a car, finally

The last couple of weeks have been relaxing in that I've been lazy and not completing the agenda I have been planning. I just wanted to update that on Friday, I am officially purchasing my first car. Yes, at over 24 1/2 years old. I'll be signing the papers for a 2010 Honda Civic, used with 6,000 miles. I had to give up the Mini idea because of practicality, and once I test-drove the Civic that I will be buying (and a newHonda Insight), I knew that it would be reliable and more cost-effective. Well, I still have quite a bit to do between now and then (i.e., set up insurance if needed, that is if there is no grace period; prepare for classes next week though UNO's relaunch of their website is making that impossible; and work on my Spring issue articles). I got online just now to look up something, but I forget what it was. Hmm, good day today. Lazy, but fun because Jes took off of work and we spent the day together. It sort of started out at Ruby Slippers, which if you haven't tried, we HIGHLY recommend! (Think Bananas Foster pain perdue and Bread pudding pancakes!) We walked over to the new CBD locations literally four blocks from our apartment.

Well, I'll update again soon. Guten nacht!

Bonjour!

Drew is absolutely right. It's been far too long since my last update. I guess I have a few good excuses, namely that I had finals and all the holidays kind of spun by. But, there were times in between plans, obligations, fun and laziness that I could have opened my computer, navigated to this page and updated my blog. I just kept on putting it off because I knew I'd have so much to say. That's what always happens for me. A worn out excuse nevertheless.

Well, I won't say too much tonight because I need to go to bed. I have to be at McGehee for 7:45 as I am substituting third grade math. I get to teach decimals tomorrow, how lucky! I actually subbed for two fourth grade math classes and a third grade language class last week. I am also still working at Scriptura, which if I haven't managed to share since I got the job, generally, I love it!

The last few weeks have been busy, but relaxing as well. No nannying for two weeks while the kids were out of school. I, myself, am still in my near month and a half of winter break before beginning the spring semester next Tuesday. I've decided to take four classes this semester, and while anxious and a little self-doubting, I am excited and hopeful. I've gotten to go back to BR a few times to see my parents and Mia, though she's back in NOLA now. And, Drew came in on Friday, and while not long enough, we had a lovely afternoon eating and talking. Il Posto, Magazine shopping, and concluding with gelato at Sucre! Who could ask for a better afternoon :)

I will expand tomorrow or Tuesday on some of the things I've mentioned above. For now, I need to rest and remind myself of the tasks that I should prioritize.

- make/send Daddy's birthday card tomorrow

- call insurance company to make sure I don't double pay on dr's bill

- write thank you notes for Christmas presents

- go to Walgreens to return watch

Adieu, I can't wait to dive deeper into what's been going on in my life. After all, much of it is happening to fast, I haven't had time to reflect.

Bye-bye, Day

I'm a little frustrated because today was supposed to be productive. Instead, I've been driving around from cafe to cafe, and the one I'm currently at has a dearth of outlets and my battery life is quickly dwindling. The last place I was at had a shotty wireless network, and the first place (The Orange Couch) was amazing, but I left it. Err, I have to pick up the kids in less than two hours so I'm going to stay in the Garden District since I'll be close. Oh, and E has just come on the gas gauge so I will have to get that after I pick the kids up. Where did $15 dollars go? I filled it on Friday! I'm annoyed. I'd rather read than work on NANO now because I just feel negative. So maybe that's what I'll do. Though I can't even just read for fun because I have homework assignments. Blah.

Oh, and the NANO site's being uncooperative. I'm trying to reset my password and the site keeps timing out or something. I hope the rest of November is better than today. Oh, but I did bring Jesse a delicious sandwich from Satsuma though, and I made myself a veggie quesadilla.

The First Day of November (Disclaimer: Long play-by-play)

I begin National Novel Writing Month today. I honestly don't know how committed I'll be to this project because I have so many other pieces to juggle, and I have two assignments for my classes.

On the bright side, I have picked out my classes for Spring. I'm particularly excited about beginning French, and I wanted to take Advanced Spanish Conversation, but unfortunately, it conflicts with my nannying position so I'll have to hold off. The classes are Span Lit Golden Age, Studies Hispanic Culture and Civilization, and French 1001.

Well, I should get started with NANOWRIMO, but before I do so I would like to recap on my exciting, albeit tiring weekend.

