After Girlfriend Weekend, we scheduled 1 day to recover and then planned to drive to New Orleans for a 3-day visit. (Neither my traveling friend or I had ever been there so this was a great opportunity.)
Well, first off, the idea of "recovery" was a joke. It takes more than 1 day to recover from a weekend like that, and then we decided to go with our hosts (also good friends) to see 2 movies. Why not? But the real highlight came after the movies when we drove to the drive-up window of the take-out daiquiri place. We just drove up to the window and ordered from a huge menu (hey, you can even order daiquaris by the gallon!). They handed back the frozen drinks in unmarked styrofoam cups with a piece of tape over each lid so that technically they are closed containers. Then we put the straws in the drinks and drove off, drinking all the way home for the 1-hour drive. And those drinks weren't watered down, either. What a hoot! Definitely an only-in-Texas moment.
Anyway, we hit New Orleans just at the beginning of Mardi Gras season. (Silly me, I always thought it was just a 2 or 3-day celebration, but noooooo, it is an entire 9-week season. Which follows directly on the heels of the 4 to 5-week Christmas season. I don't know how they survive.) We actually got to see one parade, which was unexpected.
So what did we do? Day 1 we slept late then ate a fabulous lunch at the Commanders Palace (incredible food, amazing service, and 25-cent martinis -- how can you go wrong with that?), then wandered across the street to the Lafayette cemetery and ended up joining a walking tour of the cemetery and the Garden district to a bunch of houses that have ghosts. The guide explained a lot about how the tombs function, told us great stories about the houses, and provided a lot of historical info. It was great! By the end, we were so tired that we could not bring ourselves to stay up and do the town. (Well, in our defense, we still had not fully recovered from the weekend!)
Day 2 we got up early and tried to get on a bus tour of the city but it was scheduled for the afternoon so instead we went to a warehouse where they make the parade floats for most of the krewes (those are social clubs that put on the mardi gras parades -- each krewe has it's separate parade, which is why there are parades every couple of days during the season). Being able to get up close and personal to the parade floats was amazing. Everything is really huge -- something you don't realize when you're standing far away watching. Then we had a wonderful lunch in a hotel overlooking the Mississippi River (every time I see the word Mississippi I think of jump rope rhymes when I was a kid). The afternoon city tour by Greyline was really good -- it was very comprehensive. Yes, we saw some Katrina devastated neighbornoods (lots of blocks with 4 or 5 refurbished houses, 2 or 3 houses that still haven't been fixed up, and lots of empty lots), but we didn't go into the worst sections (that was another tour and we really didn't want to look at storm victims like they were in the zoo). We had dinner an another notable restaurant, Irene's, but were definitely disappointed -- the food was just ho hum.
By the time evening came, we were ready to tackle Bourbon Street. Our B&B was located right at the beginning (or end, I don't know which) of Bourbon Street, so we ended up walking the entire length up and back. And what an experience. The cacaphony of music blaring out the doors of clubs, and barkers trying to get you to come into the clubs and the girlie shows, and people walking the street with signs for cheap beer and cheap drinks, and the bright lights almost felt assaultive -- but also fun. Clearly they are geared towards people who want to get drunk as fast and as cheap as possible which is not something I'm interested in doing. Not sure I'd need to do Bourbon St too many more times. We ended up in one club listening to New Orleans-style jazz for awhile, and then finished the evening at a blues club. The interesting thing was that I asked a couple of people during the day about where they go to hear good music and the answer was "home." Apparently a lot of the musicians have not returned to New Orleans and the music scene just isn't was it used to be. Of course, you can hear good stuff in small clubs and bars throughout the city, but those places are hard to find if you only have 3 days. I liked what I heard, so I was happy.
Day 3 we took a bus tour to 2 plantations, one American and one Creole. I learned that the two cultures were very different -- different architecture for the plantation houses, different social rules, different religions and languages, different ways of running the plantation. It was fascinating. And one of the plantations was part of the origin of the Uncle Remus Br'er Rabbit stories (although at the time the stories were collected by folklorists, there was no Uncle Remus -- he was invented later). And we capped our trip by a return trip to Commander's Palace because we just had to try a few more things on the menu. It was SO worth it!!!!
