Cold Spaghetti

It’s here!

Alejna and I are proud to share with you, the FINAL SELECTIONS for the JUST POSTS : BEST OF 2009!

Writing that was so very exciting that I had to supress the urge to animate the text with flashing rainbows and dancing bears… let’s break out the iced coffee and Jameson, y’all!  WHOO-HOO!

Please vote! And spread the word to others to vote, contribute, nominate, write, and read!  And most importantly — Thank you thank you thank you for your interest, support, and involvement in the Just Posts!

VOTING AND PRIZES!

Right here, in THIS POST, you can vote for your favorite finalist by category.  You can also write in a favorite overall post.  Fancy!

• Vote within as many categories as you like, but please vote only once in each category.
• There’s no need to vote in all categories at once–come back as often as you like before voting ends.
• We’ll have the polls up and open for one week.

At the end of Monday night, March 22nd, we will close the poll and start to tally the results. The top votes in each category will receive a hand-made tile from a New Orleans artisan with a few trinkets thrown in for good measure. Using your votes and any additional written input, we will recognize a post (or two, we’re not ruling out ties) as the Best of the Best Just Posts. We’ll do something extra special for this.

Just scroll on down and start voting if you’re ready!

For those that are interested, here is a run down of our imperfect process:

Using your comments and ratings we narrowed down the long list of finalists. From there, we created categories that reflected all of those 130+ posts. Then we went back to the comments and ratings and narrowed down the categories (our goal was 3 in each category; note some have 4). We made great efforts to represent a variety of voices, writers and experiences.  In no way is this list or these categories representative of the broad theme of “Social Justice.” It represents what we’ve been able to gather, write and have nominated.

Based on those finalists, we narrowed down to 4 broad categories, with topics under each:

• POLITICAL/LEGAL: Gender Equity, Sexuality, Race
• HEALTH/WELLNESS: Food and Nutrition, Disease and Illness, Child Welfare
• SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES: Vulnerable populations, Education, Social/Societal Values
• ADVOCACY/SERVICE: Service and Action, Information and Advocacy

(Plus a HUMOR category as the lagniappe!)

Now all that is left is the VOTING!  Did I mention that we hope you’ll vote?  And spread the word?

Thank you again for your support of the Just Posts!

JUST POSTS FOR A JUST WORLD : BEST POSTS OF 2009

Remember the Star Wars Lego mural?

Paul found some software to pixelate images into LEGO colors.  He hacked it up a bit and we played around with photographs and priced out bricks and just generally threw around ideas until late last summer… when Will broke his arm and I painted Luke’s X-wing on Will’s cast. It was clear that having something BIG and STAR WARS would be cool in The Little Man’s room, so Paul decided to tackle the original Star Wars poster. In LEGO. 

All four of us worked on it (yes, Kate, too!) during Saints games. Note to prospective LEGO-mural builders: images with lots of one color (e.g.: black) are excellent for pint-sized helpers. Also, black and white 1×1 bricks are among the cheapest bricks and can be found in bulk.

We finished it awhile back.  And after it sat in boxes for another month or so, we finally decided on how to hang it and got it up on the wall.

Because of the size and weight, we were not thrilled with the idea of permanently adhering it to a board, or putting it within a frame.

Instead, Paul used velcro along a melamine board and then adhered velcro to the back of the base plates.   Once the melamine board was hung on the wall, he began adhering the base plates piece-by-piece, starting at the center.

With 20 10-inch base plates, the entire mural is 40-inches wide and 50-inches high.   There are more than 20,000 1×1 bricks.

While the software provided a pixelated image to work from, we still ended up doing some artistic tweaking. The biggest changes came to Luke and Leia. Flesh tones are difficult in LEGO. Particularly when paired with figures wearing light-colored clothing. We played with an assortment of white, off-white, tan (dark and light) and oranges to get the final picture. Paul bought extra in these colors to accommodate the changes we ended up making.

Here is the final result:

Cool AND geeky.

I don’t know what it was like for y’all, but February?  Did it really happen?  I’m having a hard time remembering.

We had the playoffs and then everything sort of goes blurry. I remember that I voted. And there was that event that drew in more viewers than any other event in U.S. television history.

I do have memories of Lombardi Gras née Mardi Gras.  I remember parades and parties and costumes and friends and all that comes with the season, but it doesn’t seem possible that so many things happened in short, stunted little February with it’s 28 days.  I guess February showed us who was boss?

In the meantime, we did read and collect Just Post goodness.  The Best of 2009 is SO CLOSE, we promise.  Just a few more wrinkles in the polling methods to iron out. (Note: Vote in post below!  It’s clear now that it works, but the ice cream flavors are cracking me up, so please chime in if you hadn’t and I’ll present the results.)

I’m hoping for more wonderful in March and have all fingers crossed that you’ll pass on the marvels you read.  Light-up toys and shiny beads could hang in the balance?

—-

• Heather of finding atman with We can do better
• Emily at Wheels on the Bus with You Gotta Fight for the Right to Plie
• Tiffany Sellers of PR Musings of a Clemson Student with The Line Between Charity and Justice
• Eric at It’s the Question that Drives Us with Helping Haiti or Hurting Haiti
• girlgriot at If You Want Kin, You Must Plant Kin with Common Ground
• Country Girl at Country Girl/City Girl with That Slacker Blogger Thing
• Absence of Alternatives and Velva of Tomatoes on the Vine with The Price of Tomatoes
• Morganna of Lizbeth’s Garden with bombs
• Communication for Change with Todays’ Bad Word: Working Poor
• Oh the Joys with Enormity of Need
• Cecilieaux at Antipode with Piling on Muslims
• Barbara of An American in Lima with How to Prepare for an Earthquake in a Third World Country
• Flying Tomato Farm with Sounds Corny to Me and Stockholm Syndrome for Farmers
• Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven with Testing the Ice
• Ilina at Dirt and Noise with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Initiative

• Alejna
• Denguy
• Holly

Be sure to send some love to Alejna, too!

After necessary breaks for crazy work schedules, celebrations, and weather, we’re back on the home renovation wagon.  (Literally.  Stick with me a few and you’ll see what I mean.)

If you’re new here, here’s the jist: we bought a 100+ year old shotgun double almost 6 years ago.  When we moved it, it had no kitchen and no fully functional bathroom.  We’ve been renovating it ourselves (think optimistic D-I-Y) non-stop since then.  It’s a slow process.

With the onset of glorious 60 degree days, we’ve started to dig out the backyard.

Drainage is an ongoing issue here.  Paul dug out the mess the idiot builder of the pillar to ugly created along one side of the house and it works beautifully.  Paul’s now proven method?  Bring the house back to original grade.  This is where the sides of the house were when we bought it almost 6 years ago and finally, the sides are back.

The backyard has been another story.

A good foot or more of soil gathered over the backyard and it’s not draining well in rain.  Specifically, it wants to go into our foundation.  Our plan is to bring it back to grade (and to the same level as the shotgun double next door) as it was originally built.  We found treasure troves of bricks in our various projects, so the plan is to dig out the yard, lay down a gravel bed, and properly install the bricks in a patio — with raised planting areas around it.

The first step is to remove a lot of dirt.

Will has been helping, treasure hunting along the way.  What you can see below represents much of his collection.  Among the loot is a comb, a ninja bone, a square termite house, and various pieces of metal.  (He’s also found glass marbles, but they were washed and brought inside.)

See how much soil we’re trying to remove?  That’s the back of our house.  One day we’ll be able to climb outside without twisting an ankle.

It’s about a foot deep.  Over the entire back yard.

Every crumble has to be carried out of the back.  Paul has been coordinating folks interested in the free dirt — people with trucks and trailers come and pick up from the beds out front or let Paul fill up their trailers.

See what he’s pulling?

This is the helper.  Back on the wagon.  (A moan-worthy joke, I agree.)

Will shows me one of his newest treasure finds.

Treasures are collected near Will’s special stool.  Paul built this with scrap wood while he was framing the back of the house — he needed a place where Will would periodically stay put.  Will provided some decor.

I haven’t a clue what the drawing is representing.

Here’s the little man, hard at work.

And here’s a beefcake shot.  We’ve all missed them.

And here’s a Patootie shot.  Look who’s up from her nap!

Once dug up, the dirt is wheeled to the front.  Paul tells me this is the hardest part.

Will earns his ride in the wagon.

Meanwhile, Kate plays with Will’s treasures.  In this case, the glass marbles Will found.  They were a good foot down, so who knows how old they could be?

The river sure looks cool in the wee hours of morning.  If it weren’t for soccer, I’d never have known.

One practice a week.  Then one “game” that is half practice, half mini-game.  2-3 hours a week.  PERFECT.

