Hope and Doubt in New Orleans

What I love about this time of year is the tradition, and it all begins with the Thanksgiving holiday.My family's got a whole host of traditions for Thanksgiving Day itself and then, later, Christmas. But these past two years I've added two new traditions that really dress up the Thanksgiving weekend.First is a big group outing with my high school friends the night before Thanksgiving. Started in 2008, this year we went to this all you can eat/drink sushi joint on the lower west.After dinner was through, two of my friends rock, paper, scissored it to decide the next spot, which ended up being Sway. Normally I'm as anti-Sway as they come, but I was feeling up for anything so I didn't protest.When we got there the music was loud, the conversation nearly impossible, and the drinks incredibly overpriced, but we were among friends. Sip and Nails came by. The Fat Jew was in attendance. The Sham Wow guy, too... random.It was a good night. After another great Thanksgiving my...