12 Yats of Christmas

The Yat dialect is the most pronounced version of the New Orleans Accent. Natives often speak with varying degrees of the Brooklyn-esque accent, ranging from a slight intonation to what is considered full Yat. As with all dialects, there is variance by local speakers due to geographic and social factors. This results in many different levels of Yat throughout the area, marking distinct differences between higher-income people and lower-income people. Yat tends to differ in strength and intonation from neighborhood to neighborhood. The type, strength, and lexicon of the accent vary from section to section of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Longtime residents can often tell what area the other residents are from by their accent.

State Rankings for Happiness

Here's how states are ranked by happiness levels:

1. Louisiana
2. Hawaii
3. Florida
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Mississippi
7. Montana
8. South Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Maine

There may be something to be said for southern hospitality and sunshine. A new study shows that Southern states are the happiest while coastal rivals New York and California are at the bottom of the list.

Researchers ranked the happiest states (plus the District of Columbia) on self-reported measures of happiness as well as objective measures like sunshine, congestion, and housing affordability and found six out of the top 10 happiest states were in the South.

Louisiana topped the list, followed by Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee, and Arizona rounding out the top five.

New York ranked dead last at number 51 and California fared only slightly better at number 46.

Want to see where your State ranks?

I won 4 FREE tickets to this on the radio...

Celebration in the Oaks ™. What is it? Well...locals get to share in the joy and spirit of the 23rd annual Celebration with favorites including the fabled Carousel (a century-old Antique Carousel) and the train which will take patrons on an enchanted journey highlighted by an electrifying light display along City Park Avenue, and the Botanical Garden decked out in its holiday glory. This rich tradition is a New Orleans' signature! Some of the things I'll get to see: -A new state of the art twenty minute Laser Light Show set to holiday music performed by some of New Orleans' favorite artists. -A twenty-foot tall Poinsettia Christmas Tree is the focal point of the Botanical Garden's Conservatory of the Two Sisters. -The multi-media Cajun Night Before Christmas exhibit depicting the classic local twist on the traditional tale, but this one if set on a Louisiana bayou, Santa is dressed in muskrat "from his head to his toe," his skiff is filled high with toys and is hitched to eight friendly alligators, not a Prancer or Comet among them. -A New Orleans Christmas figure that many are strongly loyal to this time of year...(it's not Santa)...it's Mr. Bingle. More to come on Mr. Bingle later since I want to devout a full post to him.

21.2 Inches of Rain in just 14 days

Severe rainfalls Monday night and Tuesday morning depositing more rain on ground already saturated by the weekend's storms helped make this December the wettest calendar month on record in metro New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service. A total rainfall of 7.17 inches from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday at Armstrong Airport helped cement the new record. Other rainfall totals about 9 a.m. Tuesday read 5.69 inches at Audubon Park. All this rain is after the drench of another 7+ inches the New Orleans region had Saturday evening.

Added a little festive spirit to the blog with some snow! Enjoy!