Present Tense

It is madness here. Wonderful, glorious, contagious madness. Downtown this morning was a mess of black and gold. Decked out umbrellas adorned with glitter and beads, dancing in the streets (moreso than usual), bloody marys (what is the proper way to do the plural of that anyway?) and beers and fun hats. Even the dogs are dressed up. Kids so little they could fit in a big purse wearing jerseys like swaddling clothes and eye black and SAINTS temporary tattoos on their faces. I was walking around in this outfit earlier:

I starred in pictures with at least 4 people. Instead of saying hello, you just yell "WHO DAT!" and cheer. And cheers. Almost everyone is smiling.






Our policeman on campus gifted us the most blingin' beads... featuring a cop-car pendant that looks like a cross between a pimped out Cadillac and Doc's Delorean.




Some of my coworkers watching Choctow- featuring a lot of our students. A marching band from Tennessee wins my spirit award.
I rode my bike there (on a flat tire...) and then worked on it while waiting for the parade to start. Intrigued by my LED lights, this lady in a fun sequin-sweater started talking with me and it didn't take long for us to be friends. She took these pictures of us.


And then last night I went to the Voodoo Ballerina Ball... where a man dressed very convincingly as a centaur makes sure you are adequately costumed to enter. Inside, there were a few big canvasses and lots of paint, two bouts of musicians, and special drinks with New Orleans Rum. The costumes were incredible- a firefly (complete with real lighting-up-butt made of bubble wrap, plastic bags, and LEDs) was my favorite.

GOOD.



TIMES.

Mardi Gras Pictures