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I have been planning for the last couple of weeks to write a post to the effect: many of you have a Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab obsession, which I both envy (cos I can't afford it) and don't really understand (because the site is so not-really-user-friendly in several ways and I can't really work out spending even $3 on a perfume you don't get to smell until after you've paid for it). If anyone has any Alice, Kali, Persephone, Tamora, ? they want to donate... I'm interested. But I think that's about the only way I'm ever going to sample this stuff, and maybe it's better that I don't, given how obsessed so many people are.

I really should be in bed, but I'm up and anxious because I am worried that there won't BE a New Orleans tomorrow. I went there in 1999 and kind of thought it was a pit, albeit a pit with some charming crust on the edges. Still, I would have liked the OPTION to go back at some point. And I'm concerned in a nebulous way about all the people there. It's just weird to think of any place, one you've visited or at least heard of in detail, being gone.

I have waited out a few hurricanes in my life, living on the east coast of Florida. None was stronger than a Category 3. Damage was mostly several days without power, debris on the ground, turbines gone from the roof of the house, lots and lots of businesses losing their roadside signs, some flooding in neighboring areas. This happened several times and for us the greatest discomfort was always the lost power: no way to cook, no hot water, no a/c, a refrigerator full of spoiled food. We worked out ways to evacuate with our pets, because we couldn't stand the idea of leaving them at home to ride out the storm and possibly be lost or killed (most shelters won't accept them). Hurricanes are one thing we were very grateful to leave behind when we moved.

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- Well, it seems like New Orleans is still there. Ish. Whew. There is a lot of damage, but it isn't flattened like the NWS said it could be. It will be awful there for a while, though, if what I remember of living in Florida after Hurricane Andrew is any indication (and I didn't even live in an area that was hit - but we were in the path for a while, almost evacuated, and you do sometimes remember bullets you've dodged).

- We are actually going to be hit with the remnants of the hurricane tomorrow, and Columbus might flood! It'll be a weak tropical storm by then or slightly weaker than that, but we tend to have high water levels because of all the rivers around here. I took down the porch umbrella so it wouldn't blow away again, so the (glass) table wouldn't get knocked over, etc.

- I was at the library tonight, parked by a lamppost, and it got dark while I was inside. I came out to find my car COVERED with flies, dozens, maybe hundreds, and also on the ground and in the air. I couldn't get in the car without letting some in, and then there were a few that I couldn't completely get off of me or the car. I'm ashamed to admit I was a little bit panicked, mildly terrified. Most of the flies looked like houseflies, but were smaller, maybe half the size.

( litbloggers and their anti-Potter disclaimers; more on BPAL-gate! )