Yesterday Elbow and I closed on a house. I know this is supposed to be a momentous occasion for us, so we skipped out of the building, chugged a bottle of champagne and hitched a ride on a horse buggy for a "romantic tour of the historic French Quarter" while tossing rose petals at the passerby.
Psych.
What we really did was go eat Mexican food with our realtor and her husband and compared memories of our economically depressed hometowns. Ha ha. We scoff at the people we grew up with who buy bigger houses than ours at 1/6 of the price, like you can in parts of West Virginia. They don't get to carry their open beers on the streets or ride the streetcar to the strip clubs like we can. Of course they don't have streets because they all live on back roads in the "holler" and have mailing addresses that start with "Rural Route . . ."
I'm only poking fun because I'm sorta homesick. Summer time is lovely in West Virginia and the surrounding area. I'm envious of all of my friends who are enjoying nighttime Pirates games and swimming at Mule's Hole or camping at High Falls of Cheat. That's the best.
It's great to camp in Louisiana, too. Mosquitos that draw blood and heatstroke are awesome. And you can only go October-March. The only people who sleep outside this time of year are the ones who passed out on Bourbon Street.
Once we move in, I'll post pics of the new house!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Van Gogh or Picasso?
My friend A. and I drove all the way to Metairie two nights ago to do these totally awesome paintings:
I did the boats.
Basically these people sit you down in front of a canvas with a faint sketch on it. They display a finished version of your painting, give you a paper plate with the colors they think you'll need and give you a skinny brush and a fat brush. Then you go to town.
We sorta thought there might be more instruction. When I asked someone working there where she thought I should start, she said "the outside," then the next lady to come by said I should have started with the blue inside. Whatever. The original actually used brown and orange for the water but I liked blue and green better.
We got to drink wine while we painted and I only dipped my paintbrush into my wine cup once!
When I got home, Elbow said my painting was "okay" or something like that instead of encouraging my new hobby. It's pretty sad since I was planning on creating paintings for all my family members for their birthdays this year.
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| Sorry. Not for sale. |
Basically these people sit you down in front of a canvas with a faint sketch on it. They display a finished version of your painting, give you a paper plate with the colors they think you'll need and give you a skinny brush and a fat brush. Then you go to town.
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| Imagination Required |
We sorta thought there might be more instruction. When I asked someone working there where she thought I should start, she said "the outside," then the next lady to come by said I should have started with the blue inside. Whatever. The original actually used brown and orange for the water but I liked blue and green better.
We got to drink wine while we painted and I only dipped my paintbrush into my wine cup once!
When I got home, Elbow said my painting was "okay" or something like that instead of encouraging my new hobby. It's pretty sad since I was planning on creating paintings for all my family members for their birthdays this year.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
I don't see so good!
I broke my glasses. You have to see them. This is what living in New Orleans does to you and your possessions.
There is a benefit to bars closing at 2 a.m. It prevents the following from happening: sitting around with friends on the patio, having some cocktails, maybe some shots, getting some food from the pork truck parked outside (it's better than it sounds!). Then hitching a ride in a mustang (yep and the driver blares techno music) to another bar for some more patio chillin'. And then somebody saying "Holy crap. It's 4:30."
Like 4:30 a.m. Like normally I wake up in 1 1/2 hours from now. An incident like this can really ruin your next day. And your glasses. I guess I slept on them. And then Buddy! chewed them. But honestly, I really don't know what happened.
This is not a usual Friday evening for me. I would much rather go to happy hour, eat dinner and go to bed by 11. I like to be productive during the day. But when the lights never come on in the bar and the bartender never asks you to close your tab, bad things can happen. You've been warned.
In other news, here is another example of how bosses everywhere are trying to turn their office employees into chunk-sters:
Instead I ate plain crackers and snap peas. It tasted about as interesting as this blog post.
Gotta run. Tomorrow I'll show you my masterpiece I painted at the drink-wine-while-you-paint shop. Guess which painting I picked: Painting Gallery of Choices No it was not "Fan Nation."
