It was already dark when my night school class ended, so I strapped on my safety triangle, turned on my flashing front light, and donned my helmet before pushing off toward home. I was stopped at the light at Jefferson when a cyclist breezed by–no lights, no reflectors, no nothing. I think what cyclists don’t get is that at night, without lights and reflectors, we are invisible. Seriously–absolutely invisible. That’s scary for drivers, and more importantly, for us, because we’re going to lose this battle. A car pulled up next to me at that light, and the driver told me that he could see me clearly with my little slow moving vehicle sign, and that’s good to know. I never see me from the vantage point of a driver coming up from behind, and maybe that’s why so many cyclists don’t bother with any kind of night riding gear–because we don’t imagine that we aren’t being seen. After all, we can see you, so why can’t you see us? Well, they can’t see us. Clip a light on the back somewhere, please.
New Orleans
Writing on the Wall at BreakOUT!’s New Space on Broad & Euphrosine
I spent most of my day at home packing, breaking only for a walk to the gelateria for a whole lot of gelato. I taped up one last box in the evening and then headed out on the bike to ArtEgg Studios under the expressway on Broad for the opening party for BreakOUT!‘s new space that will serve as their headquarters for youth organizing against the criminalization of GLBTQ youth . Continue reading
I Love You at Siberia on St. Claude & Marigny
Summer school started today–sigh–and I’m teaching a night class, so I worked from home until the late afternoon when I hopped on my bike and headed to campus. Continue reading
No Swimming Signs in Lake Pontchartrain at Lakeshore & Leon C. Simon
The weather was absolutely ridiculous today so after a morning at home with my book, I got on my bike, stopped in the Quarter for a margarita and a burrito, and then headed out toward Lake Pontchartrain to see what it looks like when a lake rises several feet because the river is flooding. Continue reading
People Watching the Mississippi River From Woldenberg Park
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the river is rising, so after an evening with friends I took the bike out to check on the flow. I sped along St. Claude–good lord, I love a bike lane–and headed to the top of the bridge over the Industrial Canal where the water was high, maybe even higher than a couple of days ago. Then again, maybe not. Continue reading
MA/Ph.D. Hooding Ceremony at Dixon Hall at Tulane
I’ve said it before, and I’m going to say it again, but this time in brief: I love me some pomp and circumstance. I got on my bike this morning, swapped the SPDs for some wedge heels, and went to Dixon Hall to sit in the balcony and whoooooo for my dear friend R., who picked up a Master of the Arts in Latin American Studies today. It was awesome. And then there was food and champagne, and then a lunch and another ceremony, and hugs and pictures and more of those “chicken” “quesadillas” and another fruit tree, followed by dinner with M. and her positively lovely family (Dad loves national parks! and history!), and then I rode my bike home in the dark, full up on good feelings. Congratulations, graduates!
The Mississippi River and Downtown New Orleans From the Levee in Holy Cross
I’ve been a little down lately, I’m not going to lie. Too many endings all at once have me in a little bit of a spin, so I figured the best thing to do today is what I usually do, because usually, I feel pretty good. I woke up after a full 8 hours of sleep, read a bit of a book I need to review, wrote 300 words (gotta ease back into summer productivity), and then it was time for a bicycle ride without a particular destination. Continue reading
Students and Teachers at the Oak Wreath Dinner at Tulane
I hopped on my bike this evening and headed to campus for tonight’s Oak Wreath dinner, thrown by the Newcomb College Institute in honor of outstanding graduating female students. My dear student M. invited me as her guest, and I was more than happy to attend. Each of the 20 or so students took turns talking about their professor-date, and then each professor talked about the brilliant and sassy student who invited them. I talked about reading M.’s final paper from our class on feminist activism–it was so smart, creative, and brave, it made me cry, and talking about it got me all choked up. (I appear to be a crybaby, at least lately.) And the same thing happened over and over again, and there are so many more stories of teachers and students at all levels all over this place…love, love, love it. And then I got back on my bike and did a loop around the park before heading home. Bittersweet.
Playing Pool at Dauphine & Gov. Nicholls
I didn’t think I would end up riding my bike today. I drove to the suburbs for an errand and then it started to look like I would just spend my day at home with my cats, trying to decide which is better, Ken Burns’s America, or American Experience. But it was the kind of day that demanded a bike ride, so I got on and headed downtown to see friends, because sometimes that’s just what you need. I stopped for dinners and then headed over to S.’s place before we went to the bar to drink a few drinks and play a little pool. I snapped this picture while waiting for R., who we just happened to run into, to make his shot. I like this part of the small town, where you kind of just need to see some friends, so you head out, and that’s what happens. A lovely evening, indeed, topped off with a cafe au lait and some beignets and a bike ride home in the still-cool air. Things could be worse, things could be much worse.
Stop War Sign at Coliseum & Robert
I spent most of my day at home, reading, grading, and organizing. I finally peeled myself off the couch and on to the bike to head to the office and put this semester to bed. The streets were mostly empty, and campus was a ghost town, so I took my bike inside and spent a lonely couple hours making sure all my ducks were in a row before hitting enter on those final grades (and no, students, I don’t round up). There’s a bittersweet feeling at the end of the term when you are just done, at least for me, as my students and I are all on to the next one, on to the next one–and I won’t be at Tulane in the fall–that’s starting to actually hit me. I took my sad sack self and my bike to the pizza place for a couple slices and a soda and then got a couple cookies for a treat from the grocery. I pedaled through the just-cool-enough air home, stopping to take this picture of a stop sign on Coliseum and Robert. The pedestrian graffiti turns it into a STOP WAR sign–not the cleverest, but a sentiment I can get behind. It is eerily easy for lots of us to forget that we are at war right now. Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight–oh, wait, that was what they said about the Confederacy during the Civil War, not any of our current wars. I’ve been thinking about wars a lot lately, and summer means I have a lot more time to think about what I want to think about. I will now raise this glass of wine and toast the start of summer, which promises many sweaty bike rides and the time to think about what to do with yourself when you can’t un-know that we are at war and you are quite sure we should STOP WAR and you also know that we largely don’t see the enemy in our battles anymore, and that’s dangerous. Shots are fired in Florida that kill in Afghanistan–that’s not a war, it’s a video game. We best figure out how to stay connected to the inhumanity of war, or we just might keep starting them. Yay summer vacation!
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 