Thursday with Wicked

Air VW the Gray had me home after 1AM, and with the fog and the different windshield arrangement of the ID.4 AWD Pro, things can look strange and unfamiliar. I have been used to taller views for the past month in rented SUVs (yes, I have driven rented cars for more than a month; that blows my mind). I missed my turn on 209th early in the day because I did not recognize the intersection. I arrived safe, and while a large amount of bird poo hits the driveway, I preferred the poo over the garbage truck avoiding a new vehicle parked on the street!

Cleaning out the garage and getting ID.4 in there is moving up on the to-do list!

With the car ensconced in the lesser-risk location, I took a quick shower and put on my PJs (these were a gift from Deborah), and soon, I was trying to sleep. I was returning from the theater in Air VW the Gray from watching one of the last showings of Wicked (the movie, part 1) and was still humming Defying Gravity. I managed, I think, to sleep around 2ish and woke a few times but managed to sleep mostly by rolling over. I usually try to see if Joan S or Jack is available, but this was a last-minute thought.

Moving backward, I looked up seats and found only one theater in the area showing; yikes. I grabbed a seat on Fandango.com and put away some laundry until it was time. Before this, I watched the end of one of the best Classic Doctor Who series, “The Genesis of the Daleks,” with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. This short series covers what evil is and why a time traveler could not stop the evil of the Daleks. These episodes clearly show that the wages of evil are poor when received, and often, the wages come with cosmic irony. I liked it. This was a break after working on text and PowerPoints all afternoon and early evening.

I finished my planned tasks by 2ish and unloaded the cargo hold from my few goodies from Costco. I managed to keep the bill below $200, including some new housewares. I then headed to The 649 with Crystal bartending to the end of her shift around 6. There, I ordered a beer and started revising a 2015 PPT I built for another church moment. I created a slide style for First United Methodist Church and then built multiple slides for various communications. The usual way was to overdo it and then edit back to the basic message. I reworked the slides and took Ashley’s words, with minimal rework, unpacked them, spread them across slides to bring out the themes and concepts, and then added some measurable goals. These were just the Nike IT built-in skills you get after twenty-plus years of presentations and other gigs at the shoe company. I updated some photos to newer images I took of worship and the buildings. It took most of the afternoon to complete; it is off to Pastor Ken and Ashley to review.

Shawn asked me to send him thoughts on New Orleans (NOLA) after my last two trips. He and his gal are thinking of taking a trip there. I remembered my hotels, cooking, and jazz for them. I recommended the quieter and not haunted hotel but left that option to them. The hop-on-off bus in NOLA was extraordinary, and while I usually avoid them as a tourist trap, they are surprisingly useful and informative in NOLA. But NOLA is like that; the food with the vampires is better, and the Jazz is best raw or near vampires–NOLA embraces opposites.

Here is the text (leaving in some wooden language):

Le Richelieu Hotel is near the quiet side of the French Quarter, runs well, and is enjoyable. It is also not haunted. It is nearer the Jazz Museum and Frenchman Street, which is a good alternative to the chaos of throwing up young folks on Bourbon Street. The staff and rooms were better.

Chateau Le Moyne is reported haunted, and I did have one bad dream and felt the room freeze into something unworldly and then fade. It is closer to the action, and my balcony and thin walls made it hard to sleep on some loud nights. Unlike Le Richelieu, a good twenty-minute walk from the crazy, this place is only a few blocks away. 

My friends recommended Hotel Monteleone, but I have no experience there. It is on my list to try.

Frenchman Street is out of the quarter, but it has some of the best experiences. The music is great there. The food was OK.

The hop-on-off tours on tourist buses were great for learning about the area, and they covered all of NOLA. I would recommend them and visit other parts of the city. I just enjoyed listening and looking. One of our speakers was one of the folks who does the parades, and she explained everything. Most excellent.

