"It is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes, than to own the whole state of Ohio"

Tonight, Elise and I enjoyed one of the best burgers ever with friends. The establishment is not really established yet. MVB (Most Valuable Burger) serves burgers on Sunday nights in Slim Goodies until they run out. We were the second to the last table. Next to our table sat Steven Vaughn, who plays Davis Rogan on the HBO show Treme. Not too long ago, I had an awesome conversation with the real Davis Rogan, who was super wasted. Among other things, Davis has been influence by Randy Newman and butter. After a rousing chorus of "Sweet Caroline," Elise, Alexis, Dan, and I left. It was a special moment in a special city.

Our evening reminds me of an excellent quote in a story in the TP today: "Lafcadio Hearn got it [what it means to be New Orleans]. The Ohio native moved to New Orleans more than 100 years ago and famously chronicled its happenings for a newspaper called the Daily City Item. He wrote about the good, the bad and the ugly of New Orleans, and loved all of it.

"'Times are not good here,' Hearn wrote to a California friend in 1879. 'The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under a lava flood of taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become only a study for archaeologists. Its condition is so bad that when I write about it, as I intend to do soon, nobody will believe I am telling the truth. But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes, than to own the whole state of Ohio.'"