I Read "The Hours," Mr. Cunningham. You Should Have Moved to New Orleans

"I almost moved to New Orleans, years and years ago," [Michael Cunningham] said. "I've always wondered what would have happened if I had. I mean, I was there. I was staying with a friend and just loved it. I thought, why not just stay here? I was still in my 20s and still a little tentative about this whole notion of 'writing.' I thought, given what I know about myself, I might move to New Orleans and write a novel, or I might move to New Orleans and wake up at 75 with a cocktail in my hand, sitting on a veranda realizing 'I guess that was my life.'

I went to New Orleans once, back before I was a 'Net prole, before I was a graduate student, even. It was when I was assistant director of undergraduate admissions. For five days, I worked and I played. I didn't sleep, mind you -- at all -- but I worked and I played, and I had one of the best times of my life.

On the plane home, I remember having a similar realization to Michael Cunningham's. I remember thinking I could move to New Orleans and wake up a week later looking 75 with a cocktail in my hand, on a curb off Royal Street, realizing "I guess that was my life."

And I remember thinking how that would be a good life.