Looking at the pics below made me think of talking to my Mum on the phone. In Britain and particularly in Scotland, there is a general preoccupation, some would say obsession, with talking about the weather. It is normal, almost expected, that somewhere in a conversation the question shall be asked 'So, what's the weather like with you today?'.
When my Mum asks me this on the phone I normally chuckle and give my rote answer - "Oh, same as yesterday, warm (or hot) and sunny". Don't get me wrong, sometimes New Orleans can have stunningly dramatic rainstorms that flood the streets, or thunder storms loud enough to wake you in the middle of the night with your heart in your mouth (and we all know about the "H" word), but generally the weather is hot & sunny.
When the weather is generally the same (and generally nice), no one really becomes obsessed with a daily discussion on the weather. But in Scotland when horizontal freezing rain can greet you outside the door for a week its no surprise that it should become a daily topic.
Oh, its warm & sunny today [again] by the way!!
N"awlins
Little snapshots
About Me
- Cursed Tea
- New Orleans, United States
- I'm a Scottish quine fae the North East of Scotland, married to a wonderful American from Indianapolis. Right now we are in N'awlins and are loving it [definitely beats the 6 years in Ohio!!]
Please!
READ THIS BOOK!!
tell everyone about this book!
5 comments:
Oh yes, how we Brits love to talk about the weather. I think it is partly because, as you say, nothing can be taken for granted, so it is a rich seam of conversation. I think it is also a way of getting conversation going without straying into anything too serious. Chatting without really saying anything. Like revving up a car engine.
One extra weather word you might add is "muggy" because the humidity is usually quite high in south Louisiana.
Hi there,
I just wanted to tell you about my book which has just come out Finn McCool's Football Club - The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of a Pub Soccer Team in the City of the Dead.
It deals with an Irish bar in Mid-City and the lives of the regulars before, during, and after Katrina.
As someone who blogs on life in New Orleans, I thought you may be interested in how a "foreign" local interprets what goes on in the city.
Last week the Times Picayune carried an article on the book:
http://blog.nola.com/anguslind/2009/03/finn_mccools_football_club_chr.html
Thanks for your time!
Stephen Rea
I like your real and raw blog posts -- keep it up!
I too have a new book out, a NOLA novel, but it is mostly for comic relief, and well-suited for the sarcastic reader who is familiar with the quirkiness of New Orleans.
It's called "Jackson Squared," and it "reads like a modern 'Confederacy of Dunces,'" I'm told.
I'm the NOLA writer who penned the first personal account of Katrina, "The Five People You Meet in Hell: Surviving Katrina." I went on to do a 21-city book tour and ended up on CSPAN2/BookTV, and other major media outlets.
I would like to send the book to you in hopes that you like it enough to review it.
Recently departed FQ photographer Johnny Donnels did the cover image, and writer Josh Clark did the cover design. I've dedicated the book to Tuba Fats and Ruthie the Duck Girl, who make cameo appearances in the story.
Here's a link to the book, as well as my previous books (the Katrina one was the first, this is the 4th in 4 years, and 4 genres):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books&field-author=Robert%20F%20Smallwood
I love New Orleans and I hope you will enjoy my book. I think you'll find it unique (I worked on it for 7 years!).
Red Beans and Ricely Yours,
Robert Smallwood
neworleansrobert@yahoo.com
p.s. I'm a Scott -- literally -- that was my mother's maiden name!
Grrr. Get some followers, girl.
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