Inaugural Children’s Hospital Holiday Parade

I’ve loved dancing with the Pussyfooters in the annual Krewe of Jingle holiday parade for years. Sadly, the parade didn’t survive the pandemic, so organizers from various local organizations came together to create the first ever Children’s Hospital Holiday Parade. The float builders at Kern Studios created Louisiana and New Orleans-centritc floats like alligators and Mr. Bingle. TV cameras were set up throughout the city to report the action. Floating balloons (like in the Macy’s parade) were added to the many dance krewes and school bands crowds have come to expect.

New Orleans Mystery Books

When I started this blog, I was working on a novel, Lemonade Farm. Ten years later, I’ve finished that novel, an acting book,  Know Small Parts: An Actor’s Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments ints a Career with foreword by Richard Dreyfuss and endorsements from Kevin Costner, Lou Diamond Phillips and many more – and with the release of The Family Secret: A Charlotte Reade Mystery – I’ve just completed a 5-book series.

The first book of the mysteries-not-murders series begins as the Saints are marching toward their Super Bowl victory during Mardi Gras in 2009-10. As actor/producer Charlotte aids in the search for a birth mother, she comes across a haunted chandelier, and a mystery in her own family’s past.

Parades! ‘tit Rex, Krewe Boheme, Krewe du Vieux & Krewe Delusion

It was a gorgeous 75 and sunny day for the 10th annual  ‘tit Rex parade. The miniature parade is an adult, often satirical spectacle of big creativity in tiny form. There were even people sipping little Bloody Mary’s, passing out tiny throws and cocktail umbrellas. Barbie and her friends in Mardi Gras beads crowded with their arms outstretched, their kids sitting in ladder chairs. Like my parents, people here grew up making shoebox floats in grade school and parading them down the halls, so the creations are nostalgic for many.

The weekend started with a new French Quarter walking parade from Krewe Boheme.

Reading, Writing and Gift Ideas

Whenever I go too long between writing posts for this blog, you can rest assured I’m still writing. When I started this blog in 2009, I wrote all the time – at least a couple posts a week. Then I took a job writing for a local paper and it cut into my blogging time a bit. In 2012, I published my first book, Know Small Parts: An Actor’s Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments ints a Career with foreword by Richard Dreyfuss and endorsements from Kevin Costner and a dozen other industry luminaries. Next came Lemonade Farm, my first novel. Award winning and New York Times bestselling author Tom Franklin

Another New Orleans Mystery!

If you’ve read any of my books, perhaps you’re already familiar with Charlotte Reade, the L.A. actor who returns to her family home in New Orleans to attend a funeral and ends up helping to find a birth mother in The Secret of the Other Mother: A Charlotte Reade Mystery. Charlotte’s search takes her down a path that starts in a laundromat in the 1950’s and winds through costume experts and a burlesque tour before landing her on the infamous Bourbon Street. Set during the Saints’ 2009 march to Super Bowl victory and the most-amazing-Mardi-Gras-ever, many of the details of those events are based on this blog.

Charlotte’s back in this second installment of the local best-seller Charlotte Reade Mystery series, The Hidden Huntsman.

Pussyfooting in the Krewe of Thoth Parade and Mardi Gras Wrap-up

It’s been a week since Carnival ended and I’m still winding down from my best and busiest Mardi Gras season ever! As always, I attended dozens of parades, caught throws and wore costumes but this year I was a Pussyfooter in 3 parades, even wearing my pink pride while riding with Quentin Tarantino in his Orpheus float. Experiencing the parades from the inside gave my insight into the work, love and commitment it takes to create the biggest party in the world and provide it to everyone for free. Bless the Krewes who pay for this extravaganza and the thousands of people who costume-up to throw beads, dance, play in bands, twirl batons, stilt walk, ride horseback, sling flambeau lamps, roller skate and otherwise entertain the masses. 

Judging the Greasing of the Poles

Last year, I was asked to be a “Celebrity Pole Greaser” at the Royal Sonesta’s 43rd Greasing of the Poles to kick off Carnival weekend. The person who recommended me to the Sonesta was a fan of this blog and a member of the Pussyfooters – who performed with me that day. While we were lining up to go out to the crowd, another Pussyfooter suggested I should join their group. I’ve loved watching them since my first full Mardi Gras season in 2010. Just seeing their pink power dancing my way made me smile and made me proud of my own brand of pink-corset-and-combat-boots femininity.  

A Very Big Easy Birthday Party

New Orleans is known for being a good time and a great place to party. There may be no bigger party in the nation then the marathon of Mardi Gras – especially when we are taking a “break” from Carnival in the middle to have a week of Super Bowl festivities! That said, the only topper would be to celebrate your birthday during this party-palooza. A friend of mine did just that last weekend and it was as good as it gets.

Saints in the Playoffs at the Dome!

The Saints have a name for for the fans that attend the games at the Superdome – the Twelfth Man. Like all fans, we cheer on our team when they do well and encourage them when they need it. What makes us the Twelfth Man, the extra player on the field, is our volume. We play defense, drowning out all attempts by the opposing team to communicate in the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. Just like the team brings a little extra enthusiasm to each playoff game driving them closer to the Super Bowl, so did the Twelfth Man.