A re-post from January 2006, since with Gustav evidently heading our way we could use a bit of cheering up – and perhaps a cautionary tale. 
And here’s a preemptive shush for those of you who think New Orleans should be abandoned.
[If the player doesn't work in Firefox 3, try IE - seems to work fine there. I'll try to debug it later but I need to hit the stores while water and batteries are still available.]
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The jokes about Chocolateville keep coming… the latest is this mp3, inspired by Mayor Ray Nagin, based on the song Margaritaville. I don’t know who created it. Like the blue roof Christmas village display in the mall this Christmas, it’s all part of the character of New Orleans, and as the song says, it’s all good.
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Here’s a map of chocolate New Orleans… for the readers who don’t live here, each type of chocolate corresponds with a suitable neighborhood, i.e. Godiva is the Garden District and uptown, White Chocolate is Lakeview, a predominantly white area, etc. 
Hi Laura,
We chatted once at Hot Air, what seems like a year ago. I visit your site every so often when I see you post, and I always enjoy my visit, I will have to stop by more often. I especially enjoyed this visit, with the Chocolateville song, loved it, and your article on why we idiots don’t just leave New Orleans. Just the other night Glenn Beck ticked me off with calling us idiots for not moving. People just don’t know what it means to miss New Orleans, even many of my friends who have never left.
Anyway, I hope Gustav doesn’t bother us.
Hold down Shirley Drive!
Keep up the good work and may our Lord bless you and your family, which reads like a nice one.
P.S. To refresh your memory, our conversation was with baldilocks about going past Fisher projects, on her way to the Navel Base. Also I grew up on Tita Street behind Frostop. How good would a butter burger be while watching the Saints right now.
I remember that conversation well! I don’t spend enough time at Hot Air either.
I don’t live on Shirley anymore – I’m in Metairie. My grandmother still lives there, though, on Shirley a few blocks from the base. My brother and I used to ride our bikes to that Frostop, back in the days when we attended St. Julian Eymard school. You know there’s still a Frostop on Jefferson Highway? (I’m *pretty* sure it’s still open, anyway.)
The models at Weather Underground look like he’s moving west, which is good if he goes far enough west… guess we’ll see. I just hate the wait.
Hey, I love your Garbo post – movie stars have certainly changed.