French Quarters

Which helps explain why I did not hesitate to say “Yes!” when my best friend Steph asked if I want to go to New Orleans this past weekend. We drove like bandits in the wee hours of Saturday morning and arrive in Nola (or Naw’lins) a little before noon. It happened to be the last weekend of Jazz Fest while we were there. I had discovered that Phoenix would be playing and was adamant we see them. So, after checking in at our hotel in the French Quarters and grabbing a bite at Mother’s, we took the bus to the fairgrounds. Here are some pics at Mother’s:

The Jazz Festival was not what I expected. I was envisioning saxophones, sultry jazz, and lawn party. Instead, visualize a sea of white people and a lot of mud. That would be the unfortunate reality. So no, I can’t say the NOLA Jazz Fest captured the zeitgeist of the Jazz Age…

We attempted to get to the heart of the crowd but upon stepping in mud, we backed away and settled on the outskirts like the prissy princesses we are. Phoenix sounded great live but perhaps due to our less than central location, I didn’t feel the energy of the crowd and the concert felt rather lackluster to me.

After Jazz Fest, we took the bus (a school bus that played Motown songs the entire way) back to the city. Based on some friends’ recommendations, we decided to dine at Drago’s for dinner. This is apparently THE place for charbroiled oysters. Well, I must offer my vote of dissent. I found the charboiled oysters entirely too heavy and cheesy. Our pasta entree was okay – quite bland really. I probably wouldn’t come back.

Luckily, there’s always Cafe du Monde. Ah. Beignets and cafe au lait. La belle vie.

On Sunday, we walked around French Quarter and went to Cafe du Monde again. Afterwards, we went to Cafe Amelie for lunch. What a delightful little place! The courtyard is lovely and so’s the food. 

Sadly, we have to say goodbye to New Orleans soon thereafter. Not before stopping at Steph’s cousin’s house though. At the behest of her parents, she had to pick up coolers full of live crawfish to take back to Georgia. Only then can we hit the road — me, Steph…and a trunk full of crawfish.

So I had started this Photo Project 365 thing – to show (off) my life in pictures every day for a year. The project appealed partially to my vanity but mostly, to my predilection for fastidious, ritualistic undertakings. It’s apparent now though this project is simply pathetic. If I‘m bored by my own pictures, I can only imagine my readers’ apathy. So, I see no point in continuing this project. One can only entertain so many pictures of my cat. And I know he is no Maru.

Plus, pictures are not my forte. Words are. Or they should be anyway. I must remind myself sometimes – I’m an English major Duke grad! I’ve already prostituted myself to a painful world of numbers and logic at work. Really, I pinch myself at work a lot because people keep introducing me like I’m some expert on data analysis, tracking, and budget. What? No! It really can’t be further from the truth. My life’s goal is to win the lottery or look at pretty pictures on tumblr all day (while somehow making money). Also, contrary to my distain for work emails longer than 3 sentences, I’m a total slut for words! There’s a reason why I have crushes on sesquipedalian NPR hosts/commentators.

So anyway, as my #nofilter picture above shows, work has been killing me slowly and not sweetly. The purple bruises under my eyes are becoming permanent. Have I mentioned I’m officially starting a new job 5/1? Of course, I’ve already started transitioning since early April. I’m also doing my old job full-time until they backfill me. Two jobs, long hours, no raise in salary, one me.

This Math ain’t right.

This is a Spam musubi from Waikikie Hawaiian BBQ (2166 Briarcliff Rd, Atlanta). It is ridiculously simple and plain delicious. According to Wikipedia, Spam musubi is a popular snack and lunch food in Hawaii composed a slice of grilled Spam on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with nori dried seaweed in the tradition of Japanese omusubi.

You got all that? Spam, rice, seawood. Boom!

In case you guys are not into college hoops, Final Four took place in Atlanta this year. There were a lot of festivities around the event downtown, including free concerts sponsored by AT&T, Coke Zero, and Capital One. I went to the one on Saturday. Headliner was Muse, whom I’m been dying to see since oh forever. They played a great set and sounded fantastic live. Despite audio issues midway through the gig, the show was really solid.

And did I mention it was free?

I like free things.

new hangout spot for Sebastian. only cool cats allowed.

I got wings from this shack (literally) Thursday night in downtown ATL westside. Place is called Jamal’s Buffalo Wings. Ghetto as all hell but damn if it ain’t good wings. The fries were excellent too. Bring cash if you ever frequent bc it’s cash only! #hood

Salad for lunch.

It has been a very very long week. I think I worked more than 80 hours. Like a lawyer but without the esquire.

Look how cute these little shoes are!

I’m so behind in posting daily pics. This one was from Easter. I met my family for brunch at Iberian Pig in Decatur, GA. I was late per usual. Afterwards, we wandered into the bakery at Cakes & Ale. The decor inside was lovely. We had cakes and cookies and chocolate croissant. I also had a cup of cream tea. We then went to Mass. Hope everyone started off their Aprils nicely! Although, to my favourite poet, “April is the cruelest month.”