Living in New Orleans – the first 5 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but my path home was winding. After living in Maryland, Washington D.C., Japan, Alabama, New York and Los Angeles, I finally moved to New Orleans in late 2009. And I’ve never been happier. When I got here, the Saints were on their way to winning the Superbowl and the city was vibrating with optimism. Most of the people who would come home after the Storm were back. Katrina money was being spent on street repairs and schools were getting instruments from places like Tipitina’s Foundation. Buildings, homes, t-shirts and more exclaimed, “Believe” and “Renew, Rebuild, Rebirth.” It was intoxicating.

Treme – Life Imitating Art Imitating Life

Last week, HBO’s Treme once again killed off a beloved character. I’d been enjoying the episode, continuously intrigued by Councilman Oliver Thomas’ portrayal of himself and the choices he made that led to his downfall and incarceration. We got to see Corey Henry play with Kermit Ruffins as well as a scene at the romantic Columns Hotel on St. Charles. Though they talked about the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s parade and the throwing of cabbage and other food items, there was no footage from the parades. If you feel you missed out, check out my video from this year’s parade. But, the whole episode was leading to the shock of the senseless murder of a valued musician and I’ll admit it left me with some rare trouble sleeping.

L.A. to N.O.LA’s Favorite Things (in NOLA) 2010

I can’t get you all of this stuff, Oprah-style, but every item has links to their site. If you’d like to know more about why each is my favorite, use the search window on the lower right to find photos, videos and stories.

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my first year favorites in a nutshell.

French Quarter and the Boo Dat Pumpkin

There are plenty of jokes about the work ethic in New Orleans and, sure, I’ve seen people goofing off or moving slow, but I’ve seen people goof off at work in plenty of cities. I’ve read that the average office worker in America only does 20 minutes of work per hour. So, yeah, you may find someone applying lipstick when they should be catering to you, but here are some work conversations recently overheard that you may not find in most cities. At Rouse’s grocery in the Quarter, I heard the cashier greet an obvious regular, “What’s on sale, Mr. Ryan?” It brought me back to my childhood when my pawpaw used to go to the bank and the Piggly Wiggly everyday.

Upperline and other local wonders

Last night, I went to a wonderful restaurant, Upperline, owned and operated by the fascinating JoAnn Clevenger. Outside, it’s a lovely Uptown home with whimsical wild flowers; pink, yellow and orange with tiny tall stalks. Miss JoAnn has lived a storied life and the evidence is all over the walls of her charming gallery/restaurant.

Dude, check out my articles

In July, I confessed that I’ve been writing articles for a locally-base online paper, NOLA Defender. For those of you who’ve enjoyed my articles and in an effort to give you an easy reference, here are links to my latest articles.

The first links are part of an ongoing series of interviews with Jeff Dowd, the inspiration for The Dude in “The Big Lebowski.”

The Funeral for Albert Joseph Jackson, the Moses of Magazine Street

Though death hurts just as much here as it does anywhere else, a funeral here can be a really good time. The funeral, repass and second line for Albert Joseph Jackson, the Moses of Magazine Street, were a really good time. The church was filled with Albert’s rather large and loving family and the some of the many people Albert affected in our community.

R.I.P. Albert Joseph Jackson, the Moses of Magazine Street

If you live in a city, you may have a local homeless person or a neighborhood kook. If you were as lucky as I’ve been, your “kook” was Albert. Not homeless or crazy, he was a Vietnam veteran who I suppose you could overlook if you really tried, count out because of his appearance as someone outside of the social norm in the tony Garden District.