When I started blogging just over a year ago, I had little expectations of what it’d give me. I began for one purpose: to exercise my writing muscle. From that perspective, I have met my goal.

But something happened along the way. I found that I began to look at the things that I do in my day-to-day world through a NOLA lens. I’d think, can I find this store (be it Nor-Joe’s or Angelo Brocato’s) or this event (like Mardi Gras and City Park’s Storyland) anywhere else? Usually, the answer was no. And I took on an even higher appreciation of my city.

That was all fine and good. But the next thing I knew things had taken a turn, a turn had you told me it’d have taken I would never have begun blogging. Had you said, “you will start to meet other bloggers,” I would have been turned off. I am not one to “meet someone through the internet.” And I could never have envisioned me wanting to meet other bloggers in “the real world.”

Never say never, right?

Last night, we took Sun to my cousin’s, and CS, Pete and I headed to Rock ‘n’ Bowl to see Bonerama and meet fellow NOLA bloggers Stacey and Leigh (and Leigh’s husband, Dan).

When we arrived, we realized the folly of our plan: Pete and I don’t post pictures of ourselves and we have only seen very small pics of Stacey and Leigh. We thought we’d spot Stacey straight off selling Bone merch, but we didn’t. Finally, I worked up my nerve to approach a woman and ask, “Are you Leigh?” And she hugged me. Then we all had a good laugh about maybe bloggers needing a secret handshake or something. Then Stacey walked in with the merch and everyone was introduced and spent time talking like normal folks.

Then the band started. How do I describe Bonerama? To begin with, they are a trombone band. Four trombones, a sousaphone, guitar and drums. Their first song lasted 20 minutes. I thought that’d about do them in—all that blowing. But oh, no; they were just getting warmed up. Their collective sound is really unlike anything I’ve ever heard before: it’s smooth and silky; it’s jazzy and energetic; it’s polished and refined.

Then they played Led Zepplin’s “The Ocean.” I swear one of the trombones “sang” the lyrics. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I am not musically inclined and will not be able to do justice to what my ears heard and my eyes saw. What I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I couldn’t believe that it had been since before Katrina that I’d heard live music (I know–from NOLA and not seeing live music could get me deported).

They also looked really good:

And now that you can’t smoke where food is served, Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s smoke-free environment was just a delight. It was liking seeing an old friend. She was mostly unscathed by Katrina and looked like she always looked–funky and very un-self-conscious.

I hope that this is the first of many Bonerama gigs I attend with other NOLA bloggers. So, thanks, blogosphere, for a truly unexpected gift.

Here are the answers to yesterday’s truths and lies:

1. I cannot drive stick. This is TRUE. Years ago, several friends tried to teach me and a few telephone poles came close to getting hit. I am happy to drive standard.

2. I will not ski or snowboard or skydive. It is TRUE that I am deathly afraid of breaking a bone. I broke my right wrist a few years ago and eventually had to have a plate screwed into the bone. Uh, FYI, having a plate screwed into bone hurts far more than childbirth.

3. In high school, it is TRUE that no boy ever invited me to his class dance. I didn’t hang out with a lot of boys as a teenager and went to an all-girl high school. As a result, I dated very little in high school and was not invited nor attended one boy’s class dance.

4. That I have never dyed my hair is a LIE. Though it is true that my mother was responsible for many bad hair cuts and perms that I had, it did not scar me for life. I have dyed my hair as an adult but have not had a perm for over 20 years.

5. It is TRUE that I had a mad crush on Dudley Moore. Charlotte, I forgive you for saying, “Ewww.” I fell in love with Cuddly Dudley after seeing “Arthur,” a movie I stopped counting how many times I’ve seen at 24. How serious was my crush? I once took a picture of Dudley on TV (yes, I took a picture of my television) giving an interview, an interview I had recorded (and probably still have on tape somewhere). But wait; there’s more. He’s the reason I trudged to the library and did my first research project. I learned of his clubbed foot and his rough childhood; I learned of his many tall, blonde wives and lovers (and nonetheless believed that if we ever met he’d fall in love with me on the spot); I learned of his partnership with Peter Cook in the comedy revue and their famous sketch in Beyond the Fringe of the “One Legged Tarzan,” seen here (starting at 2:35):

What wasn’t to love?

6. It is a LIE that I am really good at math and can do it in my head in lightening speed. I cannot do math in my head. Cannot. Do. It. With a calculator or, better yet, an Excel spreadsheet, my math skills don’t suck (which is good since I AM a tax attorney/estate planner). It does seem, however, that I end up figuring the bill after dinners out but I am not sure why this is.

Not one of you got it right.

Katie and Greta recently tagged me for two different memes.  Neither meme really blew my skirt up.  So instead I will follow something Katie recently did on her blog (and it is similar in what Greta’s meme asked). 

I’m going to list 6 things—4 of them will be true, 2 will be false. I ask that you leave me a comment telling me which two you think are false. Got it?  If you personally know me and thus the answer, please do not spoil the fun and give it away.  There will be no prize other than the esteem of the people.  Here goes:

1.  I cannot drive stick.  Several friends have tried to teach me; we were lucky to get out with our lives.

2.  I will not ski or snowboard or skydive.  I am deathly afraid of breaking a bone.

3.  In high school, no boy ever invited me to his class dance.  Not one.

4. I have never dyed my hair.  As a child, my mother had complete control over what was done with my hair and she wanted what was the easiest.  Thus, I had many [bad] perms as a kid.  All those chemicals turned me off ever wanting to dye my hair as an adult.

