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Email From NOLA IIv
I survived the party in McLean, VA. because I did not have a single appletini. I got there early and was in charge of stringing lights through the bushes on either side of the outdoor fireplace. I also retrieved wood for the various fires both inside and out, and stacked them neatly, lincoln log style. I hung the electric wreath on the face of the outdoor fireplace and let me tell you, when the sun went down and the fires and candles and lights were lit, it was pretty damn festive looking.
My friend, Mr. BC, alerted me this morning to a Wall Street Journal article on the ongoing architectural theft in New Orleans. Without going into too much about this let me suggest that if you see work happening on homes in your area, and there appears to be any sort of removal of architectural details, even on nearly demolished homes, perhaps it would be a good idea to take a picture of the "workers" and their vehicles and if you know for a fact that the workers are not permitted and you have a baseball bat and you want to accept me as your coach then rest assured that the signal I'm giving you is--swing away. When I return from my brief east coast sabbatical maybe we could form a team. We could be the Batboys (if the female team members said it was ok).
At the party I talked to a bunch of giants of industry from the DC area and all the cooler ones that seemed interested I invited down to New Orleans for a little unique relaxation in a city that would welcome them and appreciate the dollars. "I always wanted to explore the antique..." one woman began, and I interrupted with, "Magazine Street is up and running, come on down."
I talked also to an artist looking for inspiration and considering a trip to New Orleans and I told the artist--artistic inspiration is not an optional part of New Orleans, it is only ever a matter of how well you can process all the incoming data, which at times can be overwhelming.
As the party ended I ran into a guy smoking a cohiba by the outdoor fire and it turns out we were almost classmates at the University of Texas, from where I dropped out 26 years ago. He said he wished he had but instead he went on to become a giant of industry. Nice guy and we swapped Austin stories and we parted with him reminiscing yearnfully for an OT special at Dirty's. With jalapenos right? Of course, he said. Apparently his company bought Hibernia bank New Orleans right before the flood hit. We did not discuss whether the company's plans for the bank would be beneficial or not so beneficial to the future of New Orleans. Sometimes I like to put on my little Pollyanna wig and just be happy, and hopeful.