2 English folks + 1 Louisiana expat + Crawfish festival in downtown Memphis = delicious.
These sort of things always make me smile. Check it out, learn something. Or if you’re already well versed in the ways of peeling/eating, perfect your technique.
Laissez les bon temps rouler, boo.
So it’s beginning to look a lot like Mardi Gras, and I’m far far away from my native land for the 2nd year in a row. Last Mardi Gras, while I was in the UK, mom sent me & Emile National Championship pajama pants in purple & gold (last year was so much better for our Tigers) and a box of Mardi Gras: beads, confetti, and The Advocate front page from the day after our National Championship win. Last Mardi Gras came and went, and for the first year of my life, I had no King Cake.
I love King Cake. I don’t necessarily eat all that much of it, but I love it. I’m a sucker for food with history. That purple, green and gold sugary confection is just a nice thing to have on display in the kitchen — it’s festive. You knew it was really Mardi Gras season when King Cakes started showin’ up in homeroom. A King Cake set you back mayyybe $7, but it guaranteed you at least 15-20 minutes free from actual class work. Even the most efficient teacher wouldn’t dare interrupt the distribution and enjoyment of such a beloved tradition. At that point you didn’t even mind if you were the one that found the baby — while you were the one charged with the task of providing the next cake, you were also blessed with the opportunity to perpetuate the avoidance of mind-numbing busywork. Let the sweet times roll.
So here I am in Tennessee, I’m 20 years old, and I’m going to attempt my first King Cake. Wish me luck.
Also. Straining yogurt for a sour cream substitute… gee whiz. Should’ve just gone and bought the damn sour cream.
xxAimee Cait
Here is where I’ll apologize for my proper absence. My life has hit a new level of busy. I’ve got a boyfriend, my GED’s been sorted out, I’m actually gettin’ out of the house and doing things, haha. I’ll try to be better about posting more often… but no promises!
If you haven’t got a clue about the title of the post — Baton Rouge’s area code is 225. Thus, deuce & a quarter. Awesome. Right then: I’ve been home for nearly two weeks now… and it’s been incredible. It’s so good to be home. Baton Rouge looks so different… everything’s changed, I’ve met all sorts of new people, I’ve done so many new things… It’s been beautiful. I have so thoroughly enjoyed my time here.
The train journey in was an adventure in itself… I am officially a fan of Amtrak. More on that later.
While spending a gorgeous cloudless day in New Orleans, my mom called and asked me what the numbers 600, 680, 680, 800 & 800 meant to me. It took me a minute, but then as she began to explain, I realized that she was rifling off a list of my GED test scores. Oh. My. Goodness. I finished with a 704 average — so much better than I even thought was possible. I scored perfect on two sections of the test… I can’t even describe how happy that makes me. I’m so lookin’ forward to applying to school and getting into writing essays for admissions… I’m excited to finally get to this stage of life. I feel like I’m actually ready for it, haha. We’ll see how it turns out. I’ll keep you posted.
I miss the living daylights out of Joe and my family. I’m ready to get home and readjust to life in Memphis. Joe’s picking me up from the train station… I can’t wait to see him. If there’s anybody that makes me turn into jello, it’s that boy. Goodness.
Also — somebody named Aimee Cait turns twenty years old in a week. True story. I’m really looking forward to it, actually. Two decades on planet Earth. Pretty exciting stuff. I love birthdays, though. I’m excited to see what we might do to celebrate. It’ll be good.
I’m off to tan & be lovely.
xxAimeeCait
Don’t really want to be awake yet as my nasal cavity/throat/general skull area is feeling awful, but I’m a trooper. Mom wants me up, so I’m up. Granted, I’m still carefully wrapped in a blanket and I have the most AMAZING mop of bedhead… but I’m awake. That’s what counts.
This post is going to have to be a little more relaxed in my writing style due to my current state of mind, so forgive me. (I’m on Sudafeddddd. Wooohooooooo.)
Still thinking every single day about my friends and family in South Louisiana. I’m praying for you and more than anything, I wish I was there with y’all. Speaking of — Aimee Cait’s “Keepin’ It Gutta” Baton Rouge Trip 2K8 begins (hopefully) on September 22nd. Thank you, Amtrak. I’m trying to spend at least a week and a half in the city of my birth… but we’ll see. I’m stoked.
