It takes occasional jaunts north of I-10 for me to realize how New Orleans-centric I have become in my doddering, quasi-old age. I mean, I head out on a jet plane, and this kinda insanity happens.

It's bad enough seeing TSA people doing random friskings of passengers lined up at their gate just before boarding their flight. I guess not enough people are flying Clear for the TSA's taste, or they don't trust any of us humble travelers any further than we can be thrown into the nearest 3-D X-ray machine. I hope they get a handful of diaper mess in their hands someday as a consequence of their actions.

For goodness' sakes, the last thing I need is for Krewe du Vieux to go down any sort of tubes that are not a part of its' subkrewes' themes. I'm a member of the Seeds of Decline, so I oughta know a thing or two about downfall in general, and I can tell you that the krewe members will be stooping even lower after this, and those floats will be rebuilt in the service of that, as Gawd is our witness. I foresee a number of phoenix-centric themes coming this '10 Carnival Season...

ANYway, I will still be checking up on things from time to time 'til I return. I've got four NOLA-related books I'm reading while I'm out and about, and I am still very much looking forward to Rising Tide 4, as are some others. Good to see.

Have fun, folks, and don't rearrange the furniture too much or light anything else up without me.