Dangermond.org

I donned my Mardi Gras party orange velour mini skirt but couldn’t find a wig I necessarily liked to go with the outfit, so I went next door to Roy’s and got his. My mom was in shock because it looked so, uh, like me 25 years ago when my hair was pixie short and blonde blonde blonde. Just like when I wore my long blonde wig the other night, suddenly lots of attention. Jerri says I get softer when I’m blonde – but I think there must be some kind of green light that blondes signal in people’s psyche. The problem is of course, all that attention and what? At the end of the day, none of it was coming from anyone I wanted to reciprocate. 

In the words of Joe Strummer, I was sitting on the front porch speaking to una amiga about love and the acid test and she said the deal breaker is anything that gets too complicated. And so I thought she was saying she wanted the incredible lightness of being, the comfortable love. No, that is not what she meant. She wants complexity but not complicated – in the sense that here is the acid test – I want you, you want me, let’s go. None of the – I’m not sure, I’m scared, I’m still in love with ____, I’m not over ____. 

What I like most is getting up in the morning on Endymion – Samedigras – and walking through City Park, which looks the same but isn’t because you can feel the energy in the air and sure enough, I took Orleans back instead of City Park Avenue and there are all the stands and ladders with seats and tents and people – it is 8AM! – and they are gearing up for Endymion – our beloved neighborhood yet mega parade. There is music, there is laughter, there is food, there is drink, there are children, grandparents, adults, and dogs and whatnot all up in there getting ready for the day. 

I come home to a picture text message of a duck from G who says, “All I’m saying” – and then there is the ice chest that R has put on my porch and it is rocking beautiful outside temp wise and I make some Turkish tea (cay) and take it to the front porch and watch the people go by – the energy building – the music rising. 

Even the pelicans seem a little ruffled by it. 

Standing on St. Charles Avenue watching Muses go by, two girls came up to me, both with the same wig in a different color, so we had to take a pic of all three of our wonderful wigs:

It’s all about the booty – Fatma’s mother referred to our beads as “çöp” – junk in Turkish – and we said, yes, next week they will be çöp, but today they are gold:

 

I guess I didn’t need my daily affirmation to tell me this – I proceed like this 99.9% of the time – be 4 real and fuck everyone if they can’t take a joke:

Today I accept that it’s okay to express in the way I do. I don’t try to fix myself. I rejoice in doing things just the way I do them. I embrace my unique gifts, talents and ways of expressing.

Tonight we are headed to Gallier Hall to watch Muses from the vantage point of the stands. We’ll be right there when the Queen stops to address the crowd. Muses is by far my favorite parade – the costumes are beautiful, the themes are inventive, and you just got to love you some Pussy Footers and Camel Toe High Steppers. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we’re hosting Endymion here in Midcity for the first time since Katrina and we’re thrilled to have our parade back. Endymion is one of the mega parades like Bacchus. And it is a spectacle in its own right. It’s one of the few parades left in the hood as most roll uptown. So tomorrow we’re doing the pre-parade party here at the LaLa with daiquiris, jambalaya, mini muffeletas, stuffed mirliton, and more. 

It’s all good. 

While we toil away the hours in labor, dogs play:

There is some Mardi Gras costume secret stuff going on next door – in the cover of his garage, I saw a shopping cart made into a silver missile and a huge black nose cone for said W. O. M. that he swears is a fuselage – I’m not saying a word. 

Last night with a Puerto Rican, a French woman, and a Texan, we talked about how international conversations are the best because there is a story telling aspect that those living in the United States seem to have turned their backs on. Recall Eudora who said Southerners live their narratives or better yet, know why Prairie Home Companion was such a big hit, people want the world delivered to them in rich hues and what better way than to have our experiences shared across a lively and colorful and interesting dialogue. I can think of no better way for me to spend my evenings than in conversation with someone who engages me. Except of course, if I feel like dancing.