June 2008 Archives

Freelance Writing Journal is having a contest which will determine their next twice-a-week staff blogger.

Dear Freelance Writing Jobs:

Please consider this note as my application for the job of "regular twice-weekly columnist" and my entry into your FWJ Idol contest.

You could say I've been a professional writer since August, 1980, when I stepped into a classroom as a high school Social Studies teacher. The materials included in a US History book's "teacher's guide" rarely resemble anything that can be used to prepare lessons for 11th-graders who aren't on a college-prep track. One of the biggest challenges teaching kids at that level was to boost their reading level. Textbook writers had not yet figured out that teachers were not only teaching content, but reading skills as well. This challenge meant a good bit of re-tooling of the course material was required.

I got paid for that writing, in the sense that I was paid as a teacher, but my first "official" paid writing gig (as in I got a check specifically for the piece) came in 1993, when the journal American Programmer published my article "Hackers vs. Crackers." Emboldened by that article's publication, I continued to aggressively query professional journals. I sold a couple of articles to The Cobb Group's publication, Inside Microsoft Excel, and Inside Windows 3.1, which they re-packaged/re-printed for a one of their newsletters targeted at the education market.

This was the time just before our modern, Microsoft-dominated world. Microsoft Word was just another competitor in the word processing market (WordPerfect was the leader), and Lotus 1-2-3 was the spreadsheet of choice. Networking PCs was an involved process, and Novell's product was the popular way to share files. My consulting practice at this time involved a lot of work installing and supporting Novell Netware systems, integrating the maturing Windows product with those networks.

I continued to write on these topics, leveraging the last-published article to get the next one. I landed a regular column in 1994 on Novell Netware for PC Systems and Support magazine. The magazine already had a Windows columnist, so I answered a call for queries from a local publication (local being New Orleans), Gulf Coast Computing. This tabloid-sized, ad-driven monthly did not pay for submissions, but I wanted published clips on Windows technical issues, so I wrote half a dozen articles for them before that incarnation of the publication went out of business.

As Windows NT began to mature, my consulting work turned away from Novell to Windows networking. My writing naturally reflected that shift, and I sold an article titled "Make Your NT System a Web Server" to another Cobb Group publication, Inside Windows NT. An acquisitions editor for Que caught that article and hired me as a co-author for the book, Choosing Windows NT 3.51.

As the World Wide Web increased in popularity in the mid-late 1990s, I began to query print publications less and less, opting to write for my own websites. By 1998, I was doing a lot of training for Compaq Computer, teaching classes on Digital UNIX (later Tru64 UNIX), and the TruCluster system for Compaq's 64-bit AlphaServer product line. I continued to write for my websites, using those articles as "loss leaders" to showcase my skills to computer companies and training providers as a courseware developer. I authored and co-authored several classes for Compaq/HP on UNIX and StorageWorks. I queried New Riders in 2001 about doing a book on TruCluster Server systems, which was accepted, but the HP-Compaq merger got New Riders skittish, and the project fell through.

All through this period, I struggled with trying to "break out" of computer writing. I was writing a lot about New Orleans for my websites, but the competition in travel/leisure writing was tough. Refusing to be discouraged, I continued to write about my home town. In 2003, I noticed that there were only three books in Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series about New Orleans. I queried Arcadia about doing an "Images" book on one of the streetcar lines in New Orleans. They bought the idea, and New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line was released to coincide with the re-opening of the Canal line in 2004, after being torn up in 1964.

New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line was an unqualified success, quickly going into second printing. Because it's a history book, it is easy to continue to promote and sell, so I've done a number of book signings, keeping the streetcars and the book in the public eye as much as possible. This marketing effort landed me a profile by the Times-Picayune newspaper last month, written by columnist Angus Lind. That article got me noticed by Pelican Publishing, who have offered me a contract to re-write a tourist guidebook on New Orleans that was originally published in the late 1980s.

I've continued computer writing as well as the New Orleans/streetcar writing. I currently teach classes for Hitachi Data Systems, and do a bit of course development work for them.

