Oh my,

Strangers are reading my blog and even leaving nice comments. Thank you.

I heard from my landlady today. It seems that after she rescued Miss P, the ASPCA finally came by and busted down the front door, looking for that cat that was no longer there--and then left the door hanging open. However, she said the stereo was still in the front room, so it seems safe to assume that everything else is still there.

She knows a couple whose house in Gentilly was completely destroyed, and she wants to let them stay in my house until I come back. I'm not completely comfortable with the idea of strangers living in my house with my stuff, but I can't say no in good conscience. I'm so lucky that I still have stuff, and they have nothing--and besides, now they can deal with the refrigerator. The only other problem is that now I can't race back the very second I get free of my obligations here--I have to wait for them to move out. I told her I wanted to move back on December 1, but I'm not sure if my sanity will survive that long. Maybe, when I'm done with my classes in early November, I can do a couch-surfing tour of my friends' towns, just for the sake of getting out of here.

My mother is very worried about my money and is full of unsolicited opinions and anxiety. I regret telling her anything about what I have or don't have. However, it seems I'm getting a little bit more money from FEMA, so essentially the government has bought me a used BMW! (A fine use of your tax dollars, no?) Now there doesn't seem to be too much to worry about. As long as I bring in some income while I'm here and save the bulk of it, I should be fine. I haven't heard about the internship, but I am getting some freelance work from Washington University--I contacted them about temporarily helping out after I saw the ad for what is essentially my old job. So again, I've been fortunate.

I did make one frivolous purchase--I bought an ipod. It seemed the best way to solve the music shortage and avoid subjecting my poor parents to my musical taste.

An observation: When you go to a coffee shop in New Orleans or in or most urban areas, the main activities that people are engaged in are drinking coffee, hanging out and talking, studying, reading the paper, reading books, working on laptops, and sometimes playing chess or cards. Here in the midwestern suburbs, the number one coffeeshop activity after eating and drinking is doing Bible study. No kidding. It's scary.