Throw Me Something, Sister!

I woke up fairly late today after a night of revelry with Peaches. Mardi Gras is in full swing here in the Crescent City, and there seems to be an endless offering of parades and activities. The Saints win at the Superbowl last Sunday has added to the Mardi Gras madness, and everyone seems to be in a great mood.

After a polite libation at the Lantern, Peaches and I headed out to watch four parades roll through the City last night. Despite the bone-chilling temperatures, the streets were packed and everyone was clamoring for beads and dubloons from the parade riders. We watched the parades at a great spot near the end of the route, so the crowd was thinner and the folks on the floats were trying to get rid of their throws. We walked away with two huge bags of stuff, and I scored big time by catching not one, but two high heels from the Muses.

The Muses is the only all-female krewe and last night's parade marked their 10th anniversary. The floats were fantastic, and the krewe is known for having great, unique throws. Much like the coconuts thrown by the Zulu, the shoes are highly coveted, and I was amazed to catch two in my first year of Mardi Gras.

Not sure how many more parades I will be able to attend this year, so last night was definitely a highlight of my Mardi Gras experience.

A Return to the Interior Illusions Lounge

Catching up with my dear friend Paul the other night, I learned that the second season of "RuPaul's Drag Race" has begun on Logo. While I do not watch much television at all (I'm one of those freaks who doesn't have cable), I love, love, LOVE this show. Fortunately Logo puts the episodes online, so those of us who don't have access to the channel can still enjoy the show.

The format is fairly simple: 12 drag queens from around the country compete in various challenges to win a title, some cash and to participate in a tour around the country. Of course, when you get that many big personalities in the same room, drama and hilarity ensues. Personally, I felt that last year's winner should have been Nina Flowers, but at least she was the runner-up.

Having spent a fair amount of time around female impersonators, I find the show to be a pretty accurate depiction of these queens. Lots of attitude, bittersweet tales from life and egos that are only outsized by their hairdo's. Once the eyelashes and heels are stashed away, most drag queens are really decent people, and their commitment to perform and support all kinds of causes for the gay community is quite admirable. I love to watch a good drag show and shower the talent with dollar bills.

It's a bit early in the Drag Race to determine who the frontrunners are, but I'll be glued to my laptop each week to see the glamour and drama unfold. Trust me, it's worth 45 minutes of your time.

The Sybarite Returns...

Greetings and Happy 2010 everyone!

I'm back after a long hiatus. Looking at the Blogger dashboard this morning, it's been over two months since I've made a post--eek! Rather than offering some long-winded apology or vow to be more on top of things, I'll say that I took a much-needed break from pretty much everything.

The holidays in 2009 were not a particularly luxurious time for me as I was consumed with an overwhelming work schedule. Fortunately I parted ways with the Roosevelt just before New Year's and landed a job at Stanley, located in the French Quarter on Jackson Square. So far, the job has proven to be a great fit--reasonable hours, a five day work week, and enough business to keep up with food, rent and other financial obligations. It's nice to wake up not dreading to go to work. Once the new gig was in place, I enjoyed a month of rest and leisure. As I've said before, many of life's luxuries are small and/or intangible, and the luxury of a return to sanity and happiness has done much to improve my outlook on things.

I'm not one for making tons of New Year's resolutions, but I made a conscious decision this year to learn more about my current city of residence and enjoy the history and rhythm of New Orleans. The Saints are playing in the Superbowl on Sunday for the first time in franchise history and Mardi Gras is less than two weeks away, making an already festive city more ebullient. While I haven't followed enough football this season to become an official member of the Who Dat Nation, I am looking forward to cheering on the team at my local watering hole this weekend.

So this post hopefully signals a return to more regular updates on life in the Crescent City. I have committed to making this last year of my 30's the most productive, enjoyable, and fabulous year that I've experienced so far, and I look forward to sharing many tales of luxury and enjoyment with you.