rain dogs

Gene showed up in the middle of the night, with his friend Rickey in tow. After sixteen hours of driving, they were kind of delerious so we did the best thing possible - we started drinking beer. It was pretty tasty beer. Gene was menaced by cockroaches on the porch. His friend Rickey was dropped into an apartment of crazy people who know each other too well. This morning we had lots of coffee and breakfast tacos.

There's rain on the radar! To the northwest! Outside there are clouds!! Please please please let it rain. At this point we would need a devastating flood for the lake to recover, but I'll take anything.

thunder and water, at the end of august in texas

There's genuine, honest to God rain coming down outside. The ground is so dry it soaks up the drops instantly, and it doesn't run off anywhere except the rocks and the concrete. Tyler and I went outside to walk around like we've never water falling from the sky before. The grey half light and the the thunder are perhaps the most beautiful things ever in this dry cracked summer. I hope this lasts as long as it can.

New Orleans isn't dead, or even dying

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/08/27/new_orleans_jazzes_anew/

And with the local school board replaced by a network of charter schools, we've got a chance to ensure that current and future generations of New Orleans children will receive a high-quality public education rather than enduring the horrors of pre-Katrina public schools. We can begin to address our crime problem by teaching kids that they matter, that there are possible lives for them other than that of the street and the gun.

-Poppy Z. Brite