back to the big easy

Thursday I was off to New Orleans. I literally grabbed one of my two bags from Italy and brought it with me. Adrian picked me up and we went to lunch at Oki Nago, which was maybe the best idea he ever had. We just chilled at his house for the afternoon and then went to Buddha Belly with Rachel to play pool. I almost forgot to tip the bartender (by way of reverse culture shock!) but remembered to for the second round. Rachel and I picked up Tara, and I took her to dinner at Stella! (The exclamation mark is part of the name.) She treated me to a delicious lunch at Commander’s Palace when I left New Orleans, so I made her promise me she’d let me take her to dinner when I returned. After that, she and I went to the quarter to meet up with Ben for drinks.

Friday, I woke up pretty early. (Combination of multiple jet lags and adrenaline. I hadn’t really slept since the week before leaving Florence. But all the fun was worth it.) Second best idea Adrian ever had: Breakfast at Camellia Grill. Between that and lunch at Bluebird Café with Ben and Katie, I had a nice long phone call with Mikey and got to catch up with him finally. That afternoon, I went with a bunch of my friends to Columns happy hour. Stephanie, Sylvia, Jack, Josh, Nicole, Jody, Taylor, Tara. The names go on and on. It was so great to see everyone and some surprises I realized hadn’t left town yet. Stephanie, Tara, and I went to dinner with Girl-Kory and some of her friends at Five Happiness. After that, I met up with Ben, Katy, Mike, and some of their friends downtown in the quarter. After a little barhopping and a little separation (MiKat and I hurricane-ing at Pat O’Brien’s) we had a little episode outside of Gold Mine:

Ben and Katy had bought lucky dogs, so we couldn’t enter until they finished. Some sketchy looking white-trash-hick guy walked up wearing both a do-rag and a baseball cap. I had no voice by this point, so Ben tried to dismiss him as usual by speaking German and pretending not to speak English. I’m pretty sure our new friend misunderstood the word “Deutsch” (German for “German”) as “Douche.” He decked Ben in the face and then ran off with his two friends. Ben was prone on the ground, so as Mike and I helped him up and made sure he was okay, I just heard Katy screaming “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” and throwing her hot dog at him. Ben didn’t have a concussion but was pretty shook up… and was looking for his hot dog. Of course, the cops never showed up and we never called an ambulance. But ah, sweet New Orleans. The bouncers from Gold Mine brought over a bag of ice and a bunch of local complete strangers (even to each other) went chasing after the hooligans. For us, despite multiple text messages telling us otherwise, the night was over. Ben and I took a cab back to his place and Adrian’s.

Saturday morning, Emerald and I were supposed to meet for coffee and tea but ended up getting iced versions because of the heat. Adrian and I went to Jazmine Leaf for lunch with our cousins from Baton Rouge and spent the day hanging out with them. Coc, Ryan, Antonia, and we did a grand driving and walking tour of New Orleans: Uptown Cool for Blue Bell ice cream, the levee/fly, Community Coffee, Magazine, Decatur, Frenchman, Royal. We had dinner at Café Amelie and then dessert at Café du Monde. Josh and I met up and took the streetcar to meet up with Jody, Taylor, Lizzie, and The Choy Sisters for wine before heading to Madigan’s for a round of beer.

Sunday, Jody and I met up at the Tulane chapel for mass. We had some coffee and fresh bread at The Catholic Center with Miss Molly and some of the other faithful. Then we grabbed brunch at Saucy’s Café Freret. The afternoon was spent on Magazine doing some shopping and gelato-snacking with Sylvia… for old time’s sake. She took me back to her new apartment for a tour and introduction to her dog Stella. She, Jack, and I took the once-poodle to the dog park to drink iced tea, chat with their friends, and watch her frolic with other dogs. After grabbing a bite to eat at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, we went to Bacchanal to meet up with Rachel and Tara for a few bottles of wine. They all went home after, but I hit up DBA with Stephen and Blue Nile for a bit to meet up with my friend Jenn. (I ran into another familiar face, Chad’s friend Alex, on Frenchman. Small world.)

