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.
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
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
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.
Yours Truly,
Mark Ferrari
darkmansd993@hotmail.com
or ferrari@kenandkitty.com