Carbon Copy

Salt Lake City Library

I stopped by the library after work the other day to study for a test I took on Saturday. It felt comfortable to return to the library in some strange way, but at the same time, recreational. It was a weird mix. I haven't spent much time in the new city library since it was built, but I think I might start going more often. I like all the rows and rows of books, although they kind of make sad. And I was even kind of jealous of this librarian.

I had a great view from my desk on the fourth floor.

It was kind of distracting. Although, I don't know if I'd fare better in this comfortable lounge.

Because I'd probably fall asleep. I could only stay for an hour and a half because I had to get home in time to watch Lost. Luckily, the library will be there another time.

Oh also, Happy Birthday Blog! It's been four long years.

New Orleans: Houses and Parks

Poor Peter had the croup while I was there, so we skipped church on Sunday. Instead, we went for a nice walk around their neighborhood. I blogged about the beautiful houses last time I visited New Orleans. This time, it was even better because the weather was so much nicer. I wore flip-flops and short sleeves. Although, the flip-flops proved difficult because the whole time I was worried about stepping on one of these poisonous caterpillars that are ALL OVER THE SIDEWALKS. Seriously, couldn't Katrina have swept them all away?

When I wasn't gingerly stepping around them, I was able to snap a few photos of some of my favorite houses. I love this window.

I realized as I was going through photos when I got home that this next house is the same house from my last entry. The one that had the sun spots. I guess I really liked it.

Another thing about New Orleans is that there are these huge trees everywhere. The branches (although they seem too thick to call branches) reminded me of dinosaurs. Compare:

The destination of our walk was actually a little circle called Rosa Park. It's full of beautiful houses. Here's just a little glimpse of one.

Ready for the whole thing?

Yeah. Pretty gorgeous. But it's just the first house. Here's another glimpse at one.

And now the whole thing (and its neighboring house):

Every house on the street was beautiful. As we walk around and meet people, Amanda always says hi and tries to start a conversation with them. This doesn't surprise me because I remember going grocery shopping with her and she would start conversations with the people picking out eggs. But I found out that she has a hidden agenda behind the friendliness. She really wants to be friends enough with people that they will invite her into their home and she can see the inside. I'm 100% behind this. Next time, I think we should be more proactive and ask for a glass of water.

On the way home, Amanda pointed out a green lizard.

It took me a while to see it. Even when I was going back through pictures, I had to ask myself why I took that particular one. Did you see it? Maybe this will help.

After a delicious and very successful lunch, we went on a stroll around Audubon Park. Coming from the desert, everything seems so much greener there. I mean, even the water is green.

And not that fake, Chicago River kind of green. As we walked around the path, we came across a section teeming with white egrets and other kinds of birds that I don't know.

Can you see them?

It's kind of tricky. How about now?

Not too far away, though, were creatures of a different kind .

Turtles in a row and yes, an alligator, salivating over those birds. Lets get a closer look.

(This post should be retitled to something like "Upon Closer Inspection" or something. Oh well.)

While Amanda and I looked at the birds, Mike played ball with Peter.

There were also some beautiful flowers in the park.

Peter was tired of riding in his stroller, though, and wanted a chance to do some climbing. So we stopped by Mike's building at Tulane (which is just across the street) so he could climb some stairs.

Then it was time to head home.

Since we watched Vivien Leigh in A Streetcar Named Desire on Saturday night, we decided to watch the musical version on Sunday before dinner.

I didn't feel like I had taken a lot of photos during my trip, so I was surprised that when I went to download them, I had over 300. Then I found out why. My sister had gotten hold of my camera. I think I mentioned somewhere before that she's the one who taught me the art of the self-portrait.

The night went by too quickly. I had to leave early the next morning. I mean, really early. I left New Orleans just as the sun was rising.

But before I close, I just want to point out two awesome things about the Nicholas home. First, longest hallway ever:

And second, Elvis:

Hopefully, I'll be back again soon.

New Orleans: Adventures in Food

I took a quick trip to New Orleans last weekend and just happened to coincide with Tulane's annual Crawfest. I'm not a seafood lover. I tried some sort of crab sandwich last year for my mom's birthday thinking that I was perhaps mistaken about seafood, but I couldn't finish it. However, I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to experience some Cajun cuisine while in Louisiana (I don't know if crawfish is technically Cajun, but it's seafood in Louisiana so... close enough). It must be good because there was a long line of people just waiting to pick up their portion of the 6 tons of crawfish Tulane bought for the occasion.

For those of you unfamiliar with crawfish, like I was, it's kind of like a little lobster. See:

And you know it's cooked because the tail curls up, like so:

And then you crack it open:

Inside you find a tiny little morsel of spiced deliciousness.

Even Peter wanted some.

{Don't worry. He didn't have any.}

It's a lot of work for a little something, and if you think about it too hard, it's pretty disgusting. Especially when you see the aftermath of empty carcasses.

Later that evening, we went for another taste of delectable New Orleans fare. I took pictures along the way. For some reason, this house feels very Southern Gothic to me. It seems like the perfect setting for a story.

