In other happier news. Scooby bought a trumpet at a second hand/ flea market type place for 30 bucks a couple of weekends ago. I thought he would drive me crazy playing it, but he's not that bad. In fact he's getting pretty good playing "When the saints go marching in".

January

I've come to the conclusion that I hate January. My mom died January 12, 1996. Two years ago my father committed suicide January 18. And now our friend Wendy was murdered January 17.

Repose en Paix Wendy

Wendy Byrne was one of our favorite bartenders in the French Quarter. Her main place of work was at Aunt Tiki's on Decatur St., but she had also moonlighted at The Country Club, El Gato's Lair, and Startlight by the Park. We met her through our friend Darron, I think a year or two before Katrina. She was a lively spirit, a great story teller and described herself as a gay man trapped in a womans body.

A day or so after our introduction we ran into her at Voodoo at Congo Square. She came in and sat at the end of the bar and ordered a drink and we got to talking. She mentioned that she loved guys with hairy chests cuz she loved the feel of rubbing against them bare chested. I pulled up my shirt and showed my fur and said "like this", and Wendy immediately jumped off her barstool, pulled up her shirt exposing her bare breasts and ran to me shouting "Hairy chest, Hairy chest", I climbed off of my barstool and we rubbed our bare chests together until she got her fix. Being a gay man, I had never been that close to boobs in my life, Wendy was definitely a friend for life after that moment.

Sometimes we would go in and there would be a sign on the JagerMeister dispensor stating "No More for Wendy" put there by Wendy herself of course to keep her from "crossing over" while at work. This Christmas/New Year trip down there Wendy told us she had switched from Jager to Tequilla. Also this year Scooby had started ordering his shots of Jager by pronouncing it YAY GRRRR and Wendy then raised her arms above her head and said "YAY" then ducked down behind the bar and jumped up like a bear and said "GRRR".

She worked mornings/early afternoons on Decatur and once while we were out looking for lunch and not ready to drink, we tried to walk past the bar.......But Wendy saw us and yelled, "Hey!!!, where do you think your going walking past here with out stopping to say hello". We would stop in and she would whip up her special Voodoo doll bloody mary's with the okra body, green bean arms, olive hands and a cocktail onion head. And that would be the end of the day cuz we would sit and drink and visit till the end of her shift.

Our friend Darron called this morning to let us know that Wendy was shot and killed near the corner of Dauphine and Govenor Nichols in the French Quarter last night. The victim of a robbery gone horribly wrong.

I spent Sunday in a state of disbelief, Scooby cried on and off all day. Sunday night we bought some Jager and drank to Wendy. Today (monday) it has sunk in and after reading more about what happened I finally started to cry as well. It makes me sick that if the police had of done their job this could have been prevented.

We love you Wendy, I'm so sorry this happened, you will always be remembered and the French Quarter will not be the same with out you. XXXOOO

More from the Times-Picayune

Update: Teen turns himself in.

Update: 2 teens booked in FQ murder.

Update: More info. from Times-Picayune

We got back from New Orleans in one piece. Last Thursday Scooby came down with a cold or so we thought. By Sunday morning he couldn't get out of bed because of the severe pain in his right leg and ankel and left elbow. The areas were red and swollen and hot to the touch. Since he has no insurance he decided to wait till Monday and see if he could get in to his regular Dr.. He tried to get around Sunday with the crutches we have but it ended up being easier to use a desk chair with wheels to move him to the bathroom ect..

Monday I went to a local Pharmacy and rented a wheel chair to tranport him to the Dr.. The Doc thinks he has some kind of skin infection and put him on a couple of antibiotics. They seem to work since he has started to get around again and told me today that I could take the wheelchair back on Wednesday. Nothing like a health scare to start the New Year.

Oh and some words of wisdom, if your parnter becomes wheelchair bound they don't think its very funny to mention Baby Jane........

Happy New Year!

Greetings from New Orleans! We head back tomorrow and looking forward to getting home and spending some quality time with my kitties. This year has been uneventful down here in New Orleans. The gay crowds have been sufficiently smaller and the some of the bars are struggling a bit to stay afloat. Luckily Mardi Gras is coming up in a few months so that will help. The news reported that crime is up here but I don't see it. Then again I don't look like an easy target either and that helps.

The weather looks good for our trip home, so thats a good thing. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!