I’m feeling very strange after leaving New Orleans.
I think that I was able to answer a question about myself. I don’t always think of myself as a good friend, or even a good person. I am selfish, sometimes to the extreme. I have turned my back on those in need more often than I care to remember. But when faced with a challenge, I stood by my friends. And somehow I feel that this has reminded me that I have that capacity.
I feel like I have unfinished business with that city though. There’s something about it that I really love, and though I was there for 4 days, I didn’t spend nearly enough time taking it in.
I want to catalog some of the best parts… i’ll do it in small chunks though, rather than a long narrative.
I grabbed my beaten up old copy of The Vampire Lestat tonight. I figured I’d re-read it while the memories are fresh… When Lestat mentions living on Prytania near Lafayette, I can picture it, since I walked down Prytania just a few days ago.
This book is old… It is signed to me by Anne Rice. It wasn’t even mine originally. It belonged to Cat D, my girlfriend in the late days of high school. The last 15 years or so haven’t been kind to this disposable paperback. I always wanted a hardcover of it, but couldn’t find one. I had no Internet back then, so if it wasn’t in a book store, I didn’t know how to find it. But I’m drifting from my point. Yes, I have a point.
Apparently one of us took a highlighter to these pages. I don’t know if it was Cat or if it was me, but the faded orange lines are there. Based on the quote in question, I suspect it was me…
“Always I’d felt that I couldn’t be a good human being and fight them. To be good meant to be defeated by them. Unless of course I found a more interesting idea of goodness.”
So getting back to the point… I suppose I can be a good human being.
I’ll throw out one of the fun stories of the weekend.
On the advice of Gala, we went to Pravda, a Soviet themed bar in the French Quarter, far removed from the Bourbon Street Zoo. it’s dimly lit, lovingly decorated, and has something rare… It’s a bar that has more than a token effort at non-alcoholic drinks.
Our group covered a pretty broad spectrum of tastes. Beer, absinthe, cafe mocha and camomile tea. Having all of that under one roof was perfect. We retreated to the courtyard… all lit red, with a fountain populated by turtles and fish.
Much conversation was had. We were unwinding after a long day. I think if this place was in Boston I’d be there several nights a week.
Looking around, it was fascinating to think about how we had all come to be there, in that city at that time.
Another one…
At City Park, I let go of my normal grumpy “I don’t go on rides” attitude. Tugboats and tilt-a-whirls and bumper cars and carousels. We were only there for a couple of hours, but I easily could have stayed longer. Looking back on it, I wish we had…
More later.
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