Make My Coffin Strong.

I was hanging out outside of St. Roch Cemetery No. 1. I like No. 2 but No. 1 is my preferred hangout. I prefer the statuary in No. 1, even if the gates are locked at 4:00AM.

In New Orleans, when we are talking what number cemetery we are talking about, we abbreviate it, ‘No.,’ as in St. Louis No. 1, St. Louis No. 2, St. Louis No. 3 (which is at the end of my street). There is St. Joseph No. 1 and No. 2. Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 and No. 2, too. There are so many cemeteries, they ran out of names.

When was the last time you thought about death?

In New Orleans there is no escaping it. I picked up a dead palmetto bug today. Even in this humidity it was so dry that its antennae and its forelegs crumbled to dust on contact. Death is everywhere. Make my coffin strong.

All of New Orleans is a collection of water rot and termite damage.

I got a love letter last night.

There really is a Punk Barbie. She writes like a girl. Just like everyone else I talk about here, everything is real. Even New Orleans is right twice a day.

This is the part where I would put the paywall up to separate the free subscribers from the paid subscribers. Today is Friday. Become a paid subscriber today. It only costs chump change. Believe me, I am not getting rich off of this. It paid for my trip to Birmingham in July. I stayed at Motel 6.

It is a mad, mad, mad, mad, mad world. Make my coffin strong when I kick the bucket.

St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 is home to the National Shrine to St. Roch. He is called either Roch or Roche in French. In Italian, he is called Saint Rocco.

St. Roch Cemetery No. 2, which is across Music Street behind St. Roch No. 1, is home to a shrine to St. Michael the Archangel.

More people visit No. 1 than No. 2, just as they do in many other situations.

The street behind St. Roch No. 2 is Arts Street. New Orleans street names are pregnant with meaning. There is a reason Love Street was renamed Rampart Street. It is Rampart Street now, north and south, uptown and downtown, east and west.

I always sit in the catbird seat. I see more that way and I meet more interesting people. I meet interesting people every day.

There are no strangers in New Orleans. Everyone is a friend you have just met. Happiness loves company.

Where have you been? You belong here.