EXPECT THINGS NOT TO GO AS EXPECTED
‘Selfie’ Taken During the Chewbacchus 2014 Kickoff Bike Ride
Although my vision of My Year of Mardi Gras has always been to paint a broad, layered portrait of New Orleans and its food, music, people, and culture, the heart of my mission upon embarking was to join at least one Mardi Gras Krewe and document that experience. Since arriving in town on February 6th, though, my path has taken many unexpected twists and turns.
My dramatic housing search, in particular, lasted over half the year. Attempts to reach out to other blogs, volunteer at WWOZ or the Jazz & Heritage Foundation, or promote the site though handing out cards and pure force of personality at local events paid little dividends. On the other hand, I’ve had much more success than anticipated connecting with local authors and encountered unexpected enthusiasm with resurrecting an old novel. Now working with someone to resubmit this book for publication has been a major unexpected endeavor. I have also met a small but growing group of talented and intriguing artists and intellectuals that have made ‘Red Beans on Monday’ an emerging success. So there have been surprises and disappointments, and I should have known that the only thing you can plan on is that things won’t go as planned. Still, somewhere amidst these triumphs and tribulations I began to fear I’d lost sight of that core mission.
Until I received [Read more…]