So now I'm home trying to rest up and get ready for the next trip which is next week. On to Orlando and Harry Potter.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Girlfriend Weekend Is A Wild Ride
I don't even know how to start describing what the last 3 days have been like. I knew that the event, put on by Kathy Patrick who started the Pulpwood Queen book club (now over 500 chapters strong), was going to include authors, tiaras, leopard print everything, and hot pink, glued together with lots of southern flamboyance and women ready to play. I expected that almost all the featured books and authors would be fluffy romance stuff, which is not the kind of thing I enjoy reading. But I also knew that my favorite author, Pat Conroy, would be there, and so I bought the ticket and showed up. What actually happened was far above and beyond my expectations.
First of all, there was a wide spread of book types and authors. (I came away with a fairly long list of books that I'm really looking forward to reading.) Although there is a heavy emphasis on southern authors (many of them first-time authors), there was a good smattering of authors from other places too. And a healthy dose of well-known, award-winning authors too. For 2 long days, we listened to panels of 4 or 5 authors tell about themselves and their latest book -- a different panel every hour, and that's a lot of authors. Plus a different keynote speaker every morning. And every author was available for book signing. Plus a silly-fun dinner theater thing Thursday where the authors were in the play and served dinner, a talent show Friday night where several authors joined in the fun (talents ranged from genuine talent to bouncing a ball on a racket), and the Big Hair Ball on Saturday night, which is a costume event for which everyone goes all out.
On the more serious side, it was an amazing experience to meet so many authors all talking about their backgrounds, how they got started writing, and their paths to publishing. Kathy Patrick really showcases new authors and some of those books look very interesting and are not necessarily books that I'd know about otherwise. Not only are the featured books for sale at the event (Barnes and Noble set up a mobile shop), but publishers were giving away advance reader copies of several of the books and also provided a bunch of other giveaway books to entice us to give them a try. We kept getting so many free books that by the end, I ended up with 17 books (only 4 of those were ones I purchased). Of course "free" means that I end up paying money to have them shipped home, but it is still amazing. Apparently the publishers recognize that Kathy Patrick has created a large network of readers -- many of the authors stated that this was unlike any other book event they have ever been to. Even the Dallas Morning News prints the Pulpwood Queen book selection list along with the New York Times bestseller list. And Kathy Patrick single-handedly has gotten more than one first-time author recognized by publishers. As a side note, Pat Conroy told us that he wrote his latest book, My Reading Life, because of the delightful time he had at a previous Girlfriend Weekend event, after seeing how important reading was to so many people.
I think it would be hard to create a similar event in California, in part because it has such a southern regional flavor. But also, this event hinges entirely on Kathy Patrick's ability to create relationships between authors and authors, and between authors and readers. And also because she is able to talk people into doing things they would not ordinarily do. And the result is pure magic.
So I'm coming home with an armload of books I'm dying to read, and a list of even more books that I'm going to download onto my Kindle ASAP. And I've discovered some authors that are wonderful. It's worth being tired to the bone.
First of all, there was a wide spread of book types and authors. (I came away with a fairly long list of books that I'm really looking forward to reading.) Although there is a heavy emphasis on southern authors (many of them first-time authors), there was a good smattering of authors from other places too. And a healthy dose of well-known, award-winning authors too. For 2 long days, we listened to panels of 4 or 5 authors tell about themselves and their latest book -- a different panel every hour, and that's a lot of authors. Plus a different keynote speaker every morning. And every author was available for book signing. Plus a silly-fun dinner theater thing Thursday where the authors were in the play and served dinner, a talent show Friday night where several authors joined in the fun (talents ranged from genuine talent to bouncing a ball on a racket), and the Big Hair Ball on Saturday night, which is a costume event for which everyone goes all out.
