Swamp Sweet Swamp

It rained while we were here. Real rain, too- heavy and lasting most of the evening into the night. It's so good to be back home.

Bennett and Leslie got married. In a church on St. Charles Avenue and everything. Most of this weekend we spent in the company of friends, at various wedding-related functions- Sadly, we had no strippers playing Halo at the bachelor party. Almost, though. Cat and I loved seeing everyone: giving hugs, swapping stories, and getting emotional. I have many pictures, some of which even came out decently. I'm a shutterbug, but not yet the best photographer I could be.

Over the course of the weekend, I got in touch with my old Tulane co-workers and the amazing Steve-o dropped off a Linux machine ("toonz") I had with a lot of music on it. It survived its several-week stay downtown. This is a five-year-old MP3 and Ogg collection that tops 100 gigs. I missed the jukebox. Soon I'll want to redeploy its services.

I now have two king cakes to bring back to Austin: one cinnamon filled from Randazzo's, and one cream cheese filled from Dorignac's. I plan to share at least one with those who want. Maybe as a bribe to finish playing 1984 Prime; I need to consolidate my notes and write some mechanics.

Central Grocery was closed on Sunday, so no muffeletta for me. At Fiorello's on Decatur, we had lunch, with fried pickles for an appetizer. Cat and I went halvsies on a roast beef poboy and a french fry poboy. So so good. If you haven't had, you just won't understand.

Also had Indian food one evening while Cat was visiting friends. I love the cuisine, but I never can remember what I'm eating by name, just by sight. I do better at a buffet than with a menu.

We walked the Quarter a bit today. Many places sell amusing Post-Katrina tshirts, many based off Nagin's "chocolate city" comments. Some are quietly inspiring, such as a gold fleur de lis with the word "rebuild," whereas some are over-the-top: a "Girls Gone Wild" gag featuring Rita, Katrina, and Wilma. I picked up a purple shirt today with gold and green writing: "I [Fleur de Lis] NOLA" Things are picking back up again- we saw many tourists.

I have to cut this a little short. We all must get on the road for eight tomorrow morning in order to drop the rental car off on time. Once we get home, I must study the material I missed during work training, as normal Austin life resumes Tuesday.

Cat and I are starting to think about buying property in the city for our return.