Marching On

Over the last month since my last post, I've Pussyfooted in 2 parades, marched in another, watched a ton of parades, celebrated my birthday, attended 2 more Mardi Gras Balls, bought a car, ate 2 monstrous corn dogs, went camping and continue to battle the crud. Pshew, no wonder I'm still tired. AND now trying to clear out Mardi Gras stuff to make way for St. Patrick's Day.

First of my new car! A Rav 4 I've named Barry White from Lakeside Toyota. The Rav4 and Honda CRV were my top two picks, both highly rated. My experience at Lakeside Toyota (ask for Mike Chosa) was far superior to the one I had at Royal Honda plus, it's closer to where I live for servicing. I love it!

Our float. From https://www.facebook.com/NewOrleansLocal

This year, the Krewe of SPANK got to march first (after the title and royalty float) in the Krewe du Vieux parade. Our float and throws, especially the Dizneylandrieu Map, were highly coveted and beloved by the media. The weather wasn't bad and the crowds were big but polite this year.
More photos: NewOrleansLocal.com, nola.com, Offbeat.com and NolaDefender.com. We had Loki, a "GoogleGlassHole," with us and he took still photos and video of the parade.

In my previous post I said I was going to Pussyfoot in 3 parade. The first was Carrollton on 2/23 and it was a deluge. I was in denial it would rain, and never imagined it would rain as hard as it did. But we danced on and there were still people along the parade route! Every single piece of clothing I was wearing was soak through. Our new corsets bled pink dye all over everything that wasn't already pink. It was insane. I had been feeling better before this day but after that my cold came back. I dropped out of the Nyx parade and didn't even watch it. It was a cold, damp night and I decided it wasn't a good idea for me to be outside. Plus, the next day was my birthday!

The deluge! But we smiled and danced the whole parade.

The Krewe of Muses parade rolled on my birthday and I watched it over at our good friend's who always have an open house for it. The rest of Mardi Gras was a blur as I recovered from the crud.

It's all down hill to Mardi Gras now

My last post was 1/7 so it's been less than a month since I posted last. Woot! Let's see, what has happened in the last month...

I survived the polar vortex that shut New Orleans, and pretty much the whole state of Louisiana, down. We didn't get any pretty snow just sleet. It was freaking arctic here. I grew up in Florida and have lived here the past 20 years so I'm not accustomed to below freezing temperatures 3 days in a row. A freeze over night is not a big deal because I sleep through it. We were hunkered down like in a hurricane. During all of this I had the crud. I've been sick for 2 weeks now and finally think I'm getting over it.

And even though I was sick as a dog there was no way I'd miss the Pussyfooter's Blush Ball. It's our annual fundraiser which didn't happen last year due to an early Mardi Gras and the Superbowl. I laced up in my new corset, got glammed up and managed to go until about 12:30am. Strangely there are very few pictures of me that I've seen but here are the ones George Long Photography took. We sold out and exceed our fundraising goal, ending up giving METRO $34,000!

That me on the left pointing.

I've also been gearing up for Mardi Gras which is one month away. Looking at this month's calendar, it's full of Pussyfooter dance practices, Krewe of SPANK den days -- where we work on our float, throws and costumes -- and Krewe of Muses events like throw pick-up and float viewing and of course, parades. I'm not riding or Pussyfooting in the Muses this year. It falls on my birthday, so instead I'm going to enjoy the spectacle at my friends' parade party. Of course, I have to stay mum about the themes and throws for Muses and Krewe du Vieux/SPANK but will post after the parades are over. I will Pussyfoot in three parade: Carrollton, Nyx and Orpheus. I can't wait!

Other than that, pet sitting has been slow. I remember that happening this time last year. I'm trying to build up the dog walking side of the biz since that's steadier income. Doing a little design and also doing PR for the Freret Street Festival that will be April 5th. Been shopping for a new set of wheels. Visiting dealerships and test drives is fodder for a whole separate post. Skeeball started back up and we won our first match last week. Yay!

Happy Halloween!

My annual Gonzo Halloween Greeting.

 Halloween's a big deal in New Orleans. People here love any reason to get costumed up. Many people, myself included, have a costume collection. I have a small closet where all my wigs, costumes, and accessories live. Being in the Pussyfooters I get to dress up year round. Saturday we were in the Krewe of Boo parade that was an absolute blast! I found the cutest witch hat at the grocery store of all places, and built my costume around that. We all had to wear our pink corsets. Our colors are pink, orange, white and silver so Krewe of Boo is the rare chance to wear some black. Most of the pieces I already had. In addition to the hat, I bought the striped gloves and tights. I also found orange, battery operated Christmas lights that I sewed onto my tutu.