On the more serious side, it was an amazing experience to meet so many authors all talking about their backgrounds, how they got started writing, and their paths to publishing. Kathy Patrick really showcases new authors and some of those books look very interesting and are not necessarily books that I'd know about otherwise. Not only are the featured books for sale at the event (Barnes and Noble set up a mobile shop), but publishers were giving away advance reader copies of several of the books and also provided a bunch of other giveaway books to entice us to give them a try. We kept getting so many free books that by the end, I ended up with 17 books (only 4 of those were ones I purchased). Of course "free" means that I end up paying money to have them shipped home, but it is still amazing. Apparently the publishers recognize that Kathy Patrick has created a large network of readers -- many of the authors stated that this was unlike any other book event they have ever been to. Even the Dallas Morning News prints the Pulpwood Queen book selection list along with the New York Times bestseller list. And Kathy Patrick single-handedly has gotten more than one first-time author recognized by publishers. As a side note, Pat Conroy told us that he wrote his latest book, My Reading Life, because of the delightful time he had at a previous Girlfriend Weekend event, after seeing how important reading was to so many people.
I think it would be hard to create a similar event in California, in part because it has such a southern regional flavor. But also, this event hinges entirely on Kathy Patrick's ability to create relationships between authors and authors, and between authors and readers. And also because she is able to talk people into doing things they would not ordinarily do. And the result is pure magic.
So I'm coming home with an armload of books I'm dying to read, and a list of even more books that I'm going to download onto my Kindle ASAP. And I've discovered some authors that are wonderful. It's worth being tired to the bone.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Jefferson, TX and New Orleans here I come
I'm getting ready for my first I'm-retired-so-I-can-go-anywhere-anytime trip. First destination is to Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas (http://www.beautyandthebook.com/girlfriend-weekend.html) and then on to New Orleans. OK, what's Girlfriend Weekend you ask? Well, to make a long story short, there is a wild woman named Kathy Patrick in Jefferson who opened a shop that is both a beauty shop and a bookstore, then started up a book club called the Pulpwood Queens. Although they are serious about reading, they don't take themselves very seriously -- tiaras, leopard accessories, and pink are nearly mandatory attire at book club meetings (it is Texas, after all). Well, the book club has snowballed and there are now over 200 chapters in the USA. So a few years ago Kathy organized a gathering of book club members and rounded up a bunch of authors and started Girlfriend Weekend. This year is really is an extravaganza of several hundred people and over 70 authors and 3 solid days of panel discussions, talks, meet-and-greet functions, etc. Fannie Flagg and Pat Conroy (one of my favorites) will be keynote speakers. The event works because the authors have as much fun as the attendees. I am really excited about going!!!!
Fun fact: Random House publishers have bankrolled the first few episodes of a new reality TV show called Beauty and the Book (which is the name of Kathy Patrick's salon/bookstore). They are going to do a premier showing of the show during the weekend.
As for New Orleans, need I say anything? I'm looking forward to the 4 B's -- bourbon, blues, beignets, and bread pudding, in that order. I've never been there, so I'm hoping to get to the Mardi Gras museum, stay up late listening to great music, and just soak in the atmosphere. I'll probably come home tired, but it will be worth it.
I'll keep you posted on my airport experience -- not looking forward to the new TSA security procedures. Yuck.
Fun fact: Random House publishers have bankrolled the first few episodes of a new reality TV show called Beauty and the Book (which is the name of Kathy Patrick's salon/bookstore). They are going to do a premier showing of the show during the weekend.
As for New Orleans, need I say anything? I'm looking forward to the 4 B's -- bourbon, blues, beignets, and bread pudding, in that order. I've never been there, so I'm hoping to get to the Mardi Gras museum, stay up late listening to great music, and just soak in the atmosphere. I'll probably come home tired, but it will be worth it.
I'll keep you posted on my airport experience -- not looking forward to the new TSA security procedures. Yuck.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Being a bum is harder than I thought
The first three weeks of retirement don't count because I was running around doing all the Christmas holiday stuff and heavily involved in the Revels Christmas show (10 performances). But the day after Christmas it started and BOOM, just like that I turned into a bum in one week. Who knew it was that easy?
