I decided to finally leave the apartment Monday night and check out some of the surrounding areas. To date, I must admit that I've been rather cautious where I go, at least after the sun goes down. Don't misunderstand me; I feel perfectly safe where I live. That being said, it's difficult not to heed the warnings of the locals when they tell so many tales of robberies, muggings, and assaults on persons in the metro New Orleans area. There are at least a two dozen bars/restaurants/shops all within close walking distance of my house, but there are many dark, poorly lit areas between the house and the shops/bars, and I just don't feel comfortable yet walking alone, at night, down the street. I had no excuses not to go out on Monday, however, since my friend Tasha is in town visiting her family this week.
Tasha and I visited at the apartment for awhile before heading out. We became friends at the office in Atlanta when she joined the staff in 2007. She grew up in New Orleans and relocated to Atlanta during Hurricane Katrina (if I remember correctly). T is a great woman, so strong, and she's got an Afro the size of all outside when she wears her hair out. She often reminds me of Foxy Brown because she's wonderfully tall, has the most beautiful, perfect skin you've ever seen, and a smile that could warm even the coldest heart. She's got a great spirit and personality too, and since she's originally from here, it meant a lot to me when she commented how wonderful she thought my new place was.
Our first stop was to the bar across the street from the apartment, the Irish Garden Club. It was Monday night, so I wasn't anticipating a large crowd. There were maybe a dozen or so patrons inside, all men w/the exception of one woman and the bartender. I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting as far as the people inside the bar were concerned. My house isn't extremely far from Tulane and Loyola and most of the people I've seen up and down Magazine Street are college/grad school-age and your typical DINK's (Double Income, No Kids) . In my naivety, I reckon I was thinking the crowd would be, more or less, close to my age range. The folks in this bar? NOTHING like that. The bar itself was clean and the people all very friendly and nice, but even in the remarkably dim light of this establishment, most of these people looked like they'd lived incredibly fast, hard lives. They could, conceivably, have been late 20's-mid 30's but you'd never know it by their faces. Say it with me people "Moisturizer!". One of my neighbors actually brought his giant dog inside the bar! While neither Tasha nor I are afraid of dogs, this one was jumping on everyone and grabbed a guy's arm in his mouth, so we were a bit intimidated.
Chris, the bartender, was very nice girl who's lived in New Orleans her whole life (w/the exception of 2 years surrounding Hurricane Katrina when she lived in Houston,TX). T and I chatted her up some. I told her that I lived just across the street and as soon as she found this out, she was more than diligent at calling over some of my neighbors who were also inside. She introduced me to some man, who's name I frankly cannot recall, and then introduced me to Nick. Nick is a young guy (or at least, he was one of the few that appeared so in this bar), maybe 23ish? Blonde, short, good handshake, and very friendly. He's a waiter at the Red Fish Grill down the in Quarter. We're talking and laughing, making small talk-me being my usual charming self. It's at this point that he tells me he lives above me in 3F. Upon learning this information, as is my typical MO (shooting straight from the hip), I responded to his comment with "Oh, so you'd be the guy that woke me up at three in the morning a couple weeks ago!". He looked both appalled and uncomfortable. In reality, I was trying to make light of it (well, sort of). I generally try not to hold onto things that irritate me that I simply have no control over-it's a waste of too much energy. After apologizing profusely, Nick seemed to brush off my rather brash comment and even went so far as to invite himself over to my house for St Patrick's Day (the house is right on the parade route and I have my own balcony) !
At least I know two of my neighbors now! Baby steps, my friends. Baby Steps.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Leroy and the Chinese Food
It started out as a simple task: find a Chinese place for dinner. Should be easy enough. Unfortunately, though, nothing in my world is EVER simple.
At this point, since I've only been in NOLA for a little over three weeks, I haven't quite yet familiarized myself with every spot in town. Those parts of town that I DO know, I restrict myself to-particularly after the sun goes down. Since I left the computer in Atlanta with Ronnie after I moved, I'm forced to use the phone book to find places of interest. After looking for 5 minutes, I found one.... UNO Chinese places in the Uptown/Garden District phone book. Who thinks a major metropolitan area is only going to have a singular standing Chinese restaurant? Even living out in the middle of nowhere (a/k/a Commerce, GA), we had at least two Chinese restaurants, but I digress.
Cross checking with a map yields the location of said Uptown Chinese joint. A 10 minute drive later, I'm standing in the lobby of the China Orchid. I order a nice dinner of pot-stickers and Kung Pao Chicken and wait quietly for my food to arrive. While I'm sitting in the quaintly decorated lobby, fully equipped with dim lighting and tranquil music, I realize that what I really pine for is Chinese food from the place around the corner from my friend Jennifer's house. No other Chinese food on the face of the planet will ever compare with the cuisine at the restaurant near Jenny's. Be that as it may, beggars can't be choosers, and so at the China Orchid is where I waited.
