Why I am here...

…because life is too short and too precious to claw my way through Wall Street. Because the Pyramids were not built treading along in a hamster wheel.

…because I figured a 1500-mile road trip to begin a new life in an unfamiliar place would make for a unique story. I am proud to live somewhere where such a tale has become blasé.

…because New Orleanians open their doors, pour stiff drinks, fill plates high, and demand little of their guests beyond an adventurous tongue.

…because the architecture is the most amazing I’ve seen. Anywhere.

…because the city is in dire need of a brewing co-op and I hope to provide it.

…because I have an eye for what makes a city work, having lived in Boulder, Seattle, and Saratoga Springs, and because New Orleans has ten times the intrinsic charm of these other cities put together.

…because Cajun slang is interesting, southern drawls pacifying, and Yat dialects just downright bizarre.

…because there is real soul here: a tangible and visceral loyalty to a dynamic cultural ethic.

…because there are real minds here: those who heed the calls of intellectual adventure and find deep satisfaction through attacking problems at their roots.

…because a potential roommate warned me recently of the seeming permanence of endemic poverty and government corruption, and of the futility in wasting a swollen heart on a city with real problems. It sounded like a dare, and I never turn down a dare.

-Jeff Sandman