Monday, my surrogate big brother Steven took me to lunch at Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro. We caught up with each other’s lives and, as per tradition, ate way too much. I love that guy. He drove the hour in from Baton Rouge to hang out with me for an hour before driving the hour back to go back to work. That afternoon I spent with Sylvia, Jack, and their med school friends I’d met at the dog park. They had a Memorial Day barbeque. Lots of good food but my definite favorite was what Jack prepared: Cream cheese and jalapenos wrapped in venison tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Basically deliciousness wrapped in amazing-ness. That was my last night in NOLA, so I spent it at Madigan’s so people could come and go as they pleased. Sylvia, Maureen, Stephanie AND FAMILY, Ben, Josh, Curry, and Jake all stopped by. I love NOLA, I love the people there, even the ones who aren't my friends. I can't wait to go back again.

long but eventful!

Saturday night started off great and didn’t end as well. After the delivery guy dropped off the booze (yeah, seriously) that Jack had ordered from the liquor store owner we’ve buddied up with, Giuseppe and I decided to go to aperitivo (happy hour with snacks) at the bar rather than sit around while waiting for the others to gather. A few rounds of rum and some tasty snacks later, I went over to the apartment of The Girls Next Block to have dinner. Mindy, who is queen of all things vegetable although not a vegetarian, cooked some and tortellini.

We came back to my apartment for cocktails, shots, and cake. And somehow the pre-game became the big game. And we lost. Badly. Some of us were team players but a few rookies handicapped us.

Happy birthday, Jessi shot!

Sunday, regardless of what they did for the weekend, pretty much everyone was recuperating. Spent the afternoon at my bar unsurprisingly. Grabbed dinner from the Cinese place down the block with Giuseppe, Henk, and Juan. Then we had a high-stakes game of poker and met up with Jack at Loch Ness. Pool. Mojitos. Foosball games. (Ghibellina 4 / San Freddiano 2.) Bloody Marys. Jack has been added to the ranks of Stephanie, Laura, and Ben as an official Andrew smoking buddy.

Our apartment is open 24 hours/never sleeps, loves hot moms, and has Brazilian soul.

Monday I thought would be busy, but it was surprisingly relaxed. My friend Jeremy, who also went to Tulane and lived in Butler freshman year (6th floor) had told me he would be in Florence for a few hours. I thought he meant the afternoon, but he called in the morning, so I got to see him before class. We just got coffee, pondered if it was too early for beer, and caught up on each other’s life. He teaches English in Tunisia now and is at the end of a month of vacation traveling. It was surreal to meet up at The Duomo with someone I associate with New Orleans, but it was amazing to talk with someone else who understands and misses that lifestyle. I walked with him to Santa Maria Novella since he wanted to check it out before catching a train to Bologna at the station next door.

the weary traveler

I was photo-finish just-barely in time for my Food Styling class. We had another chef as a substitute teacher today but used our actual teacher’s recipe.

Filet of sole wrapped around steamed mussels and topped with caviar, chives, and shrimp foam; served with a mussel shell stuffed with sole roe and diced zucchini flowers.

Delicious, which is not at all surprising. Our sub came up with the stuffed shell idea on-the-spot. Very cool.

After class Jack and I did a lot of walking. We went to get our new textbooks, made a stop at the chef apparel store, hung out at my apartment for a while, went to the bar, went to a sportswear store, and then went to dinner at the apartment of The Girls Next Block. After I hung out with them for a little while, including a gelato walk with Mindy and a balcony chat with Liane. When I got home, I just sat on the couch and watched Henk paint. It looked like he was starting a mural on our wall in his own blood, but it was cool. After I took the following picture, I noticed how much of our apartment is accented in red. From random papers and books scattered to our beer and wine bottles to the floor and pretty much the entire kitchen.

It looks like he's painting the wall with blood, but that's okay.

Tuesday morning I got up and went straight to our neighborhood market. It’s overwhelming at first, but after a stroll through you can figure out easily what and where you want to buy. Grocery shopping was never this fun. I came back here, cleaned the kitchen and did the basic prep work. Cutting the spinach off the roots, seasoning the meat, checking my frozen veal stock (from the osso bucco a million years ago), folding garlic and butter together, and making rosemary olive oil.

fresh produce at the market

I showed Liz where the gym was, so she could get her membership. We both opted for a quick workout even though it would mean an extra shower each. After said shower back here, I started cooking. Liz couldn’t come to lunch because she had class, but I happily fed my roommates, Jack, Mindy, and Aneet. I sautéed the spinach with olive oil, garlic, onion, veal stock, and lemon zest. And I pan-seared the steak (marinated in sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, and green onion) in the rosemary oil and garlic butter. Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

bistecca all'Andrea (as in, "Italian for Andrew") over sauteed spinach

After lunch, people dispersed. The girls went back to their apartments. Giuseppe went to the computer lab, Henk took a nap, and Jack hung out for a while then went home. Now I’m at the bar, drinking a macchiato and trying to decide whether to stay for aperitivo.

