new orleans is not okay, says poppy z. brite. if you're not familiar with the name, she is a horror writer who lives in nola.

docbrite: Not OK:

Occasionally I'm asked by friends Not From Here, 'New Orleans is better now, right? You had Mardi Gras!' or 'Are you doing OK?' or some variation. Sometimes, particularly if they're contemplating a visit, I even try to reassure them: it's very possible to have a good, safe time here; the French Quarter is fine; lots of restaurants and bars are open. In truth, though, New Orleans and most of its inhabitants are very much Not OK. I present to you a baker's dozen facts about life in the city seven months after the storm. Some are large, some small. I think many of them will surprise you.

no streetlights, no stoplights, no garbage, no clean water in some of the parts of the city that people are living in, and many others.

i don't even have words for how badly we as a country have failed new orleans, or how badly we continue to fail them.