Saturday, Jes and I left our apartment sometime between 9:30 and 10 to walk Saki and stop by the bank in the quarter so I could deposit some money. Well, our anticipated short jaunt turned into a 4-5 hour expedition. We walked all the way down to the dog park, and on the way met a nice barber who gave Saki a doggie [treat] bag for Halloween, and Saki met the man's dog, Bebe. The gentleman also told us about Satsuma, a cafe/juice bar/good place for brunch so as we were now looking for a dog-friendly place at which to eat. So we vowed to seek it out! I thought I had seen something about it in Edible New Orleans, too. Well, once we got to the dog park, we stayed there for a while (who knows how long since neither of us had our phones!). We had some fun meeting people and dogs and spending time with our baby (49 years in dog years) girl. Well, finding Satsuma proved difficult, but we did not give up and 20-40 blocks later, we found the stretch of Dauphine in the Bywater that was so adorably eclectic. The food did not disappoint, and we drank delicious (though overpriced as all fresh juices are in the US) fresh-squeezed juice. I definitely recommend this place. And, I don't know that I've ever spent any time in the Bywater, especially because i used to think the Marigny just blended in with it. Well, the area reminds me of a combination of Algiers Point and Oak Street Uptown. Either way, you'll find something unique. We even ran into a friend of mine there, and met her friend. Yay, making new acquaintances. So we walked home, and the three of us were quite tired by then. I believe Saki took a nap, I know I did. And, Jes played a video game. A few hours later, Jeff and Drew came over, and we had a good time with them! It's hard to believe it's been four to five months since we've seen each other--maybe since we have our sporadic Skype meetings! But, Drew tried to catch me up on some TED videos and other things I should make myself aware of. And, we spent the night, eating, playing Monopoly, and even went to Harrah's once for Starbucks to keep us awake. They ended up staying until around 3 in the morning, with the hope of dinner at Green Goddess the next evening.

Sunday proved to be another unexpected day as plans just didn't work out. But, we had fun nevertheless! Halloween. Mia wanted to go to Voodoo, and since plans with Drew and Jeff weren't til the evening, we decided to go, and I'm glad we did because I discovered two new musicians that I had not heard of before. They are Janelle Monae and Dead Mouse, but we also saw Interpol and MGMT. Mia came over and got ready to be Katy Perry (her costume was pretty cool with ribboned cupcakes, and she handmade it!), and Jes and I impromptu dressed in our holiday garb. The day was long and hot, and tiring, but we got some neat Voodoo Fest memorabilia, hung out a bit with Neill and his roomies, and ate some yummy fair-type food. By the evening, we were tired, with a little appetite for dinner. We ended up going to Whole Foods for groceries since between trick or treating and the Saints game, plans to go out to eat were difficult to make a reality. But, I made some delicious vegetable tacos and some ground meat ones for Jes and Mia, and we ate while watching an old 80s movie, The 'Burbs, that Jes loved as a kid. I fell asleep, but it wasn't because of the movie; I'd like to finish it. The weekend was just packed with crazy and somewhat spontaneous fun! I'm now at The Orange Couch, probably my favorite place to spend the day and write. I'm hoping to meet up with Drew soon for some writing and just to hang out while she's still here, but we'll see what happens since I have to nanny at 4:30, and tomorrow they leave. Maybe we'll make it to Il Posto or Saint James Cheese Company. Green Goddess doesn't have dinner on Monday evenings, but I do have to go this week so I can write my debut restaurant review. There were a few things I didn't get to do this weekend that I would have liked to, but there's always next time. Burlesque show in particular; we missed Fleur de Tease at Voodoo, and we didn't go to Ballroom Burlesque on Friday because we were listening to Muse! I would have liked to have seen Tori and Charles, too. But, it's okay. The weekend was great. And, now, Jes and I should visit New York as soon as we can.

Sorry this post is so long. Okay, NANO now.

A Happy Halloween Post

Well, it's been an exciting week. I've been working 12-13 hour days juggling my jobs, and this weekend I was well-rewarded with good company and Voodoo tickets from Edmund at Amelie G.

I wanted to be productive this morning/today, but it seems like we'll be leaving for Voodoo again in about an hour so I don't know how much I'll actually accomplish, BUT Drew is coming over/spending the night tonight so we'll be working on NANOWRMO (National Novel Writing Month) so hopefully this is the start to a wonderful month of productivity and creativity.

