Howie Luvzus

My birthday was Saturday. As I get older, I really begin to dread them. I was a bit down because I wouldn’t be able to eat at Jacques Imo’s because I had to attend a wedding.

The wife and I scootered over to the French Quarter to check out the 3D street art and buy me a cool summer hat. The 3D thing wasn’t really that impressive until I looked at the pictures I took when I got home. The 3D effect was not easy to see in person. I went to Shushan’s and Meyer the Hatter but I didn’t really find one that I couldn’t do without. I’m hoping more summer hats will arrive soon.

We then went on over to Liuzza’s on Bienville for lunch. Had to get the fried pickles and the frosty beer. It really kind of made my day (in addition to getting to scooter around with the wife!). It reminded me what a wonderful city I live in. You really can’t find places to eat anywhere else like you can in New Orleans!

Although going to a wedding isn’t my idea of fun, it turned out to be really cool! I had never been inside St Louis Cathedral. Wow!

After the wedding we second-lined over to Pat O’s on the River for free food and drinks. I have to tell you. Being in a second-line that stops traffic on Decatur Street is too cool! People were waving and taking pictures of us. It was great!

It turned out to be a really good birthday after all. Thanks Carol!

Last night Shirley and I went to a fund-raiser for the Mid-City Library. It was great fun! My favorite food items were the charbroiled oysters and the great sausage from Creole Country. The sausage was so good that Shirley Jr and I stopped by this morning and bought three different kinds of sausage-Green onion crawfish, aligator, and andouille.

It’s a bit hard to find the place at 512 David St, but it’s worth it. Deanie Bowen was excited that we came in as a result of having tasted the sausage at the fund-raiser and gave us a taste of some great sausage she had just cooked when we stopped in.

Later this afternoon when we stopped in again (I didn’t bring my checkbook), Vaughn Schmitt gave us a taste of the Greek sausage he made for the Greek Festival this weekend. He’s a great guy. I’m going to send all my relatives some sausage from Creole Country for Christmas!

I got to see some of Comic Relief 2006 at Harrah’s in New Orleans Saturday. Not a lot of huge stars in New Orleans, but it was still fun. I was able to speak to Tom Arnold and get a few pics.

He is a super nice guy. Every time someone would ask him if they could get an autograph he would flash a huge smile and say, “Of course you can!” I don’t know if you could tell it on TV, but when Emeril Lagasse was introduced as “Mr. New Orleans” he was booed pretty loudly.

Lagasse was quoted in the New York Post as saying some very negative stuff about New Orleans. He later told New Orleans reporter Chris Rose that he was misquoted.

I think it is a bit unfair that he’s been labelled a traitor. I’ve said some pretty bad things about New Orleans lately. Of course, I’m not a public figure, but let’s give him a break.

But… He’s certainly not Mr. New Orleans. Hmmm. Mr. New Orleans. I nominate Frank Davis. He can cook, he can fish, and he’s certainly a native.

A Beliefnet article pointed out that a recent study shows U.S. Christians Guilty of “Overgrazing.”According to a recent study by Purdue University sociology professor Kenneth E. Ferraro, there is a significant relationship between being religious and being obese. Ferraro’s research:

differentiates between religious denominations and reaffirms that Baptists are more likely to be obese. Fundamentalist Protestants had the second highest rate of obesity in this sample.

“This cause could be from less healthy eating patterns in the South, home to many Baptists,” Ferraro says. “But we controlled for residency and still Baptist women were more likely to be obese. This trend could be related to the strong emphasis for Baptists to avoid alcohol and tobacco, and, as a result, many of them indulge in overeating instead. More research is needed to learn how denominations view overeating and obesity.”

It seems like the proposed Southern Baptist resolution on gluttony put forth by Joe Thorn would have been a good idea.

I seem to be bucking the trend. The less Baptist I get, the more I weigh. Wonder why.

HT: Solidly Average

My friend Michael invited me on a fishing trip yesterday. We caught our limit! It was great.

Then I grilled the redfish. This is one of the reasons I love living in New Orleans. Great food, great friends, great music, great culture!

BTW my Voice of the Wetlands CD and Tad Benoit’s Fever for the Bayou arrived yesterday. Man! They are both fantastic. Please by VOW and help save our wetlands. If you’ve got a serious case of the blues, by Benoit’s CD!

I read my first convincing argument as to why it is inappropriate to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year. His best point is that folks outside of New Orleans may think we’re back to normal. I still disagree with the commentator, but he has a very good point.

So, let me make this perfectly clear—New Orleans is NOT back to normal. I don’t know how many YEARS that will take, but we’re not even close! Many still need help. There was an apartment fire the other day and it left folks homeless. Not the kind of homeless that apartment fires usually yield. The literally have nowhere to live. They cannot find places to stay because there are none. I think you have the point now.

