What do you think about Louisiana?

I find people from LA to be charming and old school, especially those from small towns (like Ruston and Winnsboro). I think change happens slowly, and there’s a fine appreciation for a good story. Kinship matters. Protocol counts, but so is being able to get the better of someone, in a cleaver way.

All I know is that the correct pronunciation is ” NOR-leens”.

I picture a kind of swampy place, with big old houses and spanish moss. I don’t really have an image of the people. Maybe that’s because I currently live in West Virginia…

and I think it’s NAW-lens.

I think Louisianans are a fine bunch of people who simply quit goin’ west too soon. I have every sympathy with their ways, but I think they’re mostly unrecognized Texans. Hey, y’all, come on ovah heah and party wit us, yeah? We got de music too! We got Willy! We got good smoke! We’ll try to speak Cajun if you bring dat Zydeco fiddle!

I could never get that right! Thanks augustlan… “NAW-lens”!

I spent eight blissful years in the N.O. area in the ‘80s as a kid/teen. For me, it’s nostalgia, music, the most real definition of community that I’ve witnessed, food, jois de vivre, tradition, boating, fishing, crazy voodoo dancing in the streets, Christmas in the Oaks (still happening?), salt of the earth people, Mardi Gras, canals, driving West Esplanade, the Saints, Ciro’s pizza (still there?), Jimmy’s, daquiris, the Moonwalk, abject poverty, and dangerous parts of town.

I never cared much for anything north of Lake Pontchartrain.

Hey! What’s wrong with Cajuns? What’s wrong with creole food? What’s wrong with the swamps and the rare birds they hide? Is there anything wrong with Jazz, and street music?

Maybe it is one of the poorest states in the country, but a significant portion of poor people cleared out of New Orleans after Katrina, and they haven’t come back.

I’d say hold on. Your day will come. And just appreciate the culture you have there. It is something special.

There’s nothing wrong with showing off one’s breasts during Mardi Grad also.

@psyla: jeez! How did I forget that one!!!

The overall positive consensus on Louisiana is surprising me

… Morning Call at 2 a.m.

My SIL is from New Orleans (and yes, it is NAW-lens) or, as she says, she is a “yat” (from the universal greeting “Where yat?”). She is one heck of a cook, throws a mean party, and creates family out of complete strangers (just ask “The Democrat” who came to the door representing the Obama campaign, was invited in, and is now yet another unofficial daughter). At her house she does amazing things with what she calls “srimp.”

Even before I met her I always thought of Louisiana as a place to get great food, whether “city style” or cajun, a place for great music, and a place where family is strong. That is what I saw and felt every time I visited there.

BTW, thanks to Katrina we finally have some decent waitpeople in our restaurants over here in south Texas.

And I did indeed have alligators in my back yard but it was when I lived in northern Florida. They were really hard on the local dog population. But they were right tasty (as was squirrel, armadillo, bull frog, and cooter (turtle)) and not as greasy as possum.

I think of how the dead are buried above ground.
Just wondering, is that so they can get them to the polls quicker?

Nope, it’s because the place is a swamp.

My nephew went to Jesuit in New Orleans.

Blue Gays ^

are homophobic jokes still funny in LA?

<< Jealous that Kevbo got to grow up in N.O. in the eighties! What fun that must have been…abject poverty and all.

Oh, and I chuckle at the fact that so many guys still wear Polo shirts and penny loafers with no socks—just like they did 20 years ago.

@augustlan, it was a lot of fun. Never short on things to do.

Did Bourbon Street smell like urine back then? It did when I was there about 10 years ago.

I think of Louisiana as a place where people are eccentric. I guess it’s the mix of different cultures that gives me the idea of “different” and “eccentric”. I also always think of the accent.

@astrochuck, Oh yeah. It took me forever to figure out why the sidewalks always had water streaming from the corners of buildings.

“Hey mister, I bet I know where you got your shoes.”

I heard it took FEMA 5 days to get water to the dome, after Katrina.