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| Seriously? |
There is a benefit to bars closing at 2 a.m. It prevents the following from happening: sitting around with friends on the patio, having some cocktails, maybe some shots, getting some food from the pork truck parked outside (it's better than it sounds!). Then hitching a ride in a mustang (yep and the driver blares techno music) to another bar for some more patio chillin'. And then somebody saying "Holy crap. It's 4:30."
Like 4:30 a.m. Like normally I wake up in 1 1/2 hours from now. An incident like this can really ruin your next day. And your glasses. I guess I slept on them. And then Buddy! chewed them. But honestly, I really don't know what happened.
This is not a usual Friday evening for me. I would much rather go to happy hour, eat dinner and go to bed by 11. I like to be productive during the day. But when the lights never come on in the bar and the bartender never asks you to close your tab, bad things can happen. You've been warned.
In other news, here is another example of how bosses everywhere are trying to turn their office employees into chunk-sters:
 |
| I want a Nutty Buddy REALLY bad |
Instead I ate plain crackers and snap peas. It tasted about as interesting as this blog post.
Gotta run. Tomorrow I'll show you my masterpiece I painted at the drink-wine-while-you-paint shop. Guess which painting I picked: Painting Gallery of Choices No it was not "Fan Nation."
Friday, June 3, 2011
We saw Vince Vaughn!!!
It's so cool to live in New Orleans. Well, actually it's really frickin' hot. But you get used to it once you remember to never wear synthetic fabrics.
My sister came to visit last weekend. And we passed Vince Vaughn on the street walking in front of Jackson Square in the French Quarter (the locals just say "the Quarter" or "that place we generally avoid").
I was trying to be all cool and just elbowed my sister until she looked up. Subtlety didn't work so I had to add, "Look at this guy." And then she finally noticed and excitement got the better of us and we both were all, "That's Vince Vaughn" at the same time and then we giggled. Because it's fun to see famous people. Also he totally checked us out over the top of his aviators as we passed. I'm sure we're not special in this regard, but I'm still gonna claim it!
The funny thing is he looks exactly like he does in his movies: Pic. Only chubbier. And his hair was sorta crazy.
After that, we felt so Hollywood that we went to the French Market and bought fedoras and big sunglasses, like the Olsen twins. Except we're smiling.
My sister came to visit last weekend. And we passed Vince Vaughn on the street walking in front of Jackson Square in the French Quarter (the locals just say "the Quarter" or "that place we generally avoid").
I was trying to be all cool and just elbowed my sister until she looked up. Subtlety didn't work so I had to add, "Look at this guy." And then she finally noticed and excitement got the better of us and we both were all, "That's Vince Vaughn" at the same time and then we giggled. Because it's fun to see famous people. Also he totally checked us out over the top of his aviators as we passed. I'm sure we're not special in this regard, but I'm still gonna claim it!
The funny thing is he looks exactly like he does in his movies: Pic. Only chubbier. And his hair was sorta crazy.
After that, we felt so Hollywood that we went to the French Market and bought fedoras and big sunglasses, like the Olsen twins. Except we're smiling.
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| Mary-Kate and Ashley |
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Common New Orleans Injuries
On the flight back from Pittsburgh last weekend I sat next to a gentleman who owned a very profitable trucking business in Louisiana and surrounding states. He had so much money, in fact, that he got to sit back in Coach on an AirTran flight wedged next to me and the bathroom.
He told me about how he was in the hospital for a few weeks because he got hit in the head with a sack of Mardi Gras beads. (!) He said it in such a matter of fact way, too. Like normal people might trip on a step or slip on ice. Nope, not here. A concern for the elderly is the trajectory of large bags of plastic items thrown drunkenly through the air. He's fine now, though.
He then went on to talk about how his company has bought up entire streets in the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East, areas that were badly hit during the 2005 hurricanes. "We just go in there and clean up the titles and the squatters and then take over." I could have asked more questions about the "clean up" process (yikes) but I was trying to change the subject since the woman who was sitting on the other side of me worked for a nonprofit who rebuilds storm-damaged homes in the area. And she probably despises people who do what he does.