Or so I thought.  My lollipop and rainbows perspective of kids sports is that it should all be high-fives and camaraderie.  But in reality, we’ve had to have serious talks about it.  Some of the kids (and coaches, coaches of 4, 5, and 6 year old kids to be specific) are actually out for blood.  I’ll hold the tirade on why adults are encouraging 4, 5, and 6 year olds to attack each other in the hopes that this is just one or two isolated douchebags.  But the fact is that kids pick up on that negative influence, my kid included.

It was horrible.  This is my sweet kid who can’t pass by a baby without making goo-goo faces.

I swallowed my thoughts on how, maybe, kids under the age of 10 should only do dance and art and music and swimming and gymnastics.  Things where competitiveness is really about doing their best, not about beating another team.  Maybe there is something to learn from playing in a team, but it certainly isn’t about winning, and I’m starting to feel like that sort of experience doesn’t exist.

Paul talked me down from the ledge with thoughts that we could make this a teaching moment.  Okay.  Fine.  So we’ve had talks about sportsmanship and the oh-so-not-important scoring/winning thing which is lame.  Seriously, people.  Winning anything in team sports at age 5 is lame.  Let’s be real here.  It’s about not letting down your team and being a good athlete!

We deliver all of this in the most enthusiastic voices.  And deliver our disappointment at those who feel that taking out the other team by knocking them down, or talking trash, or seeing them as anything less than colleagues and friends and other jovial kids in the most decrepit, vile voices.  Bah on them, we say!  Up with peace, love, and happiness on the soccer field!

That’s the spirit!

And then I have to bite my tongue and swallow my questioning thoughts.  I have to secretly thank all that is good and right in the world that he hasn’t come around to question us about all this sportsman-like play stuff.   That his brain hasn’t circled back and recognized the discrepancies between doing and saying.

Because Will was there when we went so crazy with joy every time Brett Favre gazed up at the roof of the Superdome when someone planted his behind to the turf.  Make no mistake, it was awesome.  Every. Darn. Time.  AND HARDER EVEN!  YEAH!

Sure, we can argue it’s different for a million reasons.  (And besides, it isn’t about football, anyway.  I actually am NOT a fan of football, I things considered.)  But still.

We’re still hypocrites.

So if the question comes, I’m just glad Paul will be around to answer it.  Because me?   I’ve got nuthin’.

PS: Alejna has the most recent update about the Just Posts Best of 2009.  Just don’t call them gerbils.

Not sure of the origin of this, but I got it from my friend Amanda.

Did you notice Alejna‘s post about how we’re announcing that the finalists for the Best Just Posts of 2009 will be up and ready for your voting by the end of January?  I know, exciting!  Let me tell you on no uncertain terms: Alejna?  She gets stuff DONE.

Oh, wait, except that *I* am involved.  Seeing as how I’ve been writing that dissertation for… can we just say a long time and leave it at that?… getting stuff done is not really my best strength.  I think having lots of unfinished projects makes me feel secure or something.

Back to the JPs.  Okay, so it’s a few days past the end of January.  But we’re on it.  We got a little behind because we had to read 300 posts.  But then we wanted more than our collective four cents weighing in.  And because we’re academics who have done way too many conference paper reviews, we decided it was important that all 300 were read by at least 2 different people that weren’t us.  Which meant… 600 separate reviews.

600.  Whoa.

There were a lot of emails.  There were a lot of numbers.  And now, there are a lot of thank-yous.

Thank you thank you and thank you, friends and Just Post supporters, who read and evaluated batches of posts.  You rock stars made our days.  Each evaluation was like a big internet hug, followed by a Saints first down.

For their time and care, we send out sincere thanks and grateful hugs to the following beautiful people: Amanda, Anne-Marie, antropologa, Barbara, blc, bon, bshep, Catherine, Charlotte, Chrissie, Christine, Christine, De, dee, defiantmuse, denguy, Donna, Elizabeth B, Eli, Emily, Erica, Erika , Heather, Janet, Jean, jen, Julie, KC, Kitty, laloca, Leslie, Lin, Mad, Magpie, Mary G., Meagan, Mme. Meow, Painted, Robin, Sarah, Shokufeh, Stacie, submom, Susanne, Tabba, and wreke.

And extra big fat sloppy kisses go to De, denguy, Donna, Erika , Heather, Kitty, Leslie, Mad, Mary G., Sarah and Tabba for going above and beyond the call of duty, and coming back to help with more.  Or, in the case of Heather, came back and back and back again.  Heather, would a kidney do?