The whole ensemble with Staar behind me.

Me with one of my Camel Toe Lady Stepper friends.

Me with fellow Pussyfooter witch.

That's me photobombing my scarey doll friend. (The Times-Picayune)

 

 

I also carved pumpkins this weekend. I knew they rot pretty quickly here thanks to our warm and humid weather. But this year was an exception. I put them out Sunday night, by Tuesday they were in my compost bin.

Ewwwww!

Happy Halloween!

Mardi Gras Madness - Part 3 - First Weekend of Parades with the Pussyfooters

Here comes the girls!

Technically, Mardi Gras is the last day of Carnival but we use the terms interchangeably. Carnival starts on 12th Night, January 5. The Phoney Phorty Phellows take a streetcar ride, throwing beads and what not to those that come out to see them. I was meeting a friend on the Avenue and was running late, so I missed the first pass and almost missed the second pass. There are parties this night as well as the Krewe of Joan of Arc that marches through the Quarter.

Me, mid-step-turn.

In New Orleans, the majority of parades start 2 weeks prior to Mardi Gras day. I'm in the Pussyfooters, a woman's dance group, and we were invited to perform in two parade the first weekend, Krewe of Cleopatra and Krewe of King Arthur. Both parades are about 5 miles long and took about 3 hours to complete. That's a lot of dancing and marching! But it is so much fun, and it's always a thrill to spy someone you know along the route. What was fun about these two parade is the first one was at night, the second the day, each a different experience. The night parades are more of a blur because you can't see, but even in the daylight, you aren't always sure where you are. The crowds blank out the landmarks and cross streets. It's fun to be able to see the people in the crowd and interact with them.

Here's a bunch of photos on Flickr from the King Arthur parade. We glow in the daylight!
Here's a video of us performing one of our dances in the same parade.
Here's a video of us from the Krewe of Cleopatra parade.

It's such an overload of senses. We have our own music - this year with a live DJ! - then there's the yelling and crowds noises, music from other groups and marching bands. We use hand motions and whistles (you'll hear them in the videos) to alert everyone about an upcoming dance. Sometimes you miss both until you realize everyone around you is dancing so you just jump right in. Like I said earlier, visually it can be a complete blur, but then you spy someone in the crowd you know and they just pop out at you. That's usually when I mess up. LOL And then there's the smells. There are horses and mules in the parade -ugh- but you also catch whiffs of fried chicken, BBQ and boiling crawfish along the route as well. Yum!

St. Charles Avenue in the Lower Garden District.

In front of Gallier Hall downtown. I'm the one in the pink wig. ;-)

Canal Street.

You don't have to be crazy to live here but it helps.

I survived my trip, but just barely. Day two I went on a rafting trip. The river was running high, fast and very cold due to all the snow melt. We hit a rapid the wrong way and everyone got thrown from the raft except the guide. Two manged to swim to shore, me and another guy got pulled back into the raft. Never been so cold in my life. Scared the shit out of me and I got some lovely bruises. One guy twisted his ankle really bad. But we all were OK and we only lost 3 baseball caps and one paddle.

That white stuff is snow, my friends. Up to our knees in some places.

It's always interesting to travel-you realize just how dysfunctional yet unique New Orleans really is. The first week of my trip was small spent in small, charming mountain towns in the southern half of Colorado. One day were were so high up in the mountains that the snow still hadn't melted. The second week I was in Denver for a conference. Denver is huge and flat. Who knew? It's very clean and there's a good mix of older buildings and new ones. I thought "this is what it's like to live in a town with a robust tax base." I like the funk of New Orleans though, and Denver seems like it tries too hard. My friend and I visited Pearl Street, billed as "unique shops, excellent dining and community minded businesses nestled in a delightful, pedestrian and pet friendly setting." All three blocks of it. Whatever. It pales compared to Magazine Street which is 6 miles long full of shops, restaurants, bars and galleries.

Cute, mountain town of Silverton.

