I came right out of Carnival and into what can only be described as grant deadline hell. (I wish I had more vivid, less 80s terms at my disposal, but it’s early, and I’m undercaffeinated. Gimme a break.) My last application postmark deadline is Monday, so I hope to return to normal by then.

Of course, as soon as I’m done with all that, I have to start prepping for a trip with the boyfriend, his mom, and aunt. I’m looking forward to the 10-day vacation, though in typical fashion, I’m already dreading the pile of work awaiting me when I get home. I don’t really excel at the whole “enjoying myself” thing, do I?

This morning–before heading out the door to teach young ones the wonders of hand-coding HTML–I’ve taken a few minutes to catch up on my reading. Here are a few of the tidbits that have caught my eye:

• James Dobson has resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family. Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of him, but we can hope, can’t we?
• There’s this kid I read every so often. He’s smart, funny, and a really great writer, and his voice…well, to have found it before he’s even hit 30 is pretty amazing. He’s also HIV+, and he’s hit some very rough patches lately–but he doesn’t really go for the sympathy vote. (Well, maybe a little, but it’s usually pretty subtle.) If you’re looking for something to add to your feed reader–you do use a reader, don’t you?–I’d recommend it.
• I adore Jennie–especially the beautiful excerpts she posted from Walt Whitman’s journals and her link to a lengthy but very thoughtful talk by Elizabeth Gilbert on the nature of genius.
• Project Runway‘s latest season is still stuck in legal limbo, but collections from the three finalists (no need for all those extra decoys!) still showed at New York Fashion Week. Take a gander: at least the clothes look better than the ones from the last cycle.
• I don’t have a real problem with pee-fetishists [safe for work!], but I prefer to feed my plants compost–or better yet, let them fend for themselves.
• I do not understand the Mima Mounds, but I want to–I want to understand the Mima Mounds.
• You know how you’re up late some nights–maybe you downed too much coffee, maybe you’re all stressed, whatever–and you’re watching some retarded talk show, and there’s this interview? And you wake up the next morning, and you’re all like, “Damn, did I see that?” And you totally did, but you had no proof? Well, now you have proof. My fave: this bit of weirdness, which I reference constantly–and which I remember watching during its initial airing.

via Choire

Brian as “Miss Loose Slots” + Me

So I survived Fat Tuesday–but only barely. Maybe it was all the secondhand smoke, or maybe there was anthrax in the air, but Jonno and I awoke yesterday feeling like utter crapola. I feel slightly better today, but I’m still coughing like freakin’ Camille.

Anyway.

If you weren’t here, you missed a magnificent day. The weather was perfect–seriously, perfect–and everyone was in a wonderful mood. Jonno shot some amazing pics (as usual), but I didn’t even turn on my camera. I did, however, videotape the entire Ste. Anne parade from the upstairs window. When my editing suite decides to cooperate, I’ll post it. Promise.

Carnival 2009 is nearly over. At last. I haven’t been that social, I haven’t roamed the streets, but the few balls I’ve had have been draining. (Hmmm.)

I don’t have much to offer today in the way of wit or intelligence. (Do I ever?) All I know is that I’ve got to sweep and tidy and possibly shave before company arrives at 9:30.

I also have to make a couple of posts to the website I work for. The website is focused on cars, so my editor asked me to come up with a guide for driving on Mardi Gras day. (Hey, it’s the best angle we could find.) I built it in the form of a GoogleMap, which you’ll see embedded above. You’ll probably want to click the “View Larger Map” link, since you can’t really read much in that tiny window. Anyway, for what it’s worth. Enjoy.

Also for what it’s worth: this short, not-too-awesome clip of the Ste. Anne parade walking up Royal Street. I hope to put together a better video myself, but at the very least, this’ll give those who’ve never experienced Fat Tuesday a glimpse of what it’s like for locals. (Note: sorority girls flashing for beads not included.)

See you on Ash Wednesday….

HOLY CRAP: That video I posted earlier? The one by Christeene called “Fix My Dick”? The first time I watched it, I thought, “I know that queen. Holy crap, I totally know that queen. He looks an awful lot like Paul Soileau…” Then I got distracted by something bright and shiny and forgot about it.

Turns out, it is totally my friend Paul, who was in New Orleans until Katrina, evacuated to Atlanta with mutual friends, and since moved on to Austin.

I like where his career is going. Low-rent is the new high-rent, y’all.

• In the UK, Chris Bodle has put together an interesting public art project: based on climatological data and the estimated rise in sea levels, he’s projected high water lines onto buildings around Bristol. The effect is a little like post-K New Orleans–presumably minus that smell. You know what I’m talking about. [CreativeReview]
• Would you care to see the single-worst application of Web 2.0 technology ever? Would you? Because I can show you. It’s the weather index at WDSU’s website: an assload of widgets thrown together on a page that looks nothing like the rest of the website. So basically, they’ve loaded up on crappy, gimmicky technology and smacked their brand all in one fell swoop. And don’t even get me started on the Helvetica vs. Arial issue. I mean, as if WDSU.com weren’t ugly enough. [WDSU.com]
• A trove of Civil War-era documents has found its way online. Many are restricted to Ancestry.com members, but a lot of Lincoln’s presidential correspondence and speeches are being hosted for free at the Library of Congress. Another clutch of Confederate docs is en route to the Georgia state archives. Genealogy isn’t really my thing, but my mom ought to be interested and happy. [NOLA.com]
• The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology won’t be holding its annual conference in New Orleans, thanks to Governor Jindal’s ill-advised bit of legislated godliness, a.k.a. the Science Education Act. So where has the group decided to go instead? Utah. Yes, ladies and gents, we’re more eerily religious than MORMONS. Best of all? Jindal’s response to the cancellation, via his spokesmodel Kyle Plotkin. Said Plotkin: “That’s too bad”. [NOLA.com]
• Leave it to a dude from Louisiana to turn bacon into a lampshade. Awesome. [Flickr]
• THIS IS SO NSFW, IT IS NOT FUNNY. And yet, I find it very funny: every so often, I skim through my Fleshbot news feeds–just for old times’ sake–and every so often I find something deeply disturbing. This is one of those times. [Tube8]
• THIS IS ALSO NSFW: Awesome video, less awesome song, but worth a listen. Courtesy of my friend Ostia.

My queen and me and the best beer I’ve ever sucked down

The madness is over, at least for now. At least for today. At least until Saturday, I hope.

But that sounds so dramatic. That makes it sound as if the ball were an ordeal, something to be avoided, but in fact it was pretty fun. Take a look at Jonno’s photos and you’ll see: I’m not kidding.

However, it must be said: having fun can be very hard work.

…and on the adoptive family front, my father’s new favorite show is U.K. sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. That’s shocking for two reasons: (a) dad’s usually terrified by non-Southern accents, and (b) someone in Mississippi is broadcasting classic British light comedy of the early 1990s. Hmmm.

In honor of Carnival, Callie, my bio-mom, sent a photo of my great-great-great uncle Ludwig Bergen, costuming as Frederick II of Prussia:

Which seems exactly like the sort of thing that one of our relatives–especially one named Ludwig–might do. Huzzah.

• Koalas are unbearably cute, despite their curmudgeonly reputation.
• Versatile though it may be, my iPhone doesn’t need to double as a server.
• There’s an asteroid with our name on it. Maybe.
• Fisting: it’s all part of god’s plan. Atheists: you’re missing out on the fun.
• People (and their viewing habits) are really predictable: