I might as well make it official.

If it's not obvious already, my journal is on indefinite hiatus.

I realized just now that it's been a month without an update.

Feel free to contact me through other means if necessary.

"her wedding = our vacation"

That's what Tara and I have been saying the past couple of days.

And by the way, Jacque and Jason got married.

Yeah, it's official. I was at the ceremony. I saw it happen with my own two eyes. She was a beautiful bride. Everyone oohed and awed when she walked into the sanctuary. I got a little teary eyed. I only cried a little during the vows but only because she did.

Rachel and I flew to Detroit and then drove the rest of the way last Thursday. Jacque's "bachelorette" party / shower of sorts was at her friend Robin's family's lakehouse. It was awesome. Swimming, rafting, sailing, drinking, swimming beer to the raft, barbecuing, eating, more drinking. We got to meet a bunch of Jacque's good friends, which was also fun... placing faces to the names in the stories... on both sides.

We spent the rest of the weekend as guests of Bob and Patrice, her parents. It was fun. We helped set up some stuff for the reception but spent a good amount of time sitting around doing R&R. Tara and I will particularly miss utilizing their hot tub at the end of every night and going for dips in the pool.

The wedding and reception were elegant and fun. Lots of white and of course lots of purple. I didn't know that many shades of a color were possible. Tara didn't catch the bouquet, and I didn't catch the garter. Jacque will have to wait a bit until she gets to come to our "wedding... to each other."

I'll post a few pictures (and maybe a few anecdotes) once the happy couple returns from their honeymoon and uploads.

in brief...

My "cousins" came to visit. Ben got a puppy. Gisela's getting married. (I partially blame the last one on you, you lamaze stuffed animal. You broke the seal.)

summertime

Not been up to much. Hanging with the locals. Drinking with the locals. Maple street bars a lot. Crossing restaurants off my list: Try the house burger at Table One and the kurobuta pork belly at Lilette. Seeing summer movies. Live Free or Die Hard is awesome. Ratatouille should be seen on a full stomach and/or en route to a nice dinner. Harry Potter and Transformers are on the list.

July already?

Yeah, I'm not where the last month went either. I'm back home in New Orleans and am subletting an apartment on Pine. New roommates, both cool guys. Went out with them the other night for a few doubles, carbombs, and games of Foosball. Yesterday was The Fourth, so I went to Mon Mon & Jon Jon's (i.e. Monica and Adrian) little celebration. T'was supposed to be in her yard, but the rain location was his house. Keg, barbeque (burgers, hot dogs, ribeye), frat brothers, sorority sisters, random friends/family, Goldeneye on 64. Good times. Left to go watch the fireworks on top of the parking garage with Stephanie, Sylvia, and Peter. I forgot the view from there rivals the one on top of Stern.

how y'all been?

Personally, I've been busy. I graduated. T'was fun. Lots of family members came down to see me graduate New Orleans. My grandfather threw a graduation party for me at The Columns, which was awesome. A lot of my friends and most of my beloved, closest friends were there... including a few out-of-towners who were around for the weekend. A select few, who survived the open bar, made it to the after-party at Madigan's. My mom took me to Barcelona as a graduation gift (one of the many she bestowed upon me) slash as a push-in-the-right-direction. That week was great. Sightseeing. Sangria. Sleeping. It was fantastic. California for Camille's confirmation. I was her sponsor. A weekend with my favorite cousins and a little time jet skiing on the lake. Back home in DC, I caught up with some old friends and spent some time with the family. A little bit of local Tulane Happy Hour. Finally got to make it to my friend from high school Alex's annual Shkev Fest, which was a blast and gave me a chance to catch up with some other old friends. Made my way back down to New Orleans, where I've been settling in and hanging out with my brother, his girlfriend, and all my other graduated friends who've stuck around for the summer.

last week 4/29 - 5/6

Sunday

Sunday was the TCC crawfish boil. Crawfish are good. So are red beans and rice. Yeah, that's about it. Justin made cookies that afternoon apparently, so he made a special delivery. I know there were two kinds, and they involved some combination of butterscotch chips, peanut butter, white chocolate, and something else. I don't know. Heaven.

Monday

Monday was my last psych class ever. The topic of the day was Health Stress & Coping, so the professor managed to get one last jab in:

"That's my picture of marijuana. I got it from Andrew."

And then:

"We're from the same hometown, so we have the same dealer."

I'm going to miss that course.

Calculus was a sort-of review. Not really. Say your prayers for my final exam.

American Popular Music was... the usual mayhem. Not to be outdone, the professor not only gave us a lecture about how "when you're partying or getting laid, music is in the background, but in this class, [he] want[s] it to be in the foreground!" And then told us an anecdote of how he had to go to court and testify against Juvenile for plagiarizing the lyrics "you's a fine motherfucker won't you back that ass up." I might miss that course too.

I went to Stephen's final review and then went to Kyoto for dinner with him and a few other architects. Japanese beer and wine both made appearances. I got a Stella Roll (a spicy scallop roll enveloped in tuna tataki) and a Hotbox (a rainbow box with eel, avocado, and pepper sauces).

Tuesday

Former Vice President Al Gore delivered his famous "An Inconvenient Truth" lecture. David had the hook-up and provided a few of us with reserved VIP seating, which is especially great because I honestly wouldn't have gone otherwise. But I'm glad I did. Gore was hilarious in-person (and would've surely won the election if his personality was more in attendance back then) and does the world's best impersonation of Bill Clinton. (Figures.) He also went on record to say that he is never running again.

Tara and I skipped lunch because of the lecture and because she forgot her phone, and Ben and I had an early dinner (last one, sob) and caught up on each other's apparently-very-interesting weekends.

God, this was a busy Tuesday. I went to the last 1718 for the year, a gathering which always coincides with Columns Happy Hour. Andrei Codrescu did the author reading and was hilarious. I was sad to find out he was reading from a yet-unpublished book, so I bought his tribute to New Orleans, which spans 20 years. And I relate wholeheartedly to this excerpt from it:

"How did you fall in love with New Orleans? At once, madly. ... Looking back, sometimes I think it was predestined."

As always, the bartenders are great for conversation. We were talking about old age, so one (a woman who shall remain unnamed) asked me how old I was, and then told me "You're not old! I'm over 40!!!" and (the guy, also left anonymous) asked me what my plans were. When I said they were unsure, he suggested "Travel, get drun, have as much sex as possible, and don't be afraid to forget it all." Apparently it's what he did after college. God, I love that bar.

A bunch of us moved on to The Delachaise for wine and food. I don't remember what I got, just that it was the red that paired well with the "beefy bruschetta" I ordered, which is basically bruschetta with grilled flank steak. David met up with me, and we picked up Tara and Alison to go to Balcony Bar for more drinks and more food. I was all about the beef apparently because I got a "balcony burger," which is a half-pounder with tomato, grilled onion, green peppers, mushrooms, bacon, and jalapenos."

Wednesday

Adrian finally had free time to go to the "birthday lunch" my Mom gave us in April. We went to Pascal's Manale. I got the stuffed eggplant for an appetizer, while he opted for a dozen raw oysters. I got their signature Barbeque Shrimp, which are huge and delicious. He got crawfish ettouffee. We topped it all off with bread pudding and pecan pie, respectively.

That night was also interesting. LOST and a trailer party. Then a bunch of us went out to Bruno's and then TJ Quills for a little bit, but the bar crawl ended there... for most of us. Lauren called me about half an hour later wanting to go back out, so we met up at The Rat and then went to The Boot, The Palms, and Snake & Jake's. There was a guy there proving the rule that if you get shot at or get naked at the bar, you drink for free. I'll let you guess which.

Thursday

I think I bummed around all day? Whatever. Shannon, David, and I went to Rock-n-Sake for dinner. Their clear soup is easily the best I've ever had at any Japanese restaurant, and I know that's a strange thing to remember, but it was awesome. We got a portabello tempura appetizer, which was awesome. I got an omakase (chef's choice) plate of sushi, sashimi, and crunchy rolls. Then we met up with more people and went to Spider-Man 3, which wasn't as good as the first two, but every fan should still see it anyway. The main problems with it are it's perhaps too comic-book-y (everything is more extreme; the evil, the jokes, the romance). But I still enjoyed it.

Friday

Storming and flooding. Calc final. Sleep. Dinner with Whitney and Tully at Sake Cafe. TNT. which is tuna stacked with rice, various roes, and a quail egg. And an Uptown Roll, which is a mix of fish, roe, and avocado. We stopped by Creole Creamery after, where I got an I Scream Fudge Sundae. (It's a chocolate overload. A hot fudge coated glass with two scoops of I Scream Fudge, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and a chocolate covered cherry.) I can now say I've had every delicacy I've ever wanted there.

