Governor Blanco

Last night, I had the privilege of sitting in on an address by Governor Blanco at my college. It was definitely an unique experience. I had never seen a national political figure talk before. It surprised me how down-to-earth she was. She was not at all stuck up or arrogant, but instead was simply a real person. She talked to us for about an hour and a half. While most of the talk centered on New Orleans and their rebuilding efforts as well as the disasters of Hurricane Rita and Katrina, she touched briefly on her career and her background.
To me, it was amazing that a teacher turned stay-at-home mom could become the first governor of a state that is normally very conservative(other than around Bourbon Street).
Lindsey

Why did you sign up for a roots music FYS section? (It's totally OK if the answer is something like "I didn't really want to, but everything else was full.".):
Well, I signed up for the class because 1, I love music(though not necessarily country) and 2, it fit in my schedule.
If you could take 5 pieces of music with you to a desert isle, what would they be? (The definition of "piece of music" here is always tricky. Think "song", but I'll let you get away with a more extended piece like a symphony. A 4 CD compilation of 70's punk just isn't going to count as a single piece of music, though, no matter how cool it might be.):
If ever stranded on a desert island, I would bring along John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane", The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road", Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", Warren Zevon's "Werewolves in London", and the really whimsical "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.
What's a piece of music you associate with a parent, grandparent, or someone you know well that's at least a generation older than you. (I'm particularly interested in people like grandparents that are two or more generations older than you, but I realize that not everyone is going to have an association for that.) :
I don't really associate a single piece of music with my Grandma Izzy but a genre. Izzy loves polka music and if I had to pick one, I would choose "The Beer-Barrel Polka", which is not completely about drinking, but about having fun.
If we all decided to replace the national anthem with a new song, and everyone agreed that you got to choose, what would you recommend? :
I would recommend "Imagine" by John Lennon(Am I on a Beatles kick or what?) which would be ironic, but I love it for the peace message that is completely unlike "The Star-Spangled Banner".
What kinds of music related performance stuff (if any) do you do? I interpret this pretty broadly so it can be playing one or more instruments, singing, dance, DJing (dance or radio), etc. (It's totally OK if the answer is "None".)
I sing(only in the shower), or when no else minds. I could be a hit in a group of tone-deaf people, because I am one as well. I dance at dances, but not for competition. I like listening to almost all types of music, other than completely instrumental.
Given the readings and what (little) you know about Governor Blanco, if you had a chance to ask her one question, what would it be?:
I would ask Gov. Blanco: What she would do differently if she could reenact Hurricane Katrina all over again?