What happened?

A few weeks ago everyone was complaining about the cold. It WAS cold. Now it is averaging in the low 70s. The trees are blooming. It's sunny outside.

It's so weird to live in a place with actual seasons.

Labels.

Okay I have decided to start labeling my entries so readers can find things of interest, in my blog, without searching for them too hard. I did this primarily for my recipes. This way, at the click of a button (on the right) you can have all my recipes on one page. Or, at the click of a button, you can see all my posts from LA or New Orleans. As time goes on and as I add more recipes I will start dividing them into category. It didn't seem necessary right now.

City Park.

City Park is the big park we have here in New Orleans. It is like Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, except it's a bit different. City Park has museums, botanical gardens, and other similar things, and it is in the center of the city just like Golden Gate Park. However, unlike GGP, City Park is like... swamp land. Local landscape. We were standing by the river and I was genuinely concerned about an alligator eating my dog. But, it was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon anyway. I mean, since an alligator didn't eat my dog.

The river was really beautiful, though.
We saw some people laying next to the
river on a blanket, with a fishing pole. I
asked, "what are you fishing for?" They
looked at me and shrugged. "Whatever
we can catch, I guess."

I also really liked the beautiful oak trees
all over the park.

I don't know why this guy was so confused.
What, you've never seen a camera before?
Relax, dude.

Darwin really doesn't appreciate water
very much.

So we were both kind of surprised that
he dived right in after only a few moments.
He didn't swim, but, I wonder if it was only
because he was attached to the leash.

Birmingham.

So a week ago I went to Birmingham for a three day weekend. My uncle unfortunately passed away (R.I.P. Ward Yielding), and my mom had to fly out there from California to tie up a bunch of loose ends and make various arrangements. Birmingham is only 350 miles from New Orleans, so I agreed to drive up there and help out. I had actually been to Birmingham before when I was like 5-years-old. I literally have maybe two memories of being there. So, it was kind of like I'd never been there at all. I brought Darwin along, too, because he is good road trip company.

My mom grew up in Birmingham (at least until the age of 9, or so), so a lot of time was spent going on a self-guided tour of her old stomping grounds and meeting some distant relatives I either hadn't met before or hadn't seen since I was a baby. Like most people, I have family in a few different places. My dad's side of the family comes from California and France, and my mom's side comes from Birmingham and Charleston (South Carolina). So the family in Birmingham is all on my mom's father's side. With that said, I learned a lot about where I come from (partly), which was very interesting.

I think the best, most interesting thing I learned was this: my family (on my mom's side) was fucking LOADED! My family used to practically own the city of Birmingham. We had three "empires" they were called, in the family. One was a major local bank chain, another was a major department store throughout the South, and the last was a huge coffee company/distributor. Both the department stores and banks went under in the 80s for different reasons, but the coffee business (Royal Cup Coffee) has stuck around. The point being that I come from old money that disappeared around my time of birth and I therefore never saw a penny of it. Considering the recession and my current financial status, this was admittedly difficult for me to hear and made me *sigh*.

I never got a chance to use my camera much, but I managed to take a couple of photos:

Driving along HWY-59. The drive from
NOLA to Birmingham was much prettier
than the drive from SF to LA.

I always get a room with two queen beds
so Darwin can feel like he's on vacation,
too.

I honestly thought Birmingham was a really
pretty city. A lot of trees, which I like.

You can't really see it because of all the
trees but this is about half of my rich great
grandfather's old house. *sigh*

This is the country club my family used

to be members of. Again, *sigh*.

On the way home. This was not an easy
photo to take, trust me.

When I was in high school, a friend of mine's mom brought me back some tea from when she went to Indonesia. It was just cheap grocery store tea, but it was the most delicious tea I'd ever had. Well okay maybe not EVER, but it wasn't like anything I was used to, and I wanted it to last because I didn't know when I'd ever have it again. So, I kept it around, drinking it only occasionally. Then I forgot about it in my kitchen, and found it like two years later. I still drank it. Then I forgot about it again, and remembered it again after a couple years. At that point, the tea was like four years old, and I had to throw it away. But I wrote down the name in case I got the urge to hunt it down later in life.

Well the day came when I finally decided to scour the internet for this tea. All I had was a brand name, and a vague recollection of what the box looked like.

So I searched and searched, and I found a website that sold it... I think. SariWangi brand? Yes. Green box? Yes. At only $1.50 a box, I was certainly willing to give it a try.

Well only five days after my order was placed, my tea arrived at my front door. Not only was I delighted with my purchase, but I was also delighted at the discovery of this amazing website (which is the main reason for this post). It's http://www.efooddepot.com/ and it is a website that sells all sorts of imported foods, many of which are dirt cheap, and ships them to your door post-haste for like a $5.00 flat rate. I have had a hell of a time finding yellow curry paste here in New Orleans so I tossed that in there too (also like $1.50).

Oh, I just love the internet.

Staying Organized.

So I was sitting here, pen and paper in hand, sorting out all the things I had to do in the next couple of weeks. And then a director of a local community center calls, wondering when I went to come in and meet with them to discuss volunteering. And so, another appointment was made and another commitment was committed to.

So I thought to myself, "I need some sort of planner, or something to keep my life in order here." And then I remembered a gift my cousin got me, as a joke.














I feel more organized already. And look, the 15th is "Act Happy Day!"

ICE CREAM!

One thing that makes me sad about my childhood is that we did not have an ice cream truck in our neighborhood. Okay maybe it doesn't make me SAD... but I do wish we had one. Sometimes during the summer, only on some days, an ice cream truck would circle around our neighborhood. But we never actually knew when it coming, or at what time! And most of the time it didn't even come down my street. It was all very sporadic and unpredictable and pretty lame when I think about it.

But! I noticed we have an ice cream truck in our neighborhood! Even now, during the winter.



So I assume that when the summer months come around, and kids are out of school, and it's hot as hell outside... this thing should come around more often. The ice cream truck in my home neighborhood used to play the "Do Your Ears Hang Low?" song. Which is a funny memory, but, I like this truck's little tune better... even if it doesn't look like a proper ice cream truck. I also think it's funny that it says "hello" which always throws me off. And the little boy running down the street, apparently.

Yup. Living the dream, here in New Orleans. Makin' up for lost time, that's what I'm doing.

(P.S. I've decided to use another website for video hosting, because this website turns the video quality into absolute junk).