Met two Hammond evacuees in WalMart on Germantown Parkway last night, out in Cordova. I saw an LSU tshirt on the lady and a Saints polo on the man. So I chirped, “Geaux Tigers!” (I have this amazing ability to startle people.) Husband looks up first and then wife follows suit, with me explaining my intrusion — I, too, am a Tiger. So, we had a quick cheerful conversation. I asked them where they were from, and I beamed at the sound of Hammond. I then proceeded to babble about how desperately I miss the 225 and how my brother’s doin’ fine, he’s got electricity ‘n everything… like real Louisianians, we went from strangers to kin real quick. I wished them good luck on their return to the Promised Land, and we said our goodbyes. I love stuff like that. Life is too short not to take every opportunity to love on people. Especially in WalMart.
Favorite things of the week:
OPI 2008 France Collection
- OPI’s new France shades have the cutest names EVER. (Baguette Me Not, A Oui Bit Of Red, Yes… I Can-Can!, We’ll Always Have Paris, Louvre Me Louvre Me Not, Bastille My Heart, Eiffel For This Color… and more.) My favorite is this matte taupe/grey: YOU DON’T KNOW JACQUES! I’m actually contemplating switching from my standard black to this grey. It’s kind of a big deal.
Pink Loves LSU.
- Nadalee told me about this, but I forgot about it until I stumbled across it yesterday… Victoria’s Secret PINK Collegiate Collection. How freakishly cute is the Tigers tshirt? Sorry, ‘Bama, you can’t have our old coach and cute VS Pink ‘Bama gear. (Mom always told me – pink doesn’t mix with red. Fact of life.) I know what I’m doin’ for Christmas for the little sisters, wahey.
Straightens and protects. Couldn't ask for more.
- Straight Sexy Hair Straight Aero straightening spray is my current hair BFF. (I go through phases. We’ll be frenemies in a week.) I adore this stuff. It’s lighter than other straightening stuff I’ve used — it doesn’t weigh my super fine hair down, which is nothing short of miraculous. However, the best part about this must be the fact that I got it 1/2 price. In love.
His daddy's name is Tom Sawyer, true story.
- Joe Sawyer is an absolute legend. End of story.
Heavy Heavy Low Low & HORSE the Band tonight with Zach. He promised me a ‘proper’ show, and this counts. We’ll see how it goes — I’m looking forward to it. All this goin’ out is gonna break my little bank, though. Yikes. Fortunately, I’ve already got Baton Rouge transport $$ sorted out. Now I’ve just got to survive ’til then, hey?
Awesome. Meds are kicking in… this means I should go rather than type incoherently.
It’s been real.
xxAimeeCait
Makin' every day... a GREAT day.
Thank you very much… have a GREAT day.
Proper post later.
xxAimee Cait
Causin' a great big ruckus on his way through my home state.
There have been a handful (7 as of 6:55 PM) of Gustav-related casualties reported by the media so far, and a couple are even said to be in Baton Rouge. This doesn’t feel as extreme as Katrina, no. But this time, New Orleans isn’t what I’m worried about. Baton Rouge, my home, is getting battered today.
I want to be there.
I feel so strange being so far away while everyone is there in the thick of it. My day began with 37 unread Twitter text messages in my inbox. (Thanks, everyone, for keeping me informed.) We’ve been flippin’ between CNN, Fox, NBC and ABC all day long, tryin’ to weed out inaccurate bits of information and gleaning for what we really want to know. It’s so frustrating watching this from the outside. I could try to explain it, but I’m not really sure I could convince you why this feeling is legitimate if you haven’t weathered a hurricane before. I mean, it’s the kind of experience that brings you together with your family. It’s kind of intense. If you haven’t evacuated, it’s a time to wait the storm out with your loved ones. You hunker down with your bottled water and flashlights, your candles, oil lamps, tarps (in case of roof damage) and non-perishable food items… and you sit around with nothing to do except wait for the storm to pass and milk the radio for any news of what’s going on elsewhere. During Hurricane Andrew, I sat on the front porch of our house in Shenandoah with my daddy while he filmed our oak tree in the front yard as it bent, pausing to touch the ground before it straightened back out.
