In yesterday’s post, I responded to the first Blog Meme I’ve ever received. It was a fun challenge to come up with six random facts about myself then pass the link on. But the best part was the requirement that I link to six other bloggers and leave a comment on their blogs. That lead to a lot of “cross-pollination” where readers of this blog went to those blogs, those blog’s readers came here and we all found some new reading material. I can guess that these things don’t always work out this beautifully, but this time it was a win-win situation. What happened is that we all momentarily stepped out of our “cybercubicles” and started having a conversation. I think what made it happen is that most of us linked to blogs of people who aren’t our usual friends and cyberfriends, maybe places where we’ve only lurked, so the circle really did spread.

Another result, one of my linkees gave me this award with a directive to pass it on to EIGHT bloggers. Since it appears to be a Spanish Award, I’m also supposed to post the blurb that explains what the award means:

“This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this text into the body of their award.”

Okay, this may have to be my last Linky Love Fest for awhile. My fans are demanding that I get back to talking about terriers, clueless farming and composting. But it does dovetail with something I’ve wanted to do for awhile: direct people to the many interesting New Orleans Bloggers I’ve been coming across. So I’m going to depart from the script and direct you to some great New Orleans blogs, without the award and the blurb.

 

My niece with Hack Bartholomew, local NOLA musician.

My niece with Hack Bartholomew, local NOLA musician.

My first ever trip to New Orleans was the summer before last as part of a cross-country road trip.(I blogged about it here.) So the wounds of Katrina were still fresh. All the way down the Delta, starting from Memphis, we were warned that New Orleans was filthy, crime-ridden and dangerous. We arrived in the height of the summer heat, as some of the few tourists brave enough to face the humidity, and found nothing could be further from the truth. With the streets full of locals, we met nothing but wonderful people, many of whom had lost everything but were picking up, rebuilding and starting all over again. We fell in love with this very special city. Since then, I’ve been actively seeking out blogs by New Orleans residents, trying to keep tabs on how things are doing there. There are loads of NOLA bloggers out there, in greater numbers than you might think. So I’m passing my eight awards on to some selected New Orleans bloggers. And hoping you’ll click on their links to get the real scoop on the City’s progress.

 

My Favorite New Orleans Bloggers

 

1. Toulouse Street. The founder’s tagline is Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans and it’s a fabulous mixed bag. Lots of stuff about the local music scene, poems, video clips, New Orleans-oriented book recommendations and rants on local politics. Don’t miss his charming clip of famed street musician Grandpa Elliot mixing up the Nutcracker Suite and The William Tell Overture on his harmonica for a baby in a stroller.

2. Whose Shoes Are These Anyway? I love this blogger’s nom de plume: Verite Parlant (or speaking truth for those who didn’t endure 10th grade French.) She’s a talented writer who often shows up on the Blogher Blog as a featured editor, but, sooner or later, she gets back to New Orleans where she’s recently returned and is regrouping.

3. Cold Spaghetti. I find this blog oddly comforting. On the surface, it’s a personal blog about a young family with a 100 year old New Orleans fixer-upper. That’s what’s comforting, that even after something as devastating as Katrina, they’re spackling, sheetrocking and picking up the pieces. But there’s a lot more below the surface. Doctoral candidate Holly threw out a year’s worth of work onher dissertation on shantytowns in Lima Peru to focus on research into the lives and health beliefs of Latin American immigrants who came to New Orleans after the hurricane.

4. Humid City. George Williams is mad. He’s mad as hell. And he’s sounding off loudly. As he styles his mostly political rants, he’s “handing New Orleans a megaphone since 2005.” This is a team blog, so you get lots of voices and slants on things in the Big Easy.

5. Casa De Charlotte Della Luna. Poet, photographer, booster of NOLA’s art scene.

6. Tin Can Trailer Trash. Mominem is still living in a FEMA trailer in his back yard. But he’s got the volume up on local politics and anything else he’s ranting on.

7. Nola-dishu. Clay calls these his Notes on Post-Apocolyptic New Orleans. He’s a mechanical engineer, so he’s got some definite ideas on rebuilding.

8. Looka! I like Chuck’s own description of his blog: “hand-made and updated (almost) daily, focusing on food and drink, cocktails as cuisine, music (especially of the roots variety), New Orleans and Louisiana culture, news of the reality-based community … and occasionally movies, books, sf, public radio, media and culture, travel, Macs, liberal and progressive politics, humor and amusements, reviews, complaints, the author’s life and opinions, witty and/or smart-arsed comments and whatever else tickles the author’s fancy.”

There you go. I hope you’ll visit each of these bloggers for some interesting perspectives on what’s happening in this great city. And for heaven’s sake, plan a trip to The Big Easy. In a town without a lot of chains, almost every dollar you spend there — whether at a club, at a restaurant or on a po’boy — goes into the pocket of a New Orleanian who could use it.