The Brunch Table

I’ve been engrossed in work this week, so I’m only now realizing how badly things are going in the aftermath of Katrina. Like many others, apparently, I saw the reports that New Orleans hadn’t been completely leveled, breathed a premature sigh of relief, and went back to what I was doing.

And then the flooding began in earnest.

What surprises me most is how disorganized the official response seems to have been so far—JWZ has a good roundup. I hope there are serious political repercussions from this—this is what governments are supposed to be good for, after all.

I used to think that J. G. Ballard’s High Rise was merely a vicious satire, but then I read “Trapped in the Superdome”. (Fortunately, it does sound like they’re working on getting people out of there now.)

And once again, we see struggles over ice.

It’s unnerving to watch the fabric of civilization unravel at the edge of our country.

Justina found this little guy* poking around one of her orchids tonight, and he was so cute that I had to snap a picture or two. Not long after we released him into the wilds of our fire escape, we found his little brother near the flowerpot. Justina’s not worried, though–she says that if they get to be too pestulant, she’ll just make a beer trap. What’s this? Yes, apparently snails love beer, and will happily drink themselves to death. Well, you learn something new every day…

*land snails are hermaphrodites, so it’s possible that it identified more as “gal”

“We have been doing tests for weeks now in the world’s best laboratories and we still do not know whether it is a virus or bacteria,” the spokesman added.