Random Notes

As I sit at home, I want to share some of my more experiences at ALA/New Orleans so I hope I can do justice in this blog post:

• Met a lot of great people, including some ladies from the Boston Public Library, a librarian from Pembroke, a librarian from Cambridge, a librarian from Albuquerque, NM, a librarian from Oregon, librarian from New Orleans, several librarians from Harvard, a librarian from New Orleans, a reading teacher from New Jersey, a teacher from PA, a school librarian from Florida, a teacher from Connecticut, and many others who I am probably leaving out. I also reconnected with friends and colleagues I have not seen in a long time.
• Had an interesting conversation with a conference goer who had last been to New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina. He said that even though the French Quarter was always touristy (and the least "hit" by the hurricane and aftermath), that there used to be a feel that it was part of a city in which people lived and worked. He said that didn't seem to be the case anymore that it felt as if the whole area existed only for the tourists. I'm sure this isn't true in the areas not abutting the French Quarter but it is sad that, according to one visitor, the idea of a real city doesn't seem to be there anymore. I'm curious for those of you who have visited the city before and after feel this same way.
• I visited the Garden District and saw some houses that were amazing (including Anne Rice's old house). The architecture is really incredible in New Orleans. Also visited Lafayette Cemetery in which the tombstones (as all tombstones in that area) are above the ground. Several of the grave markers were knocked off the tombs. Is that an effect of Katrina or is it wear and tear?
• Speaking of Katrina, I met with a librarian from New York who helped build a house that was destroyed as a result of Katrina.
  
• Been reading the Newbery award winner, Moon over Manifest. Anyone else read it?
• Possibly made a fool out of myself in front of a favorite graphic novel artist/writer in the elevator when I just gushed over her books. She was very gracious and didn't seem at all frightened to have fan girl going on and on.
• I did get to live my New Orleans dream of yelling "Stella" under a balcony and have my picture taken (well, okay, I whispered it for the sake of the picture since I didn't want to actually scream, "Stella" at the top of my lungs). Along those lines, one of my roommates and I watched Streetcar Named Desire and let me say that movie doesn't age well. However, I still do believe in the kindness of the strangers.
• The food in New Orleans is amazing. I liked cajun food a lot, including seafood gumbo (yum!). I ate a crawfish omelet that was out of this world, and a little spicy. Some friends had a Peanut Butter bacon burger (that I tried) at YO Mama's that tasted much better than I thought it would. And the beignets, the lovely lovely Beignets. I, unfortunately, never had them at Cafe du Monde, as the line was too long and I needed to head to the airport, however I had them several times from Cafe Beignet (also home to the crawfish omelet) and they were wonderful. It's basically a really good version of fried dough. In fact, I love that you can eat fried dough for breakfast as long as it has a French name. The omelets at Cafe Beignet were perfect French style omelets, not too thick and fluffy and a good ratio of ingredients to egg. I am getting really hungry, right now. (Even the food court at the mall near the convention center had good food, by the way). I also tried alligator sausage, twice. The first time tasted like steak. The second time like chicken. I had fried pickles and hog's head cheese and stuffed crab. The food is rich and wonderful, and probably not terribly healthy for you. However, the restaurants don't serve overly large portions so it was just right. By the way, if you ever are in New Orleans, check out The Praline Connection on Frechmen Street, across from a really neat used bookstore.
  
• Listed to a group playing what sounded like Klezmer music at a music club called the Spotty Cat Club. There was a piano in the ladies' room.
  
• I did walk down Bourbon Street and realized that I am too old for that and spent a mere few minutes there! However, one evening, there was a live jazz band playing at the corner of Bourbon and Canal Streets and they were extremely talented. If that was the dominating factor, I would have spent more time on Bourbon Street.
• Went to an event sponsored by Recorded Books held at Mardis Gras World. Got to see several incredible Mardis Gras floats as well as people working on them for next Mardis Gras.
  
• Have some new books, including The Borrower, about a children's librarian.