An IM conversation today…
Me: sorry pidgin freaked out and crashed
Friend: as in a bird ran into your window?
Me: oh no hahahaha pidgin is another trillian
Friend: ah. cause i was having a good time imagining a pidgeon crashing into your window (as long as he flew away)

Apparently the correct pronunciation is N’awlins but everytime I say that here in NY I have to say New Orleans before anyone understands me. I was speaking at an Admonsters conference but took an extra day to be a tourist in NOLA since it was my first time.

A couple of gut reactions:

• Right off the bat, the Superdome is GIGANTIC! I don’t follow sports much but it was explained to me that Superdome is one of a few venues that hold the Super Bowl.
• The South is quiet, pretty and s…l…o…w. I quickly could imagine myself sitting on one of those grand porches in the Garden District in a swinging chair reading every afternoon…For maybe a month, maybe, before I went crazy! But it’s nice to dream.
• The Haves have and the Have Nots have not.
• There ain’t people that look like me down in them parts…

I strolled down St Charles Street and saw some of the most amazing homes and took a walk through Audubon Park all before lunch time on Sunday.

Before checking in, I decided to drive down to the Lower 9th Ward. And while people warned me that NOLA wasn’t the safest of places, growing up in NYC, I figured how bad could it be? Well in hindsight, it was one of the dumber things I’ve done.

The first house I saw once I drove over the canal was a gutted yellow home with an open door. So I got out to get a better look. What was astonishing was that the iconic x-like search symbol was still on a lot of houses 3 and a half years later. It was sad to see the have nots who have come back to claim their homes in the Lower 9th Ward live side by side with the constant reminder of this disaster. Some houses were re-built, some were gutted, others are still untouched and boarded up.

On two different occasions, a car would roll by mine very slowly letting me know that I was not welcome. After that, I didn’t get out of the car but I definitely felt like those cars were like the kids on roofs in movies and the whole community knew where I was. I had overstayed my welcome and I headed back to the touristy area of NOLA.

On the way back, I drove past a quiet railroad track and snapped a couple of shots.

All this in one day…stay tuned for the Monday’s adventure in the next post. For more pictures or a sneak peak, go look at the NOLA sets on my Flickr page.

After 10 years, 6 apartments, 4 states, 2 cross-country moves, Tom and Susan tied the knot this weekend on their anniversary weekend.

The blushing bride with her handmade veil and debonair dad walking down the aisle at the Yale Club library in NYC.

The Right Medians (Mediers, Meteors…?) at the twiki table for the robot themed table seating.

Oh and the robot themed cake!

The Pierces first dance….twirls and all.

And the happy couple enduring the freezing outdoor cold to take pictures on the 22nd floor terrace.

So there’s a funny story to these rings….Back when Susan and I both worked together, I was participating in a flickr-based photo group called Mission 24. An photographic assignment, or “mission”, based on a word would be emailed to you and within 24 hours you would have to post a newly snapped photograph. One such mission was “Infinite” and the idea of taking a picture of wedding rings came to mind and since I didn’t have any such rings, I had to borrow. I borrowed Susan’s sparkly diamond ring and Bert’s wedding ring to take this picture.

I had to black and white the photo since Bert’s ring was of a gold color and Susan’s was not…But I digress! Apparently, upon seeing the picture, Tom wasn’t as pleased with the photograph as Susan or I was. He was a little miffed that another man’s ring was associated with his fiance’s engagement ring. So as promised, once he got his ring, I had to take another picture.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Pierce!

There was a deep fryer in the house so I invited Fred + Theresa over for some fried yummy goodness.

We started with Juicy Fried Drumsticks - tossed in Adobo, drenched in a egg wash with hot sauce (enough to make it a radioactive orange color), and dredged through Bisquick. The chicken was soo juicy! Then we moved on to mozzarella sticks made from cut up fresh mozzarella sticks washed in egg and dredged in Italian seasoning twice. Topped that off with some French Fries.

Oh there were some veggies…here’s proof:

And then we ended the night with deep fried oreos. Mmm Mmm Good!

So in part, I’m a bad blogger because I never get around to blogging. BUT, it’s not because I don’t have things I want to share….I just don’t sit in front of the computer. Okay, okay so that’s NOT true. I sit in front of a computer at work ALL day long. So by the time I go home, I am very reluctant to be online at home and therefore rarely on the computer with free time. Lately, I’ve decided that if I have something to say to try to use my lunch “hour” to get it out there.

So case in point, over the last few months, I’ve snapped pictures on my phone here and there and JUST got around to getting them off the camera and on to my laptop….

One of my business trips to Boston had me staying at the Liberty Hotel. The Liberty was was a working prison until 1990 and reopened in 2007 after extensive restoration and renovations. The architecture is gorgeous and the boutique hotel was able to weave the past into a delightful customer experience. Their restaurant and bar are aptly named Clink and Alibi. Ordering room service is referred to as solitary confinement and the do not disturb door hang is actually a replication of a jail key. Now all that does not make a good hotel, but the service was also up to snuff. To borrow Mark Hurst’s tagline….it was a “Good Experience”.

That’s the TV at the Liberty Hotel in Boston and really there’s nothing special about it….except for me, it brought back memories. Back in 2002 @ Planetweb, one of my projects was to emulate the Philips dvd menu interface so that our embedded software would feel like a Philips product. That volume control brings back memories…fond ones of my team and um….slightly more frustrating ones of working with Philip’s offshore team. Oddly enough, I guess I don’t have many friends that have Philips products since this is the FIRST time I’ve seen this since I left the company back in 2003. Oh all those animations to make that open and close!

My little brother got married on New Year’s Eve in Madison, WI to my new sister-in-law Laura. The wedding was pretty and there was much fun to be had!

For all 480 pictures, go to my flickr collection.

On Christmas Day, my parents and I went to visit the famed Dyker Heights for the first time. From 83rd to 86th Street between 11th and 13th Avenue in Brooklyn, homes transform themselves for the holiday season into a blinding holiday light extravaganza.

According to Gothamist, resident Sam Maloof’s average electricity bill for December is $5,000. Crazy! Coincidentally, we caught the PBS documentary, Dyker Lights, before heading over.

This is what Dykyer Heights looks like from the street…wonder what it looks like from a plane flying overhead to get to LGA or JFK.

Where ever you may be, I wish you peace in your home, in your hearts, and in the world.

Flight itinerary…check.
Hotel rooms…check.
Car rental…check.
Directions…check.
Weather….ugh!

So NY has been brutally cold the last few days and looks like it might get warmer for Christmas even up to the 50s. That’s a big change from the feels like temps of 12F. BUT…BUT…I almost wish that it would stay in the 30s. Boy! There’s something wrong when I’m wishing for cold weather to stay! There’s logic - I promise!

You see, on Monday I have to fly to Madison, WI for my brother’s wedding and there the low tonight is going to be 1F and on his wedding day there’s a forecast of 9F. Don’t know if they’ve got a brutal windchill or not but that’s low not feels like. So my logic is that if it’s 50 here than the 30 degree drop is going to be brutal but if it’s 30 then the 10 degree drop would be palpable. See! Logic! Albeit Amy-logic! *sigh*

Madison, WI

The silver lining? Well the silver lining is that I will get to see family and nieces and nephews that I have not seen since last year. And I can’t wait to see how big Justin has gotten.