Avast ye mateys

There's no explaining why something catches my fancy and latches hold from time to time. None whatsoever. On my recent trip to New Orleans my friends and I came across a large contingent of pirates carousing in the French Quarter. Geoff struck up a conversation with a particular female pirate as she stumbled across Decatur Street and we learned the tale of this crew (What's the word for a collection of pirates? I'll go with crew for now.).

It seems there is some national or international group of hundreds of people who are way into pirate lore, culture, history, dress, etc. They come from all over and meet annually (for the last few years anyway) in New Orleans. They dress in full regalia period true costumes, carry cutlasses and boarding axes, and speak in pirate-ese. They also apparently take pride in emulating real pirates habit of drinking to excess.

Later that evening we crossed paths with subsets of pirates enjoying their bacchanal throughout the Quarter. My friend Paula even had her picture taken with a gaggle of them dressed in pink pirate gear. Hmmm. Predictably and happily these folks didn't create much of a stir in New Orleans. It is New Orleans after all and I'm sure they see a lot stranger things than a hundred pirates marching down the street all the time.

During our questioning of the female pirate of Decatur Street (What was her name?) Geoff, ever the scholar, asked her what book or books she might recommend to learn more about real pirates beyond what she taught us in her brief street side lecture. She tauted a book called Under the Black Flag, by David Cordingly.

Well, since I sit here with relatively little to do I wandered into the library and checked out the book. I also checked out another called Empire of Blue Waters and read them both this past week. So if you ever have any questions about pirates just ask me.

The first book is a rather academic factual history of piracy through time and across the world but primarily focusing on the golden age of pirates in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. I learned a lot but found most of the book rather dry. Nothing like a table in one appendix listing all the major piracy trials and subsequent hangings. Suffice to say they hanged a lot of pirates in the early 1700's.

The second book was much more entertaining. It chronicled the life and times of one Henry Morgan or Wales and later Jamaica, one of the most accomplished privateer/pirates in history. Morgan, BTW, would cut off your head if you called him a pirate and did in fact sue the author of a book about him who did so. Privateering was, apparently in his eyes, much more respectable. He eventually became so respectable he was knighted and made lieutenant governor of Jamaica.

If you like history and adventurous tales of the high seas mixed with Pirates of the Caribbean I recommend the book wholeheartedly. Jolly good. Jolly Roger good.

I think my pirate phase is over though. I may seek out another book or two but I think I've got the gist of it. Reading these did make me think back to one of my longtime fantasies; learning to sail, buying a boat, and cruising around the Caribbean during my retirement. Doesn't that sound like fun? Sort of a Jimmy Buffett thing? Now if I can just convince Stephanie how much fun it would be we can set sail as soon as Connor leaves the house. And I learn how to sail a vessel I'd trust in the open ocean. To be continued.

Big Easy, Big fun

I just returned yesterday from my trip to New Orleans. As I mentioned in my previous post, I went there to meet my great friend, Eric, for some fun and relaxation. The trip turned out to be even better than expected. Eric had secretly invited two of our mutual friends from Kellogg, Geoffrey Souser and Paula Smorynski to come down and join us.

Wednesday Eric and I hung out in the French Quarter, had dinner at Coop's, one of my favorite New Orleans dives, and listened to some great music on Bourbon Street. Thursday we took a self guided walking tour of the French Quarter. The place is heartbreakingly beautiful and has the most colorful history of any place I've ever been. We then walked along Royal Street and checked out all the antique stores, art galleries, voodoo parlors, and other exotic New Orleans type establishments.

We headed over to Mother's in the CBD for lunch. We were standing in line when Geoff walked up. You could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather. Eric had been excusing himself all morning to take calls and read texts. I thought he was just being rude but he was just secretly conniving with Geoff. I was so glad to see him and we had a great lunch. Less so for Geoff since he's practically vegan and didn't find much to eat on Mother's animal fat laden menu.

We left Mothers and walked around for another couple of hours then headed to the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone. The bar is a literal carousel that rotates while you have your cocktails. Somewhat disconcerting after a few of them. Now in walks the last member of our former dinner club, Paula.

Back when we were in school together the four of us worked together in some classes and hit it off immediately. The dinner club formed when we started dining together with our respective spouses once a quarter and became fast friends. We also went out together after our last night of class as Kellogg students. I hadn't seen Paula since that night and had only seen Geoff once or twice since. Eight years ago.