After that, Tully left and David met up with us. Monkey Hill. Drinks. Shots. St. Joe's Bar. Blueberry mojitos. Storyville. Ms. Mae's/The Club. More drinks. Stephanie's. Hookah. Waiting. Wine. Awesome night.

Saturday

I finished my adolescent psych final in fifteen minutes. I don't remember what I did all afternoon, so I probably wasted it somehow. Shannon and I went to Whole Foods and bought dinner there. Those Xochitl chips we love, guacamole, a surprisingly/insanely spicy mango and pineapple salsa, salads (mine was basically a Cobb), and a "California Club" (a huge sandwich on foccacia with turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, and a sun-dried tomato aioli).

David, Nate, and I went out and met up with Whitney, Matt and Paul for Cinco De Mayo. Lots of Corona. Tequila shots. My roommates and I decided to do more bonding by going to Camelia Grill(!) which was as incredible as I remember. I love breakfast at three in the morning. WORD. I got eggs over easy with bacon and fries. And a chocolate cherry freeze. I let it get to my brain.

Now that I'm all caught up, I will do my best to update this reasonably on-time. Besides, what else will I do since there's no more class?

last week 4/23 - 4/28

I realize I'm behind on the updates. My apologies. Time seems to be flying by more swiftly than ever.

Monday

I don't even remember. Sorry.

Tuesday

Lunch with Tara. The Pussycat Dolls found their new Doll, and I'm never watching The CW again. At least until next season. "Why is it every time I come home to you actually watching TV, there's some half naked chick dancing on screen?" I don't know, Nate. I don't know.

Wednesday

Wednesday night Shannon and I went to the best idea she ever had. "So Sinfully Sweet" at Morton's Steakhouse downtown. Blue Frog Chocolates decided to a chocolate tasting (with a different wine accompanying each), had Morton's serve hors d'ouevres (chicken tenders, bruschetta, mushroom caps stuffed with lump crabmeat, chicken tenders, and steak tenderloin sandwiches), and had masseuses from Aveda giving rubdowns. It was quite possibly the best two hours of my life. And I got drunk because there was a different wine for each of the five chocolates and Shannon would take one sip and insist I finish the rest for her, besides my own. Watching LOST drunk really isn't as hard as one would think.

Thursday

I had lunch with Tara and then went over to my professor's house for our final class (since she cancelled the Tuesday one). I presented my screenplay. It seemed to go over well. We all brought beer since she said "no hard liquor" after "certain behavior" last time we all drank together at Juan's Flying Burrito. She made us dinner (soft tacos, pico, guac, beans, rice). Good times.

Friday

Last Friday of classes. Ever. Shannon and I decided to turn our last Friday class ever into a drinking game. (We're good at this sort of drinking-in-what-may-seem-an-unlikely-situation. Just like the end of lagniappe's Bruff Happy Hour.) That was fun. TGIOver. A little more happy hour. We went to dinner at 5 Happiness, which was sort-of-good Chinese food. Asian Cajun still reigns supreme even though it's not traditionally Chinese.

Nicole and I met up to go to Erin's Cocktail Party, which was one of the best parties I've ever been to. Almost all the guys had shirts and ties on and the girls wore cocktail (duh) dresses. She had two bars (with bartenders), all the liquors, mixers, extras (cherries, lemons, limes, olives), one could want. And kegs. And the backyard was lit up with paper lanterns. Gorgeous. I was telling Nicole that if it weren't for the ice luges and beer pong table, I could have mistaken it for, like, a "grown-up" party. Tons of fun.

When we got there, we jumped immediately into the Cupid Shuffle. Nicole has a little trouble when the directions aren't given, but it was fun. A few hours later, after splitting up and mingling with different friends, we did another Cupid Shuffle. This time Nicole had trouble even with directions. "No, Nicole. Left. Left. Your other left!"

And then we left to go to another party at the "Calhoun Castle of Craziness." Nicole doesn't remember anything past this point, but I distinctly recall her verbally abusing two drunk boys walking near us. (Not as bad as Eileen in the Mardi Gras flashback though.) When we got to the house, she went to the bathroom, and I talked to Jose, whom I'd just met. By the time she came back out, I had realized we were at the completely wrong party. It was a Latin one. And the ladies of the castle are six white chicks. so we left.

When we finally made it to the correct party a block or so further, we saw more beer pong and nurses walking around giving people "shots" to cure senioritis. Good times.
We ended up at Dillon's house in his kitchen. The two of them had what may have been the most circular of drunk debates ever. But I was amused.

Saturday

Saturday was full of delicious food. Lizzie, Wes, and I went to Domilise's for po-boys. (Another restaurant crossed off the list.) We took them to the levee and had a little picnic with them and Abita. I got the Wednesday/Saturday special of barbecued beef. Awesome. The best part of the levee layout was when the ice cream truck pulled up, and all the half-naked college kids ran for it like a bunch of children. I was part of the bunch. It was worth it. We had a potluck that night that was pie themed. Pizza pie, chicken pot pie, spinach and mushroom pie, quiche, chocolate cream pie. Awesome. I was going to make Emeril's banana cream pie with caramel and chocolate drizzles (all from scratch like at the restaurant, but seeing how the grocery was out of ripe bananas... that didn't work. I brought apple instead. Then Lizzie convinced me out to Madigan's because Maureen (among others) were there. Adrian and his new Sig Ep brothers stumbled in soon after, so that was a pleasant surprise.

to illustrate a point

Two photos from parties last weekend. The first is an example of an "appropriate" college picture for announcements and publication intended for extended family and people-I-don't-know. The second could be considered thoroughly "inappropriate."

Erin, the hostess with the mostess

Dillon giving me a shot "to cure senioritis."

birthweek pictures

Here's just a sampling of pics from last week I got to transfer when Getaway was cooperating this morning. I'll load all the photos from last week/end as soon as I finish my last papers and screenplay and no longer have to worry about losing stuff if my laptop decides to have another aneurysm.

Puja, Whit, and I pregaming my birthday at Las Palmas

Monica and Adrian on the Uptown Cajun porch

Josh the pool shark. He might remember this.

about 50% of the writing on my arms at the end of the night

Miss Mule and Louisiana Strawberry Queen pageant winners after dinner

sexy seniors! Chi 'O7

"walk of shame" & "stride of pride"

the rest of birthweek 2.0

Tuesday

Unless I’m forgetting something other than visiting Alison for strawberry birthday cake, Tuesday was pretty typical. Terrorism. Lunch with Tara. Screenwriting. Dinner with Ben. If I forgot something significant that you were a part of, please let me know!

Wednesday

Classes. As a belated birthday present, LauRu treated me to the gelateria, the name of which escapes me, on Oak. While staring at the paninis and talking about food, we realized we wanted non-dessert food. (Apparently we were both busy and had gelato as our breakfast.) So we went to Philip Chan’s Asian Cajun Bistro for dinner. We split a seafood tempura trio appetizer of shrimp, crawfish, and squid (family members: very much like the baked squid Dad likes) with a chili dipping sauce. Lauren ordered the pineapple prawns, and I got the soft shell crab, which like the other seafood was lightly beer-battered. It was quite the late lunch.

Back on campus, I went to a meeting for the terrorism debate we had Thursday. (More on this later, believe me.)

Then Tara treated Alison, Rachel, and I out for our birthdays to Côté Sud, a charming little French restaurant. That might have been the best birthday present ever. Thank you, darling.

We split escargots and garlic bread with mozzarella for appetizers. I had the saumon crème d’epinard (salmon with spinach cream over rice and vegetables) for my entrée. And we split a chocolate mousse layer cake and Poire Belle Hélène (poached pears, vanilla ice cream, melted chocolate, and Poire D’Anjou liquor) for dessert.

When I was returning home, I saw a bunch of familiar faces walking around in black. Lauren and I ended up back at our apartments at the same time, and while discussing our plans (or lack thereof) for the week, I realized what the somber occasion was: Fun Lauren’s funeral. I missed the service because I would have cried too much. She was buried next to the late Fun David, who passed away about a month ago, but whom I plan on resurrecting come May.

Thursday

Worst technological morning of my life. My computer malfunctioned, so I couldn’t even open my “domestic spying program” position paper for the terrorism debate. After two hours of messing with Getaway, I called my professor. He told me to just focus on the debate. So I went to the computer lab and started typing up notes and talking points, but when I went to the printer, the printer queue was about 23 names long. So I e-mailed my notes to (myself at) the other lab.

