Fat Tuesday

Yesterday my manuscript went out on submission.
Yesterday was also Mardi Gras.

There is a connection somewhere here.  I just know it.

Since I'm not supposed to talk about going on submission, I will talk about something else.

How bout Mardi Gras?

I went there once.  Actually, we arrived the weekend before Mardi Gras.  Since I'm not Catholic and vaguely follow the weirdness that is the Lenten calendar, I didn't know that was the big weekend.

Although once I saw the hotel prices I figured it out pretty quick.

It was February 2005. Pre-hurricane Katrina.

So it was a while ago and my memory is hazy, but I can tell that I did LOVE New Orleans.  We stayed in the french quarter and even though our hotel was a dump (our room was so small the bed barely fit in it), it was totally worth it.

Here are some things I learned during Mardi Gras.

1. Buying a fake Gucci purse for twenty dollars is not really a good deal.  Because it looks like a fake Gucci purse.

2. Buying a $5 Voodoo doll is a good deal.  That shit is for real!

3.  You don't have to flash your boobies to get necklaces.  But it does help.

4.  To get necklaces just stand behind a drunk girl with a huge rack and no-inhibitions whatsoever and catch all the necklaces that are thrown down from the balconies at her.  She's drunk.  She can't catch the damn necklaces!

5.  Walking down Bourbon Street with your cup o'booze really IS as fun as it sounds.

6.  The beignets at Cafe du Monde really are that good.  Drink the chicory coffee with them.

7.  If you try to inhale your beignets too fast you probably will choke on the powdered sugar.

8.  If you pet one of the mules while eating a beignet, the mule will try to bite it right out of your hand.

9. Mules are assholes.