Happy Franklin's last day of 6th grade to us all! We had a great year and are thankful for the faculty, admin and staff, and of course the other parents and kids. I'm so glad we're at Bricolage.

This newsletter, like most of mine haha, is a bit delayed! Why? Life, chile. All good things, finally. Now let's be honest, could they be good-er? Absolutely. But these past five-to-six months have been a dream, for the most part.

Keep reading for the deets!

Can you believe Franklin and I moved from our lifelong home? As I outlined in my November newsletter, long story short, we had to quickly pack up 40-plus years of life into a lil storage unit. Like I always say though, "Sometimes the Lord has to hit you in the head." You'd think I'd leave after the possums, after walking in on burglars, after the hit-and-run that killed a man in front my house, after the lady using my lawn as her toilet, but no. I was determined to stay.

Well I guess God was sick of me being stubborn, so He forced me to move. Of course it was God, I don't need confirmation on that. However, here's what made it clear to me. The neighbor who bought my house (if you need a refresher, that's in my aforementioned previous newsletter) was charging me about $1,500 to live there. Still with the possums, sometimes with no hot water, no laundry equipment, no more use of my carport. My current place is $1,500, in the East where I wanna be, furnished with utilities paid, and there's a pool, gym, lobby, community room, two balconies in the unit, a trash chute, and a gated parking lot, and it's on the national historic register! We LOVE it here.

I'm 41 now, as of April 30! THANK YOU to everyone who called, texted, messaged, emailed and huge thank you to everyone who pinned money on me! I appreciate it all, but the money comes in so handy because (drumroll please) I still don't have a job. I know it's not just me struggling with this, and I'm thankful for my lil freelance money, but to be honest freelancing takes so much effort for very little pay and if I want to start printing The New Orleans East Sunshine Weekly, I will absolutely need to back it with steady money. Also, remember that $1,500 monthly rent here? LOL I can't pay it with just $500-$1,000 stories here and there.

Anyway whatever, that will all work itself out! Here's what I did for my birthday!

• Was on a podcast (Taste Buds).
• Bought a few scratch-offs for the occasion, then remembered I hate gambling.
• Took myself to Charmant -- twice!
• Got a brownie from NOLA Sweet Tooth Fairy!
• Went canoeing with Franklin at Bayou Sauvage (he's a junior ranger now, don't play with him!)
• My homeboy Joey took me to Kenji Kazoku!
• Dined at Chef Ana and Lydia Castro's Casimiro!

And I'll be 41 til I'm 42, so YES OF COURSE I'm still joyously receiving birthday money! I'm on all the apps plus Apple Pay lol and they are listed here: https://meganbradenperry.com/payment THANK YOU!!! 🥰

A What It Is, Reader? A What's Up?

Can a Megan ... just keep in touch? Anyway real quick here's some stuff I've done lately!

Next Steps for The New Orleans East Sunshine Weekly

Basically I'm waiting to get money so I can have money so I can use money to fund the first month of The New Orleans East Sunshine Weekly. Yes, it needs to be in print. Yes, I need to have it pretty well done from jump. I went to my bank to get a loan and they were very nice, but basically I can only get a loan if I already have the money. Which, well, I don't yet. It's not a lot of money, for most people, but for a freelancer like me it's a lot. Because, and I'll go into this later, I still haven't been hired anywhere. I'm very thankful for your Givebutter donations! Please follow on Facebook and Instagram!

First and God-Willing Last GoFundMe

In my last newsletter, I mentioned a friend who needed help. You know me, I love crowdfunding for others. Mutual aid! But chile can you believe me myself I had to have a GoFundMe?! It was so embarrassing, but you know what? I had no choice. I explained how I made this novena and BOOM. I went from having nowhere to live and no money and no job, to moving from the only home I ever knew into my dream apartment within a few days. My homegirl told me to tell the whole story, and I did. Only people who were mad were the people who fucked over me, whom I didn't even name, but as a friend said, "If they wanted to be remembered kindly, they should have been kind." Something like that. Anyway here's the GoFundMe!

Kayaking is my New Favorite Hobby!

Every Saturday, barring horrible weather, there's FREE kayaking and canoeing in Joe Brown Park in New Orleans East! You don't have to preregister or anything. And it's the coolest thing, just the coolest thing of all time! Franklin even loves it. One day, I'll get me a house on Lake Catherine and have multiple kayaks and maybe a canoe and a boat boat maybe. I LOVE THIS!

No Hair, Don't Care!

For the lunar new year, I wanted to cut off all my hair. I don't want to keep it short, at all, but I really just wanted all that old hair and energy away. Plus, it was breaking in all sorts of weird spots. I definitely miss my security blanket, but it'll grow back.

Nope, I Still Don't Have a Job

Despite being recommended by current employees, despite already doing the job, despite being immensely talented and hardworking, I still ain't got no job. Yes I freelance and yay that's cool or whatever. And God absolutely got me. But I just get so sick of it. Wasting my time on interviews, wasting my time writing cover letters. It will all come when I need it, but I stress every month about bills. And gas! Gas is so high! Do you know how much driving is involved in freelance journalism?! I guess I just gotta go hard freelancing. Thank you always for supporting me by recommending me for things, tagging me in comments, sharing my work, and of course contributing financially. One thing: When I say I stress. I actually don't. I've got the most ridiculous faith ever, so I know God will always do it again! If you get steady money, you better be so thankful! I haven't had steady income since I got laid off in 2020.

Seven Snippets in Three Sentences

Here are seven cool things, in three sentences max, in random order.

1. In August I got to visit some great hotels in New Orleans, for a Bon Appetit story. Best hotels in New Orleans for foodies. I loved them all, but if I had to choose favorite favorites I'd say The Windsor Court and Hotel Peter and Paul.
2. Brunch is my least favorite meal, but folks love it so I wrote about it for The Infatuation. Best brunch in New Orleans.
3. Franklin and I got to visit the new Kenji! Here's us at Kenji Kazoku, in Old Metairie!
4. Franklin is in talented in music (I was in talented in theater duh) and he performed at school! Immensely proud of him! Thank you, Ms. R and Ms. Canfield!
5. I shared something really intimate on Threads that I'd never really shared before. Something that still traumatizes me now. Wild thing is, the man responsible had the nerve to sign up for this newsletter. Deleted and blocked!
6. There was an awesome fair here, in the East! Franklin and I had the best time ever! 
7. I hate generative AI so much, the more I learn about it. You have no excuse. Like my girl Corinne says, you were doing just fine without it! Here I am, in my Lou Grant era, on LinkedIn.

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