When I tried to print there, the computers told me no printer was installed. Great. I bypassed the busy library since I was already late to class and made a last attempt at Cudd Hall. Printers not available there either. Thank God the debate went well anyway because at that point I’d memorized almost everything from having to look at it so much.

Tara had a meeting so no lunch. David and I went to the grocery and Wendy’s. That night I missed Alifun’s (and slightly my) birthday celebration since my ride bailed due to sickness. I went with Ryanne et al to the bird flu BLew birthday bash.

Friday

So I skipped out on 80s Night with Whit and Puje because of my morning class, but when my classmates and I got there, we found it had been cancelled. I wished I had stayed in bed. Calc.

Pop. Bank with Ben. Shower and shave. 543@1.

That sounds like a strange countdown. It means dinner at five (o’clock) for three (people) at ONE (restaurant and lounge).

Shannon, Jenna, and I celebrated her long-awaited return. (It’s been about a week, but the girl called me last weekend to ask – "don’t get excited but" – if I would be her date to formal if she drove back for it.) Clearly I said yes, and she drove back.

I had a fried soft shell crab & escargots (atop herbed risotto with a leek & bacon meuniere sauce) for my entrée and a flourless Swiss chocolate cake (with real whipped cream and Louisiana strawberries) for dessert since someone wouldn't share even though she didn't finish hers. (Nothin’ but love, Shanizzle.)

Jenna and I did a quick-change into our formal dress clothing and then went to The Boot a little overdressed. Then we got on the drunk bus to the Board of Trade Plaza, which was a beautiful venue.

Chi Omega Formal was fun. All the Chi Hos looked gorgeous, especially the seniors. There was just a little bit of drama but Jenna and I just drank it away laughed it off. It’s only natural after four years of grudges and drama that a little alcohol would bring it out at the end. But it was still a fantastic night.

Saturday

David and I got up to go to Crawfest bright and early to have three pounds each (of the three tons) of crawfish for breakfast. The bands were good. The food was great. There should have been beer, Cynthia. I slept most of the afternoon away before going to Ralph & Kacoo’s with Shannon for (Gabby’s) Mikey’s birthday dinner.

Besides the bottles of Pinot Grigio the birthday boy ordered that prompted Gab to swear he’d be sorry on her birthday, seafood was the highlight. Shan and I split a she-crab soup (which was not authentic Maryland but still very good), and we all split gator bites (blackened and fried), and crab-stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. I had the Shrimp Charles: Gulf shrimp stuffed with lump crabmeat and topped with hollandaise sauce and more lump crabmeat. Then Shan and I split a huge slice of key lime pie (with real key limes).

I showed up a little late to the "Party of Shame," the Phi Sigma Pi date party. Lizzie, my lovely date was still sober and glowering, but we remedied that problem with drinking and dancing. Lots of that. It was F&M's. That’s what F&M's is for.

There aren't many significant stories. (Okay, there are a few about Stephanie, but ask me in person. She shot me a Lizzie-Shame-Glare-Minus-The-Squawk when Max, our knight in shining armor who drove us home, asked if she was a Hot Mess.)

Sunday

...was pretty much sleep and recuperation. Mass. Sunday night supper. Molly (who I met at a previous F&M's date party, on the pool table, and was present last night) mused and reminisced(?) on the fun. You can reminisce without remembering!

I was wrong, 21 was not the last good birthday. Like last year, some people couldn’t make it to the real day, so they insisted on celebrating later in the week. Except unlike my last "birthweek," food replaced drinks this time.

Thank you everyone who took me out to eat, bought me drinks, greeted me, etc. I have amazing friends and am grateful for y'all.

Oh yeah, pray for Adrian. It’s hell week.

04.16.07

Monday (my actual birthday)

9:38 AM / 10:38 AM EST

Me: "Graaant, thanks for the birthday wishes. How are ya?"
Grant: "Definitely, man. [Pause] We are in the middle of another gunman running around."
Me: "Oh God. Seriously?"
Grant: "Yeah, one dead and another has been shot. As far as they know."
Me: "That's so nuts. Is it near your campus or back home?"
Grant: "It’s the dorm right next to mine."
Me: "Oh man. Be safe and careful. I would cry a river if you even got hurt, let alone more."
Grant: "Yeah, I’m stayin’ in my room."
Me: “Yeah, probably best. If you need random entertainment at any point today, just call me."
Grant: "Okay, I might."
Me: "I'm retarded. It's a little sad."
Grant: "No, that’s awesome. I’m gonna start drinking."
Me: "I'm contemplating goin' to class 'cause it'd be funny."
Grant: "Drunk class is always fun."
Me: "Oh yes. Okay bud, I’m off. Talk to you later."
Grant: "Seeya."

Grant goes to Tech, for those of you haven't figured it out yet. I honestly was still a little drunk but went to class anyway because I thought it was funny. I saw Ryanne, and she was impressed(?) by my ability to... I don’t know... stand?

Josh and I went to O'Henry’s for our free birthday steaks and a huge appetizer sampler. He was wearing the same thing as he wore the night before too, so I felt vindicated. At O’Henry’s, they had CNN on, and that was the first time I realized the magnitude of the tragedy at Virginia Tech. The count was 30 people higher than the two from the morning. Adrian called me a few seconds later to ask if I had heard from Grant lately. I almost lost it, but apparently Adrian was no more updated than I was. [Grant and the other dozen friends I have at Tech are fine. Thank God.]

Class. I called G-Money again to ask how he was doing. Apparently that morning we spoke in the interim between shootings, so at that point he had no idea what was going on either. My thoughts and prayers have been with Tech since that day.

Whitney and I took Puja "shopping" on Magazine in the afternoon. I use the quotation marks because Whitney hates shopping and we happened to get there right as all the stores were closing. We wound up at La Divina Gelateria, which is basically the Whole Foods / Baja Fresh of gelato stores. They make everything from fresh and organic ingredients. Whitney treated me for my birthday to a three flavor sundae. Cioccolato scuro (dark chocolate), cocco (organic Philippine coconut), and tiramisu.

We went to dinner with Peter, Lauren, David, Lizzie, Sylvia, Nicole, Becca, and Matt. Mat & Addie’s was the best restaurant I’d never heard of. I think, because they were so many of us, we tried everything on the menu. Everything I had was wonderful:

• three-onion, smoked salmon and goat cheese pissaladière (thick crust French pizza topped with house-smoked salmon, goat cheese, caramelized shallots, green and red onions, and capers)
• fried oyster salad (on arugula with green onion rémoulade topped with apple smoked bacon, pickled fennel, and onion)
• crispy duck leg confit and 17th ward blood orange Lousiana yams with Nueske’s bacon-braised collard greens and sauce Rouennaise
• nectar float (homemade vanilla ice cream floated with a local nectar soda)

here's the kick-off

Sunday

The festivities began Sunday night at Madigan's. Stephanie and I were the first ones there, so we played the world’s greatest game of pool. We're sharks. Watch out. Josh, Rachael, and Brian soon showed up. After impressing them with the last few minutes of our mad pool skills, we did a quick round then went to Walgreens. Rachael bought Josh a beard clipper as a birthday present, and we looked at birthday cards for a while. Then we went to Baskin Robbins, but only a few of us actually bought ice cream. The rest saved room in our stomachs.

We moved on to Uptown Cajun, where the majority of people showed up. Lauren, Lizzie, Becca, Nicole, Leah, Courteney, Whitney, Puja, Ben, Katy, and last but certainly not least Adrian and Monica. My parents called around eleven and then again at midnight. Good times. I think it was also around this time that people started marking the drinks they bought me off on my arm and writing signatures and birthday messages on it.

We also stopped by Bruno's, both old and new, where one of the bartenders jokingly asked Adrian and me if we were twins. I think it was here that I saw Laura and Helen. Sylvia(!) and Lizzie showed up too. Moira was there maybe? Or maybe I'm just so used to seeing her there that I just imagine her when she’s not. A bunch of Adrian’s friends were there too. Rachael and Josh played an amazing game of pool, which he totally remembers, but before that I had the honor of buying him his first legal drink first drink ever. We called G.Ho a few times. She didn't answer.

