Ground Covered:
Various seedy and delicious corners of the epic, historic, tragic, comic and captivating city of New Orleans
Word(s) of the Day:
Amaze-balls: (adj) a colloquial contraction synonymous with "amazing" with unknown origin, but popularly attributed to the Tomg/OED complex.
Lame sauce: (adj) colloquial expression for "lame," used to comment upon someone or something that is extremely stupid, lame, or not fun. Often used to express disappointment.
Right-toe: (intj) a synonym for "Righto!" used jokingly in Las Vegas, subtly referring to the antiquated (....possibly?) practice of Vegas mafiosi of cutting off the right big toe of employees who crossed them. Unlike the removal of the little toe, which would compromise the man's balance, this practice allows the employee to continue their chosen vocation. (Story courtesy of Reese Nickolas, proprietor of AAE Bourbon House, New Orleans, LA).
Milagros: 1. (n) Spanish translation of "miracles."
2. (n) Each and every moment of the Tutu Crew's New Orleans experience
Quotes of the Day:
"THE TUTU CREW!" - guys behind the bar at Acme Oyster House, as we walked out wearing our tutus
"You ladies look like y'all are having so much fun!" - Elderly couple from Alabama, coming up to our table at Acme Oyster House
"Where did you GET those?!" - Many people on the street
"Awesome!" "Love your tutus!" "GREAT" - Exclamations of people walking by
"Can we take your picture?" - no less than 5 people we do not know, whose vacation pictures now include us
"No cops, no stops!"
"Fuck the police!"
"The people here, they eat the fatty food, they drink, they smoke, they sex. And they sleep. They don't like to work so much."
- incredibly hysterical cab driver taking illegal left-turns at midnight and providing running narration on our surroundings and the population of New Orleans in general
"Once he was reassured that we weren't going to stage a Marxist coup in his Travel Lodge..." - our friend Sarah from Yale who we hung out with in NOLA, on the alarm caused by her Russian last name at certain overnight establishments in Alabama
"Well, after a while I realized that I was easily the weirdest guy in my whole town in Colorado. Here in New Orleans, I wasn't even the weirdest guy on my street." - the explanation given by a typical New Orleans resident - one who regularly hung out on our friend Sarah's street, wearing funny hats, carrying bags and ringing his bicycle bell - on why he elected to return to this magnetic city after the storm rather than stay in the apartment provided for him in Colorado. We thought that this sums up the reason why all three of us - the fruits, nuts and berries that we are - feel so completely at home in this haven of fantastic oddballs and glorious ridiculosity.
Listening To:
REBIRTH BRASS BAND AT THE MAPLE LEAF. BEST BRASS BAND EVER.
Eating:
oh, lordy...
Beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde (as instructed by Robby Braun et al, with Pseudo-Robby Braun, who accompanied us throughout the day)
Raw oysters (one dozen), boiled crayfish (one pound), and jumbalaya at Acme Oyster Bar (also as instructed by Robby Braun, with Pseudo-RobbyBraun)
1/2 pina colada, 1/2 strawberry daquiri (w/ free accompanying shot, in a test tube)
Gumbo and po'boy (1/2 fried shrimp, 1/2 fried oysters - Robby's favorite!) at Coop's on Decatur (as recommended by Reiss)
Andy Gator, Abita Jackamo, and Hopitoulas (microbrews)
Signs of the Day:
All of them
Noteable Events:
Every moment; every location; every bite; every color, aroma and weathered string of mardi gras beads; every house, pillar, wall and doorway; every person, location, conversation and life story. Every single taste of this city: we drink it into our souls.
Haiku of the Day:
My dear New Orleans:
Where have you been all my life?
Love, the Tutu Crew.
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