*REVISED*
I woke up early this morning and remembered that there were more parades. More parades! If you can’t tell, I love this time of year. I made myself sit down and do some work before it was parading time, so I walked over to the coffee shop, graded some papers, and bounced up and down in my seat until it was time to head home, grab the bike, and get to C. and P.’s for the first parade of the day–Krewe of Carrollton. I love riding along the route right before a parade starts. It almost feels like you are the parade, and I love watching all the ways folks are enjoying Mardi Gras. One way many of us enjoy Mardi Gras? Drinking. Last night’s parades featured some incredibly drunk college students who kept falling off the curb and into the marching band lines–total party foul. It takes some practice to figure out how to drink steadily for the two weeks of the carnival season, and I’ve finally got the hang of it, I think: only drink a little. But go ahead and drink. It was already after noon, so I got myself a light beer and settled in for another show. After the first parade and a quick trip to a bathroom, I was ready to see a bit of the second parade before hopping on the bicycle and heading down to the Quarter for parade number three. The parade stalled for a bit in front of us, and our King Arthur, Toby LeFort, showed what happens if you drink too much, too soon. [What follows is an inaccurate representation. It turns out the King had a terrible migraine, and that's why he was swaying about. I saw what I usually see--drunken revelers. My apologies to Toby for the misrepresentation!] Our King Arthur swayed drunkenly back and forth, almost falling, eyes doing that glaze thing–yeah, too much too soon, Toby. But the crowd rallied, giving him water and a sandwich, because that’s just how Mardi Gras works. I snapped this picture as he ate that peanut butter and jelly sandwich and informed the float driver that he was drunk: cue conversation about times we’ve been drunk before, and why we’re drunk now, and how it’s not our fault that we’re so drunk and that woo hoo Mardi Gras! Been there, Toby! I stayed for just a couple more floats and then pedaled down to meet up with friends to watch dogs in costume do a loop around the Quarter. Another fine Mardi Gras weekend.
Sounds to me like you are just bitter about not getting a particular throw you wanted. Maybe you should have done a little more research about what was going on with “the King” before you publish such nonsense.
Oh, Chris, I didn’t mean to come off as bitter! He seemed drunk, seemed to be talking about being drunk, and I just assumed that he was, like many of us, drunk at Mardi Gas. If it was something else, I hope he is feeling better. I have no idea what kind of “research” I could have done to find out whether he wasn’t drunk but actually seriously impaired in some other way. I had a great time at that parade, as at all parades, sometimes drunk, sometimes not. Please know this is just a blog about me and my experiences–I am certainly not trying to defame anyone. And I think if you read the entry again, and a few others, you will see that I write in good humor. I hope you enjoy your Mardi Gras too.
Thank you so much for your professional response and the correction in your blog. I see so much negative representation of people in the world today that I was just quick to defend. Sorry if I seemed a little abrupt =)