By the way, I drink coffee now, but only one small shot a day unless it’s morning cappuccino. It’s so much better here than America... excluding of course any gifts from Tara or Alison when they worked at Café Luna.

back to action

Sunday afternoon I spent at the café/bar, as usual. I went over to Liz’s for one of our tea sessions and ended up staying for Anna’s dinner. Fusilli with marinara sauce doctored with garlic, onions, and mushrooms and a nice salad. Liz, Alison, Henk, and I eventually went on a gelato run to Dei Neri for dessert. When we got back, Liane, Anna, Henk, and I were joined by Jack and Juan to go out. We’re now officially members of a cultural association. I was surprised by the foosball and pool tables, but it’s otherwise pretty sophisticated. A laidback but nice atmosphere. And it was comfortably crowded. You could move easily and wouldn’t have to wait for the bartender more than a minute. Liane and I nursed our bruises with some doses from the “pharmacy.” Henk and I faced off against Jack and Juan in foosball for the honor of our apartments. Then Henk and Liane played pool against the Italians who had previously been playing the neverending pool game. (Needless to say, Henk and Liane won.)

After all that, we wanted an early morning snack, so we got kebabs from a place nearby. It’s cheaper than the place downstairs from my apartment, which is good. But it’s definitely not next door, which is not so good. Then we all parted ways and crashed.

By the way, this was all after midnight, so my Monday-I-start-real-life-again rule still applied.

As far as actual Monday, I got up and made breakfast (standing!) for the first time in a while. Then I went to the Apicius offices and Mailboxes, Etc to pick up assorted paperwork that had accumulated over the past week. Then it was back to class. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to go to class... even including the first week.

Today’s theme in food styling class was salad. Just like everything else so far, it was taken to a whole new level than the simple chop-it-and-mix-it. Jack and I worked together and, using our chef's recipes, remade two classics, Caesar and Nicoise.

caesar salad with a bibb/butter, watercress, and arugula lettuces, croutons, anchovies, tomato concasse, balsamic reduction, and grated parmesan and grated egg yolk

salade nicoise with seared tuna, mozarella, a trio of lettuces, two kinds of olives, two kinds of caviar, smoked salt and orange zest

I actually got to try the chef's salad (no pun intended). I wanted to see if his plating technique - he had a certain order he wanted the flavors to proceed - worked its magic. And it did. Of course it tasted delicious. That part I'd never doubt.

After that it was on to Graphic Design. We had to play with textures and make a series of six. I just used a bunch of images from my camera. It's funny how so many parts of a picture can be ignored, but if you look at the texture of a background object and crop to it, it can becomes something new and independent.

During the break from class, I made my mandatory stop at the bar and threw back a shot of espresso to keep me going. Got online for a little bit and chatted with Ben. (Get well soon.) Now just this update and off to dinner and a club with some of the girls.

a foggy day in Friesing

I did not type a dyslexic misspelling of “Firenze.” Freising is a beautiful town near Munich where fewer people speak English. This worked out really well for someone like me whose knowledge of the local language is things like “Hi, my name is,” “God bless you,” and uselessly “Do you speak German?” Thanks to Sylvia and Ben – and their phonetic pronunciations – I did learn two options for the word “brewery.”

I’d never been to Germany (airports aside) before, and Freising was a nice first impression. It’s built between around two hills. Atop one hill is elegant St. Georg Cathedral; incidentally Freising is the current pope’s hometown. Like a good catholic boy, I stopped in to briefly admire it, but atop the other hill was the goal of my real pilgrimage: What claims to be the world’s oldest brewery.

Hence the importance of the words “brewhaus” (Sylvia) and “brawerie” (Ben).

Hofbrauhaus Freising was officially established in 1160 but first started brewing over a millennia ago. The church was an easy find to me (belltower!) but the brewery took a little discussion with the locals. Sadly I did not get a tour because it was nine in the morning on a Wednesday, but I did go to the biergarten next door. They only open at ten, but the staff was kind enough to let me sit there and drink beer for an hour when they realized I did not want directions to a coffeehouse. Practice, in this case a millenium’s worth, does make perfect. The beer was spectacular. They enjoyed my singing the American songs on their radio and seemed to adore that I knew the words to “Du Bist Nicht Allein” when it came on. Music aside, we chatted in broken English and even more broken German. Around ten, they served me a hearty breakfast of wienerschnitzel while the regulars walked in for their morning brews (not coffee). I would have gladly stayed late into the afternoon, but I had a plane to catch.

So without knowing the German language, I sped through Freising, visited the two prominent sites, and made my international flight. I would dominate The Amazing Race if it involved drinking.

aaand, I'm off!

Alright, everyone. My next entry will most likely be in and from the beautiful city of Firenze, Italia. Thank you for the phone calls and messages. I will miss you all but do my best to keep everyone up to date with all things Andrew. I usually say take care of New Orleans for me, but in this case, take care of... the United States? Ciao.

P.S. Congratulations on your engagement, Jenna and Jerry! Belated congratulations, Kara and The Dooleys' Cousin!

P.P.S. Adding those two engagements to Gisela's, that makes three wedding trips in the next one and a half years. Way to be a trendsetter, Jacque.

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.)

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?

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.

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!

"Loyola" Family Weekend 2007

I put the quotations because "Loyola," both school and student, made fewer appearances than "Tulane." Pictures coming soon.

FRIDAY

Adolescent psych. Debates. Skipped calc in favor of lunch at Franky & Johnny's with my just-arrived family and Gatto. Mom finally got boiled crawfish since she's never been here when they're in season.

We went to Columns happy hour with David and Simon in tow and when he and Adrian left, the rest of us went on a quest for my father's oysters-on-the-half-shell. Saltwater Grill apparently only serves them on Monday now (for 25¢ each!) so had to look elsewhere. We wound up at Felix's Uptown. Oysters... on-the-half-shell, Rockefeller, and chargrilled. I showed Mom my plaque at Creole Creamery next door, but we were too full of crawfish/booze/oyster and anticipating dinner, so we didn't get any ice cream.

My parents had dinner at Jacques-Imo's for the first time. We brought along David and Simon again and Whitney, who was totally hit on by Justin Long, who's better-looking in person. Or at least that's what we're going to say happened. More drinks. We split coconut shrimp, Eggplant Jacques-Imo, a few slices of shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake for appetizers. Then we got the usual cornbread, salads, sides, and our entrees. Jacques himself came over at one point and what might be the greatest picture ever with the non-smokers and our waitress. Then, since they were impressed by the magnificence of our food consumption, she brought us ALL the desserts they were offering: a huge creme brulee, raspberry-almond cake, chocolate truffle something, and, everyone's favorite, the amazing lemon meringue cheesecake. And she gave them to us for a free as a gift from her and Jacques.

We were supposed to meet a few people for Trombone Shorty's concert at Maple Leaf Bar next door, but the wedding party there ran late and postponed the concert. Parents were tired and went back to their hotel, and we (meaning Whit, David, and I) didn't want to wait. So we went to St. Joe's (since she'd never been) for blueberry mojitos courtesy of my parents.

After that we made a wise decision and coming hom while someone could still drive. (Thanks, David.) We hung out with Claire and Ryanne at her apartment. Then I went over to Becca's to watch her blow-out all 22 of her candles (and one for good luck?). I was amazed by how beautiful the cake Amelia decorated was.


SATURDAY

Dad picked Adrian and I up and we took him to Perlis to pick up a shirt for him as a belated birthday present. We met Mom at the hotel and went to Desire: An Oyster Bar for lunch. Mom and Adrian tried boudin for the first time. I had crawfish ettoufee since the waitress said the jambalaya was too red.

We walked around The Quarter for a little bit. I showed them what Pat O'Brien's looks like in the daytime. Adrian went back to campus, and I hung out with my parents. Eventually the Benedicto Family, who live in Baton Rouge, arrived: My mom's cousin Coco, her husband Ryan, and my beautiful 10-month-old cousin Antonia.

We went with them to my father's belated (by choice) brthday dinner was at Emeril's. For our amuse-bouche, they served wonton-wrapped crawfish remoulade. I tried out their four-course tasting menu for the evening: Gulf wahoo ceviche with avocado and crispy yucca; basil-rubbed yellowtail snapper over creamy polenta with rapini, roasted garlic cloves and tomato confit; grilled North Atlantic sturgeon with red-wine-whipped potatoes and shallot bacon veal sauce; and, raspberry rice pudding with half a honey-roasted peach.

