Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2003 - 9:44 a.m.
Greetings,
I’m tired. I’m really tired. That comes from staying up until nearly sunrise both Friday and Saturday night. (Technically Saturday and Sunday morning I suppose.)
Friends descended upon Crescentwood Friday afternoon as scheduled. Around 5 p.m. we ventured into the Quarter for a shopping expedition.
Yours Truly bitched and moaned about this. Heat, humidity, nothing but crap in the stores, can’t we just sit down and have a beer, blah, blah, blah.
I am a monster most of the time, never more so than when I am dragged to the Quarter against my will. I had agreed that one trip to the Quarter was inevitable. I mean, my friends don’t get here very often, but I never suspected we’d spend most of their visit tromping around between Decatur and Royal.
For someone who bitched so much, I bought the most “crap”. It’s insidious how that happens.
First we went to Erzulie’s on Dumaine and spent a good hour sniffing every potion, oil, and lotion in the store. I got some sort of “Love” oil on my fingers, which smelled hideous at first, but then calmed down. What it really smelled like was sex. Not love. I don’t generally like to walk around the Quarter smelling like sex, but I guess it happens sometimes.
I bought zippo there, but my Waterloo was fast approaching.
It was then off to Esoterica, my favorite occult shop in the Quarter. And amongst all the incense, oils, books, candles and other ritual tools, there was this bright red lava lamp. Cherry red aluminum base and cap with cut out crescent moons and stars, clear liquid with blood red lava morphing away.
$25.
A steal. A goddamned steal I tell you.
So I just had to buy it. And I did. Of course it was damn hot, so we had to leave it at the store to cool down and continue on our shopping spree.
It was off to Starling, which was closed, predictably. It seems like it’s always closed when I want to go there. I bought my first ritual tool there back in the day. A lovely bell that I gave away to another Setian when I bought my chime bar and then that Setian gave it to another Setian. So that bell is making the rounds.
Then it was up the street to Mystic Curio where I purchased a few stones to use in magical workings to come. That purchase came to $6.
Somehow we got sidetracked into stores that weren’t on The List I agreed to before my friends arrived. (They know what a monster bitch I am about prolonged shopping excursions and to appease me actually drew up The List. Of course I knew The List would go out the window. What I didn’t plan on was buying anything at non-List stores. HA!)
We went to Bottom of the Tea Cup and I bought four little mini tapers for a dollar.
After that it was a blur of non-negotiated stores followed by dinner at the Gumbo Shop. A strawberry daiquiri improved my bitchy mood quite a bit.
We returned to Crescentwood around 8 p.m. or so and the rest of the night passed rather quickly. It culminated in a viewing of a Twilight Zone episode called “He’s Alive” (about Hitler) that ended around 4:30 a.m. and that’s when I fell asleep.
Meow was rather put out that I was sleeping on her couch, but then she settled down.
I woke up about 9:30 with her on top of my chest and Stela on my feet.
We went back to the Quarter for lunch at Fiorella’s around 1:30. We had the world’s slowest, stoned waiter, but the food was good.
After lunch, you guessed it, more shopping.
At Tower I bought a Lisa Gerard CD called “Duality” that I’d heard playing in Esoterica the day before. That was $18.
Then we went to O’Flaherty’s for beer and hard cider. That was fun.
After that, yep, more shopping.
Starling actually was open and I ended up buying two books, one about goddesses around the world, the other “Morning of the Magicians” about magic and science. And some “Elegua” scented homemade incense. 20 bucks.
We found this awesome store, Voodoo Authentica, which I’d never been in before. I found a Papa Legba voodoo candle. Of all the loa, Papa Legba is my favorite. He opens the gates between here and there. :)
A tour of the Voodoo Museum followed this. Then it was off to Bourbon Street and Marie Laveau’s. Very voodoo afternoon!
Ah, and then the drinking began. It started off at Old Absinthe House with a limon ice followed by dinner at The Corner on Jackson Square. Then back to Bourbon Street for a hand grenade and lots of walking up and down looking at tourists and drunks.
We ended up at Lafitte’s, as usual – a trip down Bourbon is not complete for me unless it ends at Lafitte’s. Whiskey sours and laughing conversation about fish and crimson tide and How To Murder Fuckalie ensued.
We returned to Crescentwood relatively early, around midnight, and then it was Schwinn Pixie run for frozen pizza which set off the smoke detector in the kitchen three times as it was cooking. Oy!
We settled down to watch “Angel Heart” about 1:30 a.m. but with all the drama around the pizza, it was 4:30 before the movie ended.
I made it until about 3 a.m. before I crept off to my Study to sleep on the aerobed in there until Tommy came in after the movie had me move to the couch with the cats.
Stela and Agatha slept on the recliner part of the couch, Meow slept in her basket (!!!???) and yet when I woke up there was 25 pounds of fat Pandora ass sleeping on my chest.
We had coffee and Danish and tried for a couple of hours to wake up before taking off for the Westblank and lunch at Chevy’s.
We got back to Crescentwood around 3 or so and my friends packed up their car and left and I immediately ran to the couch with a library book and took a three-hour nap.
Then yesterday I was like a zombie at work, and today I’m still zombie-like, only not as bad.
But more friends are descending upon Crescentwood this weekend. I predict another late night on Saturday!
Well, I’m off for some more coffee.
Until next time,
Olrun