I also have quite a few deadlines approaching for my freelance career, and only being scheduled one o/c shift and babysitting on morning this week will probably be an advantage as I sort through the transcription, research and interviewing and writing.

-finish cover shoot piece

-interview/photograph men's boutiques for shopping features

-interview for profile piece

-eat at ________________ for restaurant review (a surprise)

And, surprisingly, I believe that's all. Definitely manageable.

Friday was a lot of fun because I got to go with Jes, Mia and Neill to Voodoo Fest in City Park. It was my first time going because I've never been able to justifyingly afford the tickets. But, Amelie G surprised me Thursday night with two all-weekend passes to the Halloween weekend annual music extravaganza. We saw Metric, Weezer and Muse! And, if you don't know, I've been loving Muse since I was in high school, I believe. They really were amazing (and the former two were wonderful as well), but I was slightly disappointed at their abrupt end to their show, twenty minutes before schedule according to the program. Anyhow, at least I got to see them. Their technology (lights and instruments) were incredible, Matthew Bellamy has the voice of an angel (I'll say it again), and the three as a whole are so cohesive and electrifying. Probably the best live show I've seen (closely followed by Bond and Imogen Heap). Weezer was another off the radar act, but this was heavily because of the lead singer's stage (or offstage) personality. He was climbing the sound stage and porto potty towards the back of the audience, and because he slowly made his way there, we had already moved to the other stage to camp out a few minutes early for Muse. But, we could hear Weezer at a slight distance and they were also broadcast on the screen on the stage in front of which we were standing so we got it from different perspective. Weezer did a cover of "Poker Face" (where he wore a blonde wing and danced) and MGMT's "Kids." All in all, I was impressed by the three groups I saw (and I much prefer Metric in person then recorded).

Yesterday...

Long Hair on Middle-Aged Women

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/fashion/24Mirror.html?_r=1&ref=fashion

I must say this is something I'm not looking forward to. I love short hair so much on me right now that I think eventually, I'll want to have the luscious long locks spoke of in this article (I won't even think about greys yet though!). Will it be too late by then? Or, will I defy American conformity regarding long hair for the middle-aged? How does this apply to men, too? And, will hair style change in the next 25-35 years? I remember my mom having very long hair when I was a very young child, but then sometime after my sister was born, she cut it. Oh, what beautiful black hair she had though! Now, she's worn it less than shoulder length for probably a decade. Hmm, hair really is a way to express yourself. I do it, minus the coloring. I don't go for too edgy or trendy though I admire those who are gutsy or fashion forward enough to do so. Sometimes, I put very little effort (time and money...), but this is to my dismay in retrospect. So what does your hair say about you?

New post to come.

Fleur de Tease

Tonight I went to my first ever burlesque show. It was rather spontaneous as around 9:43ish, I was doing some research on the woman I'm interviewing tomorrow for an Amelie G piece, and I noticed her troop went on at 10 at One Eyed Jack's. So after contemplating a few minutes and throwing on some clothes, I drove the three-minute drive, found parking, waited in a line and then stood up a good 20 minutes until the show began. Jesse didn't want to come, and I can't blame him since I decided to go less than 10 minutes before. But, then again, burlesque isn't really his thing either.

I'm tried, and I have lots to do tomorrow. But, I'll share more about the show and the woman I'm interviewing, Trixie Minx. I'm still processing it all, I guess. The show, I mean. It wasn't what I expected, but I don't know much I liked it and how much I didn't yet. I told Jes when I walked in a few minutes ago that I guess I thought it would be more classic. And, he questioned, like Moulin Rouge? And, that's not it, but I can't put my finger on it. I left early too so though I think I saw at least one act of each of the members, I missed the finale with the ensemble of characters. I'd give it another chance, but I don't think it would be something I regularly go to. I didn't feel gross as if I was in a strip club, but I did feel a little awkward by myself. And, this show was their Halloween one so probably the irreverence isn't always as gorey. Like I said, I'll get back to it once I've had time to make a solid opinion.

But, boy, would this have been a good place to write an ethnography on! Oh, and even though it may have been irresponsible and unpredictable, it felt kind of good to ignore my inhibitions. If that makes sense.