Clay Risen has a very timely essay up at The Morning News about the building plans for the Gulf Coast. Apparently Gov. Barbour has brought in the firm responsible for the candy colored fantasy world known as Seaside, Florida. As Risen explains, while Seaside is a pretty thing, it is not a vital community or home to multiple economic levels with differing needs and resources. It is yuppie world and making it work in Mississippi seems a stretch. I should be glad that at least Barbour didn't call the Celebration folks up though - that place is down right scary. Nicole Kelby did a great job of running with the Celebration idea in her short story Jubilation, Florida which was published a few months ago at One Story. Nicole is a great person and outstanding writer - check it out to see what Floridians (folks who actually grew up there anyway) think of the whole "new urbanization" idea. It's not that it doesn't look pretty, it just isn't real. And we may love Disney, but we aren't trying to live there. (And honestly, sometimes Disney World creeps me out a little bit too.)

All of this has been on my mind a bit lately as I wrote an essay for an anthology on New Orleans that will be out in early February and the whole PR thing is just starting to kick in. Among other things, Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans will address not only what we have lost in the city but also the plans for what it will look like in the future. Was there much to fix in New Orleans? Certainly - as there is in any major American city. But how do you fix that without losing the sense of place that is so critical to this particular city, and also, how do you fix it so that everyone who lives there has a better life, and not just one that is all flash and no substance? There is areason why the only place in Florida that everyone has heard of is Miami - it might not be perfect but it is someplace. Seaside isn't, and everybody knows that.

This all has made me think of Naomi Shihab Nye's great YA book Going, Going that addresses the "big boxifciation" of America head on and challenges her readers to consider what makes their hometowns a place worth remembering - worth noticing. I'm sure the Gulf Coast residents have their own intense opinions on this idea and I hope they are heard when decisions are made. Otherwise - well otherwise the rebuild just isn't going to work and we will all be very sorry.

I really hope something goes the right way in this country for once.

I'll be writing much more about Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans in the coming months, but be sure to check out my Bookslut article on the publisher, Chin Music Press, that I ran a couple of months ago. They are a great bunch and I'm thrilled to be a part of this project. Toni is also onboard which is pretty damn cool.

Melissa Etheridge is rocking my house right now and the 4 year old just started singing the chorus to "Come to my Window". I could not be prouder!