A lack of nonsense hurts

Pre-Katrina, I was happily enjoying the strangeness and insanity of New Orleans. I also felt at liberty to post nonsense.

I don't feel like it now, though, and that's pissing me off.

Now the strangeness and insanity is due to things like what I just saw at Juan's Flying Burrito--a booth filled with 4 camo-clad, M16 toting soldiers. Dude just rested his rifle against the corner of the booth next to the door. Humvee parked out front.

The less technology-based you were before the storm, the better off you are now. Pal's Lounge was a primitive, dirty little hole of a bar before the storm. Now it's downright luxurious with it's ancient cash register (that's right, it ain't no "terminal") ringing up your one dollar PBRs. And food? I think Linda (?) puts stuff in a crock pot and leaves at the end of the bar for you if you want it.

The good folks at Entergy have given me back natural gas service. I flipped out the other night when I got home from the gym and absent-mindedly turned on the hot water and for the first time since August it came out hot. Not bad timing since it's 40-farking degrees in the morning for at least the next 7 days.

The Fairgrounds area and Bayou St. John remain shells of what they once were. No people. All the good times and weirdness are in some other city or town, slivers of them, anyway. Maybe pieces of them are in Baton Rouge, or Dallas, or Houston. But they can't be, don't you understand? It's not just the people. It's the people PLUS New Orleans.

It's cold today. When I drove away in August I had no idea what this would feel like. Last night there was wind and rain so my power went off for 4 hours. That's what happens now. The wires are held up with string and gum and paper clips so you just better get used to it.

That's why I'm a freak about keeping a bunch of shit in my fridge. I'll never "stock" the fridge ever again, ever. Vodka, beer, hot sauce, soy sauce, individual cans of V8...that's it. It's like how our grandparents were after living through the depression, only in reverse. A full larder and a full fridge meant safety. But for me, the thought is "what if I have to evacuate? Will I have or take the time to throw out everything that's gonna spoil?

I went out and saw music last weekend for the first time since Donna's my first Saturday back here. I went to d.b.a. and heard a cobbled-combo version of Hot Club of New Orleans. The owner of Coop's Place pulled up a pickup with a giant grill in the bed, parked it in a parking space across the street, and for his birthday started dishing out free barbecue, sausage, baked beans, cole slaw...just because, you know.

And I drove all the way to Maple Leaf to hear Shannon Powell. It was a funky, almost rockin' Shannon, though. It wasn't "Powell's Place" Shannon. And that was that.

New Orleans is a half-hearted ghost of itself now. I love the people and I love what remains but it's so sad. It's just so sad.

Don't even think about trying to turn NOLA into Charleston, motherfuckers!