So a bead attack is one type of common injury in New Orleans. Another is a dog scuffle.
A dog scuffle is when you are walking your dog(s) on the bumpy sidewalks of residential Uptown and you meet another walker and her dog(s). "Hey how are you?" "Great, how are you?" "Isn't this weather spectacular?" "It's only gonna get hotter" yada yada. And your dogs sniff each others' behinds.
Then when you try to walk away ("Take care! Enjoy the weather!"), the other owner's standard poodle lunges for your Buddy! and comes tearing down the sidewalk toward you. The other owner falls flat on her face in her tennis skirt (this is Uptown) and leashes and keys and water bottles go flying. Oh, and dogs. Dogs are all over the place.
On this particular day there were three: Bud-man, the giant poodle and a tiny fur ball that I think was a shih tzu. So tennis-skirt lady is on her stomach clutching a leash that is no longer attached to the poodle (Cujo) and Buddy! is under Cujo and the shih tzu is just sorta bouncing around. And cars are whizzing by.
I call it a scuffle but it's more like a circus.
But it was fine. I had to grab two of the dogs and accidentally hit one (Cujo) in the head with my keys a few times. But eventually we got it under control. Poor lady's tennis skirt was probably ripped and I'm sure she had a nasty strawberry on her legs somewhere.
New Orleans, home of interesting things to worry about. Or not.
He told me about how he was in the hospital for a few weeks because he got hit in the head with a sack of Mardi Gras beads. (!) He said it in such a matter of fact way, too. Like normal people might trip on a step or slip on ice. Nope, not here. A concern for the elderly is the trajectory of large bags of plastic items thrown drunkenly through the air. He's fine now, though.
He then went on to talk about how his company has bought up entire streets in the Ninth Ward and New Orleans East, areas that were badly hit during the 2005 hurricanes. "We just go in there and clean up the titles and the squatters and then take over." I could have asked more questions about the "clean up" process (yikes) but I was trying to change the subject since the woman who was sitting on the other side of me worked for a nonprofit who rebuilds storm-damaged homes in the area. And she probably despises people who do what he does.
So a bead attack is one type of common injury in New Orleans. Another is a dog scuffle.
A dog scuffle is when you are walking your dog(s) on the bumpy sidewalks of residential Uptown and you meet another walker and her dog(s). "Hey how are you?" "Great, how are you?" "Isn't this weather spectacular?" "It's only gonna get hotter" yada yada. And your dogs sniff each others' behinds.
Then when you try to walk away ("Take care! Enjoy the weather!"), the other owner's standard poodle lunges for your Buddy! and comes tearing down the sidewalk toward you. The other owner falls flat on her face in her tennis skirt (this is Uptown) and leashes and keys and water bottles go flying. Oh, and dogs. Dogs are all over the place.
On this particular day there were three: Bud-man, the giant poodle and a tiny fur ball that I think was a shih tzu. So tennis-skirt lady is on her stomach clutching a leash that is no longer attached to the poodle (Cujo) and Buddy! is under Cujo and the shih tzu is just sorta bouncing around. And cars are whizzing by.
I call it a scuffle but it's more like a circus.
But it was fine. I had to grab two of the dogs and accidentally hit one (Cujo) in the head with my keys a few times. But eventually we got it under control. Poor lady's tennis skirt was probably ripped and I'm sure she had a nasty strawberry on her legs somewhere.
New Orleans, home of interesting things to worry about. Or not.
Monday, May 16, 2011
No we're not flooded
It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing since we got to New Orleans: first the BP oil spill and now the Mississippi River threatening to put the city under 25 feet of water. It didn't happen. They opened a spillway. But it's pretty incredible to go to the Fly (part of the park right next to the river) and actually be level with the water.