And to all of you above: each time you said, ‘wow, I’m so glad to have found this new blog,’ or ‘thanks for giving me the opportunity to read these,’ or ‘I learn so much from the Just Posts,’ it was like the internet opened up, handed us hand-made chocolates served on paper doilies, then cleaned our houses and did the laundry.  I mean it.

Y’all got a round of free drinks waitin’ for you in NOLA, baby.

We also appreciate those of you who, while you were not able to actively participate in the project through reading and reviewing posts, expressed your interest and support in the endeavor.  (Also, I feel like I need to thank John, who let me keep Alejna up chatting online and by phone waaaay past her bedtime.)

In the meantime, would you like to see our list of semi-finalists?  These posts are those which at least one of two reviewers asserted should make our finalist list.  We’re categorizing these and the top scores in each category will be our final-finalist list.

Then, we really hope that you and your friends and your family and your co-workers and neighbors and school teachers and dentists and all those other people you interact with each day will ALL VOTE.  Because we’ve got PRIZES.  OH YES, wonderful and beautiful and fantastic hand-made prizes.  Stay tuned.  Because we have a new deadline!  March 1st.  That’s, like, next Friday, right??

Semi-finalists!  Below!

• 250 Children Dead of Cold in Andes: Death Toll Keeps Climbing by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
• A Day with Fibromyalgia by Amy at Je Ne Regrette Rien
• A House Made of Asbestos by Mary at Them’s My Sentiments
• A mini home makeover by Quadelle at Quadelle
• A Voice from the Back of the Queue by Mary G. at Them’s My Sentiments
• Academic Freedom: Anti-gay Opinions vs. Anti-gay Untruths by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
• American Me by jen at one plus two
• And if I’m gay, what’s your point? by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• And so we wait. by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Antifeminist Spam by Meloukhia at This Ain’t Livin’
• Archbishop of Cusco to Evict More Local Restaurants by Barbara Drake at An American in Lima
• Are you “Man Enough” for the Middle Border? by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
• Attention White Folks by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• B is for Backpack by Laura at Our Feet are the Same
• Bea and Eve by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Bird by Bird by jen at one plus two (at Blogher)
• Blog for choice: Priorities for the new administration by Melissa at MOMocrats
• bob marley has definitely left the building by jen at one plus two
• Can we talk? by Country Girl at Country Girl/City Girl
• Celebrating 5+ Years of Marriage in Massachusetts by alejna at collecting tokens
• Charity vs. Democracy by Magpie at Magpie Musing
• Chipped by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• Civil rights, but just for me by Tami at What Tami Said
• Connecting the dots. by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Cows for Christmas by XUP at Ex-Urban Pedestrian
• Creative Freedoms and the Not Now Book by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
• Culture Clash by jen at one plus two
• East Coast Cats and Christopher Street Boys by Jay at Ill Doctrine
• Education dollars at work by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Everybody hurts., by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Everyday Piscasso by jen at one plus two
• Faces of Poverty by Ashley at The Dhaka Diaries
• Faculty Responsible for Campus Climate, Too! (NYU School of Law) by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
• finding a way to volunteer with my hands full by alejna at collecting tokens
• forgiveness by Christine at by flutter
• Free speech, free range by almostidealist at One Year to Change the World
• Frozen by Meagan at A Certain Lack of Focus
• Get It? Got It? Good. by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• Glamorous by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Good on ya, Greenpeace! by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
• Government extends State of Emergency; more children to die by Barbara at An American in Lima
• Guilty Pleasure Monday: Goodnight Saigon Billy Joel by wreke at wrekehavoc
• guilty pleasure monday: millworker (james taylor) by wreke at wrekehavoc
• How dare you take your vagina out in public! by Angela at The Many Hats
• How’s that Gentrification Going? by Phoebe at Rectory Entrance
• Humanity I Love You by Catherine at Her Bad Mother
• In Health there is Freedom, Health is the First of all Liberities by thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
• Inverted Reality by Fatboyfat at Make Lard History
• Iowa: a proposal. by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Just Posts for a Just World by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• Laying Down Arms by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
• Ma: Little Bigot On the Prairie by Mary at The Eleventh
• Maine. by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Marriott is a Disgrace by Ilina at Dirt and Noise
