Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Fried pickles


What's better than fried pickles?

Fried pickles and beer.


Fried oyster po'boys, of course, and firecracker shrimp - that is, shrimp fried and doused in Crystal hot sauce, on a po'boy.


Served here at Parasol's bar in the Irish Channel neighborhood of New Orleans.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Hello there


Waiting patiently. Near Barataria, Louisiana.

See him? He's watching you.

Click to "embiggen."

Thursday, December 24, 2015

King John's Christmas


by A. A. Milne

King John was not a good man —
He had his little ways.
And sometimes no one spoke to him
For days and days and days.
And men who came across him,
When walking in the town,
Gave him a supercilious stare,
Or passed with noses in the air —
And bad King John stood dumbly there,
Blushing beneath his crown.

King John was not a good man,
And no good friends had he.
He stayed in every afternoon…
But no one came to tea.
And, round about December,
The cards upon his shelf
Which wished him lots of Christmas cheer,
And fortune in the coming year,
Were never from his near and dear,
But only from himself.

King John was not a good man,
Yet had his hopes and fears.
They’d given him no present now
For years and years and years.
But every year at Christmas,
While minstrels stood about,
Collecting tributes from the young
For all the songs they might have sung,
He stole away upstairs and hung
A hopeful stocking out.

King John was not a good man,
He lived his life aloof;
Alone he thought a message out
While climbing up the roof.
He wrote it down and propped it
Against the chimney stack:
“TO ALL AND SUNDRY — NEAR AND FAR —
F. CHRISTMAS IN PARTICULAR.”
And signed it not “Johannes R.”
But very humbly, “JACK.”

“I want some crackers
And I want some candy;
I think a box of chocolates
Would come in handy;
I don’t mind oranges,
I do like nuts!
And I SHOULD like a pocket-knife
That really cuts.
And, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all,
Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John was not a good man —
He wrote this message out,
And gat him to his room again,
Descending by the spout.
And all that night he lay there,
A prey to hopes and fears.
“I think that’s him a-coming now,”
(Anxiety bedewed his brow.)
“He’ll bring one present, anyhow —
The first I’ve had for years.”

“Forget about the crackers,
And forget about the candy;
I’m sure a box of chocolates
Would never come in handy;
I don’t like oranges,
I don’t want nuts,
And I HAVE got a pocket-knife
That almost cuts.
But, oh! Father Christmas, if you love me at all,
Bring me a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John was not a good man —
Next morning when the sun
Rose up to tell a waiting world
That Christmas had begun,
And people seized their stockings,
And opened them with glee,
And crackers, toys and games appeared,
And lips with sticky sweets were smeared,
King John said grimly: “As I feared,
Nothing again for me!”

“I did want crackers,
And I did want candy;
I know a box of chocolates
Would come in handy;
I do love oranges,
I did want nuts.
I haven’t got a pocket-knife —
Not one that cuts.
And, oh! if Father Christmas had loved me at all,
He would have brought a big, red india-rubber ball!”

King John stood by the window,
And frowned to see below
The happy bands of boys and girls
All playing in the snow.
A while he stood there watching,
And envying them all…
When through the window big and red
There hurtled by his royal head,
And bounced and fell upon the bed,
An india-rubber ball!

AND OH, FATHER CHRISTMAS,
MY BLESSINGS ON YOU FALL
FOR BRINGING HIM
A BIG, RED,
INDIA-RUBBER
BALL!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Christmas passionflower


There are some 500 species of passionflower, but this one, growing in my relative's garden in Florida, is probably passiflora coccinea, the scarlet passionflower, sometimes called red grenadilla.

It is said to be invasive - this is confirmed here, as it has swamped several other shrubs and a pool enclosure.


What bright and pretty red flowers for Christmas!

Friday, December 18, 2015

Merry Christmas from Mr. Hai


We were cruising around Lakeshore Drive, our morning errand briefly derailed by a closed office ("Closed today only - will re-open at 12:30") so lunch on the lake stretched into a glass or two of wine.

On the way back, we passed a row of long low modern houses, stark against their broad green lawns, the garish holiday decor contrasting against the architectural purity of their lines. We turned the car around and went back to take some photos.

At one house, a domed glass atrium rising above an entry flanked by white stone foo-dogs, a couple of cars were in the driveway, a yardman was blowing leaves, and several men milled around, one holding up his phone.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Bully for us!


We were on a road trip to Oxford, Mississippi, three students and a professor making a pilgrimage to the home of author William Faulkner. It was lunchtime and we were hungry. We used our phones to Yelp as we approached Jackson, going north on I-55.

"How about barbecue?" someone suggested. "Something that's real Mississippi."

"This one comes up with 42 reviews and all of them five-star."

Friday, December 11, 2015

No roadblocks to creativity

Mermaid with a tall boy
 New Orleans streets are a challenge, especially in the Bywater, where the city has been undergoing a repair project that seems mostly to result in gaping holes left open for weeks.


But New Orleanians are a creative bunch, making do with whatever city life brings us. So here at the intersection of Piety and Dauphine, someone has used the opportunity of the street repair project to create an urban vignette.


You can't roadblock creativity.


Monday, December 7, 2015

Our lady of the Bywater


Seen on Desire Street. I hope she will intercede for me tomorrow during my final exam.

And then, buy me a drink! I've been studying hard all weekend, I need one!

Friday, December 4, 2015

The home stretch


We have had our final day of classes for Fall Semester. We're coming down the home stretch.

Yesterday I turned in a final paper that I sweated bullets on. It was 12 pages long; I wrote a prospectus for it a month ago and crunched away at it for several weeks, before realizing that I really didn't have a clear thesis. I met with my professor, who pointed out something secondary I'd scrawled in my messy first draft that he thought I should focus on instead, but I resisted the suggestion. After all, I'd worked so hard already, I just needed to whip it into shape, right?

I brought my laptop to Key West, figuring I just needed an hour or so of work, and I'd be done. And the whole time I was there, I resisted turning the thing on.

Hemingway's study
Let's go to Hemingway's house instead.

Hemingway's toilet
Another daiquiri, please!!


I knew I'd hit a wall. I came home and realized I needed to start from scratch. I had two days' time, and - luckily for me - someone to help bounce ideas off, advise me on structure, and proof-read. (THANKS, Chris!!) I worked for twelve hours on Wednesday - less an hour for lunch, and two twenty-minute walks with Jack.

Thursday morning all I had to do was make sure all the citations were correctly formatted, proof-read it again, and print. I handed it in at 11:00 AM.

Now all I have left is to put the final touches on another paper before turning it it (I got this one solid!), and study for a final exam scheduled for Tuesday morning. Final writing workshop Tuesday evening will be a celebration at the tavern.



I will have completed my first semester at graduate school! Now I can relax a little Next semester starts January 11th.


I wonder if I said...


It's the holiday season. This year a new meme is showing up in my Facebook feed - it says:

"I wonder if I said Merry Christmas how many friends would say it back?"

Then it instructs me to share the meme and find out.

I'm not going to. Because I don't believe we should put kindness to a test. If you are thoughtful enough to greet me with good wishes, it makes me happy. It doesn't matter what words you use.

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday. Enjoy.