i fell in love anew

i had a fucking ball in new orleans. it was hot, unctuous, floaty. my first day of jetlagged bitchiness gave way to, i guess: doing what i WANT to do, not what i THINK i should do. i did not see any live music; i did not buy a frozen fucking dacquiri; i did not stumble down bourbon street. i got the fuck out of the french quarter and away from the tourists. the streetcars on st charles and canal street are both operating again; they were still shut down when i was there last year. i roamed many neighborhoods on foot, random residential areas, ducking under banana leaves and flowery vines, perspiring relentlessly. i took hundreds of pictures. i fondled spanish moss that dangled to the ground. i watched two rats eat from a dumpster. i talked with a cockatoo. climbed a live oak tree in audubon park and bounced on the branch like a little kid. had apricot iced tea on the sidewalk at rue de la course on magazine st. i even went to a cooler-than-thou bar filled with sulky locals and did fucking sudoku. because, dammit, this is MY vacation and the dorky unhip shit that makes ME happy. and... it did.
i am resigned to seattle for at least another 18 months- the length of time i will be in school. and i don't know if i could ever truly live in the deep south- the pockets of self-absorbed liberalism are a bit too far-flung- but if i did, i know where i would want to go. it remains a happy fantasy.
local fauna (already squashed by someone prior) and the wandering gnome, fresh off a trip to germany with my mama:

a street sign in faubourg marigny:

the entrance gate to the metairie cemetery:

ADDENDUM 06/12:
1. the video kept fucking up
2. the still was rather unflattering
3. tis a pity. i was really happy and it was captured on film. that doesn't often happen.
a lot of the places i took pictures of last year are unchanged. nearly all of the buildings along canal street are still empty, with broken windows and destroyed awnings. the bywater area looks better- i didn't see any fema trailers parked in driveways this time- and the spray-painted x's that indicated house searches/body counts have been mostly covered over. the flora is denser too. while i was there the government announced that by july 1st they were going to be evicting people from their fema trailers. i saved the op-ed page from the times-picayune. one of the comments said something like "giving people a choice of a disease-causing toxic box or homelessness". there were a few 'trailer parks'- huge empty lots filled with campers- on the outskirts of town.
but new orleans is definitely coming back. more businesses are open. and the streetcar thing is fucking huge. what a fantastic thing- $1.25, an open window, amazing views, locals. and the audubon insectarium opens this weekend- i was very sad to have missed it, but it gives me something to look forward to next time.
*
...it is 55 degrees and drizzling in seattle right now. it makes the vacation-hangover hurt a little more.