Just Hanging Out

I did go to Speakeasy Science at the Space Place on Friday night, joined by Luxuli and her husband. It was a really fun time: I ate comets (scoops of ice cream with toppings mixed in), smelled space (it smells like ammonia and acetone), made a Rube Goldberg creation to ring a bell, got a temporary tattoo of Saturn and some stars, and observed Jupiter and three of its moons, among other things. It was hands-on science for adults, including one adult beverage. What a great event!

Saturday I met Travalon at the Macha Tea House, and we shared two kinds of tea before he had to leave to watch the high school basketball tournament and I went to meet Tiffy. She and I went to a Japanese restaurant for lunch, then we went to Macha Tea House and hung out there. It is such a cool place: it really is a house where they serve tea. I highly recommend their macha lattes. Then she, Richard Bonomo, and I met Catzooks and her guy at an Indian restaurant, and then we all met Travalon at Le Tigre Lounge, one of my favorite haunts as my regular readers know. Catzook’s guy was really taken with the place and even went down into the basement, where he found a sign that he had put on a coworker’s desk and an unusual stairwell with tiny steps. Sunday Tiffy and I continued our streak of hanging out and talking with Luxuli and her husband, after Sunday brunch. So it was a really fun weekend of just hanging out.

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Crying Different Types of Tears

A few nights ago I had a dream where I was really depressed but then decided to feel ecstatically happy – and it worked! I went to crying from sadness to crying for joy. Today I had a bad day at work and was ready to cry. When I told Light Bright about my dream, she asked me what had made me so happy in it, and I said sacred music. It was so moving that I was weeping over its beauty. She said, “Would that work in real life?” so I put on my Monteverdi station on Pandora, and it does seem to be working. Nothing like choral polyphony to make a person feel better about life. Right now they are playing Schuetz.

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Fake Smile, Real Improvement

They say that if you are feeling bad and make yourself smile, you will feel better. I was always a bit dubious about this claim, but today my office mate Light Bright, who is having a bad day, said, “I plastered a fake smile on my face, and now I feel better!” We are going out for a drink after work because it has been one of those days for her. It was one of those days for me yesterday, but I got to see Travalon last night so that made everything better. We saw the movie about FDR, which was really good. It turned out that the huge project I was working on was not nearly as huge as I’d originally thought, so today I got the project done. What a relief! Poor Light Bright has been slammed with work today, so she is looking forward to that drink tonight. Actually, she wanted to leave right when we were talking about it, but obviously we couldn’t leave work to have a drink, so she just plastered that fake smile on her face… and felt better!

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Pictures of New Orleans

Ok, I lied. The snow wasn't that bad, so I went to Adoration and now am at Rich's house, putting my photos on my blog. First, here is a photo of the church where Travalon and I went to Mass, St. Louis Cathedral, and some interior shots:

Copy of a Bible owned by St. Louis.

Here is a shot showing the typical architecture in the French Quarter:

Here is a shot of the harbor with three boats: from left to right, a steamboat, the free ferry to Algiers on the other side of the river, and a cruise ship.

Here is a house in the Garden District with lights in Mardi Gras colors and beads in the trees:

Flowers were blooming down there while you had to contend with snow up here:

Here are some shots from the plantation we visited, Oak Alley:

Slave quarters. Each small house had two families living in it.

The Oak Alley

The plantation house

The 300-year-old oak trees had amazing root systems.

Because 10 MPH would just be way too fast.

Here are some shots of our swamp tour:

Pelican

Alligator

Bayou

Alligator

People do stay in this shack

Spanish moss on a tree

Our guide found this piece of wood like this, except for the teeth he added

Famous Hat meets Alligator

Anyone know what this big bug is?

Here are some photos from our steamboat cruise:

Jackson Brewery complex, now shops and restaurants

A very affirming building.

Plantation house on the site of the Battle of New Orleans

Here are some photos from Kiln, Mississippi, which is Brett Favre's hometown. They are at the Broke Spoke, the bar owned by his brother.

This one's for Hardingfele.

Here are some shots from our trip to Grand Isle:

Houses on stilts.

Random Marian shrine

Really cool boat

And back to New Orleans for some more photos:

A steamboat

This sign explains everything.

Flooded streets in the French Quarter after a storm.

What they think of the one way signs in the French Quarter

Man with giant saxophone at Maison.

A spotted cat at The Spotted Cat

And finally, if the pictures aren't enough to convince you to go to New Orleans, here is a little taste of the jazz at The Spotted Cat:

A 

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Speakeasy Science

I was hoping to go to Richard Bonomo’s house after Adoration tonight to upload my New Orleans photos, but it is snowing so hard that it looks like I will have to go with Plan B for blogging today. Which is this: begging for someone to go with me to the event at the Space Place this Friday evening. Ever wonder what space smells like or comets taste like? Ever desired a temporary tattoo with a space theme? Look no further than the Space Place! Here is the description of their event “Speakeasy Science”:

This adults-only event will feature edible comets, the smell of space, laser penmanship, an astronomical tattoo parlor and other activities designed exclusively for the 21 and older crowd.

Your entry fee of $10 even buys you one adult drink! If you are interested, let me know. 

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The Best Burger Ever

Thought for the day: my office mate Light Bright and I must be handymen because we sure work with some tools.

Yesterday I had the best burger ever. It was at the Fountain on State Street, and it was the most perfectly done medium rare I have ever eaten. It was the Black and Bleu burger with Cajun spices and blue cheese – mm! (Note to my vegetarian readers: all their burgers are available in vegetarian options as well.) Travalon and I were there listening to live jazz, and there were a lot of tenor saxophones this time, and only one trombone. (The trombone is my favorite instrument since I saw an awesome trombonist at Preservation Hall.) There was one guy playing a small saxophone, prompting the jam session leader to call it the “baby sax” and to say, “It’s not the size of your sax…” There was even a guy playing the flugelhorn.  There were some really great bass players there too. It was not quite like being back in New Orleans, but it was still a lot of fun. The bartender there even remembered that we had gone to New Orleans! What a friendly place. 

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Back to Winter

I am back from New Orleans. I had to come to work because of one lousy meeting today, and there was a message on my answering machine yesterday saying the meeting had been moved to 7:30 am in a room where no coffee is allowed. (I start work at 8:00.) So I had to get up extra early for my first day back at work after a week of sleeping in, and then it was snowing out. Just to underline the fact that I was back in the winter weather, I slipped and fell on the ice while walking to the bus stop. At least I didn't hurt myself, and nobody saw me (that I know of). So that was my welcome back to reality.

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