I did have an interesting experience. I have friends in Denver and they picked me up from my downtown hotel and took me to their house for dinner. I was there for about 5 minutes when the power went out. It was a very hot day so we all assumed it was a brownout. But it stayed out. Thankfully they lived within walking distance of some restaurants so we headed out. This was no brownout, traffic lights were also out. My friend pulled up the news on her Blackberry - an electrical substation had exploded and thousands of people were out of power! We were lucky there was an area near by that had power and we were able to have dinner. They took me back to my hotel around 9pm and it was creepy. It was dark, no lights, no traffic lights - very reminiscent of parts of New Orleans after Katrina - plus smoke. Thankfully downtown had power so my hotel wasn't affected.

Getting back to crazy; I come home to extreme heat and humidity, the start of hurricane season and the on-going oil "spill" in the gulf. I won't lie, it was a relief to be away from all the bad news for a while. As well as away from the humidity. But we do find ways to distract ourselves and make it worth it to live here: incredible food, amazing music, copious amount of booze available 24/7, the laissez faire attitude, Mardi Gras, festivals and other crazy things. For example, I just found out today I got accepted into the Pussyfooters, one of the female dance troupes. There are others; Camel Toes Steppers, Bearded Oysters and The Muffalottas. I also play on a Skee Ball team every Thursday. Excuse me, it's a skee ball and drinking league. The guy who formed the league just made this great video. I'm a member of two Mardi Gras krewes, so I get to dress up in costumes and parade through the street with a drink in my hand, throwing stuff at people-it's really a hoot. If you are thinking "grow up" then you don't have the right attitude to live here. Yes, people do have jobs, pay bills, own homes and raise families. We just like to have fun while being all grown up and responsible.

Today is a dreary, rainy day. Yesterday was the Irish Channel St. Patrick's Parade and our 3rd Annual parade party. I'm too tired to do a full recount here today and I didn't take a single photo. I will however post the second half of my Mardi Gras saga.

A never-ending cycle – Part 2






Unlike Saturday, I went to all 3 afternoon Uptown parades: Okeanos (so-so, too much blaring bad music), Mid-City (nice) and Thoth (very nice). I walked from our house, up Magazine to a party at Jefferson stopping long the way to chat with people I knew. We were on a balcony, which is why I was able to get good photos of floats. I got a lot of exercise this day. Walked back home once the parades were over. Then G and I walked to a party over by Charlie’s Steak House and watched Bacchus on Napoleon Ave. Or I should say we tried to. People started setting up camp on Napoleon Wednesday; I know because I drive down it to work every day. We were stuck half way back, behind ladders. The worst part was using the City of NO port-o-potties. UGH.

Bacchus on Napoleon.

Not going to watch parades on Napoleon any more. We got a call from a friend who was in the Garden District, so we crossed Napoleon and hoofed if over to 6th street. We caught most of the parade again. This time we could see since the crowds were smaller. We hit two parties during the course of the evening and there was zero food. After the parade we walked back to Magazine Street for some dinner and drinks.

Bacchus on St. Charles Ave - better. Hard to get good night photos.

Flambeaux

I had learned my lesson from the previous years and took Monday off. I did go into the office for a bit and then spent the afternoon running errands. That evening we met friends on St. Charles Ave. to watch Proteus and Orpheus. I vowed to not drink too much so I wouldn’t be hung over Mardi Gras day. It didn’t work out that way since I was fed an endless stream of red wine. (I’ve decided wine and parades don’t mix. No beer either, makes me pee too much. Gin + tonic = good. Scotch = good) After the parade, you guessed it: Magazine Street for dinner and more drinks.

Mardi Gras day was another warm and beautiful day. After a fortifying breakfast we set out on foot to Liprap’s for their annual party. I love seeing all the people and costumes while walking along St. Charles Avenue. After visiting for a while we followed Adrastos and Dr. A to Krewe of Pants. We were at 3rd Street watching Rex.

The king of Rex

Boeuf Gras "the fatted ox"