To sum this up, I've got fifteen years' experience querying editors, promoting myself as a writer, and actually producing work for pay. I'm first and foremost a teacher, and that's what you need for this column--someone who can offer practical advice, encouragement, and assistance to folks trying to break into the market.

Links to my work:

Personal Continuity: http://www.seashell-software.com/archives/2007/08/personal-contin.html
In Praise of the Sno-Ball: http://www.ebranley.com/2008/06/in-praise-of-the-snoball.html
On Being Creole: http://www.ebranley.com/2008/06/on-being-creole.html
All About Po-Boys: http://www.ebranley.com/2008/06/all-about-poboys.html

New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line (Arcadia, 2004, ISBN 0738516058): http://www.amazon.com/New-Orleans-Streetcar-Images-America/dp/0738516058/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213032203&sr=8-1


Thanks for this opportunity!

Sincerely,
Edward Branley, edward@ebranley.com
http://www.ebranley.com
http://www.yatpundit.com

NOTE: originally written for the New Orleans Mailing list in 1994. Original was edited by Chuck Taggart of The Gumbo Pages for inclusion on his fantastic site. I've left the annotations in this version.

In Praise of the Sno-Ball

The sno-ball is truly a New Orleans creation. The main reason for this is a machine called a "Hansen's Sno-Bliz." This is the machine that turns blocks of ice into sno-balls. Most sno-cones are made of crushed ice; a Sno-Bliz machine shaves a block of ice, giving it an extremely fine texture. The classic sno-ball machine (now manufactured by four or five companies in the area) works like a deli meat slicer. I've never seen anything like a sno-ball in any part of the country, although Lani Teshima-Miller's description of "shaved ice" in Hawaii is the closest thing I've heard. A sno-ball isn't an Italian ice, nor is it a crushed ice abomination.

Once the ice is shaved, it's collected into a cup, paper cone, bowl, plate, or even a container akin to the things that you get at a Chinese take-out place. Then syrup is poured over the ice, making one of nature's most perfect foods. Some people continue the process, adding cherries, ice cream, ice milk, condensed milk, or other toppings.

There's a bit of a ritual when it comes to buying a sno-ball. Most sno-ball stands are small affairs where you walk up to a window to place your order. The first thing you have to do is tell the kid working on the other side what size sno-ball you want. Currently this normally ranges from a small cup for around $.45 - $.50 to larger affairs which can go up to $2.00 each. If you're ordering more than one sno-ball, you tell her all of your sizes first. After she gets done with the ice machine, it's time to tell her what you want on them. Most sno-ball stands have anywhere from 30-70 flavors available from which to choose. The most popular are strawberry, cherry, grape, chocolate, ice cream (vanilla), and bubble gum (it's blue, tastes like bubble gum). Additional flavors can be simple, like lime or spearmint, to exotic, like orchid cream vanilla, papaya, etc. If you like something on top of your ice and syrup, they'll add that, then you pay and you're off.

Toppings on sno-balls started out fairly simple, and have grown over the years. First it was half-and-half sno-balls. Then things like condensed milk on a chocolate snoball, or chocolate syrup on an ice cream-flavored one. Then soft ice cream machines became affordable, so sno-ball stands started offering soft ice cream as a topping for sno-balls and in cones. I've seen some stands offering dry toppings, like chocolate or rainbow sprinkles, but I don't think they hold up well on ice.

It's all but impossible to come up with a top five or top ten list for sno-ball stands, because they're neighborhood creations. There are two exceptions to this: Hansen's Sno-Bliz Sweet Shop, in the 4800 block of Tchoupitoulas, and Plum Street Sno-balls in uptown New Orleans. These two are legendary, and transcend neighborhoods. Since I grew up a Metairie boy, the stands that I
remember as being the best are one at Bonnabel and Metairie Road, and one at Veterans and Homestead. When I more-or-less moved to Gentilly for high school and college, the one on Fillmore and Elysian Fields became my regular stand. Nowadays we go regularly to the stand at Clearview and W. Esplanade.

Sno-balls are a summer creature; I can't think of a single sno-ball stand that is open during the school year. [Editor's note -- There are a few scattered here and there. CT] The main reason for this is that school kids are the main source of labor for a stand. Most of them have permanent sites that are closed for the bulk of the year. When the second week or so of May rolls around, however, and the high schools close, the stands re-open until around Labor Day.

