Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras!

Fat Tuesday has arrived and my family is in the spirit. We have our King's Cake sitting home waiting for us tonight and we're all decked out in beads. I'm proud of my bead collection since I personally bought all but one pair in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The one exception is a strand EH bought me covered in hibiscus flowers and coconut cocktails and a tiki god center piece. These are the good beads, love. Not the 10 cent colored strands. You'd have to do more than flash to get a pair like these. These are sexual favor beads. The "Bead Game" in the Quarter is a year round charm, not only at Mardi Gras when it's pretty well confined to Bourbon Street). This generally involves an exchange of some sort. Probably the most common sight is the flashing of female chests for beads, although guys flash too. Beads are also traded for kisses or hugs, or just because someone likes your looks or feels sorry for you. On my trip to New Orleans in August of '03, I was wandering the Quarter alone at night...because I'm just that kind of crazy chick - and I won a pair of beads from a guy for sharing my lighter with him.

EH and I used to dream of running away to New Orleans. We joked that he'd "wrassle" gators in the bayou and I'd saute them. Having now been there, I can only say it's a fun place for a short visit...and that's it.

During my own excursion, on a business trip, I wandered the Quarter and appreciated the charms. I poked through the dark voodoo shops, I paid tribute to Marie Laveau's true grave and gave a nod to her symbolic gravesite. I sipped chicory coffee while listening to a jazz musician on a warm morning. I rode in a carriage. I fended off more men than I could count, including a tour guide who grabbed me and kissed me as I passed him, then asked if he could see me again. Friendly city, that New Orleans. I paid hommage to the House of Blues. I dined at Three Sisters under the stars and fairy lights. I marveled at the river.

And then I went home. Without EH, New Orleans just seemed wrong.

Mardi Gras is fun for our family because it encourages the debauchery and wild behavior we seem to be capable of year-round. Today, I'll blend in rather than stand out. Even with my purple hair.

Oh...I didn't mention my hair was purple? Maybe more of a bordeaux color, really. It'll fade.

Here's my throwing my cyber-beads your way, reader. And you didn't even have to flash me (although I feel I got ripped off on that exchange.) Ah, well. Send your naked pictures to me at theoddwife@gmail.com. Or at least send me sexy emails.

Posted by Red :: 10:01 AM :: | ---------------------------------------