Yesterday was a rough one and I found myself completely wrung out today. I worked from home, grading papers, working on an article, doing laundry, reading for pleasure. I didn’t think I’d get out on the bike at all, but after finishing up all my tasks for the day, I thought I’d reward myself with a short ride to get some frozen yogurt. As always, the second I pushed off on the Surly I was glad to be pedaling. Continue reading
Uptown
Zion Travelers Second Baptist Church at Laurel & Peniston
I woke up early this morning, an hour earlier still than up “early,” in fact. My cats were engaged in a face off with the neighborhood dogs through my windowed door, and Sully, my talkative cat, came to tell me all about it. We then engaged in our easy morning routines–Little, my quiet cat, rubbing her face against my pillow, Sully pacing until there’s food in the bowl, Little making biscuits while I read, Sully laying out on her side with her head in some crazy contortion, looking more peaceful than I can ever imagine feeling. La dee dah, they followed me around as I brushed my teeth, ate breakfast (Sully has to sniff everything), and stared at me as I wheeled the bike out (to dog territory) and headed to work. Continue reading
Piles of Phone Books at Calhoun and Magnolia
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
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
Gates of Prayer Cemetery on Arabella and Garfield
I set out with big intentions today, but the cold that I’ve been denying for a couple days finally kept me to a day in the office and then home again. I needed some groceries before sequestering myself on the couch for a movie. I rode down Arabella headed to the fancy grocery store, and stopped to take a picture of this small cemetery at Arabella and Garfield. Continue reading
Tulane Marching Band Practice on the LBC Quad
I am home again, home again, jiggity jig after a positively lovely trip out west to see old friends. Home means back on the bike, and I couldn’t have been more pleased to velcro-up my shoes, clip in, and head to campus to unpack my new office. It took a few blocks to get up to speed, and I had to play around with the gears to get comfortable again, but man, it is seriously good to be back on my bike. And it is also seriously good to be back on campus with that smell of back-to-school in the air. Continue reading
Bike Parking in Front of Dinwiddie Hall at Tulane
I’ve been watching this documentary about New York City, and it is blowing my mind. I am a lot of talk about the importance of bicycle infrastructure, but part of me thinks we’ve already got the roads we’ve got and it might just be too much trouble/money/work to really fundamentally change them. And then I learn about Robert Moses and the development of car culture. Continue reading
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
Professional Pharmacy Prescriptions at Touro on Foucher and Prytania
We are having a wee bit of a heat wave here in New Orleans. Or at least that’s what the weather folks are telling us every day, with their heat advisories and everything. Heat advisory, or dude, it’s summertime in New Orleans, which means it’s just going to be hot–these are the questions that try my soul. But after Saturday’s long ride in the heat, I needed a day of rest yesterday, and today just got away from me, so all I got was a short nighttime ride to meet some former students for a drink (look at those shiny young graduates with their bright futures!). Continue reading
Christ Church Cathedral at St. Charles and Sixth
Today’s ride took me down to City Hall for a meeting. I can’t really the terrible shape that building’s in. The restroom on the first floor has only one working stall, and that one’s got a plywood swinging door, no lock. I went to fill my water bottle from the sixth floor drinking fountain–until I noticed there was a big moldy growth over the drain. Yikes! Yep, that’s our public building where our public work gets done. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 