The Information Super-Frog

I had a good mini-trip to Austin. Just a quick jaunt to pick up stuff and get a few supplies, not much time for socializing. The weather was great though. Lots of stuff closed for the Holidays, including Las Manitas and Eva's Botanitas, but I did get a Tex-Mex meal at Trudy's before heading back.

Although things were supposed to be sent to me here in NOLA since the start of November, lots still arrived at Bonner's in Austin. My haul included a stack of magazines... and when I came back, the first new magazine addressed here was in my home mailbox-- the December 19 New Yorker. Not terribly late by local mail standards, and a good sign that magazines are being delivered in town again.



Defrosty the Fridgeman wishes you all Happy Holidays from curbside in the Carrollton neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans. All he needs an old top hat.

Still more folks coming back to town weekly, as the continued sight of street fridges indicates. Apparently there is a special crew just taking care of curb fridges now-- probably a good idea, any that still havn't been disposed of by now are, uh, long overdue. While piles of branches/construction debris etc can still sit curbside for weeks, the fridges seem to usually be gone within a few days.

I'm posting from Cafe Luna on Magazine street, which I seldom went to Pre-K but certainly earned my loyalty as one of the first places back open after in addition to its variety of tasty food & drink.

Rosie Lee's Bubble Teas, which I've mentioned in previous posts, alas is one of the places lost to the storm even though it was on high ground above the flooding. The building did get roof damage, but I suspect the closing had more to do with a jackass landlord, who was already putting eviction notices on his properties for non-payment of September rent in the first week of October (before mail service had even been restored, so even if they'd mailed him checks for September he wouldn't have known). The nearby Starbucks also remains closed; that I won't particularly miss. Rumor has it that none of the Starbucks in New Orleans will be reopening, as they've never succeeded in getting the market penetration equivilent to other markets here, they're using Katrina as an excuse to pull out. I sometimes stop at a Starbucks when traveling out of town, but here I can easily do better. Locals here prefer their PJs and CCs, Cafe du Monde, Rue de la Course, and Cafe Luna.

January, with Universities and a number of other businesses reopening, is expected to be a pivotal month in ReNew Orleans. As the old Spiritual says, We Shall See.

Hi. This is my New Orleans experience, a good day by local standards.

I'm posting this from a friend's place who has a land line running upstairs. The formerly flooded downstairs is totally gutted.

I had a very satisfying 4 course lunch today. First two were from a Red Cross station on Freret near Napoleon; bottled water (most people are still drinking that even though the tap water is now officially safe-- with much extra chlorine, from the smell), and a sanitarily shrinnkwrapped frozen sandwich-- turkey and cheese on wheat, with nothin' on it. Bland but fine.

After this I stopped outside of an alas still closed coffee shop at Magazine & Jefferson, where I'd been tipped off there was wireless access. Some 5 people were camped out with laptops on the sidewalk. They said access was intermittent, but down while I was there. I did get a fine tip though: I drove down Magazine to just up from Napoleon, where La Bolongerie was open. Usually that's a fresh baked bread to go place, but they were also serving: COFFEE. Coffee and booze are the liquid yin and yang that fuel New Orleans. Bars have been quick to get up, but I've been hearing much griping about the lack of good coffee. A doctor friend has been living in his house with boards over many windows, cooking his meals on his front sidewalk on a little charcoal grill-- but his number one complaint is lack of coffee! He makes instant on the grill, but it's not the same. Given that this mindset of coffee love is common here, La Bolongerie was serving coffee has transformed it into a neighborhood mecca, with tables indoors and out up the block. I had coffee and a fresh baked raspberry scone which I dunked in it. I'd had a burger at a neighborhood bar the other night, but this was the first meal that really made me feel like I'm back home, with "oh my that's good" mouth happiness.

AND! Langensteinn's grocery store is open! Still understocked with empty shelf space, but there-- I was just delighted to buy some Blue Runner Beans and Crystal Hot Sauce, even though I still have some of both at home.

More later.