Didn’t catch much. After Rex was over we all converged at the House of Pants, hanging out outside. You know that shooting that took place? It happened 2 blocks away from us. We were oblivious until I noticed a cop running down the street, gun in hand, “Uh hey guys? That cop over there has his gun drawn.” Another cop appeared, then another. People started rushing by and we asked what was going on. Seconds later, many police cars with light going pulled up and an ambulance. We got herded inside and watched the proceedings from the windows. They recovered a gun near by and we saw both suspects get put in cars in cuffs. I have to say I was pretty impressed with the NOPD's response. It’s hard enough to catch bad guys, but when there are hundreds of people, probably drunk, milling around clueless, makes it even more challenging. The one plus of all the people was there were plenty of witnesses. Adrastos also has an account here. I had considered going down to the Marigny but it was too late once the cops let us out and my buzz was long gone. G and I just walked home and relaxed. Just when I had thought Mardi Gras was over for me, we got a call from the Mad Irishman that a friend who cooks for Commander’s Palace was making gumbo and potato salad and get ourselves over there. Man was that good eating. Drinks at the Rendezvous followed that. I drew the line at shots. Jagermeister at that. Yuck. Works slows down around Mardi Gras since clients are also busy with parties, parades and balls so I took Wednesday off to recuperate.

Mardi Gras '09 - excellent weather, skimpy throws, gorgeous floats that went by too fast, good company, marred only by the shooting.

A never ending cycle – Part 1

Some of this year's parade booty.

So I survived another Mardi Gras. When I first moved here, I went to as many parades, concerts and parties as I could. After a few years, the novelty wears off and the stamina wanes. The couple of times I lived on the parade route and embraced it fully. There were years where I went out of town or stayed in town and tried to avoid festivities. You can’t avoid Mardi Gras here; that’s like trying to avoid Christmas. There are Mardi Gras decorations, songs, special foods, parties, and it’s every where. There are also good Mardi Gras experiences and bad ones. Since Katrina, we’ve stayed and played. I’m still recuperating, but I think a lingering cold may have something to do with that.

First parade was Krewe de Vieux, Feb 7. They parade in the Marigny and French Quarter and walk the route with small, satirical, plus some vulgar floats. G hates the French Quarter and never wants to go. I had a plan and a back up plan. Plan A: meeting people in the Marigny, fell apart because we left late (my fault). Plan B: go to friend’s gallery on Royal Street went into action. We parked, hoofed it across the Quarter and had dinner at Gato Negro. Some neighbors sat next to us and we all discussed how KdV never starts on time and they would be slow so we were fine with time. We finished dinner and walked over to our friend’s gallery. Much to our surprise the parade had already passed! So we did a quick 180 and scooted over to Decatur, as did everyone else in the Quarter. The last few floats went flying by at warp speed. G refuses to go ever again.

Krewe of Muses signature shoe float.
Their most coveted throw is decorated shoes.

You get spoiled living in the part of Uptown we do where you can walk a few blocks from your home to the parades. Having to get in a car, drive and park? We scoff at that notion. And we’ve learned to be selective about which parades we attend. Thursday before Mardi Gras (this year Feb. 19) is Muses along with Babylon and Chaos. Muses is hands down one of our favorite parades: it’s beautiful, funny, lots of marching bands, with creative throws. Bonus this year is the new extended Uptown route now starting at Jefferson and Magazine. It was a joy to see Muses and the other parades on Magazine. No huge crowds or obnoxious walls o’ ladders. Some friends of ours have a party for Muses so that makes it even more enjoyable. At any time a parade can stall and this night there was about an hour delay as a Chaos float broke down. Muses stood still on Magazine in front of us. People walked around, some went back to the party for more food. A friend visiting from out of town found me, so we sat in some chairs and caught up. This seemed to be the year of speeding parades. Once Muses started rolling they flew by. I was trying to find friends in the dance groups but only found one. Speedy parades are no fun because you can’t take in the whole float decoration and you catch less throws.

The last photo I took before my battery died. Boo hoo.

G and I took Friday off, walking from our house to a restaurant for dinner, then over to our usual Friday night hangout for drinks. 5 blocks away the parades were rolling, but in “the pocket” (we get surrounded by all sides by parades and can’t leave via car), it was quiet. We ended up skipping all parades Saturday. We had plans to go Mid-City since several friend were having Endymion parties. I just didn’t have the energy for it thanks to the earlier mentioned lingering cold. Since there are no Uptown parades that night, we ventured outside of the pocket for dinner and had a quiet night.

Such a festive weekend! Friday the 13th (not the stupid movie) followed by Valentine's Day. Monday is President's day, but in New Orleans we don't really observe President's day because we observe Mardi Gras day instead, which falls on Feb. 24th this year. And this weekend the parades are rolling.

Here's a pic of a big *ss house on St. Charles Ave. flying big *ss Mardi Gras Krewe flags.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Tawdry

It's too hot for me to go outside and look for something to shoot, though I'm sure it wouldn't take me long to find a suitable subject. These are from a holiday boat parade in south Florida, I think it was Pompano. These maybe more gaudy that tawdry but it's all I got handy in the archives.





