I had a long day at work today and was looking forward to a slow ride downtown for a quick stop at the gym and then dinner with friends. I didn’t make it far, though, before the skies opened up and raindrops the size of salad plates came falling down. I ducked under a loading dock on Calhoun and Magnolia and waited it out with these stacks of phone books–a real blast from the past. Continue reading
history
Memorial to Those Who Gave Their Bodies to Science at Charity Hospital Cemetery
It rained all day yesterday and was supposed to rain all day today too, but I checked the radar, and it looked like rain wouldn’t come in until the evening–plenty of time to get on the Surly and travel around town to see how folks are remembering the hurricane and the failure of the levees five years ago today. I headed to Mid-City and then out Canal to make a stop at the Katrina memorial at Charity Hospital Cemetery. Continue reading
“Confederate Domination” Plaque on a Lamp Post at N. Rampart and Bienville
Today was a good day full of productivity and pep talks and copy machines. After a long day in the new office–it’s beautiful–I headed down to the Quarter for a quick burrito before riding to Mid-City for a bicycle meeting. It felt good to get to pedal some distance today. Man, I really missed my bicycle. I was stopped on the neutral ground waiting for a green light to cross N. Rampart on Bienville when I noticed the plaque on the lamp post. Now, I’ve ridden up and down this street a gazillion times, but lamp posts aren’t necessarily something I’m going to stop and notice. I need the light, not the post. I popped the Surly up on the curb to get a closer look. Continue reading
Confederate Memorial Hall at Camp Street and Andrew Higgens
So I started watching Ken Burns‘s National Parks documentary, and then I lazily watched an episode of his Civil War documentary and got hooked on that as well. He is dangerously soothing with these things, all the fiddles and pianos and familiar voices softly reading to me. The documentaries are so epic I can be tempted to imagine I know the whole story after sitting through nine or twelve hours of his stuff. That’s certainly not the case–he’s got a perspective and is making an argument just like the rest of us. Continue reading
Saints Tailgating in the CBD
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the New Orleans Saints are having a pretty good football season. They were undefeated, 13-0, going into tonight’s game versus the Dallas Cowboys. One of the very first things I learned as a child was to hate the Cowboys. As far my recall goes, my learning went like this: Yankees suck, never cross a picket line, hate the Dallas Cowboys. So yeah, I was rooting for the Saints. Continue reading
The Ten Commandments at the Texas State Capitol
I love biking around a new city. I’m in Austin, a city well known for its biking culture, thanks partly to its favorite son, Lance Armstrong. It’s a little odd to me that so many folks would choose to bike here. There are so many hills, it’s so hot, the traffic is terrible. But people do it. Continue reading
Cuban Flag Commemoration Plaque at Poydras and Magazine
The past few days have been rainy rainy, so when the sun came out today and S. wanted to come over for a swim, I readily agreed. We then decided to go see a movie. At the movie theater. I hadn’t seen a movie in movie theater since December. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 