Saaandee Bangs!

An excerpt from a letter from Shanaynay:

So i just updated myself on your giornale. Actually I was a bit disappointed. The entries seem like rote lists of where you went and what you ate. Where's the passion? Where's the drama? Where's the comedy? Where are the internal struggles of dear Andrew Marin? I have two conclusions: 1) your life has become boring or depresising. 2) you're leaving out the juicy details on purpose. I refuse to believe number one. So Give Me The Juice!

Apologies to all. I think the degradation of the quality of writing in my journal is due to us not having the internet and our pirating a choppy signal out the window, so I have to type incredibly fast and don’t have time to linger and ponder. Plus I have twelve roommates, so I never have time to write because someone ALWAYS wants to do something fun like eat, play gin rummy 500, play drinking games, go out drinking, talk, or etc. And as usual, I try to respect people’s privacy to ensure they, unlike me, will be able to find employment in the future.

But I’ll work on all that.

The past few weeks have been busy with my parents visiting, the drama and near-schism of our precious Borgasm, and now it's the holidays and the last two weeks in Florence.

I'll work on all this. I promise.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

March already?

Another week flew by, another weekend flew by even faster, and suddenly it's Sunday night again... in March nonetheless. Seriously, where did January and February go?

My week was laidback, relatively speaking. Wednesday: Classes and LOST. Thursday: Class, lunch and hanging out with Rachel, 80s Night. Friday: Classes, Lunch and hanging out with Adrian, The Boot and The Rat with Keenan and some of his friends, a little bit of Dance Marathon. Saturday: A little more Dance Marathon, a delicious dinner (Ninja for various sushi, tempura, and rare beef tataki) with Shannon, Blockbuster, a Days of Heaven screening, and quality time with Ryanne and her roommates. Today: The ornithological society's crawfish boil in the park with Ry Ry, studying, napping, and I-don't-know.

I've added "labels" (for popular subjects) to all my journal entries and will continue to do so in future ones. The labels should allow for faster filtering if you want to look up something in past entries and at-a-glance notices of a new post's content if you're pressed for time.

other people's pictures

Krewe du Vieux with Shan - photo courtesy of Gabriela Molina Schleusz

Miss Molly's after-party for Sparta and Pegasus - photo courtesy of Katie Austin

girls on shoulders get more stuff - photo courtesy of Brooke Hansen

with a perhaps (yet unlikely) sober Lizzie - photo courtesy of Meredith Robinson

Peter, Cosmin, and I lookin' tough - photo courtesy of Paul Murphy

Carter's departure - photo courtesy of Will Southerland

5:48 a.m. on Mardi Gras - photo courtesy of Reshelle Smith

All's well that ends well.

And this weekend definitely did.

I started post-Bruno's today by showing Steven and Katie around the new UC. They recognize a lot of it. When we left, a pair of drunk girls stumbled up the stairs. (Katie's sorority memories came flooding back. Chi O, for those of you who care.)

The two girls were like "Are you prospies??? You should totally come to Tulane!" (I guess they were still observant enough to notice that I was, in a way, giving a tour.)

And I told them that they were actually graduates, and I was a senior.

"Really. Come to Tulane!"

Whatever.

As we were walking out, another pair of drunk girls (perhaps the same) stumbled out after us.
They were yelling, so we could hear them get into a fight about which had the other's cell phone and who loved the other more, culmating in one calling the other a "smelly butt-whore."

Next time I get shitfaced, I know what I'm going to call someone.

After a couple of hours of sleep, I met up with Steven and Katie again for lunch. I also got to meet Steven's brother Matt for the first time, so now I can proudly say I've met the entire Brooksher family.

Fiesta Bistro, for those of who haven't been, is a restaurant on Carrolton that serves Spanish tapas (for appetizers or to combine into a meal) and Mexican entrees. They also have $2 mimosas all-day on Sunday. We got patatas bravas, manchego flambe, taco salads, and steak quesadillas.

As I was coming back to my room, I saw Ryanne, Steve, and Tully. They invited me to go see Krewe of Barkus (the dog parade) in the French Quarter. So I went.

As we were walking to the route after parking, we came across a peculiar creature... a mix of a poodle and a dalmation. Use your imagination. I christened it a "poomation," which sounds like something disgusting used for winter holiday television programming. Ryanne came up with a better title, "dalmadoodle."

Two other choice conversation excerpts were:

Steve: "Balls aren't funny, but blue balls are."
Ryanne: "Blue balls are funny? I'll have to remind you that next time."

Ryanne: "And when it's $5 per box..."
Tully: "Oh, is that what you regularly charge?"

After Barkus, we stopped by The Creole Creamery on the way home.

Shannon and I went to Target to get a few things, grabbed some Chinese food for dinner (some kind of chicken each and white rice) and then saw Pan's Labyrinth, which was awesome. A beautifully macabre fairytale. After watching, I took issue with something, but after thinking about it, the issue disappeared. Just be aware if you don't understand Spanish, you'll have to do some subtitle reading.

It should win at least half of its six Oscar nominations.

quickie Friday entry

I had my first exam, classes, went to the grocery with Shannon and Shivani, and then met up the gang for our annual Oshun and Pygmalion happy hour at The Columns. (We always go this Friday since the Friday right before Mardi Gras is always too busy.) Drinks. Beads. After that, we grabbed some dinner at Superior Grill, where the waitress carded everyone even though only Stephanie ordered a margarita. It was pretty funny. Some of us went out to Bruno's after for beer and darts. Good times.

Steph and Peter in any pose resembling this exemplifies Mardi Gras!