Irish Dirges. Chapter 540.
Maïs Arepas is a Colombian restaurant on Carondolet Street, a part of Carondolet Street that you would never go to unless you wanted an arepa, which is a kind of sandwich that I do not like. I always order some Colombian shish kabob. An order comes with one bamboo skewer of each, one chicken and one beef. You should try the chimichurri sauce—it is almost as good as the Velvet Cactus.
Colombia, the country, is not spelled with a u. Columbia, as in the District of, is spelled with a u. The difference between English and Spanish and is the same as the difference between New Orleans and the rest of the world.
Cocktail napkins are a poor man’s coaster. I like it when restaurants have custom coasters under drinks instead of cocktail napkins. I am not talking about coasters from the beer distributor. I am talking about a coaster with the place’s logo on it, maybe a funny phrase on the back. A personalized novelty coaster, like the kind with a rebus on its hind side, that is the sign of quality service. A novelty coaster means an owner is proud of his joint.
My favorite kind of custom printed coaster has the address printed on its face side. Then, I always know where I am, be it in New Orleans, U.S.A or in Verona, Italy.
I am sitting here, writing to you, and you will never guess who I am looking at, right in front of me. All three of them. Happiness loves company. I am in the company of Boy George, Punk Barbie, and Leather Tuscadero. We are all standing about three feet apart in a Venn diagram configuration.
Every moment in New Orleans is a twist of kaleidoscopic lenses.
From what I hear on the street, Thai women make excellent mail order brides. I would not know. I am married to a German.
I am not going to do any research. My method of research is to hang out and listen for years. You can learn a lot with open eyes, open ears, and an open heart. I am going to plumb my memory.
Carondolet Street is named after Carondolet, who was a governor of New Orleans when the French were in charge. This was way back before you were born. In New Orleans, we still talk about it.
New Orleans never forgets. I have a mind like a sieve. This is why I write everything down, to remember it later. There is some solid gold in the archives, as paid subscribers can tell you—they have full access.
I told Leather Tuscadero that I am not going to write about her until our trip to the haberdasher, but, you know what? I am going to do it behind the paywall right about now.