Hello there, it’s been a while! Life’s been a whirlwind I must say. Last weekend I threw 3 Tulane graduation parades in one day! There was so much celebration in the air; it was wonderful. Graduation in New Orleans is the climax to a season of high revelry that starts with Mardi Gras. How do we live here and get anything done? If you live in the French Quarter, one of the world’s few 24/7 areas, this question is REAL. At least once a week I’ll be settling into a project or some good reading and I hear it…..a trumpet blast from a distant street. My head lifts like a deer in the forest. Was that…? Is it….a brass band? It gets closer and louder and vibrates everything in its path. I draw towards it as if in a force field, abandoning the task at hand.

Just yesterday in fact, I was having breakfast when I was lured outside by the serenade of a trumpeter and sousaphonist coming from the courtyard next door. My across the street neighbor invited me inside to get a better view from his upstairs window. The duo played an extended rendition of “Just the Two of Us” as we stood in the window, swaying and smiling. The audience waved and the trumpeter played to us. I was still in my pajamas. That’s any given day as a “Quarter Rat” and I wouldn’t have it otherwise.

I suppose the answer to how we get anything done here is just embrace it, let the charm take over, and power work in between. Then when the summer heat slows everything down, stay in the air conditioning and catch up. It’s hibernation, New Orleans style.

Hello and warmest greetings to whomever might land in this section and actually read it! Besides creating good times I love to write, so I think I’ll have some fun with this blog. Living in the French Quarter and making a profession of fostering our precious culture is rich for stories. For now, in the interest of getting this long time coming website out there, I am going to leave it at that. Welcome to my new name and brand, Roulez!!