nola fluer de lis shirts
Sunday, August 20, 2006
While i was in new orleans for Mardi Gras, i was checking out some of the t-shirts that the countless vendors in the quarter were selling. A large percentage of the "I got drunk on bourbon street and all i got was this lousy t-shirt" shirts have been replaced in the last year with these "Rebuild Renew Rebirth" type shirts that have vary between tactful and tacky. There was one that i saw that i did kinda like, and i kinda regretted not picking it up, but for whatever reason i held back.When Kim and I were there two weeks ago, I was checking out the shirts again and thought about that same one. I saw another one in the store that used to be Boomerang (the punk store near the French Market) and was just a black shirt with a Fleur De Lis on it. I liked that shirt better, but when i went in I didn't see it inside. So i left nola without a shirt again.
Then I had this idea for a design that i would like... so last night i opened up Illustrator and I drew it out:
It's not the font I wanted, but I spent about an hour on 1001freefonts.com last night and couldn't find anything that fit the vague semi-classic, ornate serif look that i had in my head. This font is ok, but i'm going to regret that i didn't fix the bottom right serif on the A. It looks all chunky.
Cafe Press' prices really aren't very good. I only mark items up $1, basically just to support my habit of having stuff on the site at all. But the black version of the shirt looks awesome. I think i should be getting mine in the mail tomorrow. Yay!
posted by j. Permanent Link
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issues involving my head
I got a new helmet for my scooter about a month ago-- a Scorpion Exo 200 Whatever It Is. I had been looking for a while, hoping to find a half helmet that didn't look quite so huge on my head, but I never could find anything-- not even at the Vespa store downtown. So I was talking with someone about this other local scooter store, Moto Scoot, and decided to check out their website, where I eventually found this:
It's a bit sporty for me, but I like that you can swap the face shield and visor out. I don't really like using the face shield, I'd rather have it open, but I think it'd be pertinent of me to start at least carrying the face shield with me under the seat.
Last week at work was a bit hectic; I stayed till at least 7pm 3 out of 5 days. I check the forecast pretty regularly, and knew it was supposed to rain Friday, but as of Wednesday night, Thursday was going to be clear. Then halfway through the day on Thursday I noticed the little rain icon in my google sidebar or something. The forecast said it was gonna rain around 5, so I figured I'd just wait it out. When I walked out of the office at 7 it was a bit misty outside. As I rode home, that mist increased progressively into a steady rain-- dark, cloudy rain. I had to ride through it with no face shield, wearing my dark riding glasses. The windshield on the scooter helped deflect most of the rain, thank god. If you've ever been on a motorcycle or a boat... or a convertible... or walking back from the beach after the eye of a hurricane has passed and the winds and rains have started again... you know getting pelted in the face by high speed rain is not any fun.
So the other thing about this helmet that I realized while paging through the book trying to figure out how to swap the face shield and visor is that it has spaces built into the sides to mount "communication device" headphones. The whole thing with wearing headphones/earbuds/whatever on a bike is that it can be really distracting and can block out other noises from the road, your bike, or other drivers that you kinda might need to hear. Mounting them into the helmet itself, though, is a bit different. There's enough space between your ears and the speakers that it doesn't really get very loud at all and it doesn't block out the rest of the world. If anything, it doesn't get loud enough, but it's nice to finally have something while I ride besides the noise of the wind. Now I just need to do something about the six feet of wire hanging out of my helmet.
posted by j. Permanent Link
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back from nola again
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Kim and I were in New Orleans for an extended weekend, last Wednesday through today. We went for my step-brother's wedding, but also for a kind of informal second honeymoon of sorts. We had my daughter's 5th birthday party last weekend, which Kim's mom came in town for, and she agreed to stay a few extra days to watch the kids. It was the first time we've been away alone in five years, since elise was born. It came at a good time, too. Kim's been so tired being pregnant and spending this first half year home with the kids since I started my new job and she quit hers. She really deserved to have a break and we're very grateful that her mom agreed to stay. As it turned out, my kids love her husband, too.
It was the first time that kim's been back home since the storm, almost a year since it happened. She didn't want to go see a lot of devastation, but you can't go without seeing some of it. The only thing i really wanted to do was see the 9th Ward, since i hadn't seen any of it during the Mardi Gras trip, but once you're there you still want to go through and see your old neighborhoods and all the places that you know and miss. I have to say that things did look better on the surface for the most part, with the possible exception of New Orleans East which looked like nothing had been done since the last time I drove through. Gentilly didn't look good, but it looked better than 5 months ago.
The city is in a very strange place. It's hard to fathom being one of the early adopters, coming back to rebuild your house in a neighborhood that is still full of destruction. I can't imagine having the year's worth of over growth and all of that destruction and deterioration to come home to every day. On the other hand, it seems like there are a lot of deals to be had around the city. Damaged houses all seem to be selling for about 50% of their previous worth, allowing people to buy cheap and put money into putting new roofs, new drywall, new appliances, furniture... everything. From what I was hearing, the people who did lose everything aren't really recouping their losses. Most of my family and friends made it out without a lot of loss, but some of Kim's friends and their families weren't so lucky. One lost everything when her entire roof was ripped off and landed in her driveway, another's parent's house burned down right after the storm when there was no water pressure or emergency crew available, and another's parents lost everything to floods in Chalmette.
And yet we think of nothing but going back.
posted by j. Permanent Link
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