Reposted from relativeatbest:

Cats Outlived Katrina, But Now Face Desertion
Can Anyone Help?

A colony of roughly 25 cats face life with no caregiver. Their wonderful guardian Janice -- who maintains this colony at the state facility in Belle Chasse, LA (Plaquemines Parish) where she’s employed -- will be blocked from the property as it closes to await new tenants. Once closed, no one can set foot on the grounds ... We have no idea how long these cats will wait and wait and wait ... We are desperate to remove them before the facility it closes. They relied upon Janice for the last 10 YEARS and survived Katrina. They do not deserve to suffer without food or a caregiver.

PLEASE HELP OR FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO SOMEONE WHO CAN:
- We need a sanctuary or individual with ample property willing to take the cats and temporarily confine them for adjustment before release.
- All cats are spayed, neutered and healthy.

CONTACT:
Ramona Billot, ramonabillot@yahoo.com
Plaquemines Parish Coordinator
Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO)
Plaquemines Cat Action Team (PCAT)

I wish I could take them all, but there's no way I can inflict 25 new cats on my brood of 18 who are still adjusting from the move, and my backyard isn't secure enough (cats can easily go over or under the fence as well as under the house itself, which the neighborhood strays frequently do, especially since figuring out that I will put out food if they sit there and look pitiful). I'm hoping this will catch the attention of someone in the area with a big property and a heart to match.

Losing weight is not all it's cracked up to be. I'm pretty sure most of my friends think I am either anorexic or dying of cancer. When I had lunch with my dad the other day, he asked me if I was making myself throw up. I swear to God, no -- I've just lost my appetite. I wouldn't be surprised if it is some psychological thing having to do with being separated from the Liquor world: for six years my thoughts revolved around food and the people who make it, and when that was yanked away by the editor now referred to in our household as B.C. (I am too polite to say what that stands for), I didn't want anything to do with it anymore. Except if that was really true, I guess I would have divorced Chris too.

Today at Fat Harry's, while Chris was enjoying a Cajun Burger and I was picking at his fries because I can no longer imagine eating anything as huge as a Cajun Burger so early in the day, I had a horrible thought: "Chris, you know people taking Ambien have reported side effects like sleepwalking, sleep-eating, and even sleep-driving. What if I'm SLEEP-BULIMIC???" But I really don't think so; I don't wake up with sore stomach muscles, toilet-seat bruises on my forehead, or any of the other usual symptoms of puking. I don't know. I just can't eat much; there wouldn't be much to throw up (unless I'm gorging in my sleep and then throwing up). As I've said before, I'd really rather be a little fatter and be able to enjoy my food like I used to.

I really should be putting up eBay auctions, but even with the air cranked down to 69, it's just too goddamn hot to do anything productive. OK, I did go to the gym today. It's too damn hot to do more than one productive thing per day.

I'm not even all that skinny. My body mass index is 18.4, which is either low normal or the teensiest bit underweight depending on which BMI calculator you use.

More on the skinnifying/not-writing connection tomorrow.

City Councilman Oliver Thomas has been indicted on federal charges and will reportedly plead guilty and resign on Monday. This is a terrible blow, as Thomas was pretty much my only hope, politician-wise, for the future of New Orleans, as well as my candidate of choice for our next mayor. (I like Mitch Landrieu, but he's too white to get elected mayor and too liberal to get elected governor, so I think he will be limited in what he can do for us in the future.)

Speaking of things that will hurt New Orleans, if you live here or follow the news, you may be wondering why I haven't mentioned the outrageous new property tax assessments. The sad truth is that I was afraid my homeowning friends -- some of whom have seen their assessments increase by 200% to 500% -- would be mad at me, but since a couple of people have asked, I guess there is nothing to do but bite the bullet and admit that our nice, medium-sized, newly renovated house, for which we paid just over $200,000, has been assessed at a value of $20,000. We're not even eligible for a homestead exemption. To me, this just confirms many local homeowners' belief that no one is actually going out and looking at the properties; they're just being assigned more or less random values based on neighborhood condition, average income, and (possibly) racial makeup. If millages aren't lowered, I believe this will drive people out of the city (a friend who has two kids and makes a living running an eBay store faces an annual tax increase of $9500), and I deplore it for every New Orleanian who is affected -- which is every New Orleanian, period, because when someone is forced out who doesn't want to go, it hurts us all.