It’s hot in the Maple Leaf. Stiflingly hot and I’m having a little trouble catching my breath. And the show hasn’t even started yet. The older black man in the straw hat next to me at the bar is producing a copious amount of smoke from a single cigarette — like a diesel locomotive. There […]

New Orleans made national news on Sunday for a shooting at a second line; it was widely misreported across the country as a Mother’s Day parade, which in my opinion is what gave the story legs.  Otherwise it would have just been another shooting in New Orleans.  There are so many things that I could […]

It was almost exactly a year ago that I sat at a table in a Creole Soul Food joint in Central City New Orleans that also served to mentor and train at risk youth(If you’re from here, you know where it is, and if your not, it doesn’t really change the story.  I won’t name […]

I was standing in six inches of horseshit-scented mud listening to Fleetwood Mac when it hit me:  A lone tear escaped my right eye and threatened to fall past edge of my aviators before I quickly wiped it away.  It didn’t feel like a tear at first; maybe just an irritation of the eye caused […]

The weather in New Orleans could best be described as fickle, or maybe mercurial would be a better word.  In a city that cherishes tradition, the weather might be the only thing that changes with frequency.  From the sopping rains and damp chilly days of winter to the steam bath summer days and sultry nights […]

Carnival, or  Mardi Gras (as those from the “Great Elsewhere” call it), is my favorite time of year.  However, this wasn’t alway the case.  In Carnival terms — in life terms in general, really — I’m a late bloomer.  This year will mark my third Carnival season, and my first full season.  Before this time, […]