Justin Bond & Nath-Ann Carrera at the Allways Lounge

Alright, alright, fine. It’s not summer anymore–all of the sudden New Orleans is back in the deep freeze. After a long morning waiting for the rain to stop, I left the house on the Surly to head down to the Treme to help J. pack for her move to NYC–a bittersweet task indeed. I was dressed all wrong. I mean, mesh tights let the air in, the thin layering t-shirt is alright, but only if you layer, and the rain jacket is good if it’s raining, but not so much when it’s going to drop below 45 degrees when it’s time to ride home. Biggest lesson learned, though? Wear gloves. Continue reading

A Guy Ordering a Drink at the Saint

I got up this morning with the day off and no plans, so when J. tweeted to see if anybody wanted to join her at the City Council meeting, I was in. I took the Surly and pedaled downtown for what turned out to be several hours of parliamentary procedure and such highlights as Councilmember Midura reading the menu of a new restaurant in her district into the record (I’m not really feeling the turtle panini, personally) and Councilmember Head‘s insistence that restaurant Il Posto is “the best thing that’s happened in my neighborhood in a long time.” Continue reading

Cigarette Machine at the Avenue Pub on St. Charles

Ok, I know we all talk about weather too much, but I’ve got to tell you, it was sunny and in the seventies today. I was actually sweating on my ride up to campus for final exam #1. It was such a lovely respite from the cold of the past week. My apologies to the neighbors up north–I hear you’re shivering in a blizzard. After proctoring a four hour final (!) I zipped over to the Avenue Pub for the Metro Bicycle Coalition open meeting. Continue reading

Tin Cowboy and Bikes at Allways on St. Claude

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and I spent it tooling around on the bike running teensy errands and finding pleasant places to grade a few papers. It got cold by the end of the evening, and I suddenly realized I was not dressed appropriately to comfortably ride home. Whatever–we’re on holiday! Continue reading

Lights in the Courtyard at the Dragon’s Den

Lights in the Courtyard at the Dragon's DenIt is hot and humid in New Orleans, even though it is the end of October. I was sweating like June when I got down to D.’s place for our weekly TV date with J., R., and S. Afterwards a few of us hopped on our bikes and rode over to the Dragon’s Den on Esplanade near Frenchman to see and hear some music (unfortunately, our dilly dally-ing meant we missed the show). Continue reading

Phillies vs. Yankees at Burgundy and Conti

Phillies vs. Yankees at a French Quarter BarI got Rhoda some presents today. I stopped at the fabulously friendly and convenient Uptown shop, Mike the Bike Guy, and got her new handlebars (the right bar was finally rusting off after last year’s crash that bent it) and grips, a new front tire (that thing is so worn you can almost see the tube near the rim), and a new bottom bracket for my fender (ah, rust…). Continue reading

Bike Parking at the Saint on Lower Magazine

Bikes at the Saint in the Lower Garden DistrictTonight found me riding my bike down to the Lower Garden District to meet friends for drinks and socializing, and then over to one of my favorite bars for some dancing. The first place didn’t have anywhere to put bikes, so I locked up on a pole about half a block away; a couple bikes had already staked out the bus stop sign. Continue reading

Streetcar Tracks At Lee Circle

Streetcar Tracks at Lee CircleThe weather seems strangely cool these days, but a few spins on the cycle and I’m reminded how humid it is. Today I rode around Uptown, meeting friends for lunch and then an afternoon beer and pool. Continue reading

Michael Jackson Memorial Dance Party in the Marigny

MJ Tribute at Mimi's in the MarignyToday was a task-ride kind of day. I rode my bike over to K.’s in the morning so we could go shop for party supplies for my late-late-late birthday party. Afterwards, I rode down to the Quarter to pick up some things I’d forgotten at the place I was apartment sitting. Continue reading

John Minor Wisdom US Court of Appeals

John Minor Wisdom US Court of AppealsI spent my Thursday doing usual Thursday things and expected to spend my evening at home,  watching the game, heading to bed early.  But that’s not quite how things happened.  Some friends let me in on a little secret–free fruity mojitos for ladiez!  Works for me. Continue reading