Sunday, September 28, 2008

35 percent fun!!!!!

Today I was actually euphoric. For almost the entire day. At one point I got a feeling of intense ecstasy that I've only ever felt once before (in Larkspur, driving to Berkeley with Alex, staring at the silhouettes of pigeons on a wire against bright blue sky). This time I was in Leah's kitchen making Pad Thai and the original version of "Heartbeats" by Jose Gonzales came on the radio. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It was a lazy morning spent in bed, talking with Alex and my mom online, contemplating the purchase of the piano. Both of them said Definitely Buy It, so I called the number in the listing for the piano I saw on Craigslist (the owner's name, by the way, is Eugene Antoine III -- which should have been enough for me to buy it without even looking at it), drove out to Mid-City, plunked around for a while, and was instantly in love. I bought it today. There is a picture of it. If you don't find it perfect, you're trippin (Now, before you say anything, I know it only has 66 keys. That's okay with me. I played a lot of high-range/ low-range songs and the sound-quality was so good that it completely made up for the fact that this is a 66-key gigging piano. It's also really light, as far as pianos go, so that's a real plus).

So then I decided my day was basically DONE because I had just BOUGHT A PIANO...

But Hannah Sadtler called and came over to get a haircut. While I waited for her to come, I lounged in Lugo's living room with Suki (I'm dog-sitting this weekend) watching HSN, drinking Peach Iced Tea, and reading Us Weekly (note: I like the name "Lucie" and I think it would be a good name for my potential first daughter. My mother's maiden name is Lucido, so I think Lucie is a nice tribute to that. I decided this when I read that Us Weekly's name of the week was Lucie. Of course, I will never tell future Lucie that that's why I chose her name). And I was absolutely content.

Then Hannah came over and I cut her hair really short and then we went out for Mexican food during Happy Hour. Then we went shopping while we were drunk from our one-margarita-each. I don't remember what I bought. But I spent $54. Oops.

After that we felt really opulent and maybe a little guilty so we went on a long bike ride to Audubon Park and it was INCREDIBLE. Today I fell in love with New Orleans all over again. Driving through Mid-City with the windows rolled down, I watched Saturday families hanging out on their porches drinking iced tea and playing in the sprinkler and thought about how you never get that kind of porch stuff outside the Deep South. Crawfish stands, drive-through daquiri shops, streets named after intangible nouns and jazz musicians. But the bike ride...

The bike ride: Broken-down cement; basketball games in the street; men playing acoustic guitar on the deck outside; enormous oak trees; families talking about alligators; the dead tree in the middle of the lake heavy from the weight of hundreds of egrets; blue jays and mourning doves and meadowlarks; the man with his guitar and cigarettes and book of Yeats poetry sitting along the levee; vaguely European bike hipsters; enormous barbecue along the river with balloons and extended family; the sunset in all the colors sunsets are supposed to be (burnt copper and hot pink). I know how pretentious and collegey it all sounds, but it was too beautiful not to write down. I thought about Central Park and the Point in Chicago and about Pioneer Park in Walla Walla and even about the waterfront esplanade in Portland... and nothing even holds a candle. My heart is so enormous for New Orleans I feel like I might never leave. I'm in love.

Then to Leah's to make Pad Thai in Mid-City. We played Scrabble and drank cheap wine. My legs got happy-tired and now I feel peaceful.

Finally.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

lucy is my favorite girl name. if i don't name a daughter chrysanthemum or fairy princess or some other ridiculous thing, the plan is always lucy.