Being conscientious to have my cell phone on me at all times, I make sure to clip it to the outside of my purse as I rise to pay the young cashier for my order. After arriving home and pulling a load of laundry from the community, coin-operated laundry down the hall, I prepare myself to sit down and dig into the delicious Kung Pao chicken that has been taunting me the whole way home from the restaurant. It is then that I realize my cell phone is no longer in my possession. After 15 minutes of frantically searching the house, the car, the street, and the laundry, I venture back to the Orchid and inquire if they've seen my phone. They respond in the negative, and without any luck, I irritatedly return to the apartment. I begrudgingly eat a small amount of the chicken and 2 pot-stickers then retire the food to the refrigerator, infuriated that I stupidly left to go get food in the first place. 2 hours pass, and I decide to finally go to bed.
At 8AM, Levi and Dallas woke me up, demanding to be fed. While in the kitchen preparing to feed the beasts, half-dressed, hair all askew, there is an incredibly loud banging sound at my door. The knock startled me, but scared the hell outta the cats, and they took off for shelter. I snatched my robe from the bathroom, amidst more banging, and quickly run to the door and slide it open. Standing before me is my Indian neighbor from downstairs (the one who talked of eating his cat before I'd even moved into the house), Bob. He hands me a sticky note and says that my mother has been frantically trying to reach me. Apparently some man named Leroy had located my cell phone and left it at a nearby pizza place. Before dropping off the phone, though, Leroy made sure to call my mother, my Aunt Amy, and Jennifer, all in an attempt to find someone who could get a hold of me. I don't have a land line, so after speaking with Leroy, mom was forced to Google my address to try and find some of my neighbors (who, thus far, aside from Bob, have proved to be rather standoffish).
I never did speak directly to Leroy, and I don't recall the name of the place where he told mom he worked. Should I ever cross paths with Leroy in the future, though, he shall be met with a firm handshake and hearty thanks for saving my cell phone from a worse fate and coming to the aide of completely irresponsible me.
At this point, since I've only been in NOLA for a little over three weeks, I haven't quite yet familiarized myself with every spot in town. Those parts of town that I DO know, I restrict myself to-particularly after the sun goes down. Since I left the computer in Atlanta with Ronnie after I moved, I'm forced to use the phone book to find places of interest. After looking for 5 minutes, I found one.... UNO Chinese places in the Uptown/Garden District phone book. Who thinks a major metropolitan area is only going to have a singular standing Chinese restaurant? Even living out in the middle of nowhere (a/k/a Commerce, GA), we had at least two Chinese restaurants, but I digress.
Cross checking with a map yields the location of said Uptown Chinese joint. A 10 minute drive later, I'm standing in the lobby of the China Orchid. I order a nice dinner of pot-stickers and Kung Pao Chicken and wait quietly for my food to arrive. While I'm sitting in the quaintly decorated lobby, fully equipped with dim lighting and tranquil music, I realize that what I really pine for is Chinese food from the place around the corner from my friend Jennifer's house. No other Chinese food on the face of the planet will ever compare with the cuisine at the restaurant near Jenny's. Be that as it may, beggars can't be choosers, and so at the China Orchid is where I waited.
Being conscientious to have my cell phone on me at all times, I make sure to clip it to the outside of my purse as I rise to pay the young cashier for my order. After arriving home and pulling a load of laundry from the community, coin-operated laundry down the hall, I prepare myself to sit down and dig into the delicious Kung Pao chicken that has been taunting me the whole way home from the restaurant. It is then that I realize my cell phone is no longer in my possession. After 15 minutes of frantically searching the house, the car, the street, and the laundry, I venture back to the Orchid and inquire if they've seen my phone. They respond in the negative, and without any luck, I irritatedly return to the apartment. I begrudgingly eat a small amount of the chicken and 2 pot-stickers then retire the food to the refrigerator, infuriated that I stupidly left to go get food in the first place. 2 hours pass, and I decide to finally go to bed.
At 8AM, Levi and Dallas woke me up, demanding to be fed. While in the kitchen preparing to feed the beasts, half-dressed, hair all askew, there is an incredibly loud banging sound at my door. The knock startled me, but scared the hell outta the cats, and they took off for shelter. I snatched my robe from the bathroom, amidst more banging, and quickly run to the door and slide it open. Standing before me is my Indian neighbor from downstairs (the one who talked of eating his cat before I'd even moved into the house), Bob. He hands me a sticky note and says that my mother has been frantically trying to reach me. Apparently some man named Leroy had located my cell phone and left it at a nearby pizza place. Before dropping off the phone, though, Leroy made sure to call my mother, my Aunt Amy, and Jennifer, all in an attempt to find someone who could get a hold of me. I don't have a land line, so after speaking with Leroy, mom was forced to Google my address to try and find some of my neighbors (who, thus far, aside from Bob, have proved to be rather standoffish).
I never did speak directly to Leroy, and I don't recall the name of the place where he told mom he worked. Should I ever cross paths with Leroy in the future, though, he shall be met with a firm handshake and hearty thanks for saving my cell phone from a worse fate and coming to the aide of completely irresponsible me.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
I think I probably need to say a couple Hail Mary's and get myself to church cause something is wrong when it's snowing in southern Louisiana.
Its the heaviest snow I've ever seen and it hasn't let up or even slowed down yet. Oh, and I got rear-ended at a stop light last night on my way home from the office when it was pouring down rain. Didn't feel like there was any damage when I ran my hand over the area, but I took the girl's name & number, just in case.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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