New Orleans, the first two weeks
I'm getting so far from the beginning that I'm beginning to forget and this stuff deserves to be documented rather than drift from the strange dreamland of my memories.
We arrived at around 2am. The plane was seriously delayed in New York. It was stormy somewhere and the plane that would take us away took forever to land. It's okay. They keys would be waiting for us in the mailbox. I like traveling with a partner. It means always sitting next to someone you like, having a hand to hold, a smile a foot or two away. We got to Trouser House by cab. The driver was a little scared of the neighborhood. I was a bit amused by this, but I also gave the fellow a good tip and had him wait until we did indeed find the keys and open the door to the house before he left. People I care about had been shot in nicer neighborhoods and while I don't live in fear I also make it a practice not to be stupid.
Arriving in New Orleans and attempting to get much of anything done on a festival weekend is really not so bright. I should have known better but that's just how the timing worked out. That and I didn't realize that Halloween lasts for about four days in New Orleans. Two days after we arrived we ceased to be we. Capra and I broke up. We broke up for reasons that had been plaguing our relationship for a very long time, we broke up mutually, but still, it wasn't something I had expected. I had planned to get a house together and let life settle down and then figure everything out. We have, however, a tendency to start talking point blank about things and there is no retreat from that honesty. I quickly went from moving to New Orleans with my beloved partner to moving with my beloved friend. Though also wonderful (and we were mostly very glad to have each other for those first several days) its also an entirely different phenomenon. The search for housing became a completely different game and for me a far more stressful one. I hate arriving unprepared. The kicker was that not only were we now broken up but stuck together much of the time but the promised and utterly crucial internet access at Trouser House was horrible and even less functional than the internet access I was supposed to have in Ubud. The technology spirits mocked me. Life was stressful.
Now it wasn't all stress. We enjoyed lunch with Cole and helped her jump her car. I ran into old friends constantly (and still do) and enjoyed a great number of wonderful intimate little shows. Capra made me a Dionysus leaf crown for Halloween even though she chose not to go out herself. Occasionally we fought but much more often we cuddled. But what of the details? The glorious, glorious details soon to be lost to the imperfections of memory? Let's see if I can recall (and in no particular order)...
Well, there was the crazy big German man with no two front teeth dressed as a fairy who I enjoyed talking to at the All Ways and who dumped a bunch of gold glitter on my head that I am still removing from my stuff. There was the critical mass ride to various parts of town I had never seen. Bumping into Lacar (who is my angel right now) at Plan B and hanging out with her often. Hanging out with Seale and her brother and fabulous queer friends, avoiding a brief but fierce fight in the doorway of Molly's. The first few days really are becoming a blur. Once the ruckus of Halloween died down I started my full time search for housing. I met some great folks with a very odd room I thought far better for Capra than for me so I recommended her to them and she eventually chose to move in there. We left Trouser House on November 4th, Capra for her new roommates and myself for Lacar's daybed. At this point, pretty much everything improved.
With a bit of stability I was able to get back to work, score a new project and quick advance money and forge on with my apartment hunt. The first several place were not so great, but by Monday I actually had to choose between 4 places each with great benefits and a few drawbacks. Uncommonly I decided to take the cheapest, a roommate situation in a beautiful old building in my favorite neighborhood with a cool person. It meant sharing space and a small bedroom but is pretty much otherwise awesome and also my cheapest and most flexible option. I informed a few cool people I might have rented from and breathed a sigh of relief. I even was invited to just come by and hang out by one of my potential landlords.
You know, there is so much more. Half hours of loneliness wasted online. The joy of talking to the city spirit of New Orleans. Hanging out with my old friend Jack again. Olivia and Lacar doing all they could to help find me a place to live. Seeing circus folks I know from Oakland. Meeting cool new people. The delight in knowing this city is still full of friends.
It's midnight thirty though, so I'm going to call it quits for today and wake up at a reasonable time tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do.
We arrived at around 2am. The plane was seriously delayed in New York. It was stormy somewhere and the plane that would take us away took forever to land. It's okay. They keys would be waiting for us in the mailbox. I like traveling with a partner. It means always sitting next to someone you like, having a hand to hold, a smile a foot or two away. We got to Trouser House by cab. The driver was a little scared of the neighborhood. I was a bit amused by this, but I also gave the fellow a good tip and had him wait until we did indeed find the keys and open the door to the house before he left. People I care about had been shot in nicer neighborhoods and while I don't live in fear I also make it a practice not to be stupid.
Arriving in New Orleans and attempting to get much of anything done on a festival weekend is really not so bright. I should have known better but that's just how the timing worked out. That and I didn't realize that Halloween lasts for about four days in New Orleans. Two days after we arrived we ceased to be we. Capra and I broke up. We broke up for reasons that had been plaguing our relationship for a very long time, we broke up mutually, but still, it wasn't something I had expected. I had planned to get a house together and let life settle down and then figure everything out. We have, however, a tendency to start talking point blank about things and there is no retreat from that honesty. I quickly went from moving to New Orleans with my beloved partner to moving with my beloved friend. Though also wonderful (and we were mostly very glad to have each other for those first several days) its also an entirely different phenomenon. The search for housing became a completely different game and for me a far more stressful one. I hate arriving unprepared. The kicker was that not only were we now broken up but stuck together much of the time but the promised and utterly crucial internet access at Trouser House was horrible and even less functional than the internet access I was supposed to have in Ubud. The technology spirits mocked me. Life was stressful.
Now it wasn't all stress. We enjoyed lunch with Cole and helped her jump her car. I ran into old friends constantly (and still do) and enjoyed a great number of wonderful intimate little shows. Capra made me a Dionysus leaf crown for Halloween even though she chose not to go out herself. Occasionally we fought but much more often we cuddled. But what of the details? The glorious, glorious details soon to be lost to the imperfections of memory? Let's see if I can recall (and in no particular order)...
Well, there was the crazy big German man with no two front teeth dressed as a fairy who I enjoyed talking to at the All Ways and who dumped a bunch of gold glitter on my head that I am still removing from my stuff. There was the critical mass ride to various parts of town I had never seen. Bumping into Lacar (who is my angel right now) at Plan B and hanging out with her often. Hanging out with Seale and her brother and fabulous queer friends, avoiding a brief but fierce fight in the doorway of Molly's. The first few days really are becoming a blur. Once the ruckus of Halloween died down I started my full time search for housing. I met some great folks with a very odd room I thought far better for Capra than for me so I recommended her to them and she eventually chose to move in there. We left Trouser House on November 4th, Capra for her new roommates and myself for Lacar's daybed. At this point, pretty much everything improved.
With a bit of stability I was able to get back to work, score a new project and quick advance money and forge on with my apartment hunt. The first several place were not so great, but by Monday I actually had to choose between 4 places each with great benefits and a few drawbacks. Uncommonly I decided to take the cheapest, a roommate situation in a beautiful old building in my favorite neighborhood with a cool person. It meant sharing space and a small bedroom but is pretty much otherwise awesome and also my cheapest and most flexible option. I informed a few cool people I might have rented from and breathed a sigh of relief. I even was invited to just come by and hang out by one of my potential landlords.
You know, there is so much more. Half hours of loneliness wasted online. The joy of talking to the city spirit of New Orleans. Hanging out with my old friend Jack again. Olivia and Lacar doing all they could to help find me a place to live. Seeing circus folks I know from Oakland. Meeting cool new people. The delight in knowing this city is still full of friends.
It's midnight thirty though, so I'm going to call it quits for today and wake up at a reasonable time tomorrow. I have a lot of work to do.