"We put the fun in funeral -- NEW ORLEANS."

-- bumper sticker seen on car in the Garden District

It is Friday. Carnival season began the day before. King cakes have popped up all over the place, the glorified cinnamon buns shot through with cream cheese and coated with purple, green, and yellow sugar. Served in triangular slices, they mark the arrival of carnival season. A small seed sits inside each one: a plastic baby, the sign of good luck, the owner's obligation to bring King Cake to the party the following year, and possibly that you have just cracked a tooth badly, and are in need of emergency dental surgery.

They are the first thing I notice in New