A Frolic of My Own

Jazz, Books, Food, and the Writing Life

Blogging from New Orleans, La

5 February 2008

The Lyons are coming! It’s 6:36 in the morning, and in about an hour the Lyons will be marching past our house. I’ll be out there to greet them and catch a few plastic roses.

Happy Mardi Gras everyone!

Posted by Todd at 6:34 am | Comments (1)

4 February 2008

You can’t escape Carnival. Not that we would try, but with James barely two months old our Carnival season has been unusually calm.

Last weekend, the foul weather kept us inside and away from the parades. On Sunday, though, I wheeled James down to Creole Creamery and we ran into the Jefferson City Buzzards milling around outside their Annunciation Street den. Some men were wearing dressed and a brass band played on the back on a flatbed truck. James was unimpressed. He didn’t even wake up.

On Wednesday, we crossed the river for Vietnamese at Tan Dinh. At the entrance to the Crescent City Connection, we had to wait while a line of 25 tractors puttered up the onramp on their way back to Mardi Gras World.

We finally saw our first parade Saturday when Tucks rolled, although we could only stay for a few floats. Yesterday, though, we had first ever annual Thoth brunch. A good and rowdy crowd, and the kids were certainly the rowdiest, jammed into our house for bagels and jambalaya. Thoth rolls down Magazine Street just a few blocks away, so we’ve got a nearly ideal spot.

Posted by Todd at 2:01 pm | No Comments

3 February 2008

The Wall Street Journal interviews Sara Roahen on her excellent new book Gumbo Tales. If you can’t be in New Orleans for Carnival, reading Sara’s book is the next best thing.

Posted by Todd at 7:16 am | No Comments