I met up with my friends for Becca's birthday at Pat O'Brien's. And I took my mom out too! Partly because I wanted to show her Pat O's and the fire fountain at night but mostly because a lot of my friends have been dying to meet her for years. We ran into Ben and his Frenchies first and then the birthday fest, hidden behind yet another wedding party. I'm not sure whether she impressed or scared my friends by knowing some of their names (from my pictures and stories). A lot of people thought she was my friend or sister. Luckily no one thought she was my date (like that woman at her office whom I punched in the face, or at least wanted to). She was worried they'd think she was some crazy "old lady," but I assured her everyone told me they were jealous what a cool mom I had. We gave Becca the requisite birthday kisses and then I got us hurricanes and gave my mommy the souvenir glasses.

The incomparable moment of the night was the present Becca got. The groom was about to give Becca a lap dance when his wife stepped in and was like "no fucking way" and told him to have his best man do it. So the best man gave Becca a pretty elaborate lab dance. Not that his wife was all too please with it after the firwt minute.

Walking down Bourbon St with my mother reminded me of the first time I walked down it, which was also with her when I visited Tulane as a skeptical prospective around this time in senior year of high school. Except back then I was sober. And so was she. She took pictures of balconies (to compare to the ones of them she took of them empty and somber in daylight), and we did the booty call with about twenty people in the street at one point. After I walked her back to the hotel, I went back to Harrah's with everyone before going to Boot O'Clock to close out the night. Claire had her first Boot pizza, another Tulane visit necessity, and then I hugged her bye since I wouldn't see her before her noon flight.


SUNDAY

We went to Commander's Palace for Jazz Brunch, which was better than I remember. The parents invited the Benedicto Family, Adrian invited Simon, and I invited Ben. The Jazz was good. The frontman had unbelievable energy, an incredibly wide smile, and what Ben noted was "a very Louisiana accent." Thicker than gumbo. All the courses were delicious, but everyone agreed the Bread Pudding Soufflé with Bourbon Sauce was the most amazing thing served and more than worth the wait.

Then the Benedictos left for BR. Everyone else intensely wanted afternoon naps/hibernations from weekend antics and overeating, so we went our separate ways. I ended up missing 6 o'clock mass with my family because I forgot to spring my alarm clock forward. By the way, I HATE SPRING FORWARD. We should just fall back until everything is even again. We were a little hungry (not that much considering brunch) so went and grabbed some oysters and other finger-foods at Felix's. This time we definitely got a few scoops at Creole Creamery, Mom and I split some chocolate amaretto cheesecake and the pink peppermint pie Rachel recommended.

We went back to the hotel suite and eventually I met up with Mike, visiting from Chicago, for a late dinner at Red Fish Grill. We had a few cocktails and shared some 1-1-1 soup (samples of crawfish bisque, turtle soup, and gumbo) and southwest salad. He had the blackened redfish and I the crawfish crusted black drum. And naturally after dinner we had a few more drinks...

Having that comfy queen size hotel bed all to myself at the end of the night was amazing.

thickset Thursday

So my day began with a phone call from Mom to talk about the money we were planning to happily spend on "Gradfest."

I put scallops that were in the freezer in the fridge to defrost before going to pick up the package mentioned in yesterday's entry. I took a shower and got presentable (for my last "senior portrait") and headed off to Gradfest. They really should change the name because it's nowhere near as fun as it sounds. It's basically the university's last chance to get you to spend lots of money on overpriced things.

I was on the phone when I heard a familiar voice that I couldn't place calling out "ANDREW MARIN!" and I ignored it for a little so I could wrap up the conversation. It was Claire "Clourkie" O'Rourke. How very exciting, and I wanted to go to lunch with her and Ryanne but had to go do boring things like class and Gradfest.

My day was a little hectic because I only got half the things done at Gradfest that I wanted to, so I got to class a little late. This was complicated by multiple phone calls trying to finalize things with each parent and with Adrian regarding this upcoming Marin Immediate Family Reunion Weekend and other matters that required immediate tending.

After lunch with Tara and a quick visit from Adrian, I got my pictures taken. Mom told me to relax, so they'd come out well, but the photographer told me I looked "great." (I guess relatively speaking because he noted that some people came in wifebeaters and poorly groomed facial hair.) I picked up some announcements, diploma frame, and cap/tassel and gown. They almost gave me the orange engineering tassel, but Tara pointed it out - thank God - so I got the gold science one.

I remedied all that "fun" from Gradfest by going a late afternoon park trip with Rachel and then a dinner with Ben. Lots of laughs that only the two of us would understand.

