Funny thing is, today's weather was gorgeous.

 So there's a serious storm coming this way. Isaac, this one's called, and as of right now (9:34 p.m.), it's off the Florida Keys. As of right now, it's still a tropical storm but them that know say it could pick up juice in the warm Gulf of Mexico and become a hurricane. Meteorologists are saying that, sometime late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, it'll make landfall somewhere between Mobile and Lake Charles and it's been said it will be a Category 2 storm by the time it hits. There has already been a number of deaths in Haiti and some heavy duty weather in south Florida.

 So far - and with all empathy to those who've already lost to this storm, but it doesn't seem like this thing is all that threatening, really, not compared to the serious shit Katrina or Gustav brought. Then again, around noon today, everyone's mood switched all at once, it seemed, and the lads started taking Isaac seriously. I'm sitting here watching the Weather Channel analyze every damn aspect of the thing to death, but I guess that's their job.



 Now, it's probably not my place to say, but it's my impression that the good people of New Orleans do not wish to be caught flat-footed again. Sure, it's be said so many times before, but Katrina left a lot of scars on this town, and there is at least one way folks won't be hurt again. By the time I got to work at 6:30 morning, the woman working the counter at the hotel said she'd already secured lodgings in Baton Rouge in case the shit hits the fan. A couple of the lads have already called kinfolk in other towns to check see if there's a couch for the kids. My neighbors are stocking up on water, batteries and beer. Hell, I could very well be in Magnolia come Thursday.

 Okay, it's 9:54 p.m. and I had to shut off the Weather Channel. The storm's slowed it's movement a bit, though it hasn't lost its strength. Its pressure has also gone up, and apparently this is a good thing. The gist I got from the weather guys is that it could be a real mother of a storm or it could not be anything of the sort, but we really won't know until tomorrow morning around 10 a.m. That's basically what they've been saying since around six this evening.They've got Momma scared shitless, I do know that.

 I don't know, maybe I've just got myself in the right frame of mind and I'm feeling very conspiratorial about this storm. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not subscribe to the ideas, popular in some areas, that there are ways of mechanically controlling weather to such a degree that one could actually use a hurricane as a weapon of deliberate aim. It might could be, but until I see better evidence than I already have, I remain skeptical. Nevertheless, I'm all for the conspiracy theory that says the popular media, particularly the so-called "information/news" agencies to make much ado about not quite that much but not necessarily nothing and to do so for various reasons, mostly revolving around ad revenue.

 Now. I don't know for sure, but I'm fairly convinced baring new evidence. I do not think it's malicious so much as avaricious, and we're a species/culture that rarely takes the long-term consequences into account when there's the chink of ready cash at hand. As for whether or not it's done to stir up, confuse and mis-inform a frightened public to keep them if not docile than at least focused of ripping each other to shreds, well that could be a bonus, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I wasn't giving the game too much credit.

 Granted, that's not necessarily a radical comment or opinion. I remember the reams of tirades against the sensationalism of cable news when I was in college and the dribble about dangerous bloggers during the 2004 election. Hell, I've seen Network. Still and all, it don't really take all that much to get most folks into a serious twitter, let's be honest.

Anyhow, it's weird sitting here and thinking on how by this time next week, I might be having to find me a new job, a new home, maybe even a new town. An acquaintance of mine has something serious to do with the levees on the Mississippi River, and it's his educated opinion that we're good there. They'll be a while screwing that one up again that badly, he says and I've no reason to doubt him. Still, this town has taken a serious beating in recent years. Don't get me wrong, these folks - the locals and the weirdos that drift here - are not only tough enough to like living in this rather shabby Gotham and get off on it, they're also fiercely in love with a town that's almost impossible not to have seep into your system.

 I don't know if I count, though. I do still seriously dig this town, but I haven't taken to it like many of the locals (that is, non-natives and generally non-Louisianans) seem to do. The girlfriend says it took her a couple years and so did the ex-roommate, and it did take me almost the full time I was there to really fall in serious like with Athens, so I don't know. Or this could all wind u being a few days of heavy rain, like last year's before-Decadence-hurricane.

 I don't know. Either way, we hope all are safe throughout the next few days. However it pans out, it pays to be prepared. This gibberish is, of course, just something to keep a toe in until true inspiration decides to come along. One never knows.