Tuesday, November 13, 2007

had a great conversation with a fellow transplant last night, about this city, and how it's like no other place, really, in the united states. which, ironically, was a point that had been forced down my throat on saturday night, when an extremely drunk man who believes himself to be some sort of robert capa uber-male journalist harangued me for forty five damn minutes on the socio-political schitzophrenia of empire and what god hath wrought on new orleans. and i understood what he was saying, but i resented it, because i am getting tired of how self-conscious so many young people in this city seem to be, like they constantly have to remind themselves that they are living on the edge, the wild wild west of urban america.

last night two of my bar acquaintances told me that they had been in pal's the night a mentally disturbed man slit a woman's throat- she died right at my feet, he said, and i have army med training and there was nothing i could do, it happened so fast.

and what we talked about was how every day you wake up and you either love this city, or you hate it. and there is no in between. and this happens with everyone, the whole population, every day this strange struggle. and this city won't be the same in five ot ten years, people will forget, or people will leave, and this city might not actually recover. so i am glad that i am here, witnessing it, and am able to make up my mind about the actuality, the reality of this place, instead of constantly being told what it is, especially by overbearing drunks.