I took a nap, which was too short, and then went over to Shannon's to watch The Illusionist, starring my favorite actor of all time. The plot's pretty much Eduard (Edward Norton) trying to save this Duchess chick (Jessica Biel) from marrying the Prince of douche (Rufus Sewell). Eduard and Sophie are childhood sweethearts, etc. In some ways, it's better than The Prestige and some ways not, depends on what kind of movie you're looking for. The Illusionist is more romantic and less self-centered, while The Prestige focuses on upstaging your competition. And of course, Ed Norton has more acting ability than the two male leads in The Prestige combined. It's strange watching Jessica Biel not be all tough, given Stealth, Blade: Trinity, and how every paparazzi photo of her is her working out. It's like watching Sarah Michelle Gellar in a horror movie; she can slay vampires, but masked murderers and ghost children are too much?

I was waiting for her to kick ass, but she didn't.

I got back here and between that and 80s Night remembered to cook my now-forgotten scallops. I was on the phone with Adrian and then Ben while in the kitchen, so I think I seasoned the dish twice twice when I wasn't paying attention. It definitely had too much kick to it, but it was still good. Butter, garlic, ginger, peppers, a little brown sugar, and old bay seasoning... It tasted like something you'd have in DC's Chinatown. I fixed this a little by dumping rice into the boiling liquid to soak up and cook.

After that, Lauren and I went down to our usual Thursday 80s Night at One Eyed Jacks to meet up with Ry Ry, B(ig) B(rains) C(laire), the UNO guys, et al. Fun times as always.

three of my favorite ladies - photo courtesy of Lauren Mitchell

terrific Tuesday

So Tuesday morning I found myself still up (from Monday) at two for no good reason. Then at 2:30 a good reason, namely Chad, showed up... on my buddy list I mean. We haven't had a chance to really catch up (since his move to Australia) except before Mardi Gras. So we talked for like an hour and exchanged our international cell phone numbers. (This might prove dangerous for future drinking nights.)

The unfortunate result was that I slept through my first class because, in my half-awake stupor, I set my alarm for PM instead of AM.

It was okay though. Apparently I didn't miss much. I went to my regular lunch with Tara, and we mused about our future plans... specifically Jacque's wedding. And we missed a third of our triangle.

After that, I went to screenwriting for the three fastest academic hours of my week. Good screenplays and two presentations.

Dinner with Ben as usual. He dropped me off at The Columns after for the 1718 New Orleans Reading Series. It was fantastic. Author Bev Marshall and four seniors from Loyola and Tulane. Excerpts, nonfiction, story, poetry, and prose, respectively. Lots of drinking.

I'm definitely going to future ones if anyone wants to tag along.

• April 10th - John Biguenet
• May 1st - Andrei Codrescu

And if I'm feeling creative and the team likes my work, maybe there will be a short story or a few poems by yours truly.

After that I wound up at Delachaise, which (for anyone else who was there for Jenna's birthday) is so NOT a lesbian bar. Four-cheese plate and duck terrine/foie gras/armanac pate; house white and house red.

I ended up talking on the phone with Gisela for a while. I'm sooo looking forward to her visit for graduation.

Whitney and Tully picked me up on the way back from Billy Joel's sold-out concert. They were too tired to go out more, so I wound up visiting with Stephen (not to be confused with Steven) a while.

Yes, you read correctly. Stephen. But it's all good. What's past is past.

Mardi Gras '07: part three

Krewe of Thoth float and riders

this Bacchus float looks delicious.

this was prompted by my "I like girls that like girls" t-shirt.

bead balcony on Bourbon

Trojan horse float in the Proteus parade

tippin' the flambeaux man

Krewe of Orpheus' locomotive

with Ben after parades on Lundi Gras

some guy decorating the tree outside our apartment at 4a.m.

H.R.M. King Zulu '07

at the end of a fantastic, last, Mardi Gras morning

Mardi Gras '07: part two

liftin' Lindsay to get more beads

with Ben between parades

with Carter and boas

piano man at Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Bar

apparently it'll be a huge party. see y'all there!

H.R.M. King Okeanos '07

Stephanie, Peter, and their sunglasses

Tuesday

Terrorism midterm wasn't too bad.

I went over to Adrian's, and we caught up for a bit. He brought me some special deliveries from home. He also showed me his new Polo Rugby wardrobe. (Their "skull and crossbones" insignia coincidentally matches with Sig Ep's. How lucky/convenient for Adrian because now he has an excuse to buy all that PR stuff besides just liking it.)

