[Recovery Pen is a semi-weekly column which tries to provide a clever take on New Orleans life.]

So if you're not here to witness it firsthand, let me tell you that June is the month in which everything slows down. Way down. The college kids have scrambled back to their northern homelands, the musicians have gone on tour, anyone with a few extra bucks has made arrangements to get the hell out of Dodge. Restaurants and shops close. Of course, no one minds the heat. It's that humidity that makes us crazy to the point of homicide.

And the bugs.

And the "budget" summer tourists who don't tip.

And, of course, the likelihood of being drowned in a killer storm.

That said, I wish I could say that "Recovery Pen" is on hiatus due to Prince Charming whisking me off to lounge away the summer solstice in the Riviera. But no. Although life slows down for everyone else, my work has been heating up. I help run an alternate-certification program for teachers here in the NO, and anyone who works in education administration knows, summer is a busy time. Currently, I'm in charge of an event where first-year teachers' performance portfolios are assessed by experienced educators, so that these first-years can get their Louisiana certification in the fall.

True, this work probably isn't as important as gadding on about local characters in a public forum, but I gotta pay the bills. So don't despair, dear readers! Recovery Pen is in a brief dormancy, soon to emerge from its sweltering cocoon.

Upcoming topics: building a Bike Project bike, travelling circuses, hula-hoopers, high-school hijinks, and so much more.