Hi guys!
On September 20, I’m teaching a class.
Crescent City Crash Course
How to Fake Being a New Orleanian
Hey Cafe!
4332 Magazine St.
7-8:30 p.m.
$12
Buy tickets here
“You heard New Orleans was unique before you moved here, but WOW, there’s a lot of things about the lifestyle you didn’t anticipate. It takes a long time to be able to claim you’re a New Orleanian–but you don’t have that kind of patience. Join me to learn how to live in the Crescent City. We’ll discuss where to go, what to bring when you get there, sports, festivals, neighborhoods and what those jokes on all those t-shirts are about. Price includes the cost of some local NOLA-area beers!”
I’m teaching the class via the organization, Skillshare, which empowers people in different communities to teach classes on whatever they know! Class can be as diverse as how to braid hair or how to apply for a home mortgage. Skillshare started in New York and expanded to New Orleans this summer. I signed up to help volunteer with the organization, when Sarah Baird (who is helping launching it down here) contacted me. She had read my blog and encouraged me to teach a course on how to be a New Orleanian. As anyone who reads this blog knows, I’m still trying to figure it out.
I’m working on the syllabus (!) and hoping to make it a lively and interactive discussion*. Please submit any ideas in the comments!
*Or get everyone drunk
Kind of New Orleanian 
My dear, I love your blog! I feel like I’m in New Orleans – ALWAYS wonderful, & ALWAYS confusing – every time I’m there!
You are the perfect person to teach this class – &, while you should feel free to ignore any & all of these suggestions, here’s what I’d think about including:
a.) Its cultural history. Lord, it sounds boring when I put it like that, but NOLA has been SOO different from every other American places for centuries, & for so many reasons that extend beyond Mardi Gras, Katrina, Hurricanes (that you drink in the street at 11 am) & Katrina. Take people to the other places & times as only you can do. Do voodoo. Introduce the black aristocracy. Explain their French & French Canadian roots with storytellers & food.
b.) The insular, hierarchical spiderweb of people connections that involve almost every NOLA being.
c.) Why, of course, Anne Rice could only write what she wrote in NOLA.
d.) What a family town it is…& isn’t!
e.) What’s new: NOLA is the most history-drenched city in America. Most of it doesn’t move but to write the next chapter….And yet. The creativity & ‘laissez les bons temps rouler’ every day create new NOLA wings…what are they?
f.) The cemeteries are cool. They really are. And lots of folks have talked about them, but I don’t think many folks have done so by talking about who’s IN them….(See a, b, & d…)
g.) Last, but not least: I’d consider a regular piece of “where & why NOLA is stuck.” Because part of “laissez etc.” is that it’s all a utopia built on quicksand….
Love you, sweetie!