All right.

Last week was a rollercoaster ride of New Orleanian proportions as far as the local news went. I was wondering if I ought to start getting up on my husband's side of the bed, but he's kind of in the way, so I'm chalking it all up to just one of those weeks.

I CAN start this week off better, though, by ac-CEN-tchew-ating the positive, 'cause there is a good amount of it as well:

- New Orleans Ladder deserves long-overdue kudos for his 2008 Delta Prime Award from Monkeyfister. This one has netted the Editilla some nice blog candy and some recognition for helping keep New Orleans issues alive. Keep it up, man!

- Of course, everyone in the NOLA blogpocheh has given Karen Gadbois a hearty mazel tov on The Gambit naming her one of its New Orleanians of the Year, along with Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg, the founders of the St. Bernard Project. Give 'em all a big hand.

Plus, the redesigned, renamed Gambit keeps on keepin' on with its current cover story on New Orleans' inspector general, Robert Cerasoli. Go read...once the Best of New Orleans website updates itself, that is...

- Ethan Brown, whose latest article of note took a look at the Walking Id, is now blogging at TalkLeft - news gleaned via the treif Erster man.

- Mark Folse got the best of his Wet Bank Guide posts up and at 'em and more-or-less polished enough to be published under the title Carry Me Home, available at Lulu.com online and at deVille Books (134 Carondelet Street) locally. I'll just consider the three copies I purchased for the hollerdays collectors' editions due to the presence of the fairly typical Folse typos...
UPDATE, 1-14: Include Amazon.com in that list, folks! Mazel tov, Mark!

-Rising Tide is sponsoring Beyond Jena: A Forum on Bloggers of Color, Education, and Social Justice in New Orleans. Register now for the January 31 conference at Xavier University, organized by Editor B and featuring some familiar faces amongst its participants. Go on, register!

- I got nominated for a Bloggie by Holly of Cold Spaghetti. Being the broad that I am, I reciprocated her nomination and tacked on a few more of my own from amongst the local blogpocheh. You have until 9 PM CST to represent more blogging New Orleanians. Don't be daunted by the size of the nominating page, just fill in what you can. Perhaps some of us can get the $20.09 the blogosphere owes us, by God!

Anybody else got anything good to share? 'Cause I'm all about the good, better, best news today...and, hopefully, for the rest of this week.

This crazy mama's inquiring mind wants to know.

Update, 8:33 PM: Errol Laborde weighs in on the side of the parishioners:

The church initiated raids on parishioners of two churches. Those churches could have been saved had the bishop, and his advisors not be so obstinate. Now the question is what to do in response. There are few choices, but here are some considerations...

...Give Up. That, of course, is what the Archdiocese wants, but to do so would betray the spirit of the laity who have fought for and reformed Catholicism through the centuries. There will be a fatigue factors. The protesters have to get on with their lives and the Archbishop wins by doing nothing, but the message needs to be kept alive.

...Pray. Praying, we assume, has been tried already. Nevertheless, it is never too late for, well, a Hail Mary play. If there are to be no miracles at least pray that what happened in New Orleans will make other archdioceses more responsible in dealing with similar problems.

...Remember the Epiphany. Incredibly, the Archdiocese's raid took place on the day of 12th Night, the Feast of the Epiphany. In New Orleans that day has been celebrated as the first day of the Carnival season, but now it can always have an extra meaning-the day of celebrating the passion of parishioners- true rocks of the church. The Feast of the Epiphany, which by tradition recognizes the arrival of the Magi, is supposed to represent insight and awareness. While the clerics who asked for the raid can hardly be confused for wise men those who witnessed the spectacle can be reminded that the church is ultimately about its people.

At the Archdiocese's office, the mantra, we suspect is "this too shall pass." But it won't. Not as long as the faithful remember 12th Night.

Plus, Big Red Cotton informs us of a Toiletry Drive for the 9th Ward Women's Shelter at the Kingpin on Lyons Street. More information can be found here.

And yes, we had Dubya trying to define his legacy in hysterically, sickly laughable terms today...but Scout's post rights his current wrong, for sure.

Righting the wrongs the feds inflicted on the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of 8-29-05, however, is not something you have done much of, Mr Preznit. Say bye-bye to the American people, now, sir. We'll appreciate it if the door smacks you hard on the way out.