I had a juice date with S. down in the Bywater this morning, so that meant I got to hop on the bike early. I don’t usually see downtown at that time of day, and I swear the light is different. I had trouble deciding on a route. I wanted the speed of St. Charles without the rocky riding I expected on Camp Street in the CBD–they’ve been resurfacing it for repaving–but I decided to risk it, and took Prytania down to Camp. Guess what? Continue reading
Magazine Street
Memorial Shrine to Albert Joseph Jackson, Jr. at Magazine and Ninth
I am back in New Orleans from a most wonderful week in New York City. I had a ridiculously good time with E., wandering around and getting my National Parks Passport stamped. America’s Best Idea, indeed. NYC is so, so different from anywhere else, of course, but what I noticed was how different it is from where I am now. I live in a really small town. I find it almost impossible to get lost anymore, and it is rare to go out and about and not run into someone you know, or someone who knows you. Continue reading
Terrible Asphalt at Magazine and Julia
You know I love riding my bike around New Orleans. It’s flat as a pancake here and the weather is always perfect for a ride, assuming you don’t mind thunderstorms and 100+ heat indices, which I don’t. But our streets are, in many places, spectacularly awful. We have some repaving projects, some even including facilities for bikes–Chartres, St. Claude, Gentilly, upper St. Charles, La Salle/Simon Bolivar, Loyola–but most streets are a mess of exposed streetcar tracks, potholes, loose gravel, ridges, and all various and sundry temporary patches. Continue reading
Chico’s Parking Lot at Magazine and Joseph
So when I first moved to New Orleans, the only grocery store I knew about was the Winn-Dixie on Tchoupitoulas, the regular grocery of my department chair/tour guide. I went there upon arrival to get a few things to make a first dinner in this city I hadn’t even visited before rolling up in the Hyundai Accent a few days before. There were no fresh tomatoes at the Winn Dixie. In August.* Â Continue reading
Bike Lane at Magazine and 90
Tonight’s parades were canceled due to rain that threatened to turn to sleet, so when J. emailed and suggested the gang gather at her and R.’s place, I gathered my flat repair kit and got a ride down to the Treme for a relaxing evening of food, drink, and bike repair. The Surly’s been living at D.’s since an untimely flat, and I decided it would be worth riding home in the rain to get her back in my living room. Continue reading
Hubcap at Magazine and Second
I couldn’t really take it anymore. Way too many days off the bike, except for short, short task rides. So I suited up for the rain and headed down to the Treme to meet up with friends for a little mayoral debate viewing party. It was still raining lightly and I rode ever so slowly, not exactly thrilled, especially when I hit some potholes disguised by water. Continue reading
Rainy Street at Magazine and 8th
This will be a short post, because I didn’t see much while riding my bike today because it has been raining for what seems like forever, and I’ve been in end-of-the-semester work mode, and I don’t love riding in the rain, especially since my glasses get fogged almost immediately so that I can’t see anything, and I haven’t gotten to ride my bicycle all day in over a week, and it’s driving me crazy. But I saw this–a shiny, rainy street while I vainly tried to wait out the thunderstorm. Here’s the picture. I felt pretty frustrated when I took it, but looking at it now, it’s kind of pretty. Good vibes for dry air, people.
Lights at the World War II Museum in the Warehouse District
Rhoda’s rear cog was a little loose and I don’t have the proper flat wrench for repair, so I took her to the bike shoppe for a little TLC this afternoon. Ten bucks later and the girl was riding like a dream, so I was happy to pedal her down to the Marigny tonight for a drink with a former student and then over to S.’s place for roasted beets, prosecco, and some TV with S. and R. Continue reading
Construction on Magazine at the I10 Underpass
I took the Surly out for a leisurely ride down to the Marigny to get some writing done this afternoon. I love putting on a fluffy skirt and my shimano shoes, putting on some music, clipping in, and flying down newly paved streets. New Orleans is putting in so many. Continue reading
The Cat Practice at Magazine and Felicity
This week marked another anniversary of what we’ve collectively decided to call “9/11.” I didn’t expect to notice the anniversary this year. That single event has changed so much of what we take for granted, so much of how we think about our relationships to the state, to others, to the world, and what the state thinks it has the right and duty to do to and for us. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 