The parade theme was "movies" and you can sort of see that in the first and last one. Got to love "Christmas somewhere over the rainbow"...

Weekly Photo Challenge: Roister

Canon has said they can fix my beer-soaked camera for a fee so I'm waiting to get it back. I had to go into the archives for my entry. Here's some from the Irish Channel St. Pat's Parade.





More here.

Shhhhh... I'm still recuperating from Saturday's Parade Party... More photos to come.

First and foremost, in my world... it's MARDI GRAS! It's been a week of parades, dodging parades, king cake, parties and booze. Life returns to "normal" tomorrow.

For the rest of the nation it's Super Tuesday with Presidental primaries.

It is also "World Nutella Day" (mmmmmm, that's some good stuff) and "International Pancake Day".

It's also my good friend Michael's 40th birthday. Happy Birthday Mike! woo woo!

For you New Orleanians out there who are tired of filling your attic with beads and throws, recycle them:

The STRIVE Center at 1139 Napoleon Avenue (between Prytania St. and Magazine St., on the riverside corner), ph. 895-2557 is gratefully accepting EVERYTHING (beads, cups, doubloons, stuffed toys, etc.)!! All you have to do is deliver them during the day (no appointment necessary) and someone inside will help you carry the bags or boxes inside. Items don't have to be sorted.

Note: the STRIVE Center is a sheltered workshop for adult retarded persons in the New Orleans area. They can sort and package the throws and re-sell them, so they are being trained in useful local work, and also making some funds for their organization.

Also, this Saturday the Sierra Club will be collecting beads to recycle at the Freret Market. Come out Saturday, unload some beads, and buy some local food, produce, products and art.

Saturday, we held our first St. Patrick’s Day party, which was a blast. We live next to the Irish Channel neighborhood and every year there is a parade, as well as parades in other parts of the city. It’s like Mardi Gras lite – almost all local, no elaborate costumes but lots of green clothing, lots of drinking, hanging out and good fun.

Along with the usual parade fare--beads, cups and toys-- cabbages, potatoes, onions and carrots are also thrown. I put corned beef on to cook that morning. After the parade, I threw in the veggies we caught and had a very yummy “Irish Boiled Dinner” (the secret is beer!) Typical parade day, the group of people we started out with, wasn’t the same one we were with at the end of the day.


In addition to St. Patty’s day, spring has sprung and everything is growing. And the oak trees are dropping their neon green pollen everywhere. ACHOO! I started my veggie garden early this year. Last month I planted lettuce, spinich, parsley and cilatro, which is now coming up. Planted a few tomato plants this weekend-hmm guess I forgot to take a picture of that. Saving room for cucumber and peppers. We put down plastic to keep weeds at bay. One gardener had a roll of FEMA blue roof that we used to cover the empty plots.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Almost everywhere else today is another Tuesday. People are at work, going to school, doing their usual thing. Of course here, it’s Mardi Gras Day, the last hurrah of the Carnival season, which started on 12th night and ends tonight at Midnight. Why? Because tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. I’m not Catholic but when in Rome… Most people are spending one last decadent day at the parades, catching beads and things, drinking. Or maybe in costume in the Marigny, drinking. Or if you are tourist, on Bourbon street, drinking. I’ve spent the last 5 days at parades, hanging out with friends and complete strangers, catching beads and drinking. I am partied out. So how are we spending Mardi Gras day? How are we being decadent? By doing absolutely nothing. A normal day off Greg would be working on the house, I would be cleaning, doing laundry or running errands. But so far today I’ve read the paper, took a shower, laid on the couch for several hours finishing up a good novel. Then rode my bike over to Popeye’s so we could dine on hot, spicy, greasy fried chicken. Mmmmm so decadent. Why aren’t we out with everyone else? Because next month, there will be St. Patrick & St. Joseph Day parades, with more beads, costumes and drinking. April will bring Easter parades and festivals of all shape and size. May is Jazz Fest. I think you get the picture. There is no shortage of festivities to be had. So tomorrow, I’ll try to -- no I will -- restart that diet and exercise routine I said I’d start back on January 1. I’ll be extra good the next 30 days with everyone else observing Lent. And what do you know… just after 30 days have past, we can all cut loose for St. Patrick’s Day.

So if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go take a nap now.