For three days I didn't even get out of my jammies. Watched movies and played computer games all day. Stayed up late and slept in late. So before I knew it, I was staying up until 3 AM and sleeping until noon. Now, I've always been a morning person -- wake up naturally around 6 AM wide awake and ready for the day, then get really sleepy by 10:30 or 11:00. This staying up late thing and sleeping late was a whole new thing for me.
I read a book a long time ago (can't possibly remember the title) about a woman who rents a cottage for a year on Cape Cod. Her goal was to get away from people and her old life. So she decided to sleep, wake, and eat whenever she felt like it, with complete disregard to normal schedules. If she slept 18 hours and stayed up 24 hours and ate breakfast at 3 AM, that was perfectly fine. She gradually discovered that her natural schedule did not correlate to the normal expectations -- her body was comfortable with about a 30-hour day.
And so I've always wondered what my natural rhythm would be. By the Saturday after Christmas, I found myself still up and alert at 3 AM and horrified at how fast the change had happened. I'd turned into a total bum in only one week!!!! I was more than a little concerned but then I remembered several retired friends telling me that there is a long adjustment period, so I relaxed a bit and finally went to bed at 3:30 AM.
And the next day, a miracle happened. My brain awoke at 7 AM, alert and ready for the day. So I figured I might as well get up, fully expecting to crash in the afternoon. But amazingly, I was awake all day until 11:30. And this morning is the same. So I figure that maybe I've finally had all the sleep and resting up that my body can possibly tolerate and that I'm back to my normal self and just don't have the right constitution to be a real, long-term bum. All those years when I was sitting at my desk at work and fantasizing about laying around the house doing nothing and it turns out that it's just not as easy as I thought. I guess I need to find other ways to spend my time.
Next week, I'm off to New Orleans.......but will talk about that next blog.
For three days I didn't even get out of my jammies. Watched movies and played computer games all day. Stayed up late and slept in late. So before I knew it, I was staying up until 3 AM and sleeping until noon. Now, I've always been a morning person -- wake up naturally around 6 AM wide awake and ready for the day, then get really sleepy by 10:30 or 11:00. This staying up late thing and sleeping late was a whole new thing for me.
I read a book a long time ago (can't possibly remember the title) about a woman who rents a cottage for a year on Cape Cod. Her goal was to get away from people and her old life. So she decided to sleep, wake, and eat whenever she felt like it, with complete disregard to normal schedules. If she slept 18 hours and stayed up 24 hours and ate breakfast at 3 AM, that was perfectly fine. She gradually discovered that her natural schedule did not correlate to the normal expectations -- her body was comfortable with about a 30-hour day.
And so I've always wondered what my natural rhythm would be. By the Saturday after Christmas, I found myself still up and alert at 3 AM and horrified at how fast the change had happened. I'd turned into a total bum in only one week!!!! I was more than a little concerned but then I remembered several retired friends telling me that there is a long adjustment period, so I relaxed a bit and finally went to bed at 3:30 AM.
And the next day, a miracle happened. My brain awoke at 7 AM, alert and ready for the day. So I figured I might as well get up, fully expecting to crash in the afternoon. But amazingly, I was awake all day until 11:30. And this morning is the same. So I figure that maybe I've finally had all the sleep and resting up that my body can possibly tolerate and that I'm back to my normal self and just don't have the right constitution to be a real, long-term bum. All those years when I was sitting at my desk at work and fantasizing about laying around the house doing nothing and it turns out that it's just not as easy as I thought. I guess I need to find other ways to spend my time.
Next week, I'm off to New Orleans.......but will talk about that next blog.
Monday, December 27, 2010
A last -- a real day of retirement
Yesterday felt like my first real day of retirement. I got to stay in my jammies all day, watching movies and playing computer games, and taking a short snooze. It was fabulous and I got some much needed relaxation time after the hectic pace of the holidays. I must admit that I really haven't figured out how to schedule my time very well so far -- far too many things to do and far too little time to just putter. How do retired people do it? I feel tired all the time and feel like I'm running as fast as I can. OK -- retirement lesson #1 needs to be to stop scheduling so much stuff.....a lesson I've been trying to learn for years and still haven't mastered. Maybe I should declare January to be a month of NO? But that won't work because there are some really fun things coming up in January that I don't want to miss. sigh I think I need to make a Manhattan and contemplate my options.
