….to a CC’s Coffee on Magazine. So that’s where I am, God help me, among a dozen other folks with laptops, sipping coffee and looking oh-so-relaxedly-earnest in our Sunday morning Uptown grunge outfits. Lots of old sweatshrts on such a cool morning. I swore I’d never be among this crowd, but I had to get out of the house for a bit.

I’m escaping depression, which there is way too much of in this city right now. Not my own depression — since I guess I’m too dumb to realize I should have reasons for it. I’m at the age where any day I can wake up and get out of bed is a pretty damn good day, filled with opportunity and second chances. I’m legally bankrupt, my business virtually doesn’t exist anymore, my mother is dying more quickly now — but I’ve got a good house, a decent (if low-paying) job and plenty of friends. The bills are back to being paid and hey — we live in a great neighborhood.

Those of you who know The Beautiful Kim (my wife) know she’s a wonderful, intelligent, giving woman. But this tremendous person isn’t around much these days, like too many New Orleanians, because she has become trapped in a deep, deep depression that affects not only her own self-worth, her employability and her smile, but also her family and friends. She’s lost, at least temporarily but consistently, her ability to go enjoy these friends, co-workers and (for now) an opportunity to plan to go see her own kids. And the tragedy for her and everyone else in her situation is that there’s virtually no one in New Orleans to help these days.
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Article here.

“The Mid-City area with all of the blight, and with the abandoned houses, makes it a lot harder to control what’s going on,” Riley said. “We certainly wouldn’t want to see some kid getting pulled into some abandoned building.”

Oh, of course. You’re doing it for the children. Way to take the focus off of the real issue at hand here, Mr. Riley. That issue being that your police force is lazy, ineffective, and completely unable to recruit or retain officers. It’s not like you can prevent people from being shot on one parade route anyway, so what difference does it make?

My friend Eva told ma about this new place Gwen Forest has opened in the Bywater. My jaw dropped when I opened the door and stepped inside this gushingly romantic coffeehouse at 3218 Dauphine St. ( at Piety) It takes a lot to impress me. Don’t let the smooth art-deco facade fool you . . . . Aside from a great gallery, the decor is inspiringly romantic, it reminds me of ABC interiors in NYC. And if this, and the imported Italian espresso wasn’t enough, she has been having jazz in the afternoon too ! But lately the bastards at ASCAP have been harrassing her so she had to stop. She even carries the New York Times. I’m all wow, if you don’t go check it out, you’re a hopeless bore.

Why can’t I get a copy of the budget from City Hall? Shouldn’t it be accessible online? Why does a cartoon character control demolition mandates in our city? Why do I waste my time? Why do I have to do every little thing three times? Why should I even try to be a competent person in a sea of idiots?

Because on any given Wednesday in New Orleans, I might see a giant alien at the bank.

Anyone recognize this guy? His name’s Bill Chott. He was in The Ringer with Johnny Knoxville but his most recognizable work is on Saturday Night Live’s Ambiguously Gay Duo. I mention it because he’s performing this weekend at the New Orleans Improv Festival along with a whole gaggle of other groups and entertainers from around the country as well as locally. The festival starts tomorrow evening and runs every evening through Sunday (Nov 12) tickets on sale at the door so get there early.

I stopped by last week and spoke with Yvonne Landry, the owner and met some of the troupe as well. They’re really an, uh, “interesting” group of people. If you’ve never seen half a dozen comic types trying to rebuild a flooded comedy club from the ground up, you’re missing out. I stopped by again last night, and to my surprise, the place was actually in the final stages of being ready to go. It’s a great space with a new stage, new tables and chairs, etc. And who knows, a certain metroblogger may well be working the door or, God Forbid, bar tending for the festival. There will be beer and wine available so you can get your stagger on.

