Look pretty!
So next week is anniversary week and we’ll again be a media and political darling. All kinds of folks are gonna be in town to show us how much they care. Or at least to show they care more than the other guy. And Lord knows they’ll wanna listen. And look concerned. We might even see some sleeves get rolled up.
Actually, all this means to most of us is traffic will be worse. The back streets we’d usually take to get around your normal congestion will instead be clogged with po-leece and other Official Vehicles. Seriously, this is the only real change any of us will notice — long-term or short-term. We appreciate the attention and all but, honestly, it’s been TWO FREAKING YEARS. The past is past and I’m not buying any promises from anyone about the future.
This is also the weekend for the second annual Rising Tide Conference out at the Yacht Club. Yes, this is the first mention I’ve made of it on this site, even though it’s a convention of bloggers. Their website pretty much outlines all the goings-on and, if you’re into that kind of thing, there are some pretty damn nifty folks involved. As for me, I spent the better part of 30 years setting up, running and/or attending these kinds of events and, despite some excellent cameraderie, I find them largely tedious. Then again, I’ve never been much of a joiner. Just the same, thanks for coming to our city.
TBK and I have spent much of this week on the road up in Tenn-O-See, seeing some friends and joyfully taking in some of the absolute tackiest parts of Memphis and Nashville while basking in their record heat wave. Beale St. in Memphis is kinda like Bourbon St, except on serious Quaaludes. It has drinking places and music places and go-cups and smelly panhandlers and T-shirt joints and marginal eating places and all that, except the street is about twice as wide and about 20 times cleaner. Nashville’s Broadway is kinda a Hee-Haw version of the same thing, except it’s like someone dropped a life-size Jetsons set in the middle of it. You’ve got all these buildings that have been there for 100 years or more, but there’s this futuristic convention and visitor center right in the middle. Huh? Jane — stop this crazy thing.
We’ve determined we’re good for about three days away. After that, the rules and the other trappings of being Out There start to close in on us.
…so it’s a Friday evening and we’re gratefully back home. I love Friday evenings in New Orleans — seeing all the wide-eyed tourists arrive. The only thing better is Sunday afternoons — when they have to go back home and we don’t.
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