We went to The Rat, where we ran into even more people, for food and beer. I vaguely remember buying ice cream from the vending machines. And then we called it a night.

birthday pre-game

The TCC's Prodigal Son Comes Home

So instead of IATU's semiformal, and the Dirty Coast fashion show/concert at Tipitina's, I decided to put my money toward a good cause. The Catholic Center sponsors a gala every year for Covenant House, a clinic/shelter/orphanage of sorts for homeless youth. I'm a little embarassed to say this is the first year I've attended, but the amount of food and alcohol was well worth the ticket. I forgot that Zea brewed beer, but I would never have guessed that Covington, LA has an official brew. A bunch of familiar faces were there, either attending or volunteering. Fathers Jose and Carl (who would have loved the title of this section) were nowhere in sight, but the other Fathers and Misses who frequent the center were around. There was an appearance by THEM, "Tulane's only performance a cappella group," and four songs and a highly demanded encore. Awesome as always. Some of the members stuck around and mingled afterward.

Barhopping. Just a little

Leah, her visiting friend Courtney, Whitney, her visiting friend Puja, and I all met up and went to Bruno's. Whitney and I did a little flashdancing. Leah and I recruited Courtney and Puja to join Team Cleavage V.2.0 for Photo Hunt. We wound up at The Palms.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I know I (reverse-?)drunk-dialed you at midnight, but happy birthday again anyway. I love you.

It's not a marathon; it's a sprint.

We set a new record, I think? Shannon and I had a fun, brief mall excursion and then she treated me to an early birthday lunch since she'll be missing the festivities tonight. She also brought me some Louisiana strawberries fresh from Strawberry Fest. We went to Oki Nago, which is a massive Japanese/Asian buffet. (And it's probably the best one I've been to.) So cross that off the to-eat list from 4/10. After getting directions from Stephanie, we weren't sure where to find it "behind Lone Star" but recognized it immediately. It looked like we were approaching Kitchen Stadium from Iron Chef. Huge blown-up photographs of food. Pillars. Bridge. Water. Asian architecture. Etc. We were pressured on time though, so we hurried. But we made it worth it and would both go back in the future. I haven't eaten a similar heap of food in a similar limited amount of time since... The Tchoupitoulas Challenge? We're not sure whether to be enticed or disgusted by the idea they have even more food at dinner.

my summer (again)

Yeah, I haven't updated this in about a month. I promise huge entries describing everything soon. If you're still reading, I probably miss you. Let's hang out sometime this summer if we can. Some of these dates are approximate.

May 16 - May 22, 2007: New Orleans, LA

May 22, 2007 - June 3, 2007: Washington, DC

June 23, 2007 - June 9, 2007: Barcelona, Spain

June 9, 2007 - June 13, 2007: San Francisco, CA

June 13, 2007 - July 1, 2007: Washington, DC

(Perhaps a mid-June trip to Chicago, IL)

August 3 - August 6, 2007: Jacque's Hometown, MI

July 1 - August 3, 2007: New Orleans, LA

August 3 - August 6, 2007: Jacque's Hometown, MI

August 6 - August 30, 2007: New Orleans, LA

R.I.P. Getaway?

I was going to write the other day that my laptop was dying a slow and painful death. It wheezes and coughs when it starts up (slowly) and shuts down (even more slowly?). Despite the blue screen of death and the "system has recovered from a serious error" message, I thought it was pulling through. I keep telling dear Getaway "It's been four years. Just one more month, baby. C'mon, you can do it."

But the situation is dire. She can't speak anymore (volume is permanently muted, some malfunctioning of the hardware) and can no longer tell time (always thinking it's fifteen minutes to an hour behind the reality). This morning, even running Windows in Safe Mode wasn't possible for a few hours. I think she's flatlining...

Food is my favorite.

There was a free "barbeque" in Aron Quad. Voodoo BBQ catered it. Sadly the beer was MIA, and Cynthia Cherrey had nothing to do with that. By the way, she got rid of the free beer at Crawfest. Something about there not being a point in having alcohol at an event where most students "are under the influence already legal drinking age."

Whitney's friend Puja is visiting, so we took her to Dick & Jenny's for dinner. She's a vegetarian, but their one vegetarian entree satisfied her. Whit and I split an escargot'boy, which is still amazing, for an appetizer. I got the "Iron Skillet Seared Duck Breast & Alligator Sausage with Honey Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Southern Greens & Creole Mustard-Sage Demi Glace." It was fantastic, almost like eating a poultry steak. We skipped desserts because of a preemptive Creole Creamery visit earlier in the afternoon.

the week

Tuesday

Shannon and I took Mountain Whore Jenna to Fresco for dinner. (We've missed her, but time flies. It seems like just the other week we took her out to a goodbye dinner.) We split a bottle of Shiraz with minimal help from Shannon because she was saving herself for a Columns mojito. We got to the student half of 1718, which was of course entertaining. We had a little roundtable on the word "moist" after because we discovered that Jenna hates it. Her discovery for the night? "Wow, I've never been to a bar where people were, like, smart and not just trying to get on each other." Learn something new everyday. We ended up at Bruno's with a bunch of her other friends playing drinking games, drunk-dialing Jerry, and going around the group and talking about "things we love about Jenna."

Wednesday

Classes. I tried to give blood as usual. They filled out the form with the info from the computer, completed the mini-interview, did the mini-physical, swabbed the area, put a tourniquet on my arm. They put in the needle. Nothing. One minute. Nurse starts fidgeting with needle. Two minutes. Nothing. Another nurse tries. Nothing. The head nurse tried. Still nothing. I've had this thing in my arm for almost five minutes now. She pulls it out. "Scar tissue and rolling vein. You'll never bleed to death, sweetie." I know what scar tissue is but have no clue about "rolling vein," so I ask. Apparently your veins move all the time, especially when you move, and sometimes when you try to get into one, they move out of the way. Mine, despite being large, are apparently very good at rolling.

I offer my other arm. I get off the chair, so they can swivel it around. Swab. Tourniquet. Needle. Nothing. Then the blood starts flowing slowly. It's dark. "High in oxygen, very healthy." Then it stops. "My God," says head nurse. I ask what. "Your platelets are off the charts. The blood just clotted even with the needle inside. Maybe next time, Wolverine."

I apologized for the lack of blood. They said "It's a good thing. Amazing actually. But just not good for giving blood." They told me I probably wouldn't need the bandages but they'd set them up anyway. And I should help myself to snacks and drinks at their canteen. They said I still lost a substantial amount of blood but "with your clear health, you can probably exercise and drink as soon as you want."

So apparently I have superheroic abilities. Super-Selfish-I-Don't-Share-My-Blood-Man.

Jenna and I went to dinner with some of her friends at Miyako. (My first time there. Pretty decent.) I got a sushi box which was a combination of fresh salmon and spicy salmon. We ordered a two-person drink called a "scorpion" which undoubtedly had everclear in it. She made me drink most of it, and it felt pretty good considering the lack of blood/fluid thing.

LOST with Whitney. Great episode.

Thursday

Brunch with Shannon. Then we said "seeya later at graduation" to Jenna, so she could go whore up to the the mountain again and be with her ancient 33-year-old boyfriend. (Seriously though nothing but love for Jenna and Jerry.)

Terrorism class. Crazy ACLU speaker. Lunch with Tara. We texted Jacque about plans for her August wedding and generally missed her, as usual. Brian's art show. Impressive. My favorite part was the sublimation of his love for paper clips (30something thousand of them) into a sculpture/curtain/thing and a 3D portrait of a male head and torso with X,000 cigarette butts.

I went to the Toni Morrison thing in McAlister. "I'm smart and black. Most of you are not." Okay, that's not what she said. She read excerpts from her four latest novels and did some Q&A. Intelligent and somewhat inspiring, pretty much what you'd expect McAlister was packed. I sat next to Jonathan, a former professor of mine.

Friday/Today

This was a question on my adolescent psych exam today:

19. Gino doesn't smoke and has now made friends with Andrew, who does smoke. Which of the following is most likely to occur?"

Har har har, Cunningham. You are so funny.

Had he written "drink" instead of "smoke," it might be valid.

Re: Moist phobia

everyone needs a GOOOOOOOAL!

So last night after dinner instead of studying, I decided to compile a list of restaurants I've gone to and enjoyed in New Orleans. This was inspired by my meal at Asian Cajun. The final result was well over a hundred, but the real point was a process of elimination. Now I have 32 (and counting) restaurants that I still want to go to. So I'm making it my goal - besides graduating obviously - before I leave New Orleans to make it to these restaurants, ranging from hole-in-the-wall to money-is-no-object. Bold items are priorities. I've decided that barring special occasions (visitors, birthdays, etc) I am no longer eating out unless at one of these:

• Restaurant August
  
• Bayona
  
• Brigtsen's
• Clancy's Restaurant
• Cochon Restaurant
• Restaurant Cuvée
• Crabby Jack's
• Dickie Brennan's Palace Jazz Cafe
  
• Domilise's
• Emeril's Delmonico
• Emeril's NOLA
• 5 Happiness
  
• GW Fins
• Herbsaint Bar and Restaurant
  
• Lilette Restaurant
  
• Martin Wine Cellar
• Mat & Naddie’s
• Oki Nago
• ONE Restaurant and Lounge
• Pascal’s Manalea>
• Ralph & Kacoo's
• Ralph's On The Park
• Ralph Brennan's Bacco
• Restaurant Azul
• Rock-n-Sake
• Table One
  
• Stella!

