The Short Bus!

Sunday was to be a lazy day for Miss G, but she got a facebook from her yoga teacher that changed it up a bit. "Come to 9:30 yoga. Small class, less heat. We'll work through issues".

She know my weaknesses: heat and feet! After grumblesomeodd years on my feet (sometimes in 4 inch heels) they haven't really had an arch since about 1972. During the day I can wear an orthotic to support them, but in yoga, "all soles are bared", and in the one-legged standing postures, it's hard for me to balance because my feet flatten, which causes one to fall. So, I struggle to hold and arch, which makes the foot burn with pain.

So, the Sunday class was with 2 other people who have similar issues, and I gott say, it was LOVELY! It was plenty hot, but not so hot you had to fight for your breath, so you could really focus on the postures. There were no sorority girls in the rooms sticking their legs in the air our their heads up their asses, so the class really was about our "special needs". So, of course, Miss Ginger dubbed it "Short Bus Yoga"! I hope we do it again soon!

It will be a short bus week at work, too! In the office Monday and Tuesday, then off to NOLA on Thursday to meet Bubba J for JazzFest! Looking forward to the fun!

Sanctuary Much!

Mistress Maddies park post made me remember that I forgot to post an ADORABLE pic I took at JazzFest! Aren't they precious!? They kinda remind me of Miss Alaineus taking her kids on a field trip! There is a retaining pond in the infield at the Fairgrounds, and apparently is has become a wildlife sanctuary! Right after these geese swam by, a little famly of mallard ducks scampered off the embankment, plopped into the water, and swam away in the opposite direction! The zoom on my camera was zoomed all the way out, and I didn't have my glasses on, so I wasn't able to snap the ducks before they were out of sight.

I just LOVE baby animals!

They Had These Really Great Smoothies at JazzFest!

Nice and fresh!

Miss Ginger's JazzFest Report

Miss Ginger is home from the JazzFest, and has SOOO much catching up to do, since she was out of pocket with a broken computer! She missed blogging about the dearly departed Bea Arthur, and it seems like kind of old news at this point. Perhaps a tribute later.
JazzFest weekend was awesome! When Bubba John got into town we downed a coupla dozen chargrilled oysters at Drago's, then headed to the casino for some gambling. After while (and some $$$) later, it was decided a trip into the Quarter would be in order, so we walked up Decatur to Molly's at the Market. Molly's is a great locals "dive" near the French Market, and believe it or not Miss Ginger stayed up till 4am quaffing brews and chatting with the locals! And, in the back bar at Molly's, Wu holds court, and holds the bar down pretty much 24/7, or so I'm told! That's a long shift for any bartender, so Mr. Wu has been known to catnap between customers!

We met a real sweet girl there named Heather, and enjoyed talking to her until the wee hours!

The next morning, we walked down to the Jackson Brewery to catch the shuttle to JazzFest.

Because the Fairgrounds is in the midst of a residential neighborhood, there's not much parking. I couldn't find a crowd estimate, but Miss Ginger guesses there were at least 100,000 people there!

Lots of people drag folding chairs and coolers with them and set up a sort of "camp" near their favorite stage (there were 10 this year!), but Bubba John and I just decided to wander. You can hear great music all over the fest, and wandering and people watching are as much fun as listening! So we wandered from beer stand to beer stand, drinking booze, watching the crowds, and just enjoying being together!

And then there's the food! And what food! You'd expect to find crawfish pie and gumbo, and there was plenty more cajun favorites. There's a town in the middle of Louisiana called Natchitoches (say NAK-a-tush) that happens to be where "Steel Magnolias" was filmed. But long before Shelby wooed Jackson, they were making little fried meat pies that made the little town famous! EVERYONE from Natchitoches will tell you their mommas/grandmas/aunts meat pies are the best, and they are probably all right! Miss Ginger scarfed down several, and decided to pass on the food at the next booth- it just didn't seem like it would hold up in the infernal New Orleans heat!

After those spicy meat pies Miss Ginger needed a tall drink of water!

After noshing, we decided we needed to sit for a while, and we found a tent with a brass band and a "second line".

If you've ever been to New Orleans, you know that Dixieland Jazz is the soundtrack of the city. You hear it in the airport when you step off the plane, on the car radio in the taxi cab, and on the hotel Muzak when you check in. It's what gives the city it's rhythm and soul, and New Orleans just wouldn't be New Orleans without it. Miss Ginger got a little bit teary eyed when the lead trumpeteer introduced his bandmates, and told how long each had been playing. 10, 15, 35, 70 years! The oldest of them, 86 years old, had been playing since he was 16!!

There were lots of tourists and locals "second lining", as the dance is now called, but none did it as well as The Lady Jetsetters Marching Club! These ladies are smooth!

So, who's up for planning a "SnapFest" at JazzFest next year? We'll get all the GingerSnaps together and REALLY show them how to second line!

Miss Ginger Makes the Best of It!

So far Miss Ginger's trip has not been great! Really, the only problem is that her computer is TOTALLY on the fritz- it's a totally worthless hunk of plastic right now! It's her work computer, and she's kicking herself for not bringing her personal laptop, but who knew the WWII relic laptop her company issued her would bog down when they tried to download the "mandatory security patch"- 10 minutes before her powepoint! GRRRRRRRR! $%^&^@!! She had to wing it, which went okay, but I know they were bored. Oh, well. It's over now!
Thank goodness the Baton Rouge Marriott has a business center, so Miss G can share this irrritation with her fans!

At least the Marriott is right next to the Fox and Hound Pub, where Miss G loves to eat greasy food and drink Blue Moons in big mugs! There's also a Sullivan's right next to it, but Miss G did not pack an updo or an appropriate frock, so she gorged on wings and beer at the Fox and Hound. She likes the Fox and Hound because she doesn't feel stupid eating alone there, and they hardly even seem to notice that she is a drag queen!
She had hoped to do some SIRveiance ala Supreme Dwight, but, alas, no sirs were veilance worthy at this particular sportsbar tonight. Damn. Maybe next time!
Tomorrow, she's on the road to Lafayette for a spell, then she'll backtrack and end up in NOLA, the motherland!!!! And Friday, Bubba John comes in to join the party, and Saturday they are going to JazzFest! Surely there will some veilance worthy sirs there!

Wanderlust...

Miss Ginger always gets Wanderlust this time of year, when the weather gets pretty and people start moving around a bit.

So she's putting her travel agenda together for the summer, and it's coming along nicely! Her first stop will be the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, known to most people as simply "jazzfest". Flights from Chicago, Newark, Cleveland, and Atlanta are cheap, so if anyone wants a guided tour, book the trip and Miss G will show you around the Big Easy!

Then she's headed to Vegas in May to meet up with her bubba for drinking, eating, and gambling, in priority order. He's great to travel with because he is perfectly content to nibble and sip our way through the city, with no agenda and no schedule. That's how Miss G like to travel. Maybe they will drag themselves down the strip in search of Shanel!

Then her big trip for the year, her "vacation", if you will, happens at the end of July when she jets across the pond to Ireland to see Dublin and to kiss the Blarney Stone.... or just to get blarney stoned. Maybe both will happen. And since she'll be across the pond anyway, she's booked an Aer Lingus flight (doesn't that sound like a disgusting lesbian sex act... aer lingus?) to hop over to Amdsterdam for their Gay Pride festival.

She's travelling with her co lieutenant and his handsome partner, and they have travelled together successfully before so it should be lots of fun.

The lesbians are dying to go to NYC so I promised we would book a weekend trip sometime soon- hopefully in May.

And of course Miss G never travels without laptop and digicam, so you can plan on enjoying the trip, too!