I met for lunch early with Tara (and Rachel today too). I missed Alison and Frazer by just a little because I had to make a deposit at the bank and print screenplays at the lab.

Lots happened in screenwriting class today. We reached a consensus on how we should spend our provost-awarded "entertainment budget." (Dinner and drinks, naturally.) And we had class for the first time in three weeks. And we canceled another upcoming one. This would be exciting, but if I had it my way, I'd have screenwriting every day and my other classes combined into a one week three-hour session. It's my favorite course thus far.

Chick: "Have you guys ever seen that movie Maria Full of Grace? The main character there, this girl who's smuggling drugs, and I can't for the life of me remember her name--"
Me: "Maria."
Chick: "Oh! Yeah. That's it."

The most (horribly) sensational part of the day was when I returned my father's phone call during a break in screenwriting class. (He called during the first half.) He told me my grandfather called to let him know there was a passing in the family. Unfortunately he didn't specify that it wasn't my grandmother but another "Letty" (my great aunt) right away. And then I asked if Adrian knew of and the correct identity of the death, and he said I should double-check.

After the break, we convinced the teacher that for our last assignment we should analyze the screenplay of and have a screening of the great Eddie Murphy film Coming To America.

Ben and I had our weekly dinner and caught each other up on the past few days. And now I should be writing a screenplay or doing other work or sleeping, but I'm going to push to get these other two Mardi Gras photo albums up.

Where'd the weekend go?

Friday was classes then groceries. Then began the back-to-back laser tag nights. Yeah. Apparently when you turn 22 you want to reaffirm your youth, so you decide to play laser tag. Ryanne and Ben, indepedently of each other, both wanted to play laser tag for their birthdays. Friday was Ben's night. We went with Katy&Co. After that I had made a raspberry tiramisu for Tara since she wasn't at Italian Night, so she and Ian came over. They approved. (Personally I prefer the strawberry version, less tart and less sweet. The raspberry version looks better though because it's a burgundy color and the berries require no chopping and distribute more uniformly.)

Shannon came over to have tiramisu also and convinced me to go to Beaux Arts Ball, the architecture party, at the last minute. I didn't have a costume ready. The theme was ConNEXTion. So she wrapped me in packaging tape because tape connects things? Whatever. Beaux Arts was fun. All the architects were drunk as usual.

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur: The Boot, J(ai)L Hall, The W Hotel, and then some French people's party somewhere.

Saturday was pretty chill. Laser tag again that night, Ryanne's "party." We had to split up into two groups of four because there weren't enough slots for all eight of us. Stephanie and I were on the red team and were assigned the code names "Cinderella" and "Aladdin." I had a lot of fun shooting the bitchy old couple who made two kids give up their vests and guns 'cause they accidentally let too many people in.

After that was a quick trip to the Big Easy because Lauren was hungry, and I just hung out at home the rest of the night. Mommie Dearest, which I'd never seen, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is one of my favorites, were both on TV. MD is a fucked up movie.

Sunday I made "macaroni" (really penne) and cheese from scratch to tide me over until Mexican Night. I'm never going to make the orange crap that comes out of the box again.

Mexican Night was a huge success although apparnetly "Mexican" is synonymous with "dip" because we had at least four of them. But one of them was Stephanie's guacamole, so I was automatically satisfied with our menu. We also had chicken and vegetable fajitas, Mexican lasagne, beans and rice, various forms of corn chips, a cake decorated with a Mexican flag, "Dos Amigos" ice cream (Mexican vanilla and Mexican chocolate), and of course, the strawberry tiramisu that we pretended was Mexican.

Just like Thanksgiving and Italian Night, we all said what we were thankful for (but Mexican things this time.) I guess that went succesffuly and unoffensively.

Some of us stayed after to watch The Oscars, but by the end only Becca, Leah, and I were left. I was happy because all of my predictions (Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, Helen Mirren, Martin Scorsese, Pan's Labyrinth, and THE DEPARTED) won except one.

happy 22nd, Ben!

Hmmm, since my last update: Classes, LOST, sleep, classes, lunch with Tara but this time on the sunny beautiful quad, errands, and laundry. Then Shannon and I went to a screening of Amazing Grace, which was pretty good for a PG movie. She and I were most excited, respectively, about the chick from Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and Mr. Fantastic playing the romantic leads.

