Fall, Is That You?

I didn’t want to jinx anything by getting excited too quickly, but I think that fall, or the closest I am going to see down here, has begun! The other day when I was leaving for work I stepped outside and was greeted by a light breeze, low humidity, and sunny weather. Gorgeous! I have since ridden in my car with the air conditioner off and the windows down! We have bumped the AC down at the house too so it isn’t on as much. And, as AV reminded me the other day, it is almost to the point where I can open the door in my room that leads to the patio and have the screen pulled to let the nice weather in! (AV had my room before Billy, so he knows the ins and outs!)

Mom sent me my autumn decorations (wooden acorns, pictures of changing leaves, etc.) a few weeks back that I think I am going to set out soon! Of all the seasons, fall is definitely my favorite!

Here are some pictures I have taken in the past, all in Virginia. If I see any leaves a-changin' in NOLA I will post them too!

For Your Viewing Pleasure

The television in the living room is a central part of our house. We watch movies, sports, sitcoms, the news, comedians, concerts, etc on it. I have noticed that I personally do not watch many sitcoms that are new. I tend to pick them up after they have been on for a few seasons so that I can watch multiple episodes back to back. I did this with Sex and the City, That 70’s Show, How I Met Your Mother and many more. But here, in the Joseph Street house, they like to watch new stuff every day! Having HBO I have been exposed to a whole new set of shows I had never watched before like Hung, East Bound and Down, and Entourage (which I definitely got sucked into!). Now Boardwalk Empire is beginning and we are all pretty interested in watching it.

Evan watches the least amount of television, but then again, he is rarely at the house. You could call him Mr. Social! Nick watches a lot of sports (tennis, football, cage fighting—which is surprisingly addictive—etc.), PBS, and Comedy Central. Brie watches a lot of movies and HBO shows. AV puts the music channel on that shows concerts when he comes over or finds golf to watch. And me, well I watch whatever is on for the most part!

I have been tuning in to see The Real World New Orleans, mainly to see if I recognize things! Their house was a few blocks from where I live and The Creole Creamery they show in a few episodes is right down the street! I have watched more Tosh.0, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and The Colbert Report in the past two months than ever before and I must say, I enjoy them all! The cage fighting is fun to watch too! I pick one to root for at the beginning usually based on what color shorts he is wearing or if I like his name.

While we all have our own preferences, the general consensus in the house is that commercials suck! Thank God for DVR, it is sooooo nice to be able to fast forward through all of those obnoxious interruptions. However, when we have not recorded a show and must endure those five minute disruptions, someone almost always hits the “MUTE” button! (Two commercials in particular that grate my nerves are the Geico pig saying “weeee” all the way home and the KFC “g - double o - d good” one! Annoying.)

But no matter what is on, the television seems to bring us all together. Whether it is a Saints’ game, a new episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or movie night, everyone finds a comfy spot to kick back and the big picture box takes us away!

Educational Glassware

I was at the sink the other day refilling the water jug and I noticed a glass sitting on the counter from The Bulldog, a bar on Magazine Street. I have yet to venture in there, but have heard that on Wednesdays you get to keep your pint glasses upon purchasing the drink. So I am guessing that is where the glass I saw came from. There are close to 5,000 of them in the cabinet and I have never paid much attention to what they say on them, though I have noticed they are all different. This one made me chuckle. Here is what it says on the back:

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:

1. She is not a “BABE” or a “CHICK”—she is a “BREASTED AMERICAN”.
2. She is not “EASY”—she is “HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE”.
3. She is not a “DUMB BLONDE”—she is a

“LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY”.
4. She has not “BEEN AROUND”—she is a

“PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION”.
5. She does not “NAG” you—she becomes “VERBALLY REPETITIVE”.
6. She is not a “TWO-BIT HOOKER”—she is a “LOW COST PROVIDER”.

No Hablo Espanol

As mentioned before, there are a number of Hispanic porters at Sucre. There is Andrea, Juan, Fernando #1, and Fernando #2. Andrea is kind of quiet and motherly, Juan is the one who was confused by my lack of marriage, Fernando #1 speaks the most English and constantly talks about how much he loves his church (really nice guy), and then there is Fernando #2…he is the hardest to understand by far but he is trying! He genuinely wants to learn English and asks lots of questions.

Yesterday I worked a morning shift and we had an order come in from the studio. This involves checking in gelato, chocolate, etc and then putting the finishing touches on some of the entremets. We were not busy on the floor so I ended up helping Fernando #2 get everything done and thus also conducting a mini-English lesson as well!

Here is an example of his desire to understand: I asked him which containers he wanted me to use because there were some stacked on a shelf and some propped up by the sink. He pointed to the ones at the sink and said they were “sweat” then pointed at the ones on the shelf and hesitated. I thought I knew what he wanted to say so I said “dry”? He looked a little confused then said “drive” and pretended to move a steering wheel. I can see how he could get these words mixed up, so I wrote down on a sticky note “drive a car” and said the word slow emphasizing the “V” sound and did the steering wheel motion. Then pointed at the dry stack of containers and said the word. Then I explained the other stack was “wet” (and wrote these words down too) then said “sweat”, emphasizing the “s” and wiped my forehead. Despite how ridiculous this may have looked to someone who didn’t know what was going on or how weird it is to be reading now, Fernando #2 understood what I was saying and repeated the words pointing at the appropriate containers or acting out the word. He thanked me for explaining the difference and took the sticky note home with him at the end of the day.

During our assembly process he also showed me a book he has that is a simple Spanish to English guide with words and phrases, not a dictionary per say. It is amazing how complicated it is to explain how to say something when you think about it. Ed, the delivery guy, speaks Spanish and was trying to explain the difference between “our” and “hour” to him. Later, Fernando #2 was asking me if he should say “I like do this” or “I like doing this”? (He was referring to assembling entremets.) So I tried to explain you could say either but it would be “I like TO do this” or “I like doing this”. To few people's surprise, Fernando #2 said that I talk fast, so I will have to keep that in check when trying to translate to him!

Of course it is just what it is to you and me, but damn English is confusing!

All Dolled Up

Thursday evening Brie, Jon and I decided to get fancy and have a night on the town! We drove down to the French Quarter to dine at the Pelican Club where Evan and Daniel work (Brie used to work there). Daniel was our waiter while Evan was working a party in the other room. The food was delicious and so elegantly presented. Once our dinner was complete and we had our doggie bags we headed back Uptown to see an early premiere of The Town at the Prytania Theater. Jon has some awesome connections there and is constantly getting into such events. I believe he is beginning to work there as a manager/promoter. I loved the movie. It is reminiscent of The Departed, but not quite as clever. None-the-less, Ben Affleck looked irresistible with his short hair style, stubbly facial hair, and Carhart wardrobe. The aerial views of Boston were beautiful, there was a small scene with Chris Cooper and the love story on the side all made for a great film in my opinion. Overall the evening was a blast being all dolled up and having a great time with friends.

A Budding Tradition

A Saturday tradition appears to be in the making. The Prytania Theater plays a “Midnite Movie” every Friday and Saturday at, you guessed it, midnight! Last week Jon (Evan and Nick’s friend from NY who has a key to the house but has never lived here) and I went to see John Waters’ 1972 film Pink Flamingos. The movie was disgusting and disturbing and not anything like what I expected. If you have seen it then you know what I am talking about, if not, well, I recommend doing a little research on the movie first and if you can handle what you read then go for it!

Despite the strange experience last week, I agreed to return last night to see the 1982 remake of The Thing starring Kurt Russell. I noticed while watching that I recognized one older actor’s voice, turns out it was Wilford Brimley who does the diabetes commercials for Liberty Medical! Nick, Jon and I walked to the theater and met Evan there. The crowd was pretty decent and the film was not half bad!

Next week they are playing Spirited Away which is a 2001 Japanese animated film. I am not sure how I feel about this one, but perhaps in the name of tradition I will go!

Labor Day Recap

What a day! Monday morning began with the now every-day-8:30a.m.-greeting from the barking dog outside. Grrrr. Not normally for animal cruelty, but this dog is pressing his luck. Attempted to get a few more hours of shut eye (and yes, I realize I sleep late, but I don't get to bed until late either, hence the time of this post) but was continually stirred by the noise outside my window. Grrrr. Shower. Quick lunch. Chatted with Brie some in the living room. Attempted to replace the glass ring I broke the other day by driving to Pier 1. *I am still at the point where I am proud of myself for making it to a destination without using my GPS or any other assistance!* Got to Pier 1, they had glass rings but not the one I wanted so I bought two other completely different rings instead! Needed to go to Hallmark, but I do not know where any of those are off hand so I turned to Samantha (GPS) for some guidance. Typed in "Hallmark" and began following her robotic directions. Recognized that she was taking me to Metairie and mindlessly obeyed her commands. Realized I was in a residential area and was finally making it to "Hallmark Contractors" aka a house. WTH?! Typed "Hallmark" in again. Stopped to refuel the 4Runner. Saved 15 cents per gallon with my Winn Dixie card. Woo hoo! Kept driving until reaching a shopping center. HALLMARK! Closed. Another Pier 1! Open. Looked for my glass ring again. Still no luck. Talked to my brother on the phone as I drove back to Joseph Street. Tidied up my room. Skyped with Aryn, Roommate Sarah and Movie Sarah. Got to see Hankerpuss too. Super happy! Switched gears. Changed clothes. Chatted with Nick, Greg and Billy as I headed out the door. Drove to work. Slammed. Made 5,000 sundaes! Dead. Went out with Aja after work for a drink. Came home. Heated up some soup. Yum. Finished reading my book (Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story). Chatted with Nick again. Decided I needed to update my blog. Bed time. Another Labor Day come and gone!

Touchdown!

I watched my first Saints football game last night and though they lost it was a fairly enjoyable experience. Brie and I went to the Noble’s house to catch the game with Daniel, Barbara and Jon. I had been warned by Daniel earlier that Barbara can be very stressful to watch games with because she gets so intense! But since this was just a pre-season game, she remained relatively calm. She and Jon attempted to educate me as best they could on the rules of football but I am sure it will take a few more viewings before I really start to understand everything. (Daniel said it was nice to have someone in the room who knew less about the sport than he did!) The first official game of the season is next Thursday but I think I will be at work. I hope to get to go to a home game at some point but I hear the tickets are crazy expensive so we will have to see!

Just Some Things...

Here are some general observations I have noticed about New Orleans:

“No Left Turns” are very popular at intersections. This requires the driver to go up another block (or until there is not a sign restricting the left turn) and turn left (essentially a U-turn), drive back down the street then turn right so that you are finally going left on the street you intended to in the first place!




Waiters NEVER give you the option for separate checks. All bills come as one and then it is up the patrons to decide on how to pay. You can give them multiple forms of payment (cash or various cards) and tell them to split the check two ways, three ways, or however. This isn’t so bad if things are fairly even, but when one person drinks and the other does not things can be a little skewed.

The fleur de lis is EVERYWHERE! Of course it is the Saint’s symbol, but it is on almost everything in this town! Brie has one tattooed on her foot, Sucre has chocolates in the shape, and they are on signs, t-shirts, stickers on cars, everywhere!

It seems like there is a Walgreens on every corner! According to their website there are 39 stores within a ten mile radius of the city?!

If you don’t like hot sauce you might as well get out of town! These folks are serious about their heat! It goes on rice, sushi, meat, sandwiches, pasta, anything really! Sriracha is a popular one from Thailand.

The liquor laws are certainly different than Virginia’s. Grocery stores and gas stations sell not only beer and wine, but the hard stuff too! There are daiquiri shops scattered throughout the city that specialize in the sweet fruity drinks. And if you have not finished your drink but the rest of your group is ready to move along, you can always request a “to-go” cup for the road!

Thunderstorms can pop up at any time, day or night. I have woken up to storms, seen them appear mid-day, and develop at night. I feel like in Virginia they are typically an afternoon event for the most part, but they are unpredictable here. Storms are longer here as well; which I enjoy!