Let me know if you have a particular interest in any of these excursions. And as far as I'm concerned, sushi and Jacques-Imo's are always special occasions.

excellent Easter

Easter Sunday

Nicole and I went to Easter Mass and then got a delicious brunch with some friends. Afterwards, she, Amelia, and I went to Whole Foods. I ended up not buying veal for a few reasons:

• Nicole’s humanitarian objections to it
• it's $25/pound price tag
  
• and mainly because there wasn't enough for my stew.

“Don’t eat no meat??? Oh, that’s okay. I make lamb.”

Ten points if you know what movie that’s from.

Anyway, when Miss Vegetarian and I made it to the cashier, we were playing Price Is Right. (For the record, I would have won if he had bothered to look up the price for cippolini onions instead of just ringing them up as scallions.) Anyway, when the price went over Nicole’s guess, she said “SHIT!” really loud. The poor cashier looked terrified until we explained it wasn't the result anything he did.

Our Easter Potluck Dinner was extremely delicious.

• egg salad tea sandwiches
• salad
• my lamb stew
• corn pudding
• pasta salad
• roasted potatoes
• sweet potato fritters
• miniature brownies
• funfetti cupcakes
• strawberries dipped in chocolate

We watched the end of an America’s Next Top Model marathon. Storey and I had a great experience trying to decipher the ins and outs of female debate, both on and off screen. That segued right into the end of The Sound of Music and an episode of The Girls Next Door. I would never have guessed I’d be in a room with four girls who had such positive review of Hef’s girlfriends and their show.

Speaking of reality, Bravo needs to learn that not every occupation needs its own competitive show. They’re apparently releasing a new haircutting series, which I’ve dubbed Project Top Hair Design.

Anyway, we ended the festivities by dying eggs since the two Jewish girls had never had the fun if messy experience. One of the Christians misspelled “Easter” on her egg by leaving out the T.

Easter Monday

Adrian called me up and we went to the UC for lunch. Black Angus on Rosemary Parmesan Bread sub from Quiznos and “Mexican Pizza” and soft tacos supreme from Taco Bell. I finally figured out of the "Royal Hospital, Panama City Beach" charge that showed up on his VISA. My mom was very worried even though I assured her a $60something hospital charge couldn't have been anything that serious. Apparently Hospital is short for "Hospitality," as in charge-it-to-my-room, as in charge-the-drinks-I'm-buying-at-the-hotel-bar-to-my-room. Zoinks. S'okay, Scooby gang, mystery solved!

I spent happy hour drinking with Conrad at Bruno’s before going to the (actual) Whitney Bank on Carrolton.

I tried to go to Ninja to sit at the sushi bar and grab a quick dinner, but I forgot it was Monday. (Ninja is closed on Mondays.) So I went to Philip Chan’s Asian Cajun Bistro, which was on the walk back. I’d had my doubts and never been, but I figured I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did. Asian Cajun is “marriage of... friendliness and generosity of Asian culture... warmth and sincerity of genuine Southern hospitality.” Now that sounds like bullshit, but they made me a believer. And I hate the term “fusion,” but this place actually is. Basically the restaurant is local ingredients cooked in an expert Chinese way. I guess now I can no longer say there’s no good Chinese food in this city. Chef Chan, who I got to meet briefly, is from Hong Kong, which I consider to be not only the origin of my favorite style of Chinese food but also the Mecca of non-sushi Asian food.

I was apparently not thinking because I forgot that such an authentic restaurant would serve dishes “family style” (as opposed to fake less authentic places like P.F. Chang’s) i.e. massive portions. So I ordered an appetizer, an entrée, and some rice.

While I was waiting, they served me a salad with a dressing that tasted like a sweet faux-kimchi. Awesome. The massive appetizer was your requisite cornmeal fried Louisiana oysters, but then they were wok-sautéed with a sweet peppery sauce with sliced onions (both red and green) and garlic, served with a creamy dipping sauce. The combination of tastes and textures was almost overwhelmingly good. The “num tong” chicken was tender cuts in a Szechwan sauce served over crispy rice noodles and sliced eggplant. The fried rice was also amazing: Shrimp, crawfish, and smoked sausage tossed with eggs and scallions in rice with a gentle touch of curry flavor. The waitress set down the plate and said “Let me know when you need a box.”

I don’t usually admit defeat, but I had to surrender. On a more positive note, my fortune cookie told me “You wield more influence than you know.”

Jenna and Shannon both called me. The former stopped being a mountain-whore (ah, my affection for my friends who graduate early and I miss dearly) to come down and visit, and the latter spent the night in Houston for a free airline voucher. Jenn was tired from the drive, and Shan was MIA. So everyone apparently went to bed, which was good because I was exhausted too. We’re going out tonight.

a Mardi Gras '07 flashback

In my 2/17/07 entry, I wrote:

After the parades, some of us piled into Carter's car and went to Reginelli's for pizza and beer.

The following video is the best part of that car ride.

happy Easter!

Just want to say a quick HAPPY EASTER to everyone. I had a chill Saturday. Around midnight, I met up with Mike at Harrah's. We got a few drinks at Masquerade there. No serious gambling; Chad Michael wasn't there. But we thought of him as soon as we walked in. My parents called around 3:30 in the morning, scaring the hell out of me. (Whenever someone calls too late for it to be a drunk-dial and too early for it to be a wake-up call - e.g. ADRIAN - I automatically assume someone is dead or something is very wrong.) Anyway, apparently a drunk or disoriented driver wrapped their car around a tree in a neighbor's yard and woke them up. No fatalities luckily. On the bright side, it's Easter... seems like it'll be busy in a good way!

mission accomplished

a very Good Friday

Last night was awesome. Nicole, her friend Brenna, David, and I started off in their friend Travis' "modular housing." (She told us to go to the trailer with all the booze in it and the Christmas lights. I thought it sounded very similar to Snake & Jake's and thus awesome.) I'll say at this point that Lauren, Storey, Becca, her friend Jamie, Whitney, Jordan, Mike, and Matilda all showed up at some point. And Brenna, Nicole and Travis disappeared eventually. Anyway, we went to Pat O'Brien's, where I bought Nicole and Brenna shots and... reaped the rewards even though no one else except our jack-ass waiter was paying attention. Then some of us went to 80s Night at One Eyed Jacks which was intense and as good or better than pre-hurricane. The line extended forever, but the place was packed and jumping inside. I guess since no one had work or school the next day. We like a prayed, killed the radio star, thrilled, 99 red ballooned, didn't stop believing, spun round like records, and tainted love. Michelle, one of Chad's most favorite Latinas, was there. We "crazy-danced" the way he would and internationally drunk-texted him. At night's end, Whitney and I went to Big Easy for food.

David and I began today by going to lunch at Franky & Johnny's. (In Louisiana, when Catholics can't have meat on Friday, they have crawfish boils.) We each polished off a batch of crawfish, his accompanied by french fries and mine by pepper rings.

Whitney, Tully, and I went to Creole Creamery. Their "skyscraper" (a very tall sundae with layers of chocolate, vanilla, and cookies and cream ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, crushed Oreos, whipped cream, and a cherry) is fantastic.

Lauren's felt "left out" for a while because she's never... partook in an experience almost every "real" college student has. So we, a group of ten or so, commenced this mission at Columns happy hour. After that, some of us moved on to Taqueria Corona for dinner. Sangria, cebollitos (grilled green onions), chips, pico de gallo... and their "numero tres" (tacos, flauta, burrito, beans, rice). I made sure to get everything made of shrimp and a little fish to avoid the meat.

After that, Lauren, Storey, Nicole and I went to Creole Creamery. Yes, again. Nicole took a picture of my plaque and me. I got a "I scream fudge" ice cream soda this time. With chocolate soda. Storey and I agree: No such thing as too much chocolate.

