Get out of this place.

I was going to write that essay, but then I spent two hours going back and forth with this little guy. The mouse-in-the-house dilemma drives me nuts. I don’t want to kill him, but I also don’t want his droppings all over the place. Thinking about trying to train him to use a litter box. In the meantime, he doesn’t seem to be falling for my humane trap baited with crunchy peanut butter. Right now his top priority ought to be not letting Kaia catch him in her food bowl.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.29.2012.

Liz and I took the dogs to the park today. Bones has come out of his shell and is very much the social butterfly, picking playful fights with all the other dogs. But he always comes back to where we are sitting just to check in with us and make sure we are still there.

Today we sat in a different area than we usually do, so when Bones came to check in, he couldn’t find us. He panicked and ran straight for the gate. When we weren’t there either he stuck his head out of the fence and looked in the direction of our apartment. He may have chewed up my W-2, and pulled the laces out of my shoes, and I may be a little tired of his puppy antics, but watching him desparately look for us and then leap for joy when I walked over and got him was a little adorable. Probably not, but I may miss him a little bit when he leaves us after this weekend.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.28.2012.

Jimmy Dobbs, whose name is on the wall for being employee of the month in September 1990, shucks oysters at Sammy’s Steak and Lobster. Meanwhile, it seems worth noting that I’ve never held the same job for longer than two years.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.27.2012.

Butters has made himself quite at home around here. Although, Liz and I have taken to calling him Bones instead of Butters on account of him throwing his legbones into our backs while we sleep. Bones especially likes when I bring home a to-go box from the restaurant filled with leftover meat scraps. Or, if I come home from school with things…maybe a W-2 that he could chew up…doesn’t matter, Bones is happy. Dammit.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.25.2012.

Hello. My name is Kaia and I was wondering if you’d be interested in trying to get this stick from me.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.24.2012.

I like those Monday nights in New Orleans when you start talking to the guy next to you at the bar about random things and then you realize the guy you are talking to is Spider Stacy from The Pogues.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.23.2012.

Harrah’s sent me a free buffet for my birthday. Their collection of crab claws may be impressive to look at, but one shouldn’t underestimate a good corn nugget.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.22.2012.

The new issue of Bayou Magazine is the best in its history. (Congratulations to its editors, Melissa and Carrie.) Also, it includes a poem by Michael Inscoe, who is probably my favorite poet in the world.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.21.2012.

I feel so bad for the lobsters in the tank at work. When my table orders one, I have to pluck one from the water, put him on a tray and parade him through the restaurant before he goes into the pot. Whenever I quit this job, I’m going to free them as I walk out and turn them loose on Bourbon Street.

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.20.2012.

My camera battery is dead, and I’ve lost my charger, which means I’m not taking good pictures, which depresses me, which means I don’t post to my Tumblr every day, and the only pictures I do take are with my iPhone, which can even just be a screenshot of a Words With Friends game, which doesn’t accept the Cajun words I hear in everyday speech around here, which makes me more depressed, until my wonderful girlfriend Liz tells me that she could tell I was getting depressed about the battery charger so she ordered me a new one, which brightens my life (which Liz has a knack for), which means I start posting to my Tumblr again, which means I make up for eight days of not posting, which means I may flood your dashboard for a minute, for which I apologize to you (I’m sorry).

New Orleans, Louisiana. 1.19.2012.

RELATED: If anyone wants to play Words With Friends with me, start a game with gchoate17.