Well, Mardi Gras came, and saw, and drank... It was a fairly mild Mardi Gras for New Orleans, which meant it would've been considered utter chaos anywhere else.

When it was all over, Amy, Kristen and I all went drinking at a little hipster bar. 'Twas cool, and I drank massive amounts of all kinds of different alcohol. Then we went to Amy's house, where I proceeded to offer those same amounts of alcohol to the Porcelain God. After which, I slept on her (Amy, not the Porcelain God) spare bed for about six hours, got up, drove home, drank about two quarts of grapefruit juice, and slept another six hours. Then I went to work.

Ah, the glamorous life of a musician.

I ended up working ten days straight, which was pretty cool. I have tonight off, though, and that really sucks. I was supposed to have a date tonight, but it fell through (as always) which left me with no date, and nothing to do on Valentine's day. That makes 27 in a row with no Valentine. That's gotta be some kind of a record.

If I were to choose an archnemesis, it would be Leonardo Leonardo, not Valentine's Day. Of course, if you don't know who Leonardo Leonardo is, then you need to watch "Clerks; the Animated Series." If you don't know what Valentine's Day is, you're worse off than me.

On the plus side, I'm moving into my new apartment. It totally rocks. Life is good. After today.

Talk to you all soon,

Jester

P.S. Well played, Clerks. Well played...

Well, I made it through Lundi Gras - Mardi Gras is tomorrow (well, later today, to be precise).

I worked with Amy, who was a blast. It was cool - not only did we have a great time working together, but we went down to Frenchmen street afterwards, and had a great time.

In other thoughts... I've heard that hate is not the opposite of love, but rather apathy. I've realized how true that is. When I write to somebody I care about, and they get mad at me, it hurts much less than when I just get nothing but silence. That's the worst; feeling like they just don't care one way or the other what you think or feel.

Well, I'm about a month away from doing my first dance showcase with my teacher. Oh boy. White man dancing. Never a pretty thought.

I've gained twelved pounds since I started working out again. Another eighteen to go to reach my goal.

By the end of this week, I should start moving into my new place on Bourbon. Should be fun.

Well, I'm highly intoxicated right now, so I'll let you all go.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Jester

I wish I could budget like the Fed.

The new federal budget is being criticized as too "harsh" in its "cuts," and sometimes praised as "lean," and "fiscally responsible."

Point one - expenses will be (assuming it's passed as written, which is doubtful) approximately 124% of income. I'd love to spend that much over what I make, and be called fiscally responsible.

Point two - that doesn't count all the interest we're already paying on our current debt. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a huge debt, but you didn't have to figure it into your budget?

Point three - most of the "cuts" are actually increases. They're just smaller increases than previously expected. I'd love to make cuts like that.

Aarrgghh...

I was also reading a lot of viewpoints from the Arab world about the upcoming Palestinian/Israeli negotiations. They're thoroughly convinced we're the pawns of a vast Jewish conspiracy.

That might be nice, but no, I'm pretty sure we're our own independent idiots, answering to nobody but ourselves. It would be nice to be able to blame somebody else for our policy mistakes, though, wouldn't it?

Don't you love politics?

Jester

Today I was shopping in a grocery store. You know how they have little samples of products that they're trying to get you to buy? For some reason, in Texas, they always had little pieces of sausage. I never figured that out, but I digress.

The first one was a "crawfish pocket." My thought was "you know you're in Louisiana when..." But then - oh, and this is beautiful - they were giving out samples of Bacardi products, and there was a long line of college guys "trying them out." Only in New Orleans, I swear.

The stores are all confused around here - normally around this time, they'd be full of Super Bowl advertising, but for the first time ever, Super Bowl falls on Mardi Gras weekend. I saw one display where they had painted beads and Mardi Gras masks on opposing football players.

Of course, everybody here speaks a lingo that I don't quite follow, but I've gotten better at picking it up by context. "Well, I love the Endymion, but then, my favorite time is Lundi Gras, because that's even better than the day after, and besides, you've already seen most of the Krewes by then."

To which I say "Well, yeah!"

I've been flashed many times, but I haven't yet gotten any on camera. It's such a tough life I lead.

Well, I'll talk to you all soon.

Jester