Friday, December 10, 2010
What day is it?
Today I had my first "I'm retired" moment. I woke up and couldn't figure out what day it was. I thought it was probably Saturday because I knew I didn't have to go to work, but found out it was really Friday when I checked my cell phone. What a hoot!!!!
On the other hand, someone asked me yesterday how retired life is and I immediately launched into my how-would-I-know-I'm-too-busy rant. I've been racing from one thing to another -- mostly Revels stuff heavily laced with personal errands. I haven't had a single sleep-in morning or a chunk of time that I can curl up with a good book. OK, so I know the working people are not exactly crying boo hoo for me, but you have to at least grant me some sympathy.
On another retirement topic, some friends got together and worked up a list of the top 10 things that I MUST do during retirement. So here goes. Working from bottom to top of the list....
10) Kick around the house wearing pajamas and slippers all day. [My comment: what a crock. Who has the time? However, I'm looking forward to this one after Christmas.]
9) Quit wearing lipstick. [My comment: what a crock. I look terrible without lipstick. Not gonna happen.]
8) Drink no more diet manhattans. Manhattans with cherries only. [My comment: this is one that I can do and plan to do with great pleasure.]
7) Never multiply anything by 1.15 again. [Explanation: this stems from a work group who regularly went out to lunch together. Several people had problems calculating the tip so I casually mentioned one day that you just multiply the total by 1.15. They fell over laughing because that sounded even harder to them. And to those who think that a 15% tip is not generous enough, my defense is that the statement was several years ago. Clearly, they have never let me forget my "easy solution".]
6) Wear earrings that don't match. [My comment: OK, most people know that earrings are a big deal for me and that I own several million pairs. And a couple of the pairs do not exactly match. But to intentionally wear earrings from two different pairs -- that's hard. Not sure if I can bring myself to do it.]
5) Be on time, not early for a rendezvous with friends. Maybe even be late. [My comment: OK, they really nailed me on this one. I'm always early. So I'm going to really make an effort to slow down and show up late. But I don't guarantee the results.]
4) Wear your tiara grocery shopping. [My comnment: Now that's a tall order. I'd have to be in a really silly mood -- but I might just do it.]
3) Sleep into double digits. [My comment: For a person who just naturally wakes up around 6 AM, this is not an easy thing to do. And besides, who has the time -- see rant at the beginning of this post.]
2) Unlearn Excel. In fact, uninstall Excel. [My comment: Absolutely, positively, NO. I run my budget on excel, and my travel schedule, and multiple things for Revels. Excel is essential to life!!!]
And the #1 thing I must do during retirement? Have bourbon and butterscotch shnapps coffee for breakfast everyday. [My comment: I wish I could. In fact, I've been a dismal failure -- I haven't even accomplished #1 yet although I do think of it fondly. OK -- I'm gonna try to do at least this one thing tomorrow.]
All in all, I don't think I've earned a very high retirement score so far. sigh
Any other "must do" things during retirement?
On the other hand, someone asked me yesterday how retired life is and I immediately launched into my how-would-I-know-I'm-too-busy rant. I've been racing from one thing to another -- mostly Revels stuff heavily laced with personal errands. I haven't had a single sleep-in morning or a chunk of time that I can curl up with a good book. OK, so I know the working people are not exactly crying boo hoo for me, but you have to at least grant me some sympathy.
On another retirement topic, some friends got together and worked up a list of the top 10 things that I MUST do during retirement. So here goes. Working from bottom to top of the list....
10) Kick around the house wearing pajamas and slippers all day. [My comment: what a crock. Who has the time? However, I'm looking forward to this one after Christmas.]
9) Quit wearing lipstick. [My comment: what a crock. I look terrible without lipstick. Not gonna happen.]
