It is a beautiful weekend, and we must sing. This is Mardi Gras in New Orleans – Jim Crow New Orleans, of course, as it is 1941. It was the last Mardi Gras until the end of the war. It is amazing how little the parades have changed. See those drum majors step!
Here we can see Kings Zulu and Rex, rolling in 1962. This video is truly great, as is its soundtrack:
As lagniappe, here is amazing and unfortunately not very well documented footage of a very traditional jazz funeral in a very traditional neighborhood.
I love New Orleans.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Hey – this is made for us – check it out:
Got Blog Narrative Nonfiction?
From Creative Nonfiction Managing Editor Hattie Fletcher: “Creative Nonfiction is seeking narrative blog posts to reprint in The Best Creative Nonfiction, Volume 3, edited by Lee Gutkind, forthcoming in August 2009 from W. W. Norton. We’re looking for: Vibrant new voices with interesting, true stories to tell. Narrative, narrative, narrative. Posts that can stand alone, 2000 words max, from 2008. Something from your own blog, from a friend’s blog, from a stranger’s blog. The small print: We will contact individual bloggers before publication; we pay a flat $50 fee for one-time reprint rights. Deadline: October 31, 2008.”
OH MY GOD. C’est fantastique. Merci. What is my most interesting stuff … I have asked this for the reading … oh my.
It’s easy to submit too – they have it all online (though I wish they asked for a cover letter or something to add more context). Still, Gutkind does good work and Norton is terrific press.
Just do a search to find the website.
Is this narrative? It is from 2008, it can stand alone, it is just under 1800 words, and it has no hyperlinks, which is what makes it good for a paper publication. But I am not sure it is narrative.
https://profacero.wordpress.com/2008/09/16/on-conditioning-on-repression-first-choice/
It’s narrative – to me. And it’s good too.
My posts this year have been too light for the most part, too heavy on quotations – but I sent in a couple.
Oooh, you sent more than one. This is also what I was thinking of. I’ve found their website but not the announcement of this or the way to submit.
Scroll down their website – under News and Events – click on “nominate a blog.”
Well I found it by searching for the text of the ad! 🙂 Thanks RG!
And I submitted that one, and am now looking for others. Am considering this so far – as I said on the post for preparing my reading:
“This one is actually quite good, too, full of life:
https://profacero.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/your-tour-guide-re-speaks/
And there is one on Santiago de Chuco that is a bulleted list which I need to turn into a Personal Narrative, it would be great. And I think I can do it pretty fast.”
I’m not sure about that one I’ve linked, I don’t know if it is narrative-y enough. I’ll bet someone takes the Santiago de Chuco one if I write it, though.
I like this one but it is mostly dramatic dialogue. I seem to be good at dramatic dialogue.
https://profacero.wordpress.com/2008/06/01/cest-charmant/
FYI now I have searched backwards in 2008 to June 1. I must still do January-May and then see, by October 31, which other pieces I submit.
From late March there are a couple of good posts on tenure but I am not sure I want to publish them under my name as articles – I’m saving them for the book.
Here’s a popular post but it would need rewriting, like the Santiago de Chuco one.
https://profacero.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/i-object/
There is also my On Becoming A Professor post which is really really popular and should probably be published in some form (although it is from 2007).
I’ve now surveyed the entire year of 2008 and I think this is about it. I’ll work with this list.
There doesn’t seem to be any limit -so…It’s great you have so much – and on so many topics.
Well, we’ll see if I do more. So far it’s just the one. But I should probably put more. I also nominated one from 13 Stoploss.
ooh – yes, that’s my next move – trying to contact him (he’s on our campus somewhwere…) – I’m glad you’re looking out for him. Spread the word.
I was going to alert him to this – post about it to his blog as you did to mine – and then just nominated him. Now I’ve posted about it to his blog.
I like this one, too, although it is very convoluted and has references to other posts, I am not sure it is stand alone. I am also not sure I want this title on a vita … I could change it but I have not yet figured out to what.
https://profacero.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/on-anorexia/
This one would be good.
http://profacero.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-i-am-mexican.html
It would also be good for the reading (maybe).
I suppose I could republish it with a 2008 date and thus cheat on these submissions. This would not be fair, though!
And this:
http://profacero.blogspot.com/2006/07/professor-zero-and-me.html
And this:
http://profacero.blogspot.com/2006/08/writing-is-like-walking.html
I am sort of liking this submissions project: it was my plan to go through the blog and turn it into some sort of paper manuscript, but I had not expected to start so soon or to use this particular methodology / have this particular motivation.