Speaking of Southern Gothic. Creepy trees.

According to Amanda, and Martha Stewart, people paint the ceiling of their beautiful verandas blue to deter insects. It's supposed to work.

I just love all the verandas and the furniture on the verandas. But the sun wasn't cooperating with my picture taking.

Good thing there's an evacuation route.

And the trees on St. Charles are full of beads.

We ate at Zea's on St. Charles street and each shared spared ribs, rotisserie chicken, veal, cheese grits, perfectly steamed broccoli, red beans, dirty rice, potatoes, and snap peas. It was quite the feast. But we needed something to top it off, so we ventured over to the Creole Creamery.

I was so pleased with the weather while I was in New Orleans. It was a sunny 70-something degrees. A nice change from the sporadic Utah weather where it was snowing the day before I left.

Southern summer night with a full moon... could anything be better?

That night, we watched A Streetcar Named Desire. Southern indeed.

One Whole Year

My darling nephew, Peter, turned 1 today. Amanda posted a great photo recap of his first year on their blog.

Talk Radio

I know I'm getting old because I tend to listen to talk radio more than my iPod in the car lately. I'm always so pleased when I catch an episode of Fair Game with Faith Salie. During Sundance, I heard she was up in Park City, and I almost ditched out of wherever it was I was going to see if I could find her. She just sounds so charming on the radio. And then every once in a while, I listen to Wiretap with Jonathan Goldstein. I've probably only heard two or three episodes, but I liked it.

I just added Fair Game to my podcast subscription so I won't miss it anymore. Sadly, Wiretap isn't available on podcast (that I found in the 5 minutes I just looked), but you can find clips on their website, linked above.

Another great podcast is the New Yorker Fiction one. Each month, a current fiction writer chooses a story from the New Yorker archives and reads it and talks about it. They're generally about half an hour, which is perfect for commuting. I just wish they updated the podcast more often.

Driveways

Driving home and it was windy and because I live in the desert it was all chalky. I could taste it when I opened the door.

Just over six months ago I posted the song Adventures in Solitude. I was listening to it again tonight as I drove home, and I had to sit and wait in the driveway because I got home before my favorite part (about 2:26 minutes into the song). It perfectly suited my mood. I love it when music does that.

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's (I've) been kind of dull lately.

{Picture taken from my driveway tonight.}

Deep Thoughts

One of my favorite Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey goes something like this:

The crows seemed to calling his name, thought Caw

Classic, right? Or how about this one:

I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks yes, you can talk, but listen to yourself!

Ok, just one more (and yes, I do have a book of these):

If I live in the Wild West days, instead of carrying a six-gun in my holster, I'd carry a soldering iron. That was if some smart-aleck cowboy said something like, "Hey look. He's carrying a soldering iron!" and started laughing, and everybody else started laughing, I could just say, "That's right, it's a soldering iron. The soldering iron of justice." Then everyone would get real quiet and ashamed, because they made fun of the soldering iron of justice, and I could probably hit them up for a free drink.

I was just reminiscing about Deep Thoughts because this morning while I was drying my hair I read this funny piece by him in The New Yorker.

How I Want to Be Remembered

Commitments

So I'm getting to be that age where if I'm not married I should at least have a couple of cats. And if not cats, I should at least have my own place or something. Maybe some furniture, pots and pans, a canister of flour? I get these cravings to settle down somewhere and have a place of my own. This seems to be especially strong while flipping through any number of magazines like Domino or even the IKEA catalog. When I first moved back to Utah, I would scour the apartments on Craigslist like nothing else and imagine myself in any number of them. Ultimately, I was terrified to commit to a lease. I'm glad because my current living situation has turned out so fantastically (and my job track record much less so).

I've moved many times in my life. I moved to Massachusetts at 18 and then back again. I served in four different areas on my mission, which means four different moves (and in Montana where we moved with cars, we certainly didn't stick to the two suitcase rule). I moved up to Logan and lived in two different apartments there, and then I moved midway across the country to Indiana. While at Purdue I lived in three different apartments. So yeah, I have a lot of experience packing and unpacking, and while it was certainly a nuisance, it was doable.

But I just spent the past three weeks helping my mom get ready to move. I didn't have a real job to go to everyday, so it was pretty much my full time job. Where I was used to moving a room, moving an entire household with 30 years accumulated stuff had my head spinning. And I start thinking about where I am in my life and how maybe it's not so bad that I don't have much to call my own. Even though I often feel like I should have my future more mapped out, the truth of the matter is that I don't. So for right now, I guess I'll stick with what I can move across country in my own little four-door. It's kind of nice to remain uncommitted for the time being.

First Day

I was a little anxious this morning and left for my first day of work much earlier than needed. What did I do with the extra half hour? Parked far away from everyone and took a few pictures while I listened to NPR. It would've been a perfect day for fall, all misty and bare. Too bad it's supposed to be spring.

The first day went well. It's a friendly place, and I like that. Guess I'll be going back again tomorrow.