If you're open to it, New Orleans will teach you about yourself, but if you want to hide from who you really are, the city will help you do that, too.
Before I left the 'Star' last year to write books full-time, I welcomed catastrophe. It was material. Missed planes, broken pipes, dead lawns, digestive disorders, you name it, if it was something that had gone horribly wrong, it was worth banging out 600 words about.