Faith, Justice and Power

Mardis Gras is in like two weeks!  This is roughtly the third year that I've wanted to go.  I think...ok, yeah.  I was making some progress in the meeting people arena.  That is to say, I was starting to drag myself out to begin doing things that might involve meeting girls eventually, if there are, in fact, any girls in this city.

New Orleans, though, is a different story.  We may have to shift gears.  Seattle people aren't going anywhere.  Though I need all of my available vacation days for Chris' mexico wedding...if I start working 12 hour days or something, I can just cash in some of the stock I'm getting on the 15th and fund a quick trip down to New Orleans.  What am I going to do on my own in a strange city?  I don't know.  Maybe it will be a bust.  But I am going to buy some beads and drink some rum and see if I can't make a few friends while I'm there.

Oh shit.  You're supposed to get a hotel eight months in advance.  Dammit.  This is why I can't do fun things.  Maybe next year is going to be my year....

This FAQ says the police are cracking down on girls flashing for beads.  I don't get it.  I thought that was the entire point of the holiday.  Why else would everyone be so happy?  Seriously my knowledge of Mardis Gras consists of advertisements for Girls Gone Wild that I saw a year ago when I first moved here, and one Bond movie.  If there is some aspect of this holiday unrelated to girls being friendly and indiscreet I want no part of it.

This guide does indicate that all the cool shit happens in the French Quarter.  That must be where all the fun people hang out.  There is also a lot of shit about pickpockets.  Wonder if I should leave my fancy ass phone behind?  I'm not sure how to navigate anything without google maps though.  This guide I am reading is awful.  It has all the wrong information.  It keeps talking about a lack of bathrooms--I'm pretty sure bars are legally required to have them.

The whole point of going is to meet people at night after the parades (and to do shots of 151)...but I don't want to sleep outside in the middle of winter.  Maybe getting a rental car and sleeping in it would be an acceptable plan.

Maybe I should just do what it takes to show up.  Maybe I will nearly die of hypothermia, or get tasered and die*, or I will find out that Mardis Gras is actually boring, or I'll accidentally get stuck with people from Seattle (i.e. all dudes), or I won't meet anyone, or worse, the girls in New Orleans will be as bitchy and unfriendly as the ones in Seattle...I don't know.  What I do know is this:  it is far better to sit in a bar telling people what an awful New Orleans trip you had than it is to sit in a bar telling people about that one time you didn't go anywhere.

If I still really want to go in a day or two, I'll suck it up and buy plane and hotel tickets.  If not, this was just another whimsical post about something I should have done.

[Edit]
Based on that story that girl's friend told a year ago...I need to get some beads with flashing lights in them.



*undiagnosed heart condition:  a taser would probably kill me.  This is why I don't talk back to cops.  Not that it matters.  Seriously.  And again.