I can’t stand watching this, knowing you are there in the rain and wind. I’m laughin’ at non-natives on national television trying to wrap their mouths & minds around our funny-sounding town names. Remember news crews: we have parishes, not counties. I’m wearing my fleur de lis ‘HOME’ tshirt today, and I made shrimp etouffee for dinner. My heart and mind are with you. We ran into two ladies from the West Bank today at WalMart. I nearly hugged them. Life Church in Cordova is hosting 75+ Gulf Coast evacuees. I want so badly to be home, volunteering, helpin’ out my hometown, closer to my loved ones. I miss you, and I’m thinkin’ about you. Keep me posted, y’all.
xx AimeeCait
All grown up, and not showin' signs of stoppin'...
Read what the Advocate (local Baton Rouge, Louisiana news for non Baton Rougeans) has to say about Gustav here.
I typically avoid websites like CNN and FoxNews at this point in disaster coverage because they tend to sensationalize a great deal and they also haven’t got a real understanding of the culture of hurricanes. Of course it seems ridiculous that a bar is staying open tonight, serving drinks in the face of doom and destruction… but considering our culture, our relationship with hurricanes, our attitude towards life in general… how is this unusual? There’s a very real possibility of that bar either being flooded or somehow otherwise damaged… so why not serve drinks while they can?
Painfully aware of the failings that led to more than 1,600 deaths during Katrina, this time officials moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They threatened arrest, loaded thousands onto buses and warned that anyone who remained behind would not be rescued.
“Looters will go directly to jail. You will not get a pass this time,” Mayor Ray Nagin said. “You will not have a temporary stay in the city. You will go directly to the Big House.”
Col. Mike Edmondson, state police commander, said he believed that 90 percent of the population had fled the Louisiana coast. The exodus of 1.9 million people is the largest evacuation in state history, and thousands more had left from Mississippi, Alabama and flood-prone southeast Texas.
Late Sunday, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued one last plea to the roughly 100,000 people still left on the coast: “If you’ve not evacuated, please do so. There are still a few hours left.”
So… I fell asleep writing. Gustav is in the midst of his rampage through my hometown as I type this. More later.
It is absolutely debilitating not being there. Baton Rouge is home. I love y’all… stay safe, keep Twittering.
xx AimeeCait
3 years later and here we are... again.
It’s eerie, yeah?
I don’t really know what to do with myself, not living in south Louisiana during hurricane season… it feels strange. Granted, we’re savin’ money by not needing to go and grab emergency supplies (just in case), but even that was kind of fun. Louisianians were built to withstand hurricanes… we’re tougher than the average bear. Or maybe we’re just more in love with our home than most. I dunno. I do know that I miss hurricanes. They were just another part of our culture. Yes, problematic & crazy destructive at times, but nevertheless part of our story.
My logical reaction to a major event like a (potential) hurricane is a blog post and a playlist. So here you go.
Hurricane – Something Corporate
Beautiful Disaster - 311
It’s Whatever – Lil Boosie
Like A Hurricane – Neil Young
Rain – Priscilla Ahn
Hurricane – Bob Dylan
Callin’ Baton Rouge – Garth Brooks
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall - Bob Dylan
Float On - Ben Lee
Walkin’ To New Orleans – Fats Domino
Black River - Amos Lee
All These People - Harry Connick, Jr.
When The Levee Breaks – Led Zeppelin
Yes We Can - Lee Dorsey
Storm Coming – Gnarls Barkley
Who’ll Stop The Rain? – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Watchin’ The River Flow – Bob Dylan
Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans – Harry Connick, Jr.
City Rain, City Streets – Ryan Adams
Didn’t It Rain – Mahalia Jackson
Price of Gasoline – Bloc Party
King of New Orleans – Better Than Ezra
Dry The Rain – The Beta Band
This Is An Emergency – The Pigeon Detectives
The Storm Is Passing Over – Delois Barrett Campbell
Waters of Nazareth – Justice
Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man – Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
Flashlight Fight - The Go! Team
Blowing In The Wind – Bob Dylan
Wade In The Water – The Staple Singers
Ay Bay Bay – Hurricane Chris
So it’s a bit epic, yeah, but it’s an epic thing, a hurricane. Obviously a lot of cheese present here, but deal with it. It’s good stuff.
Missing everybody in South Louisiana… prayin’ for y’all as the storm season intensifies.
xx AimeeCait
LOL moment in (Historic) Collierville Town Square:
Cassidy and I were driving through the square when we spotted a sea foam green Hudson Hornet in the parking lot. Thoroughly slackjawed at the sight of such a gorgeous automobile, we then noticed the Edsel Ranger… the Studebaker Silver Hawk… and the Chrysler New Yorker… all situated neatly in a row.
