Mardi Gras Madness

Saturday night at Fat Tuesday's in Fairfax, right by George Mason University and my friend and colleague Mike Walter was hosting a fundraiser for a charity. He's a member of The Dart Society. "The Dart Society is a cohort of journalists who have received fellowships and awards from the Dart Center. We are dedicated to promoting sensitive coverage of victims of violence and providing support for journalists who are affected by their work."

One of the projects that members of The Dart Society have been working on is New Orleans. Members have gone down and helped rebuild homes and have helped those that still live there.

Mike and his colleagues are working on a documentary about the city and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

As part of their efforts, they held this fundraiser on Saturday night. Mike invited me a few weeks ago with one of his cheery e-mails.

"Howard, you used to live in New Orleans, I think that this is something that you'd like to attend." How could I say "no"?

It's tough doing lots of things. I try to balance work with family and I'm pretty careful about doing too many things so that I have consistent family time. But, this was a Saturday night and it was for a good cause. Also, Helaine loves any excuse to get dressed up to go out. Andrea Roane, Kim Martucci and quite a few of our behind the scenes colleagues were also at the event. That's Mike's wife Kate in the picture with him.

The turnout was great and the auction was fun. Mike has another career as an auction caller if this TV thing doesn't work out.

The music was also top notch. Our Creative Services Director, Steve Houk, is lead singer and "chief nut job" for Second Wind. These guys were very good. Steve really gets into what he's doing and all I can say is go see these guys. Go to the Second Wind website for a listen.

I was going to get a picture of Kim Martucci and her boyfriend Ben, but they were no where to be found when I started taking pictures. It was the first time I had met Ben and he's a very likable guy. Just go to Kim's blog if you want to see a picture or two.