Favorite Things 2015

Better late than never, I’m finally updating my favorite Things list. First, I’d like to thank everyone who reads this blog (in over 100 countries!). Here are Your Favorite Posts of 2015:

5 – French Quarter Fest – Sunday

4 – Southern Decadence 2015

3 – Big Easy Birthday

2 – Endymion Extravaganza – My First Ball!  (your favorite post of all time)

1 – Street Musicians – Tanya and Dorise

Now to the list! The categories are: Food & Beverage, Music & Entertainment, Culture, Shopping and Giving & More. 

Oscars in Hollywood South

When I was a kid, the Academy Awards was about dresses and hairdos. I was too young to have seen most of the movies and had no idea what sound design was or why it should get an award, but those dresses and hairdos and jewels and shoes had my full attention. By my 20’s, I had opinions about who should win and got excited when they picked one of my favorites (and I loved the dresses). A funny thing happened in my 30’s – I started noticing how many people I knew in the audience, how many I’d worked with, how many were friends. The Oscars became personal for me. Then movies I acted in got nominated and some won awards. I was thrilled but I never really thought I’d contributed in any way to that win. Tonight, as Best Screenplay winner Quentin Tarantino thanked the actors who bring his characters to life (and pretty much no one else), I felt like I personally contributed to an Oscar win.

L.A. to N.O.LA’s Favorite Things (in NOLA) 2010

I can’t get you all of this stuff, Oprah-style, but every item has links to their site. If you’d like to know more about why each is my favorite, use the search window on the lower right to find photos, videos and stories.

I continue to accumulate favorite things about New Orleans, but here’s my first year favorites in a nutshell.

Walking the Garden District

I used to love walking Laurel Canyon in L.A. The hills provided a challenging hike and I could look into at all of the gardens and homes along the way. The architecture was a mix of hippy friendly rambling homes, modern glass and concrete homes or stucco Mediterranean homes. The history of the canyon included residents like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Joni Mitchell.

The Dude Abides

I first saw The Big Lebowski in 1998, when it was released. Because of my deep love for movies I was working one day a week tearing tickets at the largest theatre in the world at that time, the 18 screen multiplex at Universal City Walk. I’d stay after work and see movies nearly every Sunday.

I’ve been cheating on you

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I sometimes drop off the map for a few days. Yes, there are times when I’m just too busy living to write about life. But, the truth is that I took a position writing for a local paper and writing articles takes even more time and energy than writing my blog posts.

Between the parades

I’ve spent so much time talking about parades that some of the simpler things I love about New Orleans have fallen through the cracks.

Living Local

The agent called today and is thrilled to be working with me. That was fast and nearly effortless – other than the 20 years I already put into this career.