If you are wondering why the recovery is so slow...

Last night I was teaching my online course for Mediabistro when the power went out midway through the chat. This is my only source of income, since I lost my job at NOCCA/Riverfront after the storm and no one else wanted to hire someone with a book out. (I start at Tulane in a few weeks.) So, while Brando panicked, I ran out of the house and drove to Frenchmen Street to find wireless access. Usually the power is out only on the east side of Elysian Fields, so once I've crossed that line everything is normal. And last night, as usual, I found the power on there, but nothing was opened--because they'd been without power all afternoon. Fortunately, I was still able to find a signal, and I sat on the abandoned sidewalk with my laptop to log back into my classroom as termites swarmed.

This is the new New Orleans.

Of course, a blackout may seem like a relatively minor inconvenience. But imagine being a restaurant or cafe owner, without electricity and without refridgeration. Or just imagine being a regular person who has recently stocked the fridge.

Oh well, maybe next year they'll figure it out.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey Ken from Case's mom,
How do you decide where to do signings?
Silver City, NM is a very dog-friendly place, altho' depending on which community you belong to in this diverse small place, pitbulls may or may not be the dog of choice. There are a lot of pitbulls here, 'tho. We have an independent bookstore in town. I'm always looking for ideas to give the owner for pulling more people into the store. I was thinking about seeing if it would be worth your while to consider coming here.

I've also got a project started which, based on the discussion you and I had at lunch when I was in NOLA visiting Case, we are calling "Works In Progress". We're hoping to get local authors to come forward to offer to read or have someone else read their work. Our plan is send out a call for auditions so that we can put an evening together that isn't just your open mike kind of thing. We have a space for this, at one of the art school galleries here. We're shooting for September sometime. Maybe we could combine that with a possible visit from you? Just some thoughts.

Hope your new job works out. I didn't realize that power outages were still on the daily menu of annoyances in NOLA. Take care. Jeannie
Anonymous said…
I just finished reading your book, literally 10 minutes ago. I'm one of those people who have to stop the car whenever I see a dog walking in the street. I've had so many adventures like this. Sad ones and happy ones. I'm glad that you captured this in your book. I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
Ken Foster said…
Thanks for reading it Jamie!

To Silver City: I pick where I'm going based on a few things: a place to go, a way of getting there, and room on my schedule. It helps if there are several things I can do with one trip. But I'd definately be interested in a Southeastern trip.
Ken Foster said…
Oops. I mean Southwestern. These blackouts have me confused!
Anonymous said…
Ah-h-h...sounds like we might be able to figure something out. Let me ponder the possibilities for a while and get back to you. jeannie
Anonymous said…
This is actually not a comment on the blog, (although I lived in New Orleans for a year, and the services were suspect even "pre-hurricane". There was a sports guy there on the news station, I believe he since died. He was very upset that the city wouldn't build the Saints a new stadium. Let's forget about the terrible streets, schools and crime....), Anyway, I just wanted to say I enjoyed your book. I laughed and cried. I'm a Philly guy living out West and I've been a long time animal rescuer. My own two dogs (Cajun Gypsy from Monroe, LA, and Chewy from Biloxi (Ocean Springs) were "pound and found" as were my cats. I can relate to your friends, Lisa and Lucy, and I bet Amanda was very special. I make no apologies to rather staying home with my furry family. Sometime ago, (after wife # 2), I realized just how pure the love of dogs and cats are, their feelings are real as is their souls and personalities. Your book conveyed that. I wish you the best in health, with your job and housing, and "the kids" I'm a morning radio guy, (just got axed), but when I'm at my next gig, I'd love to get you and Brando on!

Yours Truly,

Mark Ferrari

darkmansd993@hotmail.com

or ferrari@kenandkitty.com
Anonymous said…
This was an interesting read. I lived in N.O. and went to Sophie Newcomb decades ago. You sound like an excellent animal advocate.

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