pithy poetry

 

"To live a creative life,

we must lose our fear

of being

wrong."

~Joseph Chilton Pearce

"In order to lead a fascinating life~

one brimming with art, music, intrigue and romance~

you must surround yourself with precisely those things."

~Kate Spade

slant of light

It's no secret that autumn is the favored season in this household.  

 Sunrise in my mirror.

While waiting for a stoplight.

magnification

trying to do this...

danse joyeuse

Now I don't need to hoard my Easter eggs!

minty fresh

Completely forgot that I also visited one of the U.S. Mint's while I was on holiday--my phone had pretty much died, so will have to rely on stock photos of the building.  

The draw for me--besides it being a gorgeous and historical building--was the exhibit on the 50th Anniversary of the Preservation Hall Band.  Such a thrill to see photographs and concert handbills and actual instruments of so many musicians that I taught during my time with a jazz choir.  Vintage video clips and rare music recordings were also accessible here.

Exquisite stairway.

Didn't even think to purchase coins here; I have a set from the Philadelphia Mint from a previous history tour.

(And I truly wish I had been able to photograph the bathroom--it's one of the second ones that I've seen that have the sink and towel dispenser right in the toilet stall.  All three were like that.)

laughing out loud

angry frog.

fa-la-la-fan

Beyond weird to be running the a/c and the ceiling fan while decorating the Christmas tree.

And yes, it may seem early, but I had a new ornament from Nawlins, plus I'll be gone for Christmas and still wanted to enjoy a bit of the holiday spirit in my place.

poetry Friday

is a blog tradition that I'm carrying over.  This week's posting is from a friend's email.

A LITTLE BIT OF TIMELY ADVICE
~McKeel MBride

Time you put on blue
shoes, high-heeled, sequined,
took yourself out dancing.

You been spending too much
time crying salty
dead-fish lakes into soupspoons,

holding look-alike contests
with doom.  Baby, you
need to be moving. Ruin

ruins itself, no use unplanting
what's left of your garden.
Crank up the old radio

into lion-looking-for-food
music; or harmonica, all indigo,
breathing up sunrise.  Down

and out's just another opinion
on up and over.  You say
you got no makings

for a song?  Sing anyway.
Best music's the stuff comes
rising out of nothing.

reprinted from Dog Star Delicatessen, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2006.

along the street in New Orleans

thank full

Birthday gifts and wishes continue to arrive; this gorgeous little Wusthof is now completely at home in my kitchen as I prepped Thanksgiving foods.

Happy little Tofurky roll-ups.

A bit hard to see with the lighting, but I got some coffee prints while in Nawlins and the frames were another b-day gift.  It's nice to have something other than paint to stare at while doing dishes!

It was a quiet Thanksgiving; after my recent road trip, decided to just stay in town and serve at a soup kitchen.  Seems that hundreds of others had decided the same thing, so there was no need for me.  Turned out to be one of the nicest holidays I've had--just cooked good food--mainly using my grandmother's utensils and dishes.  Then Bogart feasted on turkey and I feasted on lefse and pickles and we watched movies all afternoon.

back in Austin

 My school's PTA graced my desk with a bouquet of tulips and a dark chocolate bar.

Bogart getting his calcium while I get my beta-carotene.

Weird, but pretty Christmas lighting on the trees in my local cafe--which I just found out is owned by native New Orleaners....or whatever they're called. 

dawn

 Walking out of the hotel, on my way to the famed Cafe du Monde.

A miracle of no line! 

Happy birthday brekkers!!!  (and I've edited this twice and it still skews sideways; ah well, they were delish!!!!)  Nothing like freshly fried dough to kick off another year of life and health.

Christmas tree up on the levee (this was where I stood to take the photo of the cathedral.)

Stunning sunrise over Lake Pontchartrain.  Wish I'd been able to capture the three egrets taking off against these colours.

 

Sweet barista warmed up my brownie lunch.  (while Nawlins is famed for food--there is not much there for vegetarians.  Plan ahead.)

 

Leaving the Fleur de Lys for the Lone Star.  

A most excellent birthday adventure!

continuing the jaunt

I dare you to stand alongside the Mississippi and not at least hum Old Man River.  Would have been fun to take one of the evening jazz cruises.

Fun fountain--very near the ubiquitous Cafe du Monde--judging by the piles of powdered sugar along the bricks.

Tasteful (and rather understated for this area) Christmas wreaths.

 Love the ferns and the 'Peace Ya'll' greeting.

 History plaque for the educator in me.

Possibly horribly wrong of me to not only use two adverbs in a description, but to think the venerable St. Louis Cathedral looks like something out of Disneyland.

The true reason for my pilgrimage--Preservation Hall.  Was disappointed the band was out on tour; got to hear them when I worked at Mondavi, but I still wanted to sit inside on the old pews and breathe in music history.

 Next time.  And there will be a next time; haven't fallen this hard for a city since I first met London in 1989.

Gas lamps; much more atmospheric in some of the foggy b/w photographs I saw, but they're still fun.

So much detail and colour and life packed into such a small neighborhood--love the enormous variety.

 My birthday candle, amongst all the other wishes and hopes.

There is music literally everywhere here.  From kids on the curbs, to all the cafes and bars and someone was bashing out a concerto in the empty church.

Light beginning to fade on this day of enchantment.

$.11 found on my ramble.