The Azrael Project™ Online
176 Helen Garland Drive,
Opelousas, LA. 70570 USA
(337) 942-2240
westgate@westgatenecromantic.com
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"The rapture to which we succumb, is Death" In
the shadow voice Copyright by Leilah Wendell If
you want to read more of my poetry, News Updated
2/02/09 Open Letter 2009 is the 30th Anniversary of Westgate. It's been a long, strange trip, my friends. From our humble beginnings born out of reclusivity in New York as Threshold Press in the late 70's, to Undinal Songs, a paste up zine in the 80's. Eventually Westgate Press was born, along with "The Little Black Box", our first studio/gallery in 1984. Then, of course, everything grew at a rapid pace once we relocated to New Orleans in 1990 and opened that big ol' black and purple place. We had a very successful 15 year run in the Crescent City. We broke down so many cultural barriers, met so many diverse souls and left a mark that will not be forgotten (we hope!) Then Katrina came for an unexpected visit. Here's where it gets murky. A lot of folks THINK we left New Orleans BECAUSE of Katrina. Let me set the record straight here and now. In fact, two years prior to Katrina, Dan and I were looking into relocating somewhere else. We felt, at that time, that it was time to move on. New Orleans was changing. When we first came there, it was a very Bohemian place. Cost of living was low. People were friendly. It was a wonderfully scented decaying metropolis. Then, things started to change. The yuppies came pouring in, realized how far their money could go in a city trying to reinvent itself. Everything was becoming "gentrified". Now, there's nothing wrong with rehabilitating a crumbling city, but attitudes began to change. They wanted to make it a "family friendly" place. When you think of "family friendly", Bourbon Street is NOT something that comes immediately to mind. Then 9/11 happened and people no longer traveled like they once did. A LOT of our business use to come from people who visited from overseas, or from out of state. No one wanted to travel in the post 9/11 airport security chaos that ensued. We heard horror stories from the few that did manage to make it through. You've got to remember, tourism IS the basis of New Orleans economy, and that was shrinking drastically! I wanted to move to California, but Dan won't step foot in California (long story). We couldn't afford it anyway. Back then, a cardboard box would have cost more than our house in NOLA. I wanted to move to England, because I love the UK. The logistics and financial concerns were just too much to even consider. We looked into Galveston Island, TX, which looks a LOT like New Orleans architecturally, but it didn't "feel" like home. Good thing we didn't, as Ike was a Katrina Redux. So we came back, did some renovations on our home and decided to stick it out in NOLA until we found whatever it was we were looking for. It was THEN that Katrina came and more or less made the decision for us. The proverbial "nail in the coffin" had hit and we realized that the New Orleans we had fallen so in love with, was no more. We now had no choice, we HAD to leave. Financially, we were drowning. As a business, we had done all that we could with that venue. It was past time for us to move on. The question still was WHERE???? And to do WHAT ELSE?? (I think we' re still asking that one!) Sometimes I think the whole ordeal with Katrina made us stark, raving mad! We were looking at 90 acre Christmas tree farms in rural Mississippi! We wanted something so different than what we had, and we didn't have much time. We had to get out, and NOW, so we flipped a coin to decide between two locations we were looking at on Realtor.com, Leesville LA, or Buttfuck, MI. It was the former......Nice place on 15 wild acres, middle of nowhere, 25 miles from the nearest town. Well, as most of you know, that only lasted 10 months. The country is a scary place, filled with one toothed Pentcostals who have nothing better to do than kill things and ride their tractors. Jerry Springer is REAL, people! To make a long story short, we had to auction the place off because no one in their right mind wanted to live in Leesville. To this day, when we tell people that we once lived in Leesville, they look at us like I just handed them a pile of poop! We took a hefty loss, but learned a very good lesson about where we DIDN'T want to be. So here we are in Opelousas, smack in the middle of the area we had evacuated to for two weeks after Katrina.We have both the country AND the city, and is probably the ONLY place in the USA that now that has a booming economy due to the fact that so many post-Katrina people are flocking here. Dan has found his new niche, making quite a prominent name for himself as a "Sound Designer". Me? I'm back to being a recluse taking time to enjoy some much needed time to decompress. People still ask us if we will ever reopen the physical gallery ever again. I don't know. "Ever" is a long time. If I look back on all of the 30 years, one thing I DO know for sure, and have known for years, is that a moment truly does change all things, so it's best NOT to plan, but rather to let things unfold naturally. Westgate still exists, thanks partly to the internet, something I once railed at, but have come to embrace. But mostly, Westgate still exists because of all the souls that have walked through not only our once physical doors, but also our virtual halls, and continue their stay with us over these many years. So, thank all of you for the last 30 years. Who knows what the future has in store for any of us, just remember to enjoy the journey! Something we had forgotten how to do for a while. The older you get, the more you realize how short life really is. Sometimes it takes being foist into a whirl-wind to realize where home truly lies, and to appreciate it once you've found it. And, to realize, that things like hurricanes pale in the face of the things we lose everyday. People, pets, dreams...hope lies bleeding, and if I can teach anything to anyone, it is to cherish and love that which cherishes and loves you back. Life is fleeting, but love is eternal....Even if the flame is distant, it still burns. Here's to the next 30 years of this ordered chaos called life! Amorte!
A
Necromancer's Prayer Copyright by Leilah Wendell
Favorites Leilah's Short List of Relevant Films Recommended Films Dealing with the Personification of Death *Death
Takes a Holiday 1930's (Fredrick March) Films That Portray a Personified Death, Although Not Necessarily Relevant to the Overall Theme The
Adventues of Baron Munchhausen 1980's Other Recommended Films that May be of Interest to the Readers of The Azrael Material *Lady
Hawk 1980's (Rutger Hauer) Other
Extraneous Films that May be of Interest Nekromantik
1980's Films We Do Not recommend Meet
Joe Black 1990's (Brad Pitt-iful) *Leilah's
personal Favourites Leilah's
Short List of Songs about "The
Angel of Death"- Hank Williams more to come!! |
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