• Merry Christmas to all by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Missing the Point by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• More by Bon at cribchronicles
• My best friend’s wedding… by BipolarLawyerCook at BipolarLawyerCook
• My child, every child by Kyla at The Journey
• My Once A Year Jewish Rant. by Neil at Citizen of the Month
• My Uterus Sent Me Flowers by Erika at Be gay about it.
• My, what a gayngled web we weave. by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Necessary Rant by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
• No More Hall Passes by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Oh I See, Profiling is Colorblind by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Oh Oh, She’s Back on Her Soapbox Again by Chris at Formerly Fun
• Oh, HELL no by City Girl at Country Girl/City Girl
• On Social Justice and Education by Brigitte Knudson at A Liberal Education
• by Jennifer at Conversion Diary
• by Jennifer at Conversion Diary
• One couple’s journey to adopting HIV-positive children part 1, part 2, and part 3 by Jennifer at Conversion Diary
• Opening doors, come what may. by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Oprah and the secret lives of moms by antiracist parent at antiracist parent
• peace train by wreke at wrekehavoc
• Pensioneering by Thordora at Spin Me I Pulsate
• Please tell me by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Pondering Fate by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• President Obama Fierce Advocate of Rousing Speeches and the Status Quo by Erika at Be gay about it.
• Quote of the Day by Adrianne at The Bodhi Tree
• Race Matters; or, the Judge, the Professor, and the Doctor by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Rejecting Yertle by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Remember by Painted Maypole at Painted Maypole
• Remember that wishbone I was choking on? by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Sacred Life Sunday: No Slime Zone! by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
• Safety and Self Worth: $175 by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Samaritans in a Subaru by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• school daze by jen at one plus two
• Shine your light, share your story …AND WIN A CONTEST!! by Erika at Be gay about it.
• some random thoughts on giving by Em at Social Justice Soapbox
• Some Thoughts on the Princess and the Frog by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
• Stay or go by Jarret at Creature of the shade
• Stigma//Taboo by Magpie at Magpie Musing
• stuck in the freudian anal phase by bon at cribchronicles
• Stuff black folks don’t do: Creating our own oppression by Tami at What Tami Said
• Susan Boyle by Thailand Chani at Finding My Way Home
• Tales of Health Insurance by Neil at Citizen of the Month
• Tall and Tan, Young and Lovely by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• Ten by Painted Maypole at Painted Maypole
• The Afghanis by Antropologa at Antropologa
• The cost of a winter tomato by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
• The Freegans by XUP at Ex-Urban Pedestrian
• the great american melting pot (?) by Hispanic Fanatic at Hispanic Fanatic
• The Holy Land by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• The Invisible Boy by Catherine at Her Bad Mother
• The radical act of being ourselves by Mouse at The Mouse’s Nest
• The Speech, Remix Edition by Kyla at The Journey
• the un-holiest marriage by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
• The Unbearable Tenderness of Boys by Hedgie at Princess Hedgehog Chronicles guestposting at Talkin’ the Teenie
• This (Black) American Life by Claudia at The Bottom of Heaven
• This is what a leader looks like by Emily at Wheels on the Bus
• Today is World Water Day by prof susurro at like a whisper
• Uncensored II by Megan at Missing in Iraq
• untitled post by Christine at by flutter
• Venting by Em at Social Justice Soapbox
• War Ends, Schools Begin by Shahrazaad at Shahrazaad
• War on Women by Chani at Finding my way back home
• Whadaya Know Georgia. by Tash at Awful but Functioning
• What kids need by Emily (from Wheels on the Bus) at LA Mom’s Blog
• What’s Good for the Goose by Stacie at If you want kin, you must plant kin…
• When allies fail – Part One and Part Two by Tami at What Tami Said
• When is zero not really zero? When it describes your food. by Kimberly at The Gav Menagerie
• Why does New Orleans have different moral rules of conduct? by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• Why the Prop 8 Decision Inhibits Equality by Zack Ford at Zack Ford Blogs
• You don’t want to meet the new boy in town by Holly at Cold Spaghetti
• You Think E Coli Spinach is Scary? by Rebecca at Flying Tomato Farms
• You want to know how much a colonoscopy costs? by Magpie at Magpie Musing

Bacchus was wild.

We were not prepared for just how wild.

Okay, so we’re not completely oblivious.  Breesus was presiding as King, so we knew it was going to be a mad-crazy event.  The Saints homecoming parade drew the biggest parade crowds of any event, ever, according the local media.