Ioan Gruffudd and Romola Garai pre-Amazing Grace

After that I went out with Ben and Katy&Co for his birthday and spent the moments we were not drinking trying to cheer him and convince him that 22 is not that old. (Especially considering that I'll be the same age in less than two weeks.). Pub, free champagne, expensive champagne, Clover Grill for special club sandwiches and french fries.

from last Friday but pretendin' it's from yesterday

Lundi Gras

My day began with wakeup by Peter and a phone call with Ben. All our newly awakened, hoarse-from-too-much-partying-and-drinking, Tara Reid voices sounded exactly the same. A shower fixed that.

Lauren, her friend Evian, Stephanie, and I went to Mother's Restaurant downtown for lunch. It was amazing. Evian doesn't eat red meat or seafood so she got a chicken poboy, but the rest of us formulated a plan of attack that would get us what I consider the best stuff Mother's Menu has to offer: Ferdi's Po-Boy, a dressed po-boy of roast beef, ham, debris, and cheese; the combination plate (Jerry's Jambalaya, crawfish ettoufee, red beans and rice); a fried oyster plate; and an absolute overload of potato salad. Then we split some delicious peach bread pudding for dessert.

After that we walked down bourbon so Evian could see it, showed her Pat O'Brien's, bought drinks. and had a sang the afternoon away at their Piano Bar before walking to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and by the river.

We went back uptown to Ben's place for Proteus and Orpheus where David and OMG Sylvia(!!!), with Jack in tow, joined us. We went out to dinner at Nacho Mama's after and pretty much dove headfirst into some guac. I highly recommend the shrimp and bacon quesadilla.

We left dinner at eleven to finalized plans for our last Mardi Gras.

F-ed Up Friday

It was... in both the good way and the bad way.

First class: Canceled after we turned in our discussion topics. Second class: Short. Third class: First exam. SERIOUSLY WHO GIVES AN EXAM THAT'S NOT ON THE SYLLABUS AT THE START OF THE YEAR ON THE LAST FRIDAY BEFORE MARDI GRAS SAYING THE ONLY OTHER DAY WE COULD HAVE HAD IT IS THE FIRST DAY AFTER MARDI GRAS AND DOESN'T OFFER MAKE-UPS? Joyce. That's who.

After that, I checked mail and found I'd gotten a package of homemade chocolate chip cookies from Marney, mother of my brother's best friend, lovely woman that she is. Makes me wonder what she send Adrian or her own actual son. That was a nice pick-me-up after the exam

Carter & Co came over to meet up with Peter and me, and we went to happy hour at the boot for a quick round before some shopping on Magazine St. (Apparently Carter missed certain stores and me as a "shopping buddy.") We picked up some new duds at the style lab and found exact replacements of ruined clothing at buffalo exchange.

Ben was nice enough to put us on the guest list for watching the Krewes of Hermes, D'Etat, and Morpehus at his St. Charles condo, so we stopped by The A&P to pick up some ice, Jim Beam, and a bottle of Grey Goose as a present for our gracious host. (We later found out that during the parades I ended up drinking half the bottle of Beam by myself; no mixers for it and no one else wanted it straight up.)

After the parades, we went to Sake Cafe and had a sushi feast and then went to Bruno's for a few rounds. Ben and Peter went their separate ways, but I went to Frenchmen Street with Carter & Co. Cafe Negril had an amazing live reggae band playing, and James Gandolfini was hanging out there too. We made eye contact and I mouthed "Tony Soprano." He responded with a smile and handshake and told me Happy Mardi Gras. Awesome

The rest of the night (or morning since it was 3AM at that point) went downhill from there. We should have followed Tony Soprano's lead and gone home and crashed, but we didn't.

A few highlights of the short version are:

• loud, sloppy Bourbon St
• tired and drunk and annoyed at the bar
• Carter&Co, aka my ride home, wanted to stay
• quest for a cab with Ben
• We became the drunk guys with dead cell phones and no rides.
• minor bitchfest with Ben
• almost fist fight with cab driver
• loud altercation at my front door with Carter

The story ends with me going to bed at 9AM.

the week so far

"I saw you at Krewe de Vieux the other night, Andrew. Not going to say what you were doing but I saw you there!" - Professor Cunningham

Sunday:
Harrah's
Cafe Brazil
Krewe de Vieux
DBA
port of call
Bubba Gump

Lauren hates when anyone grabs her boob(s).

Monday:
classes
gym
Adrian time

Tuesday:
terrorism classs
Tara time
screenwriting class
Ben time
Martinique Bistro
Pitt St. Pretties time
Lauren time

"dress up fancy" ... just a little

Wednesday:
class
Rachel time
classes
nap
LOST
studying