Month: April 2011

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Housing Piles at MLK & St. Charles

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It was absolutely perfect out there in New Orleans today. It was just a touch cooler and just a touch drier, and by the time I left work this afternoon, it wasn’t even windy. I headed toward Mid-City with a plan to stare at the lake, but my desire to avoid rush hour traffic pushed me off course and through Central City. I found some smooth asphalt on MLK, and spun across Claiborne before stopping at Galvez to put on my sunglasses. I chatted with my sister for awhile while waving the “how you doin'” to the passing cars. I snapped this picture of the posts of a new B.W. Cooper will go. Maybe. Someday, but definitely not before we get Mr. Peanut Park over on Simon Bolivar. But also this picture is of that tree against that blue sky, but wait, also of chain link fence. Many scenes in New Orleans today, many feelings.

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Planter’s Peanuts Park at Euterpe & Simon Bolivar

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I had a long day at work today following a short night of sleep (sometimes cats are pests), so I was feeling too tired for a bike ride. I sluggishly rode home from work, dropped my stuff, and decided to take the bike out for a short ride after all–just what I needed after a day spent talking about prisons, from OPP and Angola to Abu Ghraib. I headed for the smooth ride that is Simon Bolivar and flew along with a nice tailwind that was to become a rough headwind on my way home. I stopped at Euterpe to wander through this new park, brought to you by Planter’s Peanuts. This corner has been vacant for as long as I’ve been riding my bike past it (which isn’t very long), sometimes hosting trucks for sale. And the suddenly something was being built there. And then a week later it was finished. And it’s a “park,” in the shape of a peanut, with Mr. Peanut sitting on a bench. There’s just gravel, and only one bench–and Mr. Peanut is hogging it–so I’m not sure exactly what we’re supposed to do in the park. As I was leaving a mom and a couple kids wandered over, and they seemed just as confused as I was. Why can’t we just get an actual park here? Sigh. I continued my ride to and around the CBD and back Uptown. Yep, it is *always* a good idea to go for a bicycle ride.

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Warehouse Door at Laurel & Bordeaux

I spent another hermit-like day inside, watching baseball, reading the Times book review, and fantasizing about my reading lists. I didn’t feel motivated to do anything at all, but I did happily pry myself off my couch to head Uptown for L.‘s birthday party at the cigar bar. Continue reading →

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Wheel on the Neutral Ground at St. Claude & Marigny

I didn’t figure on much of a bike ride today. I was tired and in the mood to hermit away after a long week, which is exactly what I did, reading, cooking, watching Ken Burns tell me stories on the television. Then it was time to head just a mile Uptown for dinner with S., N., and N. The food was great, the wine drinkable, and it was just good to see friends. S. asked for route advice for her ride back downtown to the Marigny, and rather than tell her, I figured it was a good sign that it was time for me to take a ride. Continue reading →

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Patched Asphalt on Baronne & Josephine

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I saw lots of things on my sixteen miles of riding about town today, but the most beautiful thing by far was the new patch job on Baronne right before Jackson. It might not look like much in this picture, but that black square? That’s just the edge of a patch that stretches from the curb to about a foot from the center line. And there’s another on the other side. For as long as I can remember, those two holes have been mounded over with loose gravel, an absolute nightmare for a cyclist. I’ve been slowing down and waiting for my turn to ride the center lane at least three times a week for over a year, at least. I won’t have to do that anymore–I can just pedal up the road, right over this smooth patch, until it cracks or starts falling in on itself at the edges, but let’s not borrow trouble. When you ride a bike you end up developing quite a relationship with road surfaces, and I always enjoy seeing mine get that added jolt from surprises like this one.

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Students Listening to a Panel Presentation at Tulane

Another day, another commute to work, but today I lucked out and got to take the ride twice. I taught a couple classes, met with a couple of students, answered more than a couple of emails, and wrote a rec letter, and then rode home to zone out with some baseball (I love you, MLB.TV, and no, no part of this blog is monetized–I just like baseball) before heading back to campus for tonight’s Women in Academia panel sponsored by the Newcomb Senate. Continue reading →

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One Way/No Right Turn at Canal & Jeff Davis

The best thing about using a bicycle for transportation is that you are guaranteed to get to ride a bike every single day, except for those days where you stay in bed all day until you move to the couch and then back again. I didn’t have time for a ride to nowhere today, but I did need to get myself to campus, so I hopped on the Surly and headed that way. Continue reading →

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Mary Gray and a Giant Powerpoint Presentation at Tulane

Today’s ride was nothing but the commute, and the workday was long. I taught three classes with a short lunch break, which I used to eat both potato soup and mashed potatoes in the Faculty Dining Club. After my seminar I headed to dinner with some professors, a student, and tonight’s guest speaker. Continue reading →

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Student’s Mingling After Tulane’s Production of The Vagina Monologues

Today’s Sunday bike ride took me over to Mid-City for an iced tea and a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie (that actually turned out to be kind of good) with S., who is leaving town soon to spend some months farming in Fairbanks, Alaska. How awesome is that? I’m already scheming how I can go visit. I took the long way back Uptown to meet friends for dinner and then pedaled against the wind to Tulane to check out this year’s student production of the Vagina Monologues. Continue reading →

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Candy Bars at the Discount Zone on Magazine & Washington

So I took a picture on my ride home tonight, but it wasn’t in my phone when I got home, so let me describe it for you. It was a picture of row after row of candy bars at the Discount Zone on Magazine and Washington, so many choices. I stopped there on my way home from the show, following a whole lot of dancing with students and friends and a couple of slices of pizza. The ride home was perfect–slow, fresh asphalt on Magazine, cool night air, empty streets. I’ve stopped at the Discount Zone so many times after nights just like this one, and sometimes the vast array of choices is dizzying–even if it is all kind of just the same couple things over and over again in different shapes–but tonight I knew just what I wanted: a Kit Kat. Not the white chocolate one or the dark chocolate one, and not the King Size one either, though I hovered over that one for a a hot minute–just give me a regular old Kit Kat. That’s what I wanted. And next time I forget, please remind me that along with Kit Kats and nighttime bicycle rides, I also want to dance. What a lovely evening.