October 1, 2005:

When I want to put pollution into my body, I do it the old fashioned way, with alcohol.  That's why I'm sitting here on the porch of the Columns Hotel on St. Charles Avenue sipping a Sazerac through a straw hygienically inserted beneath my TC-21C EPA approved mold and toxic particle filter.



Now, the Columns isn't open, but that isn't stopping me and a couple of my friends from Uptown from sneaking in and haunting the porch.   And, no we aren't able to retire to our Uptown homes either.  There's no electricity, no potable water, limited emergency services, and of course, the mold and sewage residue everywhere.  We had to bring our own drinks.  When we have finished at the Columns, we will have to sneak back to higher ground to temporary lodgings we have secured in Jefferson Parish near the still closed Lakeside Mall.