8) Drink no more diet manhattans. Manhattans with cherries only. [My comment: this is one that I can do and plan to do with great pleasure.]
7) Never multiply anything by 1.15 again. [Explanation: this stems from a work group who regularly went out to lunch together. Several people had problems calculating the tip so I casually mentioned one day that you just multiply the total by 1.15. They fell over laughing because that sounded even harder to them. And to those who think that a 15% tip is not generous enough, my defense is that the statement was several years ago. Clearly, they have never let me forget my "easy solution".]
6) Wear earrings that don't match. [My comment: OK, most people know that earrings are a big deal for me and that I own several million pairs. And a couple of the pairs do not exactly match. But to intentionally wear earrings from two different pairs -- that's hard. Not sure if I can bring myself to do it.]
5) Be on time, not early for a rendezvous with friends. Maybe even be late. [My comment: OK, they really nailed me on this one. I'm always early. So I'm going to really make an effort to slow down and show up late. But I don't guarantee the results.]
4) Wear your tiara grocery shopping. [My comnment: Now that's a tall order. I'd have to be in a really silly mood -- but I might just do it.]
3) Sleep into double digits. [My comment: For a person who just naturally wakes up around 6 AM, this is not an easy thing to do. And besides, who has the time -- see rant at the beginning of this post.]
2) Unlearn Excel. In fact, uninstall Excel. [My comment: Absolutely, positively, NO. I run my budget on excel, and my travel schedule, and multiple things for Revels. Excel is essential to life!!!]
And the #1 thing I must do during retirement? Have bourbon and butterscotch shnapps coffee for breakfast everyday. [My comment: I wish I could. In fact, I've been a dismal failure -- I haven't even accomplished #1 yet although I do think of it fondly. OK -- I'm gonna try to do at least this one thing tomorrow.]
All in all, I don't think I've earned a very high retirement score so far. sigh
Any other "must do" things during retirement?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
This is it!
Woke up this morning with that Christmas morning feeling, and for a few seconds wasn't sure why. Then I realized that today is the biggest, bestest, most incredible Christmas present of all.......freedom. After 48 years of working full time, retirement day has finally come. I think the full impact of being retired won't hit me for awhile.
My farewell party at the office was a hoot and a half. I decided to show up in my new "retirement uniform" so I arrived wearing my pink kitty cat pajamas and my fuzzy flamingo slippers, with a cocktail shaker full of Manhattans in one hand and a martini glass in the other. Might as well go out with a bang! I have a photo but haven't figured out yet out to upload the photo so that I'm standing vertical and not horizontal. Will work on that.
So what are my first day plans? I want to start this retirement thing on the right tone, so I'm going out to a 2-cocktail lunch and then I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie. That ought to set the mood correctly.
Back to that "retirement uniform" theme. What a crock......I took a look at my calendar and I have next-to-nil days when I can just laze around in my jammies. Mostly because of my seasonal duties with the California Revels performances (www.californiarevels.org) -- always a very busy time of year. OK, OK, I chose to do all this stuff, I know. Guess I'll have to balance it all with a bunch of do-nothing days in January. Do I think that's really going to happen? Not sure.
My farewell party at the office was a hoot and a half. I decided to show up in my new "retirement uniform" so I arrived wearing my pink kitty cat pajamas and my fuzzy flamingo slippers, with a cocktail shaker full of Manhattans in one hand and a martini glass in the other. Might as well go out with a bang! I have a photo but haven't figured out yet out to upload the photo so that I'm standing vertical and not horizontal. Will work on that.
So what are my first day plans? I want to start this retirement thing on the right tone, so I'm going out to a 2-cocktail lunch and then I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie. That ought to set the mood correctly.
Back to that "retirement uniform" theme. What a crock......I took a look at my calendar and I have next-to-nil days when I can just laze around in my jammies. Mostly because of my seasonal duties with the California Revels performances (www.californiarevels.org) -- always a very busy time of year. OK, OK, I chose to do all this stuff, I know. Guess I'll have to balance it all with a bunch of do-nothing days in January. Do I think that's really going to happen? Not sure.
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