Second, I know that for many Mardi Gras is a drunken orgy of show me your ____s. But, for most of us, that’s not what Mardi Gras is all about. It’s about holding my daughter’s hand as we trot up to the floats to get cheap stuffed animals. It’s about watching her and Shirley’s eyes light up when they get a 5 cent piece of crap from a stranger! It’s about being with my son as he marches in the rain. It’s about seeing old friends that we’re too busy to visit otherwise. It’s about a thousand other really good things.

I need Mardi Gras. You know why? Guess what I will be doing without for Lent? A job. Some of my closest friends. Lunches and dinners at some of my favorite restaurants. Peace of mind behind government built levees. Neighbors who live in their homes instead of trailers.

BTW—For lunch, I ate a shrimp poboy-dressed. For dinner I ate at Café Roma yesterday. I got the book by Chris Rose. Ate Red Velvet cake and Banana Pudding (made by my girls). I took pictures at a local park too! It was a very good birthday.

Shirley and I had a wonderful night last night. It really began with a trip to the Esplanade mall after dropping her mom off at the airport. Shirley’s mom is the sweetest person I know. It’s really hard to say goodbye to her. When she lived in Memphis and drove down to New Orleans, we could usually talk her into staying a few extra days. Shirley bought a sexy top for our special evening. SHE’S SO HOT!

We started off with dinner at Dick & Jenny’s at 4501 Tchoupitoulas St. It was almost as good as Jacques Imo’s! We found out yesterday that Jacques is opening today. It was so good to eat fine New Orleans food! The Crescent Cafe in Nashville does an excellent job with Gumbo, Red Beans, and Po-Boys, but I was ready for some Alligator Sausage Cheesecake. (The only thing that it resembles in a traditional cheesecake is the richness of the flavor.) The food was unbelievable. It reminded me that New Orleans has the best food in the world…period.

We missed the Zion Harmonizers, but saw all of Bonerama and Cowboy Mouth. Bonerama is so-named because the band consists of a drummer, an unbelievable guitarist, a tuba player (haven’t heard a tuba solo that good since Galactic. As a matter of fact, I haven’t heard a tuba solo since Galactic.) and four trombonists! They were very cool! I’ve got to get their CD.

I got to tell Fred how much I appreciate his music and he gave me a hug! I also got to tell Chris Rose, the T-P columnist, that his post-Katrina articles inspired me while I was in Nashville and made me feel a little at home too. He hugged me and said, “Welcome home brother!” That was cool!

Of course, Cowboy Mouth tore the f-ing walls down! Their new songs really are great, but if you’re not from here you really won’t understand them. Fred’s promise to send us home “hoarse, horny, and happy” was realized!

Nights like last night make me want to stay in New Orleans forever. A total stranger walked up to us in the House of Blues and said, “I’ve noticed you and your wife sitteing here and I want you to know you’re the luckiest man in the f-ing world! I can tell you guys have been together a long time and your wife is f-ing beautiful man! Have a happy New Year!”

Only in New Orleans!

I took Shirley Jr to our favorite Chinese restaurant for lunch today. It was great to eat at Lan’s Palace again! However, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They were looted during Katrina. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them to know that they might deliver their wonderful food to someone who looted them.

Just a couple of more days left till I head home to Shirley, the kids, and Chloe! I can’t wait to eat a plate full of Turducken from the Gourmet Butcher Block! For those of you don’t know what a turducken is: It is a boneless turkey stuffed with a boneless duck, that’s stuffed with a boneless chicken. Each layer has a different kind of dressing! It’s incredible! Hot Damn! I’ve been very blessed in Nashville in several ways. One of them is that my friends at the Crescent Cafe and Oyster Bar have taken good care of me. TC is a super nice guy and Sarah is also very sweet. Scott is one hell of a cook! He’s from Louisiana and his gumbo is great! I eat a shrimp poboy almost every time I go in there (which is a lot!).

Shirley emailed this article to me. Louisiana Baptists elected Bill Robertson, from Temple Baptist Church in Winnsboro. He defeated the candidate supported by the Louisiana Inerrancy Fellowship, a fundamentalist group that has been very powerful among Louisiana Baptists. Not only that, “the messengers rejected the convention leadership’s plan to dissolve the independent trustee board that supervises Baptists’ statewide newspaper, The Baptist Message.” Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Before I was able to read Shirley’s email about Louisiana Baptists, I received a call from the front desk at Scarritt-Bennett where I’m currently staying in Nashville. Debbie told me that I have to move to Gibson Hall. I can’t wait because it has high speed internet and a TV in the room! YES!

Life is good!

I had no choice but to eat at McDonald’s yesterday. Even on the Westbank there are limited choices. I watched Super Size Me last week with Howie Jr. so I wasn’t able to finish my Big N’ Tasty (ever notice that if you drop the T the name is more fitting?). I’ve never been a McDonald’s fan, but after seeing the movie I will avoid them totally if at all possible. The mom and pop places are usually better for you even if they are a bit more expensive.

