I Got Nothin' So I'm Gettin' Out Of Dodge

Nada. Zilch. What the hell?

For the last couple weeks I have had more ideas for blog posts than I knew what to do with. I have three drafts that I never finished. Sometimes if I have an idea but I don't have time to research it or flesh it out, I'll just make a draft so I remember it. Then I can go back later and use it.

Unfortunately, the ideas from last week all seem kind of lackluster today. Whatever it was that I thought was funny, ironic, insightful, or just taunt-worthy, today seems sort of "eh."

I probably just need a change of scene. Luckily, I'm going to New Orleans on Saturday, for Mardi Gras. My first. I've been to Jazz Fest nearly a dozen times and never really had any desire to go to Mardi Gras. I like parties as much as the next guy but my impression of it was always of a bunch of frat boys pissing themselves. But my friend Andy who lives there sold me on it. Sure, there is the whole Bourbon Street business, but that's just a tiny part of it.

The real Mardi Gras is an event that is at the core of New Orleans culture and history. People prepare for the parades and parties for months leading up to it. The entire town basically shuts down for two weeks. The part of it that everyone thinks of - puking on your shoes, or people showing their tits for a cheap necklace, really has nothing to do with the real Mardi Gras.

So I decided it was, actually, ridiculous that I have been to that city almost every year since 1996, but had never experienced Mardi Gras. I'm looking forward to it - especially with the guided tour. I will be taking lots of pictures.

A few pictures from my 2008 Jazz Fest trip. See them all here.