Back here, Becca rejoined our little party, and with Steph, Sarah, and her friends watching, we recommenced the mission... armed with everclear and mixers. We played "Presidents and Assholes," and Lauren was The Asshole most of the time. Mission accomplished!

off to a good start

Easter Break, that is. So far it's been pretty chill. Last night was just LOST and Monster's Ball since everyone was stressed/tired/gone. I really think Halle Berry poured out all her creative energy into that one movie, and all we get now is the nothing that's left. Mike called. He'll be in town this weekend, so I'm pumped for that. That'll definitely add some craziness to the next few nights.

My only Thursday class was cancelled, and lunch with Tara was cancelled (by her). So I had today completely free. I slept in, read a little, conference call with Dad and Adrian, conference call with Mom and Bella, and then went for a jog. During this, I got hungry, so I ran to Hana. Japanese is the cuisine I feel most comfortable at dining alone because you just sit at the sushi bar and chat with the chef.

I ordered omakase (Japanese for "chef's choice" and what I always like to do when eating sushi). After the requisite noodle salad with chopped I-don't-know-what on top, he made me two huge "tako wasabi" rolls, which were octopus but very tender, almost the consistency of chewy raw oysters. Awesome. And then a plate of California rolls and several nigiri: Eel, salmon both fresh and smoked, snapper, shrimp, squid, tuna, and a marinated white tuna.

One of the Samsung HDTVs was tuned to CNN, where the closed captioning told me they were reporting on the rising rate of college students binge drinking. Then they started listing how various states are changing laws and policies to stop this. New York is pushing this, Massachusetts is banning that, California's suggesting whatever, etc. They showed a map and highlighted states when they talked about them. Guess what Louisiana's doing? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Speaking of binge drinking, I forgot to mention a discussion we had in my last screenwriting class. The professor pointed out that, in one of my colleague's scripts, "half the scenes" take place in bars. I gently corrected her that only two scenes took place in bars, but they were the ones with the most dialogue. She offered the idea that a movie in which "every character is drunk the entire time might get boring." Everyone's jaws fell. I also pointed out that in every screenplay we've read that's set in New Orleans (Is there a trend here?) a majority of the characters spend a majority of their time drunk. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. She then observed that she's taught in several campuses around the country and that "you Tulane students definitely do a tad more drinking than average college students." Go us!

the past two days

Monday. Again. Classes. Bank.

Digression: Last Friday I went to the Whitney trailer, and there were two men outside talking about the deck. Why??? Don't you guys have jobs or something better to do? When I entered, I saw Alex and the other bankers all Casual Friday and packing stuff away.

Digression x2: In January I asked Alex when they'd move into the UC, and he replied "March supposedly, but I'll believe it when it happens."

Digression: So I figured out that they were finally moving, even though it's technically April now, and the guys outside must be the ones in charge of dismantling the trailer. Later on when I went to the ATM, I saw all the Whitney people inside with empty pizza boxes and setting up stuff.

More classes.

Because I was too busy/tired to cook, not sure how to cook Kosher, and not Jewish, I missed Lizzie and Rachel's potluck Passover seder.

Becca, Lauren, and I went to Cane's instead. Delicious.

Not sure what I did Monday night so it couldn't have been that exciting.

Tuesday. Terrorism. Lunch with Tara. Screenwriting. Dinner with Ben. And Steph, and Lauren, and David. I took a copy of Expose (last week's LOST episode that focused on "Nina and Pablo") over to Dalia since she missed it. Quick gym trip. Studying with Stephen but we ended up drinking Negro Modelo.

Now only one exam stands in between me and another break!

other people's photos

The following photographs are courtesy of Shannon Will, Abita Banana, Lauren Ruth, Ryanne Clarke, and Caitlin Tully. The first three are from spring break in Panama City Beach; the following four are from "Freshman Night" last Thursday.

Shan and myself donning the life vests

with "Rosie" and "Abita" for our first dip in the hot tub

chillin' at Hooters with my favorite off-duty waitress

exact replicas of those Butler 216 boys in freshman year

I bought Ry an appletini, but a Kara'd be more freshman year.

with Steph, "Quick. Do something freshman year!"

Becca's midriff... totally freshman year

April Fools' Day

The highlight of today was, easily, eating. Stephanie and I took Samantha and Jeanine to Jacques-Imo's. But we forgot that it was closed on Sunday, so we went to Dante's Kitchen instead. I think I always forget how good Dante's is until I go again. I got a "crab threeway" (crab claws, lump crab meat on avocado with key lime vinaigrette, and a crab cake) for an appetizer and caramelized yellow fin tuna with soy butter sauce and merliton slaw. We all tried each others' food, and everything was delicious.

We opted for Creole Creamery for dessert, where Samantha, Jeanine, and I took on a Tchoupitoulas Sundae while Stephanie watched and was too full to eat even a spoonful. Our eight flavors were: cake batter, chocolate amaretto cheesecake, cookie monster (cookie dough and cookies and cream) Creole cream cheese, Gianduja (a dark chocolate Nutella), pink peppermint pie, raspberry sorbet, and red velvet cake. Our eight toppings were: bananas, butterscotch, caramel, chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, M&M's, nuts, and Oreos. And of course the whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries.

I'm not sure how I finished one on my own before.

And no, nothing in the above was an April Fools' Day joke. Those Tchoupitoulas Sundaes were destroyed both times. For anyone who missed my April fools' tribute, here's a screen capture:

4/1/07 facebook profile

chill but great night

So today was pretty laidback to recuperate from the past couple of nights. "Becky" and "Andy" hosted another potluck. All-American Night was the theme this time. It was on a smaller-scale and low-key, but the food and company were awesome.

• barbeque chicken drumstics
• deviled eggs
• mac and cheese
• cornbread
• Bud Light
• Sam Adams
• apple pie
• chocolate chip cookies
• flag cake

Then Shannon and I went to go see The Namesake, which was really good and made me want to read the novel. I thought it'd be Meet The Parents meets Bend It Like Beckham, but it was heavier (and in my opinion better) than both. It more about entire lives than a few complicated days/weeks. I also never imagined Kal "Kumar/Taj" Penn in a serious role. T'was amazing. I got emotionally involved.

Kal Penn, Irfan Khan, Sahira Nair, and Tabu as The Ganguli Family

And on a silly note, for you V for Vendetta fans, the domino scene was not CGI like I thought. It took 200 hours of preparation by four experts armed with 22,000 dominoes.

the freakin' weekend...

Baby, I'm havin' some fun...

What happened yesterday? Class. Nap. Whole Foods. Dinner with Matt and Becca at Brooks' place. I made a semi-Cobb at the WF salad bar, and Brooks had picked up sushi from Sake Cafe. I ordered my favorites, spicy yellowtail and New Orleans rolls. We played with Trek, his ex's dog, and Matt and Becca helped me completely fill in the blanks from Thursday night.

In the interest of privacy, I'll leave names out, but note that someone is singular and people is very plural. Here are more things that happened which I forgot in my previous update.

• people snuck into bars
• people pretty much made out
• people groped others' breasts, buttocks, and/or crotches
  
• people had nip slips
  
• people told someone they would do them
• people were throwing themselves at inappropriate people
• people fell... often into things or other people
  
• people couldn't drive/walk/read/speak
• people got laughed at by workers at The Rat
  
• people got into arguments over nothing
  
• someone accidentally hit someone else
• someone hid in the art building from someone else
  
• someone seriously danced with a stripper pole
• someone discussed their sex toys
• people passed out, impervious to light and noise
  
• people woke up still drunk
  
• someone woke up on a couch holding melted ice cream
  

Last night was much less Tara Reid. Some friends and I went to Karma. Last one ever. Sob. It was some people's first time ever, and it was also Tara's and my first Jacque-less one. The mix of food, drink, hip-hop, reggaeton, and bhangra was still amazing. Stephanie brought Samantha and Jeanine, just like I brought Adrian last year. Tara, Ian, Alison, Whitney, Lauren, David, Becca, and many others were also in attendance.

Some of us shuffled back and forth between Nirvana and the oh-so-cheap drinks at The Club: Miss Mae's. At the end of the night, Whitney and I went with some people to the only bar that's more of a dive than Mae's... Snake & Jake's.

bringin' freshman back

Terrorism and lunch with Tara. Typical Thursday.

Very atypical Thursday night! Ryanne had the bright idea of us going to Vera Cruz for margaritas and TJQuills for drinks after to relive the fun of freshman year... even though we're now old seniors. I surprised her with a special present: Kathleen "MIA" Fanone. (It would have been a present to Sylvia too, but she didn't come.) She, David and I even dressed up in old freshman year clothing to recreate "the look."

