skyline photos. As we walked through the park, I realized it was a great background for photos of Chloe. As I snapped more and more photos she got used to the camera being there (at least for the moment) and didn’t turn away like she usually does. These are some of my favorite shots from the day - you can view all of them larger on Flickr.