4-15-01

I'm in New Orleans at the "Hampton Inn", right off of Bourbon street. This much can be said for New Orleans: it's not only hot, it's sticky. Last night, when we landed at Kenner at twelve, it was 77 degrees out. Yikes. Right now my parents are forcing me to endure a Charlotte Church television marathon. Sightseeing with my parents is horror. My mom wants to tour the plantations. By default, we always end up doing what my dad wants to do. (He's responsible for Charlotte Church.) You can see how this might get on my nerves after a little while. Today we tooled around New Orleans' trash-filled horse-stanky streets. It was great. There's such an amazing vibrant culture here. Today we hit the “flea” market.  I bought an Afrika Bambaata style necklace and a pair of red-yellow fade aviators.  Mom and Dad are excited.  Thing about New Orleans is that wherever you go, you are guaranteed access to at least 4000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads at any given moment. It’s how I spot tourists and capitalists: they’re wearing them.  We went to the New Orleans Aquarium today; they had jellyfish, which I gazed at for an eternity.  I feel very sticky.  I’ve watched more crappy MTV than I can handle.  “Home videos of the stars.”  Thrilling.