We went with Whitney, David, and Tully to Vera Cruz. Several flavors of margarita pitcher. Sauza shots on me. I knew NONE of the servers at Vera Cruz, which is probably in it's hundredth revision... just to show how long it's been since I've been there.

Kathleen had an emergency and left, but Stephanie, her sister Samantha, their Pinay friend Jeanine, Becca, Matt, and Paul joined us at T.J. Quills. Pretty awesome. I finally got my Choy sandwich to balance out the Marin one Steph got last year when Adrian visited.

Quills was fun. There was popcorn. Ry and I got appletinis to commemorate freshman year. (R.I.P. Kara "Whorkus" Wagner.) My favorite Quills bartender was there and was all "never thought I'd see you again!" My reply: "Old habits die hard." He gave me free shots.

We went to Phillips next. Danielle, my favorite lab partner ever, was bartending! I thought she left after graduation. She gave me more free shots. Good times. So was Jason "press menswear" Warrington. That brings the count of people-Sylvia-loves-with-me-tonight to TWO.

Whit, Tull, and I went to The Palms next to close out the night. It was packed. I LOVE it around that two in the morning time. I missed Chad Michael like whoa though. Dalia&Co were there too. Awesome.

We closed out the night at The Rat splittin' a turkey sub with "everything," a bacon cheddar burger, and a chicken tender combo. Then Whitney and I got ice cream for dessert.

Mr. Courteney Cox at The Boot

yours truly and David "Dewey Riley" Arquette

I'd call this a good day.

Debate in terrorism class. Lunch with Tara. We caught up on our spring breaks. Shannon and Shivani joined us for lunch. Screenwriting class. I apparently forgot to attach my screenplay to the E-mail I sent out, but miraculously I was still ahead of the game because the other two presenters either forgot to send out E-mails or just entirely forgot to... write something? We watched a few clips from Goodfellas which is a fantastic movie.

Our class went out to dinner at Juan's Flying Burrito. I took Abie's suggestion to actually try his favorite... the fish tacos. (Yes, literal fish tacos.) They were surprisingly good. We ended up spending about $100 on food and then another $100 on drinks. (This is impressive considering their happy hour special was $1 beers and 2-for-1 margaritas but whatever.) Then we decided to buy a $50 chocolate cake, but that was worth it.

Back here, I took cake over to Lauren and Steph and then invited Whitney over to have some. She brought Ryanne and Tully with her for a study break.

I decided to be "responsible" or whatever and stayed in after instead of going out with the screenwriting people again...

PCBaywatch

Click the link if you want to see it on YouTube and full-screen.

Four college students, a Canon PowerShot, spring break antics, a little running, lots of alcohol, masking tape, and some really red swimsuits and visors produced this video.

It was shot entirely on location in Panama City Beach.

spring broke

Yeah, I'm exhausted but the past week and a half have been amazing. Best spring break ever. Pictures are coming (slowly) as I recuperate. Sunday was laidback. Lauren and I got a very late lunch at Cooter Brown's, the Thibodeaux's Special and the Looter's Special. Of course with cheese fries. I finally got to the DVDs I borrowed from Blockbuster way back when. I love foreign films. The first was in Italian, the second Spanish, and the third French. I watched Malena by myself then saw Maria Full of Grace with Whitney while we ate dinner we ordered from Pyramid Cafe (sauteed vegetables with feta cheese on basmati rice) and closed out the night with 5 x 2. I recommend all three and would welcome any into my collection.

This morning Cunningham canceled class for the rest of the week!

I spent the last third of break in Panama City Beach.

THURSDAY

Shanita, LauRu (not to be confused with Lauren), and I grabbed a late breakfast/early lunch at Cracker Barrel. It was Ihita's and my first time. We approved. The price is right, and the food is tasty. Bacon, eggs, gravy, muffins, apple butter, and fried apples.

We checked into our hotel then while Ihita laid out (because apprently being Bengali doesn't make her tan enough), the rest of us went exploring. We tried to go to Hooters, for wings, but it was waaay too busy. We went to Harpoon Harry's instead and got spinach artichoke dip and buffalo wings. Our Scarlett-Johannson-looking waitress even gave us separate checks without us asking. Then we stayed for their "happy hour" from 7 to 9. Free margaritas and free beer. For two hours. So we played more C-o-D/K with my waterproof cards and got drunk. Shan and I walked back on the beach and LauRu and Ihita opted for the sidewalk. We got into the hot tub and played truth-or-truth because were too tired/lazy/drunk to do dares.

FRIDAY

Only Shannon and I got up for the free continental breakfast, but the other two joined us for a glorious morning on the beach. We went to Bishops Buffet for lunch. The waitress there gave us separate checks too, guess they're used to spring breakers. We went to Beatniks, which is a souvenir store disguised as a hippie shop. Some French guy with "gorgeous eyes" (as Shannon noted) did henna for us. Ihita got a tasteful, tiny heart on her wrist and a tramp stamp near her ass, and the rest of us got fleur de lys tattoos. Shannon's and mine on opposing shoudlers, Lauren's on her shoulder blade, which in my opinion is a really lame spot for a tat. (If you get that inside joke, I salute you.) The store also sold "white powder" and whipped cream cartridges "for food purposes only" among other goodies.

We stopped by the liquor-store/karaoke-bar that's only open from 4PM to 4AM to get some tropical mixers and then headed back to the beach. I cut my foot with a splinter, so I swabbed it with vodka, covered with a bandaid and kept on trucking.

We went to Hooters for dinner, where we had the epitome of Hooters waitresses. Her name was Angela, and she had a beautiful face, big... brains, and separate checks without request.

We climbed into the hot tub again. An eight-year-old was doing back-flips in the pool and flirting with the girls. Very cute. "The force is strong with this one."

We almost went clubbing but decided we didn't want to pay cover, so we went back to the karaoke-bar/liquor-store. There was a big black man singing "Let's Get It On," and that was awesome. Then the karaoke got more and more awful despite our drinking, so we retreated. The girls went back to their room, and I went to the hot tub and made some friends. There were other college students, and some insanely drunk 40-year-olds. One old lady's breasts kept popping out, and some douche who deduced that I was from New Orleans kept asking me to give his girlfriend beads. She kept flashing me and then another unattractive girl started doing it too, so I went for a walk with my new friend Samantha.

SATURDAY

We all got up for breakfast. I was the last to make it. We packed and checked out then spent the rest of the day at the hotel pool/bar. For some reason, we thought it would be a great idea to chug the remainder of the Bacardi handle. And for some reason, I let them convince me to do most of it, so I was drunk before noon. LauRu caught up at the bar. We went to Spicy Noodle for lunch, where we got shrimp in a horseradish cheese sauce and calamari for appetizers and split spicy chicken alfredo and spicy shrimp scampi for entrees. Then left. Sad.

spring break part 1: NOLA

Two thirds of my break were spent here in my beloved New Orleans.

SATURDAY

Saturday I missed ALL the St. Patrick's Day parade, which is quite different from last year. I thought I slept through the first two, but I was wrong since they ran so late. Tully drove Whitney, her friend Brittany (heretoafter referred to as "The -Ittaney's") to Babylon for dinner. Chicken tecka. Yum.

Adrian came over to use the kitchen to flex his culinary muscles. Whit, Keenan, and I went down to The Quarter to close out St. Patty's. We went to Pat O'Brien's, where we celebrated with carbombs, hurricanes, and Bailey's. Whitney and I danced to Flashdance's "What A Feeling," which I guess is "our song" now. When that died down, we went to The Palms, which was dead. Whtiney passed out, but I woke her up with the smell of sirloin steak quesadillas. Adrian and Monica were very finished with dinner by then, so I went with them to The Boot for a little bit.

SUNDAY

Tully, The -Ittaneys, and I took a Sunday Drive around the city, which may have lasted a little longer than we planned. We showed her uptown, the quarter, the marigny, and some of the destruction in mid-city. We grabbed a late lunch (mmm, chirashi sushi, salmon, yellowtail, tuna, crab, shrimp, mackerel, octopus, etc) at Mikimoto. We stopped by Blockbuster to pick up DVDs for break. I borrowed three that I forgot about and almost didn't watch.

Later that night, I went with Shannon to pick up her friend Ihita, visiting from Maryland, from the airport. Those two will be hereafter referred to as "Shanita." We met up at Port O Call with The -Ittaneys and Tony for monsoons and burgers.

Shanita was tired and frustrated with the loss of luggage, so they went home. The -Ittaneys and I went to The Pub, which rocks on "Sing-A-Long Sunday" because they play old music video, particularly from the '90s. We bought several rounds and David (my favorite bartender in the world because even though I'm never there he always remembers) gave us free shots. One was an Absolut Pear Kamikaze, which Whitney loved because its main ingredient is her favorite liquor. Then she and I chased whiskey with beer 'cause Garth said so.