We volunteered to work the school parking lot (a block off of Napoleon, which is the street where the parade was to begin).  Though the Archdiocese demanded a hefty sum of 50% for us to use the parking spaces the school rents from them (ahem) it is always worth it to help our little nonprofit school bring in funds, so of course we wanted to help.  At first, the plan was for me to bring the kids home after the morning parades for nap and let Paul walk up to the school.  But the fun of the morning put us into some sort of ecstatically-impaired state of mind where our sensibilities left us completely.  We threw the ladders and wagon and bags and signs and kids into the truck and illegally rolled ourselves slowly down back streets until we arrived at the school.

Then the plan was to meet up with friends who we knew were on the route and let the kids run around until parade time (it was still more than 2 hours before the parade start time).  Paul would work parking until right before the parade and then join us. In a normal situation, this would work perfectly.  Except that it was Bacchus and the people were already DOZENS deep.  The streets were already filled with Mardi Gras mess, and the people were Very Serious about their tent cities.

Thank goodness we found Emmy and the kids — and thank goodness that her friends, Erin and Chuck, were kind enough to 1. share the space; 2. help watch the kids, and 3. accommodated Will, who instantly fell in love with their adorable baby boy and tried multiple times to fold him up and put him in his pocket (Honestly though, who could blame Will? That kid is great.)   Chuck masterfully maneuvered our ladder and wagon in with the mix so that all the kids could sit up safely — nearly eye-level with many of the riders — allowing them to see and keeping them safe from the crowds.  I stood beside on a step stool, often with one of the kids standing with me, talking to the kids and keeping an eye on the straps and bars (I get a little freaked out when the kids get antsy.)  Still, the crowd was so tight that one man held on to the side of my step stool to keep from getting shifted too much in the jostling crowd.

Or, maybe because he wanted to be that close to the view of my rear-end, depending on your perspective.

Despite the crowd, it was a fun night.  The energy was amazing and for the most part, the people were all friendly and thoughtful.  Another child in the crowd joined into an open seat in our ladder set-ups (another unwritten rule — when you have open seats, you ask other families if their kids want up — one more small child out of the crowd lets us all breathe easier) and he was hilarious.  (“Here are your guesses for the next float, Ms. Holly.  A porcupine, a giant heart with letters, or chickens in a pot of soup.”)

The parade itself was mostly standard fare of floats and parades and riders — with added coolness of confetti, search lights into the night sky, and several “mega” floats pulling dozens of riders with several connected units.  Combined with the incredible crowd, it was sort of breath-taking to be there.  Especially at the start of the parade.

A woman nearby had a mini-Lombardi trophy.  Several folks came over to take pictures with it — including these kids.  The cuteness!

What we didn’t see was that further up the parade line, friends of ours had made a NINE FOOT LOMBARDI TROPHY.  (Photo from Cade‘s collection.)

We heard that Breesus himself bowed down to it upon passing, that Sean Peyton acknowledged it, that folks are leaving signed mementos on it, and others are showing up to get photos with it.  Here’s an interview showing the statue and talking with them about it.

How cool is that?

But back to the parade.  Breesus went right on by us, just like that.

A friend of mine from college is shocked that Paul doesn’t get stopped in the streets regularly for being mistakenly identified as Drew Brees.  I wasn’t sure there was much resemblance and then I saw Breesus’s new Dove commercial.   (Note: this is really worth watching.)

After seeing that shower scene, I whole-heartedly agree. Paul is a dead ringer for Breesus.

Being a big Krewe, the mega-bands were out, too.

It was a beautiful night, full of crazy energy and madness.  A wonderful way to cap off our Mardi Gras parades for the season!

I know what you think.

You think it’s not for you, this Mardi Gras thing.  Maybe you don’t see yourself as much of a drinker.  Maybe you’re a little put-off by the whole girls-gone-wild thing; you weren’t the type to want to do Spring Break in South Beach even when you were in college.  So you figure that Mardi Gras isn’t for you.  And also?  That city?  New Orleans?  Well, you saw the pictures and heard the stories and it’s a mess.  You can’t figure out why people would even want to live there, let alone visit.

You’ve thought at least some of those things, I feel certain.  I fully admit that until I moved here, I thought THE VERY SAME THING.  Actually, both Paul and I did.  And now we can say that we were very wrong.

New Orleans is an absolutely fantastic place to be, especially during Carnival season — and especially for families.  As an example, here is our family, enjoying parades this past Sunday morning.  Music, laughter, conversation, floats, horses, football, dancers, prizes, and of course, beads.

Krewes of Okeanos, Mid-City, and Thoth.  Vantage on Magazine Street.