Hail Thoth!

Had a great ride today. I am, as usual following this parade, completely and utterly exhausted. It was a lot of fun. My grad students are the best! I have never, ever, in my entire life as a Mardi Gras participant -- and I'm a native New Orleanean who has participated in Mardi Gras for most of my entire life of 40+ years -- witnessed what my grad students did. They are so creative! Along with their own beads, they also threw Latin American Studies textbooks up to me on the float! Not only reverse throwing protocol, but very cool specialty throws, to boot. Who would ever even think of college textbooks as Mardi Gras throws? I thought it was awesome. I kept the books and will mark in them that they were part of Mardi Gras 2009.

I saw so many people on the route that I know, including blogger Schroeder from People Get Ready, who snapped some pictures of me. I'd love to see them, Schroeder! I also saw blogger Leigh C. of Liprap's Lament - The Line, who passed along to me the best drink I had on the ride -- brandy milk punch. Thanks for that yummy deliciousness, Leigh C., and let me know how I can get your cup back to you, as it was a very nice cup, and in my mindlessness I just held on to it. Outside of blogger friends, I have a range of groups and networks: there are my children's classmates and their families, there is my own family, there are my undergraduate students, there are my graduate students, there are my faculty and office colleagues and their families, there is my JHS Blue Jay network, there are my LatiNola friends, and finally my neighborhood peeps. My brother-in-law, who rode next to me this year, told me that I should run for Mayor as it seemed like every five minutes people were calling out for me along the route. It's a lot of fun having so many folks come out to see you, but it's hard to keep up with them all and I know that I miss some of them. So, if I missed you, I apologize. It wasn't intentional. What you always need to remember is that for us up on the floats, it is never-ending cacophany. Unless the parade actually stops for an extended period of time, we never get any down time from the noise. It's a kind of aural and visual overstimulation of the kind I've never experiended in any other situation. Not even Saints games come close to what I'm talking about. So we miss some folks in the blur. Heck, today I almost missed my own wife and kids; so please don't hold it against me if I missed you.

Again, all in all, an awesome ride. Pictures to follow. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of Mardi Gras. I know the Hucks will!