Also, it was interesting that classes will be starting soon. Improv is so popular in other cities but doesn’t seem to have caught on here as well. I wasn’t very familiar with the Freret Street area before the storm – it’s sort of a fluke of the city that you tend to stay in whatever part of town you live in. But apparently, Yvonne and her mooks have been there for a number of years which is impressive given how bad the area was before the storm. Thankfully, the crime rate hasn’t rebounded as well in that area as others. The neighborhood is still trying to define itself – especially the Freret Street Corridor. This festival and the impact of The Comedy Connection as an early returning business should help. I’m hopeful that this is one of the first in a long line of businesses opening on Freret Street in the coming months. So come on out and support The Comedy Connection for their Second Annual New Orleans Improv Festival. It promises to be loads of fun, plus, afterward, we’ll all go out and get nice and drunk. What a deal!

Okay, I think everyone is getting a little too bent out of shape with these Florida people. Everyone has problems and everyone thinks they know better than the person with the problem, just look at the how much a psychiatrist charges to hear you bitch for an hour. They bicker about the similarities and differences to figure out who suffered more, leading to the most victimized, who then gets to complain the most and with the most legitimacy.
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Today is election day. Y’all should know this. There are a lot of great things to vote on today, such as consolidating the assesor positions from 7 to 1 (issue #7) and making sure our artists don’t have to pay excess taxes (issue #5). The Gambit has their constitutional ammendment endosements here, but even if you don’t want to be told how to vote it is a handy tool to help you understand what the issues are since they are written strangley on the ballot itself. You can also see who they recommend electing. Most papers endorse candidates and issues, so if you know nothing, check out your favorite paper for recommendations so you don’t go into the voting booth without any prior knowledge to the issues. Oh, and if you still don’t know where to vote, this link should help you out.

So, there is this whole Orlando thing, which brings up a large internal conflict that I have had since I moved here. Actually, it started when my husband and I were in the area living in a shelter while we volunteered with the Red Cross to help Katrina victims (?).

I was born and raised in Fort Myers, Fl. If you have not heard of it check out a map. The first Hurricane I remember going through was when I was about 4 years old. Our car broke down in the water that was flooding the area where my family and I lived and my Father and I had to walk home. I was walking beside him holding his hand, the water was about up to his mid-thigh and I could have been swimming in it, we were walking on what we believed to be the sidewalk though the water was so mucky we could not really tell. We walked all the way home it was one of the scariest times of my little life. Since that time, I went through tens of hurricanes. I couldn’t tell you how many, little ones, big ones, ones that were coming across the state toward us, ones that were coming right for us and ones that would bring nothing but a little rain. I lived in Florida for 25 years.
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Hello, I am back from Safari in the African plains. What’s going on in our fair city these days? I really wasn’t on Safari, but I was caught up in a game called Titan Quest. Unfortunately, I will never get those precious hours back. But hey, who else here is a 26th level Champion who saved Ancient Greece? THAT”S what I thought. I was in a state of stress and anguish and couldn’t get out of the car at the gas station and my fiancé and I were not talking and I had open bouts of pure weeping and my hands were shaking and I needed a way to get out and…….Nah, I’m just fuckin’ with ya. I was suddenly consumed by the spirit of Chris Rose, or maybe it was the softer side of Sears. I’m not sure. Does this post make me look fat? Anyway, I’ll try to write about something useful, but I have a feeling this isn’t going to go well.
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When I first read “Katrina Overload” it didn’t seem odd to me that Orlando is “sick of Katrina”. I just sort of nodded thinking, ‘yeah, me too’. What was odd was to find out a few sentences later, that the city I live in is actually “GONE, flushed out into the Gulf and (in some places) ruined forever. That blows the mind. A city no longer exists.” Indeed it does blow the mind, especially if you live there. So I sent an email to the metroblog powers that be and told them about the whole “not existing thing” and I have been assured that, based on that information, that New Orleans Metroblog will be shut down in short order. This may, in fact be the last post. Thanks Julie, would hate to keep posting from The Twilight Zone. With that said, I should try and say something worthwhile for future generations and Internet archeologists (see that’s a term from the future because I live in a parallel universe and can see the future).
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