I just woke up from a dream in which I was a ghoul snacking on a severed head. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the zombie apocalypse had happened and the head started screaming at me. It was actually kind of comical, but it hath murdered sleep, at least for the moment ( Read more... )

I obviously have a fever of at least 103º. I haven't checked it, nor do I feel particularly hot, but a high fever would seem to be the only explanation for my hallucination that I just read this article in the Times-Picayune:

SURVIVOR: Chalmette

I know I can't really be reading about how Chalmette has allowed actors "colonists" to move into an ( Read more... )

Yesterday I took marquisdd and his soon-to-be-husband Ben down to Shell Beach. I guess I hadn't adequately explained that Shell Beach has neither shells nor beaches, or I thought they'd memorized Soul Kitchen, or something, because they brought towels and sunscreen, and Ben had the quote of the day: "I wore my bathing suit to a construction site." It wasn't ( Read more... )

I haven't been able to be here lately. It's not that I haven't wanted to, but I've felt incapable of talking about the BP disaster and irresponsible talking about anything else. My mind is full of the images: the hurt in the eyes of people in Grand Isle and Lower St. Bernard and Plaquemines, the ancient innocents mired and dying in filth. The land ( Read more... )

infrogmation, whom you should follow if you're looking for information on the Gulf oil disaster or local issues in general, took this picture last week in Hopedale. (I was going to post the actual picture with credit, but damned if I can get it to work. Technology is slipping through my fingers, Will try to edit later.) If you've read Soul Kitchen, you know a ( Read more... )

This anniversary of the federal levee failure is hitting me harder than either of the previous two. Last year I was hunkering down for Gustav, and I guess kind of in shock that it was coming. In '07 I was lying sick in bed from the pills I was addicted to. And of course the first anniversary, '06, was beautiful, then horrible: we went out to the ( Read more... )

My former neighbor Sue called earlier to tell me that the St. Bernard Animal Shelter is in another desperate situation. They are stuffed to the rafters with 56 dogs and 50 cats facing euthanasia. They've suspended ALL adoption fees -- not sure if that's just for this weekend or until the backlog is gone -- while still providing spay/neuter and ( Read more... )

Iconic Shell Beach figure, famed marina owner, fishing god, and all-around great man Blackie Campo has died at age 90.I fell in love with Shell Beach the first time Chris and I drove through it on one of our aimless jaunts through southeast Louisiana, and while I doubt I'll ever live there, I understand why he wanted to take his last breath in that ( Read more... )

Yesterday faustfatale, her friend Charles, and I drove out to Shell Beach/Yscloskey/Hopedale to go birding. We didn't see many birds (though Christa got one lifer, a red-bellied woodpecker), but we spied an absolutely beautiful speckled kingsnake at least five or six feet long. He kindly allowed us to photograph him for a few minutes before sliding off into ( Read more... )

Happy OH-MY-GOD-THIRTY. faustfatale is picking me up in a little while to go birding out in Hopedale, near Shell Beach. Her party at the Delachaise was lots of fun; she sold several books, Chris kept a succession of great food coming our way, and I got to meet R.J. Sevin, a terrific writer I've been corresponding with for a while, as well as his gorgeous wife ( Read more... )