Are you ready? Weather’s gonna be good. No rain. Nice and warm.

Put on your costumes (well, make them first; home-made is the best) and get your partying heels on because, come Wednesday, it’s ashes and penance.

A Krewe du Vieux Lovely, photo by Kim Welsh.

As of this writing, we haven’t yet heard the opening horn riffs of “Carnival Time” blowing out on Frenchmen Street; I give that until maybe tomorrow afternoon. We bail pretty early at the end of the week because the crazies and alcoholics start gathering at the intersection of Frenchmen and Decatur and spill over onto the neutral ground at Esplanade and Decatur. I see lots of backpacks, Mardi Gras beads and leashed dogs heading by my window overlooking the street, eve now, with more to come, I presume. Even if you’re homeless or on the street, you can still call Mardi Gras your own.

I’m pleased to see that our readers voted 100 percent for the reform of penalties for marijuana possession in New Orleans. Nothing against drinking, but if we had more stoners and less drunks, our Mardi Gras would probably be a lot more enjoyable and less violent. Send me your photos of the best costumes you see this year, would you?

Happy Mardi Gras, y’all! Have fun, stay safe, and be as good as you feel you must.