I did no public transport, but I am told it is there and works. The graveyard tour is a must, but it is a tourist trap. I did NO ghost tours as I could do it almost as well; I suspect there are some good ones, but I have doubts. I like the mule tours at Jackson Square and try to learn something new, though I could almost give them now.

I went to the vampire bars (yes, it is a thing), paid a lot for excellent food and drinks, and received a vampire pass to Potions. I had my future told for $$ and asked how it was done, and I have no regrets. Potions was OK, and you can only get in if you get past the vampires—you must have a pass from another vampire.

The Vampire is behind my fav and the only place I like on Bourbon Street. I wait for a seat and agree to pay for one beer for each set. Smile a lot and look responsible; you will get sympathy and a seat faster. This is Fritz European Jazz Club (and secret Vampire Coven). I enjoy the music and have sat there for hours until I can barely walk (from sitting and three or more beers). The vampire guard is in the courtyard just past the band. The Potions Speakeasy is upstairs in the coven.

The Cooking School for a Demo is worth it. I recommend fitting that in. Now, if you are crazy, like me, pay the bucks for the hands-on experience, but be ready to cook and set things on fire!

Jazz was a mixed bag for me. The Jazz Hall put me to sleep once! I like my jazz a bit more raw. I wandered the streets looking for a band to listen to and then did.

Toast is my fav for breakfast. The Napoleon House is my favorite for lunch, and their Gumbo is not terrible. The Muffuletta Quarter is a whole sandwich. The bartenders with wooden bowties have 20+ years. The guy at the bar with a black mustache and wooden bow tie is excellent. Their drinks are fantastic. Remember that Absthme was perfected here, NOLA, and bitters were invented two streets over! 

Antoine’s (across from Chateau Le Moyne) is an old-school food place, and I wore a suit and enjoyed going all out one night. The food was good, and we got a museum tour from the former head server. I did not go back on the last trip (I was alone and cooking or seeing a demo most nights), but I would take my gal there. 

I love visiting NOLA and will be back. The cooking classes have only deepened my respect for the place. There is so much to see and experience. Hope this helps!

I emailed Shawn the response while finishing my second beer and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. I sat at my usual table, a pick which I discovered was too close to the door. I was cold and decided to skip dessert and pay the bill. Crystal had already said goodnight to me, and I covered the bill with Steven.

Later, while watching Doctor Who, I tried some of the smoked salmon I got at Costco. It was good, though not local, which was a surprise to me. It had some cheese to go with it. I also got some veggie pizza and frozen meatballs from Costco for dinners to come.

Before this, I was writing the blog and learned that Scott could not make lunch, so I revised my plans as I completed the blog. I headed to PF Chang’s in Tannsborne. They had a good lunch special, and soon, I had iced tea and the lunch version of beef and broccoli and paid extra for fried rice.  Next, I wandered Costco, looking for sheets and minor items. As I said, I escaped for less than $200.

Before this, I had a dream that I remember. In my dream, I was lectured by one of the characters from Wicked that with my regeneration (Doctor Who speak), the Time Lords had produced a record of my future, and these were provided. I flipped through one and also saw one for The Doctor. It was in a comic book style with no text. It was filled with calculus problems, single and double integrations, and other math practice problems. The pictures were interspersed with math. The lecturer explained that no text was provided, just pictures, as it was up to each Time Lord to define their lives, and the drawings were only informational. I was to study and become a Time Lord. Deborah was in one of the drawings. Apparently, she is included in my dream lifebook.

On waking, I noticed I had two overflowing shelves of textbooks and books on higher math (though calculus is elementary level for math PhDs). I also bought some interesting books a year ago in East Lansing on higher math.

What my unconscious mind wanted was clear: I must focus on mathematics. I will complete the work I have been asked to do for the church, but this is not part of what I want to do now. It’s time to sharpen my calculus and concrete mathematics and return to computational complexity. I believe that the new learning of the 1980s, which brought AI to life, will also bring solutions to complexity. I dream of having the time to get my skills back and find new solutions.

It is hard to know yourself.

Thanks for reading.