I'm not describing it correctly. It's like if you make a cake but your pan is too small so when you pour in the batter, the liquid comes right to the brim and sort of sloshes over a little bit. No? How about if you're in front of a keg and you fill your red cup, but you don't move fast enough and then you have to take a few sips off the top before you can walk back to the corn hole game?
The river is up! That's what I'm trying to say! But so far so good down here.
I promised some pictures. Here's the latest recruits for the Harlem Globetrotters.
We were in the Mountain State this past weekend for a very important celebration. And since I always sound sarcastic, I'm just not going to write anything else about it. Here's a pic.
I'm not describing it correctly. It's like if you make a cake but your pan is too small so when you pour in the batter, the liquid comes right to the brim and sort of sloshes over a little bit. No? How about if you're in front of a keg and you fill your red cup, but you don't move fast enough and then you have to take a few sips off the top before you can walk back to the corn hole game?
The river is up! That's what I'm trying to say! But so far so good down here.
I promised some pictures. Here's the latest recruits for the Harlem Globetrotters.
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| Red shirted |
We were in the Mountain State this past weekend for a very important celebration. And since I always sound sarcastic, I'm just not going to write anything else about it. Here's a pic.
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| We should all learn to enjoy life a little more and quit whining so much |
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| Buddy! with full fur boots |
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| Bud-man does not like his new haircut. |
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Where have you been? It's been so long!
Two months and 8 days, but I'm not that great at counting so who knows?
Tomorrow I'll have some totally awesome pictures for you, including: The Harlem Globetrotters, Dorothy (s) and Toto, some weddings and a sliver of my new office desk. Woo-hoo.
Here is why I have not been writing. I used to roll my eyes when people told me how busy they were. They were too busy to check email or too busy to workout. But then I'd see them drunk on a Saturday afternoon at like 3 p.m. Maybe you could have fit in a little run around the block this afternoon, no? The excuse I hated the most was "I was studying for the Bar exam." So then you cut yourself off from the rest of the world and could not return a phone call or attend one meeting once in two weeks?
I'm a little rusty on the blog-writing thing. Stay with me. But now I understand. I am wrapping up the nine most busy weeks of my life and I finally understand what it feels like to have no time to check your email or facebook or twitter or write in your little Nola blog. We've traveled almost every weekend since March. I started working full time (Yay!) but have not made time to go out to celebrate (Boo!). I took too many classes this term. I also am now chair of a fundraiser (I'm such a yuppie).
But these classes are almost over and we only have one more trip to take. And I'm happy to be alive and all that in the BEST city in the nation. So look out, I'm gonna be spamming up your facebook feed again! Samlivesinnola is back. Which reminds me, did you hear that Ah-nald and Maria Shriver are splitting up? I bet he starts dating Kim Kardashian next.
Tomorrow I'll have some totally awesome pictures for you, including: The Harlem Globetrotters, Dorothy (s) and Toto, some weddings and a sliver of my new office desk. Woo-hoo.
Here is why I have not been writing. I used to roll my eyes when people told me how busy they were. They were too busy to check email or too busy to workout. But then I'd see them drunk on a Saturday afternoon at like 3 p.m. Maybe you could have fit in a little run around the block this afternoon, no? The excuse I hated the most was "I was studying for the Bar exam." So then you cut yourself off from the rest of the world and could not return a phone call or attend one meeting once in two weeks?
I'm a little rusty on the blog-writing thing. Stay with me. But now I understand. I am wrapping up the nine most busy weeks of my life and I finally understand what it feels like to have no time to check your email or facebook or twitter or write in your little Nola blog. We've traveled almost every weekend since March. I started working full time (Yay!) but have not made time to go out to celebrate (Boo!). I took too many classes this term. I also am now chair of a fundraiser (I'm such a yuppie).
But these classes are almost over and we only have one more trip to take. And I'm happy to be alive and all that in the BEST city in the nation. So look out, I'm gonna be spamming up your facebook feed again! Samlivesinnola is back. Which reminds me, did you hear that Ah-nald and Maria Shriver are splitting up? I bet he starts dating Kim Kardashian next.
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