So, apparently, it turns out that God does hate the Southern Decadence, the big gay celebration that struts its way through the French Quarter on Labor Day weekends.

Or perhaps God has to delegate some of his responsibilities. Perhaps he has placed a secretly anti-gay angel in the job of hurricane management. Heckuva job.

Either way, Gustav or no Gustav, Sunday’s parade promises to be a weak one. In fact, that parade has not really recovered since being blown away by Katrina, as Jen Kuchta pointed out last year.

Before the presence of Gustav, looming into the Gulf, I had planned to write an “anniversary� piece about some of the changes New Orleans has undergone in the past three years. Some of the ways in which the city has changed are as blunt as a demolished house; other changes are more subtle, less easily perceived by the tourist eye.

One way in which the city is changed is that now whenever a hurricane even threatens to threaten we all pay attention. Bobby Jindal was outlining plans for the worst-case scenario as early as Tuesday. I know he wants to be prepared, of course, but too much worst-case-scenario talk over the years prior to Katrina was responsible for some people staying home. They had heard it all before, and nothing ever happened.

Anyhow, I’m going to save my scintillating thoughts on how the city has altered until Gustav blows another direction. Gustav sounds like someone who should be a good friend of Ivan.

Remember Ivan? I wrote a piece about drinking coffee before and after that hurricane. It gets right to the issue of how our city has changed since that time.

So does Amanda Boyden's new novel, Babylon Rolling, which also takes place in the days before Ivan. I’ve heard her read from it twice, and it sounds like a great New Orleans novel. She also has some thoughts about how our city has changed — what we have lost.

But for now we are waiting for Gustav. He may be headed this way. Let’s hope not.

Just in case, behind the cut is a tune to evacuate to: