Friday, October 22, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Pillow Cases
Ever since I came out to my parents in the Summer of 2008, they have been very loving and do all they can to show that they accept me the way I am.
They also try to bond with Carlos, my boyfriend:
My dad (a financial adviser) gives Carlos financial advice. My mom (a part-time real estate agent) spent the last year working with Carlos to buy a house.
When we stayed at their bed and breakfast last weekend, they had these pillow cases on the bed - specially ordered by my mom from my younger sister who runs a part-time monogramming business.
Too cute.
They also try to bond with Carlos, my boyfriend:
My dad (a financial adviser) gives Carlos financial advice. My mom (a part-time real estate agent) spent the last year working with Carlos to buy a house.
When we stayed at their bed and breakfast last weekend, they had these pillow cases on the bed - specially ordered by my mom from my younger sister who runs a part-time monogramming business.
Too cute.
Tourist In Your Own Town - 2010
Once a year, Carlos and I spend a weekend in the New Orleans French Quarter, doing all the activities that tourists do. We’re tourists in our home town.
Our theme this year was “Eat, Drink, Be Merry…and Shop”. I researched many choices in all those categories. Once our weekend began, we virtually ignored my list.
We arrived at The Little Yellow House Bed and Breakfast (next door to my parent’s house) around 1 pm, and promptly walked past Port of Call. Our plan was to eat there, but the line was too long. (That ended up being that restaurant’s theme all weekend.) We ate at The Gumbo Shop. We each had Gumbo as our appetizer (though different types of Gumbo). I had the Catfish St. Peter – a special of the day. It was catfish with some kind of rich sauce that included shrimp. (I’ll have to hunt around for the recipe.) Carlos also had a catfish dish, though his was not nearly as good.
We then wandered through the Quarter, stopping in many shops and finally the French Market. I saw some local themed trivets that I wanted to buy but didn’t want to carry around. I should have bought them then: The booth disappeared after Friday.
After a quick rest at the B&B, we ate dinner with my parents at Marigny Brasserie. The service was slow and the food was underwhelming. My friend Cherie tells me – in the blog post here that she and my friend Steve run – that the place has gone down over the years. I can attest to that.
Our parents went to a fundraiser for Uganda (a random reason for a fundraiser, we thought) at Café Rose Nicaud, between Marigny Brasserie and Snug Harbor, while Carlos and I wandered down Frenchman Street. We stopped in the Faubourg Marigny Art and Books store, browsed through the porn and both bought Superman Fleur de Lis t-shirts. After looking in on a few other clubs down Frenchman, we ended up at Balcony Music Club for a drink.
Then home to bed.
Saturday morning, I was up early, letting Carlos sleep in. My mom and dad were in the driveway. My dad was going to work for awhile and my mom was walking down to Café Rose Nicaud for coffee, as she does every Saturday morning. She and I first walked to the French Market (again in search of trivets). Then met some more locals for coffee. Carlos joined us.
Laury, the friend of my parents who lives in the south of France and who we visited during our October 2007 trip, was there. We caught up with her and her adventures. She works in New Orleans two months a year and lives in France the other 10 months. I want her job!
Carlos and I then took the Riverfront Streetcar all the way down to near the World War II museum. (If we ever end up living down in Marigny, I could take that to work every day. Ahhhh, to dream. I don’t think I could convince Carlos to live in that area of town.) We had already seen the actual museum; we were there to see the new movie – Beyond Boundaries. The movie was interactive in that it was projected on a huge screen, our seats shook, smoke and mist came at us, and objects were raised and lowered at appropriate times. It was amazing!
I picked up a WWII t-shirt at the gift shop (more spending!) and then we raced over to our 2 pm reservation at the New Orleans School of Cooking for a cooking class. The highlight of last year’s Tourist Weekend was the cooking class. We had found out the previous day that there were actually two classes offered. We immediately signed up!
This year’s class consisted of more New Orleans history woven through the cooking of Shrimp and Artichoke Soup, Crawfish Etouffee, and more Pralines. (The school demonstrates Pralines during every class.) If you are ever looking for something to do in New Orleans, I highly recommend these cooking classes. They’re $22, last about two hours, and you get to eat your results.
I will post the recipes for both main dishes in my next post.
With our bellies full, we wandered around the Quarter a bit, ending up at Canal Place Cinema – now called The Theatres at Canal Place. We saw the 6:10 showing of The Town, but were going really just to experience the updated set up.
The overall experience was very elegant. Since we arrived almost an hour early, Carlos and I bought our reserved seats (for $12 each), had a drink at the bar, and chatted with the very friendly staff. Once the time came for the movie, we leisurely bought our popcorn from the counter and took our seats. We could have ordered our popcorn - or anything from the extensive menu - from our seats merely by pushing a button between us, but we wanted to save the automatic 18% service charge.
Downside...
The lights in the theatre were on the entire time. I thought because the servers needed to see the patrons. When relating this to others who have been to this theatre, they told me that they think that someone forgot to turn the lights off. During the course of the movie, there were at least 20 trips by servers into the theatre. I don't think it was an accident. If you want to actually watch the movie you are paying for without any distractions, The Theatres at Canal Place are NOT the place to go.
Walking down Decatur back to our B&B, we saw Ami – of “Travis & Ami”, who got married in my parent’s backyard back in 2002 (?) – walking to a bar on Decatur to “do her show called Fire and Ice”. Apparently she is a fire twirler in her spare time.
We ended up getting some late night food at La Peniche and eating it in our B&B.
Then to bed.
Sunday, I again awoke early and again walked down to the French Market. Still no trivets, but I did buy some very nice smelling candles. When I returned, Carlos and I had breakfast with my mom and dad, recapping our weekend.
My co-worker Karen asked me about my favorite meal during the weekend. I guess it was the Catfish St. Peter, but no meal really stood out for me. For a city known for food, we must not have covered the correct restaurants. We’ll have to concentrate on that more next year.
-------------------------
Details on 2007 trip
Details on 2008 trip
Details on 2009 trip
Our theme this year was “Eat, Drink, Be Merry…and Shop”. I researched many choices in all those categories. Once our weekend began, we virtually ignored my list.
We arrived at The Little Yellow House Bed and Breakfast (next door to my parent’s house) around 1 pm, and promptly walked past Port of Call. Our plan was to eat there, but the line was too long. (That ended up being that restaurant’s theme all weekend.) We ate at The Gumbo Shop. We each had Gumbo as our appetizer (though different types of Gumbo). I had the Catfish St. Peter – a special of the day. It was catfish with some kind of rich sauce that included shrimp. (I’ll have to hunt around for the recipe.) Carlos also had a catfish dish, though his was not nearly as good.
We then wandered through the Quarter, stopping in many shops and finally the French Market. I saw some local themed trivets that I wanted to buy but didn’t want to carry around. I should have bought them then: The booth disappeared after Friday.
After a quick rest at the B&B, we ate dinner with my parents at Marigny Brasserie. The service was slow and the food was underwhelming. My friend Cherie tells me – in the blog post here that she and my friend Steve run – that the place has gone down over the years. I can attest to that.
Our parents went to a fundraiser for Uganda (a random reason for a fundraiser, we thought) at Café Rose Nicaud, between Marigny Brasserie and Snug Harbor, while Carlos and I wandered down Frenchman Street. We stopped in the Faubourg Marigny Art and Books store, browsed through the porn and both bought Superman Fleur de Lis t-shirts. After looking in on a few other clubs down Frenchman, we ended up at Balcony Music Club for a drink.
Then home to bed.
Saturday morning, I was up early, letting Carlos sleep in. My mom and dad were in the driveway. My dad was going to work for awhile and my mom was walking down to Café Rose Nicaud for coffee, as she does every Saturday morning. She and I first walked to the French Market (again in search of trivets). Then met some more locals for coffee. Carlos joined us.
Laury, the friend of my parents who lives in the south of France and who we visited during our October 2007 trip, was there. We caught up with her and her adventures. She works in New Orleans two months a year and lives in France the other 10 months. I want her job!
Carlos and I then took the Riverfront Streetcar all the way down to near the World War II museum. (If we ever end up living down in Marigny, I could take that to work every day. Ahhhh, to dream. I don’t think I could convince Carlos to live in that area of town.) We had already seen the actual museum; we were there to see the new movie – Beyond Boundaries. The movie was interactive in that it was projected on a huge screen, our seats shook, smoke and mist came at us, and objects were raised and lowered at appropriate times. It was amazing!
I picked up a WWII t-shirt at the gift shop (more spending!) and then we raced over to our 2 pm reservation at the New Orleans School of Cooking for a cooking class. The highlight of last year’s Tourist Weekend was the cooking class. We had found out the previous day that there were actually two classes offered. We immediately signed up!
This year’s class consisted of more New Orleans history woven through the cooking of Shrimp and Artichoke Soup, Crawfish Etouffee, and more Pralines. (The school demonstrates Pralines during every class.) If you are ever looking for something to do in New Orleans, I highly recommend these cooking classes. They’re $22, last about two hours, and you get to eat your results.
I will post the recipes for both main dishes in my next post.
With our bellies full, we wandered around the Quarter a bit, ending up at Canal Place Cinema – now called The Theatres at Canal Place. We saw the 6:10 showing of The Town, but were going really just to experience the updated set up.
The overall experience was very elegant. Since we arrived almost an hour early, Carlos and I bought our reserved seats (for $12 each), had a drink at the bar, and chatted with the very friendly staff. Once the time came for the movie, we leisurely bought our popcorn from the counter and took our seats. We could have ordered our popcorn - or anything from the extensive menu - from our seats merely by pushing a button between us, but we wanted to save the automatic 18% service charge.
Downside...
The lights in the theatre were on the entire time. I thought because the servers needed to see the patrons. When relating this to others who have been to this theatre, they told me that they think that someone forgot to turn the lights off. During the course of the movie, there were at least 20 trips by servers into the theatre. I don't think it was an accident. If you want to actually watch the movie you are paying for without any distractions, The Theatres at Canal Place are NOT the place to go.
Walking down Decatur back to our B&B, we saw Ami – of “Travis & Ami”, who got married in my parent’s backyard back in 2002 (?) – walking to a bar on Decatur to “do her show called Fire and Ice”. Apparently she is a fire twirler in her spare time.
We ended up getting some late night food at La Peniche and eating it in our B&B.
Then to bed.
Sunday, I again awoke early and again walked down to the French Market. Still no trivets, but I did buy some very nice smelling candles. When I returned, Carlos and I had breakfast with my mom and dad, recapping our weekend.
My co-worker Karen asked me about my favorite meal during the weekend. I guess it was the Catfish St. Peter, but no meal really stood out for me. For a city known for food, we must not have covered the correct restaurants. We’ll have to concentrate on that more next year.
-------------------------
Details on 2007 trip
Details on 2008 trip
Details on 2009 trip
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Story: Move over NYC, New Orleans gets top city rankings
I'm proud to pass on a positive story on New Orleans...
(Reuters Life!) - Looking for romance? Head to Honolulu. But if you are single, like live music, boutique hotels and want a wild weekend, New Orleans is the city to visit.
In its latest survey of America's favorite cities Travel and Leisure magazine asked readers to pick the best places for everything from the most attractive, intelligent, stylish and the friendliest people to where to find the best museums, restaurants, bars, museums and affordable hotels.
"The big news this year is that New Orleans received the most number one rankings over New York," said Travel and Leisure Assistant Editor Stirling Kelso.
"It is a popular weekend destination. You can go to New Orleans and feel like you have left the country," she added.
The city known as the "Big Easy" also came out tops for people watching, singles scene and the metropolis with the best bars and concerts and bands.
"In the nightlife category, New Orleans beat Las Vegas. Last year New Orleans swept all of the night-life categories and New Orleans did this year," Kelso added.
Miami topped the charts for the most attractive people, followed by San Diego and Charleston but southern charm seemed to come into play with Nashville, New Orleans and Charleston having the friendliest folks.
New York was the U.S. city with the most stylish residents with Miami and San Francisco and Los Angeles also coming up with high marks.
But when it comes to most intelligent Minneapolis/St. Paul took the crown, followed by Austin and Boston. The twin cities also scored top marks as the cleanest city.
The results were based on an online survey of more than 60,000 people who rated 30 U.S. cities in various categories. Five new cities, Providence, Kansas City, Cleveland, Houston and St Louis, were added to the survey this year.
Washington D.C. was the top choice for best museums, galleries and historical sites, with New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston also in the top five.
"In regards to culture, Washington D.C. and New York really tied in that category. New York got the No. 1 ranking for classical music and theatres, and Washington D.C. did for historical sites and monuments and museums and galleries. It was a nice East Coast tie," Kelso said.
For more sedate family fun, Orlando, Florida was the top choice with Washington D.C. coming in second, and San Diego third. If money is a consideration, Cleveland scaled the chart for best affordable getaway.
New York may have bowed to New Orleans in the nightlife ranking but it was still scored top marks in a category considered important by many -- shopping.
Full results are found at www.travelandleisure.com.
(Reuters Life!) - Looking for romance? Head to Honolulu. But if you are single, like live music, boutique hotels and want a wild weekend, New Orleans is the city to visit.
In its latest survey of America's favorite cities Travel and Leisure magazine asked readers to pick the best places for everything from the most attractive, intelligent, stylish and the friendliest people to where to find the best museums, restaurants, bars, museums and affordable hotels.
"The big news this year is that New Orleans received the most number one rankings over New York," said Travel and Leisure Assistant Editor Stirling Kelso.
"It is a popular weekend destination. You can go to New Orleans and feel like you have left the country," she added.
The city known as the "Big Easy" also came out tops for people watching, singles scene and the metropolis with the best bars and concerts and bands.
"In the nightlife category, New Orleans beat Las Vegas. Last year New Orleans swept all of the night-life categories and New Orleans did this year," Kelso added.
Miami topped the charts for the most attractive people, followed by San Diego and Charleston but southern charm seemed to come into play with Nashville, New Orleans and Charleston having the friendliest folks.
New York was the U.S. city with the most stylish residents with Miami and San Francisco and Los Angeles also coming up with high marks.
But when it comes to most intelligent Minneapolis/St. Paul took the crown, followed by Austin and Boston. The twin cities also scored top marks as the cleanest city.
The results were based on an online survey of more than 60,000 people who rated 30 U.S. cities in various categories. Five new cities, Providence, Kansas City, Cleveland, Houston and St Louis, were added to the survey this year.
Washington D.C. was the top choice for best museums, galleries and historical sites, with New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston also in the top five.
"In regards to culture, Washington D.C. and New York really tied in that category. New York got the No. 1 ranking for classical music and theatres, and Washington D.C. did for historical sites and monuments and museums and galleries. It was a nice East Coast tie," Kelso said.
For more sedate family fun, Orlando, Florida was the top choice with Washington D.C. coming in second, and San Diego third. If money is a consideration, Cleveland scaled the chart for best affordable getaway.
New York may have bowed to New Orleans in the nightlife ranking but it was still scored top marks in a category considered important by many -- shopping.
Full results are found at www.travelandleisure.com.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The It Gets Better Project II
In September, I posted a link to a video from Dan Savage and his It Gets Better Project.
Following up on that and on all the recent gay teen suicides, I have been working on a really long blog post that I will share soon once I get my thoughts together.
