Steve Gillard wrote a beautiful post to black conservatives, but while I was reading that post it hit me that New Orleans is gone. Even if they rebuild in the same spot, it won't be the same. I don't know why, but I just can't stop crying about it. I don't want a city that has none of the soul, the verve, the energy of New Orleans taking its place. I liked the old city with its live nude girls signs, its crawdaddies, its crowds of drunken tourists. I know it's selfish of me, but I wish it'd be the same again, and not all be washed away.