About Me

So I guess before I tell you who I am - I should tell you who I was.

I was born the second child of two adoring parents - her being from Mamou and him from Weeks Island. I was the little girl who, at 5 years old, wanted to be a fashion designer. As a teenager, I was the girl who became enamored by the hustle and bustle of the big city. I was the girl who traveled any and everywhere - just so long as it wasn't here. I was the girl who seemingly found a place in the extravagant & sophisticated life of southern Florida. I was girl who traded the idea of a life in fashion for the dream of culinary school and a career in a top New York restaurant.

and now?

I am the girl, who after all her attempts of getting out of this place, finds herself right back where she started - at home.

My real name’s not important. Call me Kora Bruce. I’m 24 and I find myself back in southern Louisiana. The girl I was grew up with all the time in world and thought there wasn’t a single thing worth doing around here. I know better now. I’m not sure exactly when or how this enchanting truth came about, but it somehow worked its way into my heart. There’s a million veiled treasures hidden along these dusty gravel roads and murky bayou waterways – I actually might not have enough time to unearth them all.

In short, this is my love affair with home – a reawakened enthrallment with the simpler things.

Take this as it is.

I don’t claim to be an expert on southern living.
Hell… a lot of this, I’m experiencing for the first time.

Join the adventure.

More About Kora Bruce & Dixie Lust

On the surface Dixie Lust will read as personal archives about living in and discovering the South. It’s a haze of fried foods at mom and pop eateries, impromptu rock and roll shows on the back porch, and grand road trips in the spirit of Jack Kerouac. It’s New Orleans, Austin, Mobile, and Savannah – as well as Bunkie, LeBeau, and Grand Isle. It’s not “indie” and it certainly isn’t “preppy” – it’s a style all of its own. Below the surface, there’s a love affair taking place that even non-southerners can identify with. Dixie Lust is a reawakened desire for the simple things in life. It’s a story about loving life exactly where you are.

Maybe it was having a Canadian friend come down for Mardi Gras and discovering just as much as she did about my culture and heritage. Maybe it was sitting alone in the grassy field,listening to Cajun French Music at Festival International de Louisianne. Maybe it was finding myself falling for a once-farmer who lives and breathes for the wide open country. I can’t pinpoint one moment where it just came to me… This year has been a changing of heart, a journey home, for me. The art, the music, the food,…the people of the south – they’ve all captured my heart in a distinctive way. Very simply, I just felt compelled to write about the simplicity of my new found love.

When I was a senior in high school, there was a scheduling glitch and I was thrown into a creative writing course. I went in with the worst attitude - thinking I couldn’t write anything worth reading. I wrote what I thought were stupid musings but my classmates identified with my work. They encouraged me to write more – and my teacher taught me technique. The more I learned and the more I read of their work, the harder I pushed myself. I fell in love with writing that year (and I ended up scoring at the top of my class!). It was such a sense of community – and to me that’s what blogging is about. It’s a positive place of learning and expressing your true self. It’s all about putting yourself out there and spreading your ideas and energy.

The Bohemian Manifesto by Lauren Stover, fear, Anthony Bourdain, random acts of kindness, black and white photography, the beauty found in decay, yoga, wide open spaces, acoustic songs, Sucre on Magazine Street, religions of the world, folk art, fried food, honesty, the strength people of post-Katrina New Orleans show, the sounds of a fiddle, The Blue Dog by George Rodrigue, murky bayous, Bollywood movies, skylines, love, the works of Adrian Fulton, the stories of the elderly, Tolstoy, open mic night at the local art bar, blogging

(The above was taken from an interview with Jasmine from An Experiment in Poverty)