I decided, after hanging out with Noah this weekend, to finally get the ball rolling on official AntiGravity business. I heard through the grapevine that our printer, Dixie Web, isn't going to reopen, so I've been contacting printers both in the N.O. area and Baton Rouge about quotes. One in B.R. looks promising, and the prospect of driving there once a month to pick up magazines isn't so bad. I can simply do our distribution there and in Lafayette before heading back to New Orleans to finish up.

Once I get the quotes back and actually pick a printer, I can settle on format. We were printing on 50# offset paper, but I may start up with newsprint just to keep the cost down at the beginning. I've always been a proponent of starting small and growing when possible. I'm not about to drain what little money I do have by dropping it all on a magazine that won't sustain itself in the short term.

After format is settled, I can then set up our new advertising rates. We'll approach the businesses already open in N.O., the music clubs in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, and our good friend Chris will talk to record labels.

I'm optimistic, really, that things will start rolling. If in the process we convince some displaced N.O. people that moving back is not only possible but easier than they think, that's great. Hopefully we'll at least entertain those people here and in the surrounding areas.

It's nice to be optimistic for once, after seeing so much destruction, ambivalence and pessimism.