A couple of years ago, after Jeremy Shockey teamed up with the New Orleans Saints, I was inspired to come up with the phrase/chant “Hey Shockey Way” as a play on the chorus of the song, Hey Pocky A-Way, by The Meters. I also threw together a visual representation featuring Shockey wearing a Mardi Gras Indian head dress (the song is also a popular Mardi Gras Indian song). Hoping that it would catch on, I posted the chant and image on nola.com, facebook and Saints Report a couple of times and convinced a few friends to yell it when Shockey makes a great play. Recently, Dirty Coast chose to feature my ditty on one of their shirts. Can you hear it? Visit the following link to buy a Dirty Coast Hey Shockey Way shirt.

In 2007, my sister gave me a New Yorker magazine subscription for my birthday. I had been a casual fan for years, but after having copies delivered to my house every week, I became especially fond of the magazine’s cartoon caption contest. A year and a half later, the cartoon above (by Drew Dernavich) was featured and I submitted the following: “The first rule of s’mores club is you do not talk about s’mores club.” After receiving a call from New York letting me know my submission was in the top three, I organized a campaign to convince as many as I could to vote for my caption. Long story short, I won the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest. If you’re a fan of s’mores like I suspect you are, join the S’mores Club on facebook. Of course, once isn’t enough. I feel I’m getting closer to victory number two with each passing week!

In an effort to provide Louisiana residents with information to help them stay safe while rebuilding in areas devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with the Louisiana Public Health Institute (my employer) to create the Stay Healthy Louisiana campaign, which included a toll-free hotline, website and mass media ads. About a year after funding for the program came to an end, I decided to relaunch the campaign as a blog dedicated to the latest news and ideas for healthier living in Louisiana. Stay Healthy Louisiana’s mission it to develop a statewide community in support of healthy ideas and discussion surrounding policies designed to improve the health of all Louisianians. Check out the Stay Healthy Louisiana blog. Let me know what you think and consider becoming a sponsor. Twitter: @StayHealthyLa