Marigny Opera House....

Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans

Farewell Uncle Lionel....

Over the weekend while on a road trip to play music I began to see images of New Orleans' Uncle Lionel's second line parade and couldn't believe how many people there were.  I'm not surprised as he was a fixture on the street who couldn't pass by unnoticed.  He was always sharply dressed in a full suit and topped with his bowler hat and jewels with the watch around his hand.  He always had, "time on his hands"!  

As the miles of road flew by I couldn't stop thinking of how crazy it is how much we celebrate people when they die and when they're living don't really pay that much attention.  I guess the old saying "you don't know what you got til it's gone", rings true.  I think the most beautiful thing about Uncle Lionel is that he was brave enough to be himself and to layer himself with the whole experience of his life both good and bad.  It truly is a beautiful portrait to see an aged person in the twilight of their years sit in their comfort seat resting in the compilation of all those years.  

From now on I'm going to use this image of Lionel as a reminder to my young self, to weather the storm and let it shape my character and to resist the phony luxury of short cuts of our time.  Here's to you Uncle Lionel!

Central Square Concert Poster....

Blueberry Picking in Mississippi

New Orleans Coffee Review...

On Monday night I saw that the New Orleans Coffee Brigade was going to be on Magazine in the morning so I woke up and headed straight over there really excited.  When we walked up we were ignored a little and felt a little unwelcomed and I quickly got excited because it felt like a Brooklyn cafe.  A mustached gentleman fumbled around and finally figured out how to decant the cold brew and gave us our $4 coffee's.  In short, if you're going to give me the Bitchin Barista treatment, your coffee has to be slamming and it just wasn't.  St. Coffee is still the champ!

Living Room Restoration.....

There were times during this job that I thought what did I get myself into buying this house but after it was completed and we sat down to read and hang with friends it felt all the better having worked for it.  Such as life, work has its purpose. I'm hoping to one day have this feeling playing music for a nice appreciative crowd having come through so much.  The path of integrity is a long and lonesome road but there's no better feeling than taking the long road and coming out a knight.   

This room wasn't that bad.  We had one major plaster repair and all the corners were redone.  Jay taught me his technique for making those corners like new again.

We're painting the majority of the house in Swiss Coffee white.  It really looks nice and crisp against all the natural wood.  We were excited when we found this vintage rug at a Saturday morning estate sale.  The chairs came from St. Vincent Depaul for $25 each.  All we had to do is replace the cushions and find fabric.  

St. Roch Dinner Party I

Just as soon as I hooked up the stove and finished the kitchen two birds flew into the oven and people came over.  It was just that simple.  Our house had a warming.  St. Roch is home.