My favorite's lime. Helen (my wife) likes strawberry with vanilla soft ice cream on top. Justin (my son) goes for chocolate.

©1994, Edward J. Branley edward@ebranley.com

NOTE: This article was originally written for the New Orleans Mailing List, and was picked up by the most-excellent Chuck Taggart for his Gumbo Pages website. Yes, the "Where to Go" section is woefully out of date, and we'll work on that.

by Edward J. Branley, ©1994

[Additions and annotations by Chuck Taggart]

Hero. Sub. Hoagie. Grinder. These words are foreign to the vocabulary of the native New Orleanian. That's because here in New Orleans, we eat po-boys. Oh, we eat hamburgers, muffelettas, and sandwiches on sliced bread also, but the po-boy is a staple at lunch counters across the metro area.

The Bread

What makes a po-boy special is the bread. A po-boy isn't a po-boy unless it's made with good quality, fresh French bread. New Orleans French bread has a crunchy crust with a very light center. The loaves are about 3' in length, and are about 6" in circumference. Time was that many a corner bakery made their own French bread, but there are only three bakerys left in town that make true French bread: Gendusa's, Leidenheimer's, and Binder's. [Note: The "wonderfully stubborn Reising
family" were bought out by Leidenheimer's.] Many of the larger grocery stores make bread that they call "French bread," but it's not made in the old brick ovens that the real bakeries use, so it doesn't come out with the same contrast between crust and center.

The Fillings

Roast beef and shrimp are the most popular fillings for a po-boy, but just about anything can be put inside a loaf of French bread and taste good. Freshness and quality are the two most important aspects of what goes inside a po-boy. Many places do an excellent hamburger or cheeseburger po-boy because they can cook the patties to order.

Same goes for seafood fillings like oysters and shrimp. Roast beef and ham are a different story. The average lunch counter doesn't roast their own meat anymore, so the places that do really stand out. A good gravy can go a long way to compensate for not roasting your own meat, which is why some otherwise average places do good barbecue beef and ham po-boys.

There's really no limit to what can be made into a po-boy. Streetcar Sandwiches does a great smothered duck po-boy, for example. Fried catfish is growing in popularity. The low-fat movement has prompted several places to add grilled chicken breasts to their po-boy menus, but the combination of ingredients that make a great po-boy don't lend themselves to restricted diets, so this addition to the menus hasn't been that earth-shaking.

The name "po-boy" is, of course, a shortened version of "poor boy." The name stems from the fact that a po-boy used to be a very inexpensive way to get a very solid meal. The least expensive po-boys on the menu will almost always be those with the cheapest fillings. Luncheon meat, sausage, and French fries. French fries? You betcha! A French fry po-boy with roast beef gravy is a wonderful treat. Watching guys in suits eating French fry po-boys down in the CBD may seem like a "what is wrong with this picture" scene, but you won't understand until you try one. Same for a luncheon meat po-boy with roast beef gravy. Italian and hot sausage po-boys are cheaper than roast beef or shrimp, but they're still good if the sausage is good.

Dressed, or Nuttin' on it ...

This is one of those questions than can hang up a tourist like a deer caught in the headlights. You think you've figured out whatever little place in which you're standing in line. You get to the front of the line, and you order your po-boy. The lady behind the counter asks a one word question: "Dressed?" You look at her like she's crazy. Of course you're dressed! No, silly, what about your sandwich? What do you want on it? Do you want it dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo, or do you just want nuttin' on it?

Eating a po-boy either way is proper. Some people just want roast beef, gravy, and maybe a little Creole mustard. Some want theirs dressed all the way, so that the mayo and gravy mix together and fall out of the bread in a sloppy mess. Seafood po-boys are ordered with just butter, maybe butter and ketchup, or with the full treatment. The amount of mayo usually is the key factor in just how messy your sandwich will be. Remember, a po-boy place isn't McDonald's (and thank God for that) -- you'll get yours made the way you want it if you speak up.

Where to go?

OK, all of this sounds good, so now you need to know where to go. It's been said that there's no bad food in New Orleans, just great and mediocre food. I cordially disagree with this one, because of some of the places in the CBD that pass for lunch counters are pretty poor. Not to mention the fact that those abominations called Subway have popped up all over the metro area. For a good po-boy, here are some suggestions:

Mother's, Poydras and Tchopitoulas.

Arguably the best po-boy in town. Skip the roast beef and order the ham with roast beef gravy. If you're really hungry, order the Ferdi, which is roast beef, ham, and debris (roast beef gravy with the pieces of meat that fall in as the roast cooks). No lettuce here; Mother's dresses their po-boys with cabbage. The plate lunches (gumbo, jamablaya, etc.) are also excellent, and the turtle soup is about the best in town, but locals come here for the po-boys. [Note: Mother's has the best baked ham in the known universe. -- Chuck]

Uglesich's , 1238 Baronne St, across from Brown's Velvet Dairy.

The best oyster po-boy in town, beyond a shadow of a doubt. This is a terrible neighborhood, but worth the adventure for lunch. Closes at 4pm.

Liuzza's, 3636 Bienville, Mid-City.

Best Italian po-boys, and the "Frenchuletta," a muffeletta made on French bread instead of the round Italian bread. Liuzza's makes a great tomato sauce, which is why their sandiwches and pasta dishes are winners.

Domilise's, 5340 Annunciation corner Bellcastle, Uptown.

In my humble opinion, the hot sausage po-boy with gravy and Creole mustard at Domilise's is an Intensely Religious Experience. Have a Barq's and some Zapp's Crawtators with it. -- Chuck

Parasol's, 2533 Constance, Irish Channel.

And deep in the heart of the Irish Channel it is, near the Garden District. Parasol's is another quintessential neighborhood joint, famous for it's po-boys as well as the "local color" of its denizens. A madhouse on St. Patrick's Day.

After these, locals from all neighborhoods will normally chime in and advocate their favorites from where they grew up. Many are good, some are just average, but anyone who uses good bread can't be all that bad. I can tell you all about the good places in Metairie and Gentilly. My friend Steve can tell you all about Chalmette and Arabi. Others will put forward places Uptown or in the Quarter. The trick is to follow the locals. If you see everyone ordering meatball and sausage po-boys, you'll know that that place's red gravy is good. If everyone is ordering seafood, you'll get the picture quickly. Step back from the counter for a few customers and see what they're doing. If nobody orders the roast beef, skip it. That usually means it's undistinguished. Go with something that is grilled to order, like a hamburger or hot sausage po-boy. Enjoy!

NOTE: This was one of the first essays I wrote for www.ebranley.com, long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away. This and several other items got lost in the flotsam and jetsam of converting from a website developed with NetObjects Fusion to a blog format.

On Being Creole
by Edward J. Branley

I wrote the following article for the New Orleans Internet Mailing List I some time ago. While the article doesn't deal with the difference between Cajun and Creole, it tries to explain what a Creole actually is. Here in New Orleans, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cajuns are not Creoles. Real New Orleanians take exception when people say they're coming to town to eat some authentic Cajun food, because we know that restaurants in the city are, for the most part, Creole, not Cajun

The term "Creole" is a much misunderstood term. It means many things to many people. In current affairs usage, Creole is the language spoken by Haitians. In New Orleans, Creole has a long and distinguished
heritage.

Aside from Native Americans, the first settlers in the New Orleans area were French. As New Orleans developed into a port city, a heavy Spanish influence began to almost overshadow the influence of the initial French settlers. This Spanish influence grew even greater after the Louisiana Territory was sold to Spain. After a couple of generations, the difference between a Frenchman and Spaniard was negligible in terms of native New Orleanians. Thus was born the Creole.

Of course, there were other types of people in and around New Orleans besides the French and Spanish. Native Americans, Englishmen, Africans, and various natives from the islands all interacted and intermingled with the Creoles. While it was a city with a strong slave trade, New Orleans was also home to many "free persons of color", who moved about the city with no restrictions whatsoever.

The melting pot that made the New Orleans native began growing. By the time the Americans took over, the idea that a Creole was someone of pure French/Spanish descent was already a myth.

With the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States in 1803, and Louisiana's subsequent admission to the Union in 1812, a new cultural element entered the city. Americans, primarily of English extraction began moving to the city in larger numbers. New Orleans' status as the number two American port also meant a larger number of European immigrants, particularly Germans, started settling in this area. This is when the "uptown" and "downtown" differences in New Orleans life began to develop. The Americans moved in upriver from Canal Street and the Quarter, leaving the down river or "downtown" side (including the Quarter) to the established natives. There was a strong language barrier between the Americans and the natives, since the natives continued to speak French and Spanish rather than switching to English. To the Americans, a native New Orleanian who moved in the circles that spoke French was a Creole. Slaves, free persons of color, and whites were all lumped together under this designation.

By the time of Reconstruction, the racial tensions between blacks and whites also affected the use of the term Creole. Whites who didn't want anything to do with blacks beginning refining the term to include only those who were of French/Spanish descent and were 100% white. Blacks whose families were free persons of color prior to the war now found themselves lumped in with freed slaves and now were simply regarded by whites as "colored" or "Negroes". This didn't set well with many blacks in the city who regarded themselves as higher on the social ladder than the recently freed slaves. In most cases, the black city natives were indeed of a lighter skin color than the slaves. This was mainly due to the racial intermingling that took place in the city. The law stated that anyone with at least one black great-grandparent (known as an "octoroon") was technically "colored" in terms of Jim Crow legislation and such. Quadroons and octoroons used the term Creole to distinguish themselves from the (normally) 100% "colored" folks now moving into the area.

As time grew on, the use of the term Creole as a method to separate one group of blacks in New Orleans from another all but defined the term for practical purposes. There are still white people who maintain that Creoles are "pure" white folk, but the common definition of a Creole in New Orleans today is a light-skinned black person who can trace their family history in the city back a very long way. White society all but dropped use of the term because Creoles became a sub-group of blacks.

One of my favorite anecdotes concerning the use of the term Creole comes from the TV show "Frank's Place." In case you don't remember the show, it's about a Boston-raised black man who moves to New Orleans from up north to take over the family restaurant, called "Chez Louisianne" in the show. The restaurant and its denizens are patterned directly off of Chez Helene. Anyway, being a prominent business owner, Frank is asked to join a local men's club, called the "Capital C" club. He's flattered at first, but is confused when he realizes that his kitchen staff and friends are quite upset that he might actually join. It's explained to him that the "C" in "Capital C" stands for Creole, and that members must pass the "grocery bag test" as part of admission. If you lay a brown grocery bag on your arm and you're darker than the bag, you're not eligible for admission.

Frank confronts the member of the club who invited him to join, and all of this is confirmed. Seems that the club was trying to open up its membership a bit, and they felt that Frank would be a good start. Frank says something like, "I was the 'first black' in high school to do this and the 'first black' in college to do that. Now you want me to be the 'first black' ... in an all black club?!" Strange but true.

So, "Creole" means different things to different people. The one common theme throughout all of the definitions, however, is that Creole is referring to something that is native New Orleans. Whether it's Creole tomatoes, Creole cuisine, or a Creole debutante, they're all New Orleans.

by Edward J. Branley (edward@ebranley.com)
(c) Copyright 1995.

I usually bring 3-4 things to read with me when I'm on the road, and here are this week's books:




I've got both hardcopies and e-copies of O'Brian's Aubrey-Matruin novels, and I'm currently on The Post Captain. I have it on my Palm LifeDrive, which I still get a lot of use out of as an e-book reader.

Since the flight attendants make me turn the Palm off during takeoff and landing, I always bring a hardcopy book with me:





Knight Tenebrae by Julianne Lee, a bit of fantasy I picked up at a used paperback store at home.




When some Tweeple began talking about Serenity comic books, I got @bsicomics to order the Serenity graphic novel (combines the first three comics) and I also picked up the second three, so I brought those along as well.

I also brought The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria with me (scroll down for an image), but I haven't started it yet.