It was amazing that Eric thought to bring us all together again. And amazing that Geoff and Paula took the time away from their lives and families to come down to New Orleans and hang out. Thursday night we went to the home of one of our former professors, Georgios Bakamitsos, who teaches at Tulane now. We had a great time at his house. Less so for Geoff since he suffered from some serious food poisoning from a bad falafel and had to leave early. He was, thankfully, recovered by the next morning.

Friday morning we went for a tour of the Garden District and saw some beautiful homes and the homes of some notable New Orleans residents like Anne Rice, Archie Manning, Trent Reznor, John Goodman, Nicolas Cage, and many other amazing Victorian beauties. We went to the fabled Commander's Palace for lunch. Georgios met us and we had a fabulous meal and even sampled their 25 cent martinis. Even Geoff had the best plate of sauteed vegetables ever according to the waiter.

After some recovery time in the afternoon we hit the Quarter again. Eric was jonesing for a muffaletta and though Central Grocery was closed we managed to find him one. We went to Pat O'Brien's and then heard an amazing set of Dixieland Jazz at Preservation Hall. Later it was off to Cafe DuMonde for a nightcap of cafe au lait and beignets. We also came across a convention of pirates marauding throughout the Quarter. Only in New Orleans.

Sadly, we all had to get up and go Saturday morning. I did get a great plate of red beans and rice with andouille, cornbread, and collards at the airport on my way out of New Orleans. It was a really memorable trip. I can't thank Paula, Geoff, Georgios, and especially Eric enough. I've mentioned in this space in the past what an amazing man Eric is and his arranging to bring this together is just further proof. Thank you Eric.

I'm glad to be home but I'll never forget this trip and my friends for making it so fantastic. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Better late...

It has been almost a month since I posted to this blog. Shame on me. I'd like to say that it's because I've been hard at work on my novel. Or that I've been busy stripping wallpaper (eek). Or that I've any good excuse for not doing something productive. But I haven't. I've just been lazy. And sometimes sick and tired. Mostly lazy.

I hereby resolve that I am going to start assigning myself writing and other projects so that I don't go completely crazy. My lovely and wonderful wife has been ever so gently suggesting that I find things to do since I'm prone to depression when I don't have purposeful endeavors. So there you go. Whether you like it or not I'll be posting something here at least once a week. Putting it on my calendar right now. I'm also going to do my darnedest to write some fiction of some sort. It's nice that people think I have a knack for writing enough to suggest I do more of it and even to suggest they might read it. A memoir seems so self indulgent so I'll confine the memoirish ramblings here where they can't get out.

As for other "things to do" I'm taking suggestions. I'm considering golf but it's expensive. I'm willing to do some volunteer work if I find the right thing to do. There's also my see sawing health which makes committing to things difficult. Perhaps when my current chemo treatments are over I'll find something.

And now to the news: One week ago today I began chemotherapy treatment cycle number five of eight. If you're at least as good at math as I you'll calculate that I'm more than halfway done. Yippee! The plan remains to rescan and reassess after the cycles are complete. Dr. Alex mentioned at my last meeting with him that he's been talking with the radiation oncologists about my case and that they might try to treat my pelvic spot with radiation. Not that I look forward to that, having been radiated thoroughly in the past, but he seems to think it holds promise. So I got that going for me, which is nice. I'm really looking forward to being done with this chemo and feeling good for a while.

Connor and I recently visited Disney World with my mom, her husband, his daughter, and her family. It was an excellent trip. Mom rented a very nice house and her other two grandkids, Griff and Lily, were delightful. We visited all four Disney parks and I only had to go home early once. I was very pleased with my stamina. We rode everything and even did all the roller coasters multiple times. Big fun.

This week I'm going to New Orleans with my great friend, Eric Solberg, for three days. Eric and I have been close since we went to business school together. He has been amazingly supportive throughout my whole cancer battle and is just an amazing man. He has lived in San Diego for the past five years or so and we don't get to see one another often. So we're going to hang out, see some sights, eat some good food, listen to some great music, and generally have a good time. Stephanie has been wonderful about suggesting I do things like that. That's incredibly generous of her since we rarely get to travel together as a family. And since I'm on the government dole and we're poor wards of the state. Thank you, dear wife!

That's all the news for now. The children are doing magnificently. Summer is almost upon us. So I'd better get going. ttfn.