Meanwhile, I wanted to post this very powerful video that I saw via Jason's blog.
Yes, it's 12 minutes long. Stay for the entire show.
-------------------
The Trevor Project
--------------------
Kevin Smith, one of my favorite actor/directors, takes The Trevor Project center stage.
--------------------
Following up on that and on all the recent gay teen suicides, I have been working on a really long blog post that I will share soon once I get my thoughts together.
Meanwhile, I wanted to post this very powerful video that I saw via Jason's blog.
Yes, it's 12 minutes long. Stay for the entire show.
-------------------
The Trevor Project
--------------------
Kevin Smith, one of my favorite actor/directors, takes The Trevor Project center stage.
--------------------
BPM
Whenever I make mixed CD's, I am cognizant of the BPM (beats per minute) of each song - and how each fits together. For years, I have been using my own tapping combined with a metronome.
Gotta love the internet: Today, I found a site dedicated to what I have been sweating over for years.
Now, when I want to make a 160+ BPM CD, I will easily know that this song...
and this song...
can be linked.
Gotta love the internet: Today, I found a site dedicated to what I have been sweating over for years.
Now, when I want to make a 160+ BPM CD, I will easily know that this song...
and this song...
can be linked.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Tourist In Your Own Town - 2010 (Preview)
This past weekend, Carlos and I had our Fourth Annual Tourist In Your Own Town weekend. I am working on a detailed post of our adventures. Coming very soon.
Meanwhile, I wanted to post this one short piece of information. He and I saw a movie at the new, improved Canal Place Cinema, uh, The Theatres at Canal Place. Carlos recognized an actor eating at the lounge area while we were getting a drink at the bar. Neither of us could remember his name. I did manage to get a (blurry, bad angle) picture of him.
Does anyone recognize this actor?
-------------------------
Details on 2007 trip
Details on 2008 trip
Details on 2009 trip
Meanwhile, I wanted to post this one short piece of information. He and I saw a movie at the new, improved Canal Place Cinema, uh, The Theatres at Canal Place. Carlos recognized an actor eating at the lounge area while we were getting a drink at the bar. Neither of us could remember his name. I did manage to get a (blurry, bad angle) picture of him.
Does anyone recognize this actor?
-------------------------
Details on 2007 trip
Details on 2008 trip
Details on 2009 trip
New Gap Logo
A story from here:
Gap changed its logo today without fanfare or even so much as a press release. It just kind of showed up on their website, no method of warning considered.
The new logo, a cold and unfeeling blue square crushed underneath the cruel weight of bold, black Helvetica, makes the company look more like it’s about to release a new word processor than a footwear collaboration with Pierre Hardy. Our questions about this abound, but we’ll start with this one: What the hell are they thinking?
BrandChannel points out that while Gap Inc. as a company might have posted over $14 billion in revenue last year, Gap as a brand isn’t doing nearly as well as it has in the past. And now it’s scrambling for a jolt of energy that will send it back to the top again.
“… Ditching the classic logo, recognized by everyone, in favor of whatever that new monstrosity is, demonstrates a prototypical brand panic move. With things not going in its favor, the brand decides to change the one valuable element it has going for it.
Ironically maybe, the new logo is perfect for the brand. It communicates exactly the values currently embodied by Gap: A sense of being lost and a lack of clear vision and creativity.”
Ouch. Well. We hate Helvetica as much as the next person who has a thing for fonts (we had the audacity to tell our 300-level graphic design professor that we thought it was the most banal font we’d ever seen). But we’ve noticed that the company hasn’t changed the logo on its Facebook or Twitter pages, so maybe (hopefully) they’re just testing it out and gauging how consumers would react to it. But if the company can make a design flub this big, should we expect the clothes to follow?
-------------------
An update to the above story is here.
------------------
See the trailer for the 2007 documentary on Helvetica.
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Theme Dinners – Season 1, Week 4
The fourth Wednesday Night Dinner was another success. Our theme was Idioms. Each week, everyone seems to be embracing the themes. I am amazed at the creativity.