Peter, Paul & Mary, I officially live in Disney — it’s classic car night in Historic Collierville, Tennessee.
Cassidy and I naturally had to explore. So, abandoning our plan for exercise (read: walking around a soccer field), we parked in the square and moseyed towards the cars. We ooh’ed and ahh’ed like good Americans, leaning towards each car just close enough to fully appreciate the immaculate paint jobs & fully restored interiors without breathing on ‘em. If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a sucker for a well-preserved (or well-restored) antique car. They were so much better-looking back in the day. Jee whiz. Also present later on were several ‘66 Mustangs, many an MG, a couple of ‘57 Bel Airs and a Coupe de Ville that was (apparently) featured in Walk The Line. It was mayhem.
While standing around admiring and inspecting the cars, a woman approached us and got straight to the point:
Lady: “Girrrrrrrl, look at your waistline!”
Me: “…er…”
Lady: “Whatever you’re doin’, keep it up, honey.“
Thus began one of the strangest conversations of my young life. We sat there chatting for 5 thoroughly odd minutes. As we parted ways with my new bff, Cassidy turned to me, her older sister, for some sort of explanation of what had just occurred.
Cassidy: “Did that-”
Me: “Yeah, that just happened.”
Cassidy: “Oh. Right.”
All that to say — I can’t imagine when I would ever have had this experience in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. What is up with this town? I’m not complaining — I mean, how often do you get random compliments from strangers? So lovely! And I made sure I told her: “Ma’am, you’ve made my day, thank you!” But jeepers. I’m just not used to it, I guess. I grew up in the South, we’re supposed to be all up on that hospitality/love thy neighbour thing — ’sposed to have that on lockdown. But I just can’t imagine a scenario where this would have transpired in South Louisiana — not with me, anyway. I’ve moved from the Deuce and a Quarter to Disney.
What is this place?
I dare you to compliment some part of someone’s physique. Awkward conversation will immediately ensue, sure, but maybe they’ll blog about it later.
xxAimeeCait
I’m on a bit of a local politics kick, brace yourself. Nothing super-charged with emotion, just facts & a few musings.
For the record – Louisiana governor, Bobby “Wonder Boy” Jindal, has stated that he will not be filling the VP slot on the GOP ticket for the 2008 presidential election.
“Let me be clear: I have said in every private and public conversation, I’ve got the job that I want,” Jindal said.
Louisiana needs Jindal. Stick around, Bobby. Just a little bit longer…
Keeping with the theme of Louisiana politics…
Another article in the Times-Picayune (thanks, Dead Pelican) shines some light on what is being referred to as an ‘open letter to the next president‘ from Lieutenant Governor Mitch “Hair Plugs” Landrieu…
Mitch said that helping south Louisiana rebuild from the 2005 hurricanes would provide important lessons on how to solve America’s most perplexing issues.
“America has the opportunity to use Louisiana to find new ways of solving its deepest problems: health care, education, housing transportation, energy, crime, immigration, emergency operation response, national security, race, poverty,” Landrieu said in a speech at the National Press Club. “You name it, we got it.”
Landrieu, a Democrat who lost a run for mayor of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, said that as the region rebuilds from the ground up, “we are a blank slate, a place where we can test what works and what does not work.”
His speech, Landrieu said, is aimed at convincing reporters and others from outside the Gulf Coast that investing in the region is worth the price.
A commentator, he said, recently asked him why a nonresident, such as a taxi driver in Detroit, should care if New Orleans is rebuilt. “I will rephrase that commentator’s question and post it to the nominees for president: If we do not rebuild New Orleans, what is the alternative?” Landrieu said. “To let an American city die? What would that say about our country? About our national values? About our national character? If we do not rebuild, what future do we lose? And how will you explain that to the cab driver in Detroit?”
Landrieu said the people of Louisiana need to do their part.
“The challenge is to keep and secure those things that are good: our food, our music, our architecture, our people, our faith and our families, our love of life and our love of country,” Landrieu said. “And at the same time, discard that part of our culture that strangles us: crime, bad schools and the inability to move beyond race.
Stirring rhetoric, Mitch. I wholeheartedly agree.
C’mon, Bobby.
xxAimeeCait
