NOLA hangover

My tiredness is deep right now. Just flew in from New Orleans last night. Will have much more to recount about this trip later, after I've made it through a day at the office playing catch-up and then slept about 12 hours.

All the tourism brochures tell the truth--New Orleans is quite a singular place. Sure, there's a lot of gaudy tourist crap engineered to deliver the "New Orleans experience," but it doesn't take much effort to scratch below the surface and get at least a peek at the true weirdness and decadence of the city. Basically, stay off Bourbon Street (and really only one part of Bourbon--some of it is lovely and quiet) and you'll avoid 80% of the frat boys.

The French Market is the same way. Yes, there are 17 stalls selling the same beignet mix I can buy at the grocery store back home and another 5 stalls hawking Kate Spade knockoffs (which are tempting), but I got some sterling jewelry at a great price, and four ceramic rice bowls (lovely celadon with a brown rim) for $8.

One other shopping coup: a pair of Vietnamese bamboo flip-flops to replace an identical pair I bought with MC last year (and she, as is our tradition, also bought a matching pair). Last year's pair has begun to lose some bamboo strips, and I've been wringing my hands about them, trying to devise some glue or duct-tape repair.

Oh, and the wedding was lovely, the bride even lovelier. The groom's family are the nicest Long-Islanders who ever were. I can say this with authority because I lived there.