Here are the entries from the dinner:
Fork in the Road Cookie – Tied for first place (see image)
Who Cut The Cheese Plate
Pardon My French Cut Green Beans Sautéed with Almonds and Mushrooms – Tied for first place
High on the Hog (a large ham)
The Whole Enchilada
Ain’t That A Kick In The Head Rum Cake
Don’t Spill The [Red] Beans
Peace Out (She had little packets of Reece’s Pieces, which she proceeded to toss out to us.)
Cream (Spinach) of the Crop - Third place
Pardon My French was my dish. I hadn’t yet placed in the top 3 dishes so I was proud of my accomplishment. (Each week, everyone votes on his/her top 3 favorite dishes with 10 points going to the first place choice, 5 points to the second place choice, and 3 point to the third place choice.)
Next Theme: Dish that Reflects Your Fantasy Place to Live. I have already ordered Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I bet at least a third of the people will do French dishes so I really want to present something fantastic. I have until October 13 to work out the details.
We are having small events at each dinner evolve into traditions:
- Karly, the 10 year old, asks a discussion question while we are all eating – such “What did you want to be when you were 10?”
- Right before we sit down to dinner, each person has a short presentation describing his/her dish. (Our voting is based on the dish’s presentation, adherence to the theme, creativity, and taste.)
- At the end of our evening, the list of potential themes is handed out. Someone throws out a nomination, waiting on a “second” – then a vote. I think too many of us have been involved in formal meetings.
It looks like we have two more Dinners before we take a break for the holidays, starting up again in January. During that time, I plan on compiling all the recipes into a cook book.
With Jason, Debbie and Bart unable to attend, we were down to 11 people at this dinner. Next time, with the addition of two guests of my parents, plus Jason, Debbie and Bart back in, we’ll be up to 16 – our most ever. We also have three people on our “waiting list”. I want to invite them too, but we just don’t have the space. Maybe in January, we’ll start rotating houses.
Here are the entries from the dinner:
Fork in the Road Cookie – Tied for first place (see image)
Who Cut The Cheese Plate
Pardon My French Cut Green Beans Sautéed with Almonds and Mushrooms – Tied for first place
High on the Hog (a large ham)
The Whole Enchilada
Ain’t That A Kick In The Head Rum Cake
Don’t Spill The [Red] Beans
Peace Out (She had little packets of Reece’s Pieces, which she proceeded to toss out to us.)
Cream (Spinach) of the Crop - Third place
Pardon My French was my dish. I hadn’t yet placed in the top 3 dishes so I was proud of my accomplishment. (Each week, everyone votes on his/her top 3 favorite dishes with 10 points going to the first place choice, 5 points to the second place choice, and 3 point to the third place choice.)
Next Theme: Dish that Reflects Your Fantasy Place to Live. I have already ordered Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I bet at least a third of the people will do French dishes so I really want to present something fantastic. I have until October 13 to work out the details.
We are having small events at each dinner evolve into traditions:
- Karly, the 10 year old, asks a discussion question while we are all eating – such “What did you want to be when you were 10?”
- Right before we sit down to dinner, each person has a short presentation describing his/her dish. (Our voting is based on the dish’s presentation, adherence to the theme, creativity, and taste.)
- At the end of our evening, the list of potential themes is handed out. Someone throws out a nomination, waiting on a “second” – then a vote. I think too many of us have been involved in formal meetings.
It looks like we have two more Dinners before we take a break for the holidays, starting up again in January. During that time, I plan on compiling all the recipes into a cook book.
With Jason, Debbie and Bart unable to attend, we were down to 11 people at this dinner. Next time, with the addition of two guests of my parents, plus Jason, Debbie and Bart back in, we’ll be up to 16 – our most ever. We also have three people on our “waiting list”. I want to invite them too, but we just don’t have the space. Maybe in January, we’ll start rotating houses.
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