After that, we went to Harrah's to play slots and Blackjack. Chad and I texted a bit. He would've been proud since it was an economically productive night.

MONDAY

Monday began with the Harrah's breakfast buffet. (bacon, andouille, smoked salmon, eggs/omelets made to order, fresh fruit, etc) We all ate too much.

After a nap, I went with Shanita to The Daiq Shack to get daiqiris (Starbucks Mudslide to wake me up) and Hana to get lunch (seaweed salad and spicy tuna, crawfish, and California rolls). We took our drinks and food to The Levy for a picnic.

The -Ittaneys and Tully met up with us, armed with daiquiris, and we played Circle-of-Death/Kings until the sun went down.

Shanita and I picked up Wes and Steve and then met up with Sam at Saltwater Grill. I love that place, but be prepared to WAIT if you order oysters. But we felt Ihita needed to try them raw. She approved. The owner gave us a baker's dozen to make up for the wait.

We met up with Josh, The -Ittaneys, and Tully and went to both old and new Bruno's for more drinks and C-o-D/K. I forgot my waterproof cards, but the bartender lent us some. Good times.

TUESDAY

Tuesday I mostly recuperated before a French Quarter afternoon with Shanita. We got dinner at Arnaud's Remoulade, which doesn't serve the largest portions, but they're tasty and filling. I recommend a Taste of Nola: Seafood gumbo, stuffed crab, and red beans and rice.

We got our palms read by Jerrik and tarot done by his daughter. He was amazing. I really do think palmistry can reveal a lot about a person. Her predictions were good to; the forecast is cloudy, with an occasional storm, but beautiful real soon.

We walked down to Frenchmen, which was chill, to grab a few rounds at DBA, and we gave part of the Brangelina Tour by showing Ihita their street, Whirling Dervish, and Angeli.

Then we hit up Tropical Isle and Pat O'Brien's so she could try hand grenades and hurricanes. She prefers the grenades. I (stupidly) combined hand grenade leftovers with hurricane leftovers and chugged it. We were all drunk, so we barhopped some more. We stopped by The Pub, where it was apparently lesbian night, so that was kind of funny, and then went to Cat's Meow. I was supposed to sing "Get Ready" with Shannon on back-up vocals, but they played "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" instead. All the drunk people told me I was "the best," but consider the source. Ihitia bought a little pizza (8 inches in diameter?), and we drove home.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday we took Shannon's RAV4 to the Toyota dealership to get it checked out. We cruised the mall, like teenagers. Ihita and I hiked over (gasp) grass, her nemesis, to the Aveda Institute. She got a facial and, since it was the first day of spring, I chopped my hair off.

We went to Vietnamese lunch at Tastea Caffé. We all got bubble tea and beef. Grilled, vermicelli, and pho.

We stopped by the quarter again so Ihita could get some souvenirs.

We met up with Sam at Dick and Jenny's for dinner. I had an "escargot-boy" (a garlicky snail po-boy with creamy mushroom sauce) for an appetizer and a sampler entree (pain perdue, fried oysters, and crawfish alligator sausage cheesecake). We split a Nolamisu (tiramisu with local ingredients, Mom) and creme brulee for dessert. It's really good, but it's similarities to Jacques-Imo's invite comparison. My heart (aka stomach) still belongs to Jacques.

Back here, I went over to Whitney's to watch LOST and Saw 3, which we'd borrowed from blockbuster.

Thursday and Friday

Very early Thursday morning, when Lauren and I left Uptown Cajun, we realized neither of us had an umbrella. I assumed she'd brought hers because mine was broken, and she assumed the rain was over. We were wrong. So wrong.

Well, we bonded with a nice walk in the rain. Only pelagic organisms should be allowed to be as wet we were. We couldn't have been more soaked if we had jumped into a pool. Seriously.

I decided to do late-night laundry and threw my sheets and towel in with my sopping clothes. But a few washing AND drying machines were broken. They wasted my quarters, so what should have been an hour-long laundry process took over two.

After about an hour of sleep, I went to the UC with Shannon to shadow her FBI interview and make her feel more comfortable. The gentleman asked me not to sit with them during it, which isn't surprising, so I hope my presence was of some help to her.

Terrorism, lunch with Tara, studying. I told Lauren I'd make dinner, so I pan-seared filet mignons (marinated with olive oil, garlic, sea salt, and mixed peppers) in butter. Well, I barely pan-seared them because Lauren likes her meat, very rare, mooing at her.

We met up with Steph to go see the Menage A Capella concert. Them, Green Envy, and a group from UT. Pretty awesome.

Friday was an adolescent psych exam (administered by the TA) then two more classes and FREEEEEEEDOM. Really loud. Braveheart-style. Lauren, Steph, Becca and I went to happy hour at The Columns, where I ran into Sonny and the professor who skipped his own exam that morning for a "conference." I hope he remembers the Manhattan I bought him when he grades. We went to the levee afterward to visit Sarah and Maddie, victims of flight cancellation.

my week so far

MONDAY

My parents were still in town, so between classes, Adrian and I went to lunch with them at Hana. I ordered a Hana Special Roll to share and the combo lunch (tempura, katsu, and shumai) for myself. I had my long calc midterm and after that we went (Adrian-less) to The Columns for happy hour again before hitting up Saltwater Grill for the aforementioned (in the Friday part) 25¢ oysters and red beans and rice with grilled andouille. We hung out at the hotel for a while before grabbing a very late dinner at K-Paul's.

Mom and I both started off with a cup of champagne cream of shiitake soup with sundried tomatoes. We all split a plate of fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade. My entree was a plate of duck tenders and shrimp in creole pork sauce over basmati rice. So good. K-Paul's makes their creme brulee with buried sugar pecans. Nice crunch and texture.

Then I took my parents to Harrah's since neither of them had been there yet. Mom doubled her money - at Money To Burn, Chad! - and we called it a night.

TUESDAY

No terrorism, no lunch with Tara, no screenwriting, no dinner with ben. (Canceled by Dad, canceled by her, canceled by professor, canceled by him.)

My father asked me to skip class in favor of family lunch at Felix's Uptown. Fried alligator. Sampler of red beans, jambalaya, and crawfish ettouffee.

Ben un-canceled dinner because he stopped caring about his midterm (at least for an hour), so we had dinner and caught up on each other's weekends before saying "have a good break." Just in case we don't meet up again before he leaves for Spain on Thursday.

WEDNESDAY

Adolescent Psych. Debate. No paper due, luckily. I actually took up Dining Services on their "Take-A-Professor-To-Lunch" program. So after lunch Cunningham and I went to Bruff, for free. It was fried chicken day. Awesome.

Calc. Music. Blah. Phone Calls. Fun. Nap. Great.

Lauren, David, and I went to get cannolis at Spumone in Mid-City. It was probably her best idea ever. We got cannolis, half chocolate, dusted with powdered sugar and crushed pistachios. I also sampled two flavors of gelato. (Both were so good, I couldn't pick just one.) "St. Joseph's Chocolate Almond," which was the daily special and tastes exactly like it sounds (minus the holiness), and Baci (which some of you know is Italian for "kiss"), which must be made of pure Nutella. They probably changed the name so they wouldn't get sued.

Lauren and I had dessert and then dinner. Kind of backwards. While on this Italian kick, we asked Whitney to pick us up a foot-long when she went to Subway. She was sooo nice about it, even checking exactly what we wanted. Parmesan-oregano bread, provolone or mozzarella bread. She asked if we wanted vegetables, and I replied "Are you kidding? It's LAUREN. No vegetables."

I've decided my favorite new show is "The Search For The Next Pussycat Doll." It's like America's Next Top Model but with singing, dancing, and non-clothing. I guess they want a seventh girl so that Nicole can stand in the middle.

At least it was what I watched while waiting for LOST with Whitney.

Closer to midnight, Lauren and I decided to go out. We didn't want to have to drive, so we walked to - unbelievable - TJ Quills for swiller night. We were the oldest people there. All freshmen. We saw one junior (Teddy) and one sophomore (Shivani)we knew. We played a great game of "I Never..." which is really hard when you play with someone you know well, and I managed to screw it up.

We decided to go somewhere more appropriate and wound up at Uptown Cajun. We enjoyed the Flogging Molly playlist and pitcher special for Abita. We decided to call Ted (H) since we missed him. Speaking of whom, here's my new favorite music video for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, the "group project" from last Wednesday.