Anyhow…..I saw two guys who looked really rough, and hot, and stinky that walked up to the door at McDonalds. They asked if they could go inside to order their “meals.” The nice lady smiled and said, “Sorry, only the drive through is open.” They explained that they didn’t have a car! “Sorry!”

My window was down in my van and I have no sense of smell so I invited them in. I told them that if McDonalds was taking credit cards that I would be glad to buy their lunch.

They said no thanks, they had money but were very hungry. It was about 1:30. Everything takes longer in New Orleans because of the scarcity of open stores. We placed three separate orders and after we got our “food” we said goodby. They were very greatful and I was afraid Shirley might be bothered by the funk when I picked her up. She wasn’t.

It seems this Katrina thing might be making some of us more kind, more trusting, more willing to give and receive help from our neighbors. I thought I’d make a positive post for a change!

Yesterday was a really difficult day. We’re back in New Orleans because my wife’s boss demands it. I find it interesting that she’s been able to do her job so well from TN with a dial-up modem! After having driven about 10 hours on Sunday, we wake up early so that we can get son #2 in Archbishop Shaw High School on the Westbank (heard they’re thinking about calling it the Blessed Bank). The school is wonderful and very well organized. My wife starts to write the check for about $5000 and one of the priests tells her to write it for $500, he wants to make sure my son is comfortable at the school so we only need to make monthly payments. What a guy! While Shirley is enrolling him, I take Shirley Jr to St. Andrew the Apostle School a few blocks from my house. A very nice lady explains that they don’t know how many of their students are coming back, so she doesn’t know if there is room available. She asks me to call back the next day.

I pick up Shirley Sr and we go to Salem Lutheran School. They are very helpful and even give Shirley Jr a uniform skirt and we tell them that we will come back to register later. We leave, but Shirley Sr isn’t totally satisfied.

We then go to Shirley’s workplace. A prominent non-profit that is now housed outside New Orleans. Her boss greets her and we see some of her co-workers for the first time since Katrina hit. We all hug (except for her boss) and begin to share our stories. Shirley then asks her boss where she needs to set up shop. He then tells her that this is a “self-service” place and that she needs to set up her stuff on her own. This might not really sound as bad to you as it did to Shirley and me. She has been working sometime 12 and 15 hour days since the hurricane hit so that everyone would continue to receive their checks and get their insurance paid. We were forced to move to a city with no public schools for our kids or my wife would lose her job. We had just tried to get our daughter in a school and had been rejected, we had just committed to spending $5000 for our son’s education (he was attending a public school prior to the hurricane), we were also facing having to spend about $1500 for our daughter’s school until January, we had driven God only knows how many miles the day before, I’m going to have to leave this Friday to work in Nashville until Christmas, etc…..

Shirley sharply replied that she had just walked into the building and didn’t have any idea where to find a table or chair or where she could set up shop without imposing on someone else’s space. The company is sharing the small, one-story building with another non-profit. The IT guy, who is a really great guy, hopped up and got a table for Shirley, told her where the nearest power outlet was and suggested a place for her to work. When I left, I said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Shirley, Is there anything you need ME to do for you before I go?” I got about 5 miles down the road and almost turned around to go open up a can of whoopass. Got to get back on my anti-depressant today.

I got home and started looking up the addresses of several Jefferson Parish schools that I might send Shirley Jr. I then realized that it was after noon so I thought I might call St Andrew the Apostle School to see how full their fourth grade class was. My daughter was very apprehensive about which school (her third one this year) she might attend. The person that I talked to at St Andrews was EXTREMELY rude to me when I called to check. Although I had been told I should call back today, she said they wouldn’t know anything until next week! I won’t repeat our coversation, but she was so rude that I am going to call the principal next week and report her rudeness. We stopped in at a Baptist School, but I was unimpressed. My daughter was given a list of about 50 rules she had to follow before we even knew how much the tuition was! I then went to another Catholic School to see if they had room for my daughter. They were very helpful and said that I would have no problem getting her in. I then drove past two public schools. Shirley Jr said no to one before we even had a chance to stop. The second one was fantastic. The ladies in the office were super-nice. They offered us free uniforms and were so sweet to my daughter. I enrolled her and she went there today! It was then 3pm and my daughter and I hadn’t eaten because in all of our travelling around the Westbank, we hadn’t passed an open fast-food place. We stopped in a mom and pop place and had to wait 30 minutes for our food–ooops, now we’re late for picking up Howie Jr! Rush Rush!

Today has been better. I will have to admit I was overwhelmed at the grocery store this morning. It’s a really terrible feeling to know that when you walk in the door you need everything! Spent around $200 and will fix my family a home cooked meal tonight. I should be able to fix two or three other meals as well. For example—no condiments, no canned goods (gave them all away to Police officers the first time we came home) nothing in fridge or freezer, etc.

However, Southern Baptists from Missouri gave me ice, water, cleaning supplies and a hot meal. Thanks again folks and God bless you!

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