Also, a good friend of mine = a piano player from Minneapolis, spent 9 months in the French quarter. He slept during the day, ‘cause they’ve got evening Roaches the size of your hand down there. OOOOOH thank God for Minnesota fridgid Winters!!

They sell a pack of 50 mousetraps for ‘em. No problem.

@daloon- I know. I was j/k.

It is my least favorite state and the majority of the people I have met from there I didn’t like.

It is probably hands down the most backwards place I’ve ever been. It’s full of corruption. The school system is terrible—the only thing it has going for it is an incredibly progressive magnet school or four. But the food is wonderful and the people are friendly.

I grew up there. I no longer live there.

@AstroChuck – Bourbon Street has always smelled like urine except directly after Katrina. Then it smelled worse.

I have a lot of family there and my Parents even own some land in Ruston, so I think “family”.

I think they were very clever to make the state the same shape as their initial.

As a “Cajun” living in LA=Louisiana not LA California. I call it home. I have traveled a fair amount and have seen plenty but still always love coming back home to “the heart of cajun country” which is Lafayette, LA. I spent the weekend in NOLA=New Orleans and enjoyed the visit. It is very different and only two hours away by car from my home(passing over swamp on two of the longest bridges in the world). New Orleans is Creole not Cajun which is different. The northern part of the state is different from the southern parts yet again. You can find a place you will enjoy in Louisiana because there are so many micro cultures here. Now if you are a moutain lover your out of luck. If you like Music, food, hunting, fishing, parties, and people you will like LA. Yes we celebrate evrything. We literally have a festival every weekend and small parties on weekdays in between the weekends.

@Astrochuck on the above ground grave issue. Graves are above ground because the water table is so shallow that the coffins will pop out of the ground after a rain if they are buried.

I was born and am continuing to be raised in Louisiana and no homophobic jokes arent funny here in Louisiana never were. But I really don`t appreciate when people put Louisiana down. We arent rednecks with alligators in our back yards. Yea we like to let the good times roll and are very rowdy when Mardi Gras come around. We Louisianians live normal lives like everyone else in all of the other 49 states. And it is not funny that we got struck bye Katrina and people find that a joke. And the graves are above ground and have stones on top of them so when it floods like in Katrina there aren`t coffins floating all around. I love Louisiana with a passion and always will. I am proud to be from Louisiana no matter what people consider us because we know what we are. I am not mad at anyone or being smart but I just want people to know how it feels to be a person that is Louisiana bred. Geaux Tigers and Geaux Saints!!!!!!!! Oh yea and Louisiana Tech.

I know very well how folks feel about being Louisiana born and bred. My SIL is a yat and her friends are mostly also from various parts of the state. The school system is awful, but the people are great (and so are the private schools).

Darwin: thank you so much for not being one of those people who put us down.

You are most welcome.

would u like 2 be friends?

I think that Louisiana is one of the greatest places on Earth if not the Greatest. Especially now that it is MARDI GRAS time!!!!!! TIME TO PARTY LOUISIANA STYLE!!!!!

Louisiana knows how to produce friendly people, great parties, a fantastic and original culture. How did they manage to elect a governor who says he won’t take money to rebuild the state;s infrastructure or improve the frankly lousy schools? The only thing I can figure is you have elections during Mardi Gras when the party has priority.

hahaha Bobby Jindal did decide that and did you know that he is thinking about running for office next time around?

No, Louisiana is pretty famous for electing ridiculously corrupt politicians. Politically, it’s kind of like a third world country. Ethics are entirely out the window. I grew up there and let me just say: not my favorite place. There is a reason I live so far away now.

Of course, I got out. I feel bad for the people who are brought up in such a mindset that they don’t see the reasons to get out.

Also, not everyone there is a redneck, but a hell of a lot of them are.

@EmpressPixie I agree with you but I wouldnt want to move because all of my family is here and I dont know what I would do without them

I find that people down South and living in Louisiana are a lot more respectful and warm than a lot of people in Massachusetts.I also really think New Orleans is cool because of the history and festivities even after all that has happened in the last few years.