5.  I have a mad crush on Dudley Moore.  Shhh; we don’t talk about the fact that he is d.e.a.d.

6.  I am really good at math (part of being a tax attorney/estate planner).  I can do it in my head in lightening speed.  Friends love me to figure the bill after dinner.

So, think you know me?  Let’s find out.

I love the semicolon; it’s my all-time favorite punctuation mark.  My love for it stems from the first author to whom I ever really found myself truly devoted, John Irving.  In “The World According to Garp,” Irving sings the praises of “the good ole semicolon,” and my love for the semicolon was cinched from my first reading of “Garp” way back in college.

This past Tuesday, the New York Times heralded the semicolon.  I have learned that Kurt Vonnegut abhorred the semicolon (he called semicolons “hermaphrodite transvestites,” saying that they serve no purpose: “The only reason to use one is to show you’ve been to college.”).  I love Vonnegut but must attribute this loathing to his notorious pessimism.  I do love his quote in the article, though (“When Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon.”).

So go read this delightful NYT piece and revel in a language that gives us the semicolon.  It makes me curious—what’s your favorite punctuation mark?

Kim from Jogging in Circles tagged me for this meme about why I blog. Here goes:

How long have you been blogging?
Since early March, 2007. Approaching a year already!
What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
One of my BBFs, Wendy over at Southern Mom, was outed by her husband that she had a blog some time ago. At the time, I was all “what’s a blog?” I came to really get addicted to reading her blog, even though as her friend I knew a lot of what she was writing about. It was so fun! Add to that my secret desire to become a novelist, and the flame was lit for me to blog.
Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?
I do have ads, but unless things change soon and real revenue is earned, I will be canceling all ads.

What 3 things do you love about being online?
1. The new friends. I have made contacts with people that I don’t think I would have otherwise. Some from finding my blog and some from me finding theirs.

2. The new eyes I have. Blogging, I find that when I am in a situation that used to make we want to get out off at the first chance, I now slow down and take mental notes of the craziness of it so that I can blog about it later. Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!

3. The timelessness of it. I can hop online when Sun wakes me up at 3am and catch up on things that I may not have had time for earlier in the day. It’s 24/7 and I love that!

What 3 things do you struggle with online?
1. Content. I try to write about things that are not just “a day in the life” because, trust me, it’s not exciting. And I hate when I have nothing to write about and I feel I am “forcing” a post. I am getting better about not blogging on those days.

2. Not caring about comments. When I decided to blog, I gave NO THOUGHT to comments. And now, I hate to admit that I do care! Yet, I am amazed at the posts that get high comments and those that get low comments. I am TERRIBLE at predicting what will strike a nerve with folks.

3. Staying positive. I don’t want my blog to be the place where I piss and moan. Nor do I want it to appear that I am a Pollyanna. I struggle to find the things in my life, in my beloved NOLA, that are positive to blog about. But sometimes I’ve got to “blog it out” to get something off my chest. I tend to regret my negative posts.

Okay, so now onto tagging other blogs:

1. My “mentor,” Wendy;

2. A new blogger, Penelope; and

3. Another NOLA blogger who needs a distraction, Katie.

I was tagged to do a Seven Random Facts About Me meme by Brandy at My Fertility Stories. Here goes:

1. I am left-handed. And this is a right-handed world. From scissors to school desks, from serrated knives to diaper bags (yes, diaper bags–many, if you look close, are designed to be worn on your right shoulder) and manual can openers. Did you know that over 2,500 left-handed people are killed each year using products made for right handers? Yup. On the other hand (the left hand?), we get the sewing machine; it was designed by a lefty and the work is done on the left side of the machine. So, there.

2. I have four siblings, and my entire family (the seven of us) were each given a name from the Seven Dwarfs. I was Bashful. Still am.

3. I am CS’s second wife. Thankfully, he had no children with the first, and she taught him to put the seat down. Thank you, former Mrs. CS.

4. My thumbs are double-jointed. When I do the Fonzie thumbs-up, my thumbs go waaay back. It comes from my mother’s side of the family. And I secretly hope Sun’s thumbs are the same.

5. I can touch my nose with my tongue. Except the other day I couldn’t and it made me sad. But it’s working again!

6. I am addicted to Burt’s Bees lip moisturizer. I go a bit nutty when my lips are naked. I have tubes of the stuff everywhere–beside my bed, with my make up, in my purse and baby bag, in my desk at the office. And I have back-ups ready to go into service if one runs out.

7. And the last random fact that you’ll wish you never knew about me is that CS once drew two dots on the toenail of my second toe. And it made my toe look like the head of a Lego astronaut, à la:

If you have been reading me for some time, you may remember when Pete switched my blog software to Word Press. At that time, he set it up such that my website went from simply www.nolanotes.com to www.nolanotes.com/wordpress. Being the anal retentive person that I am, that “slash wordpress” has annoyed me ever since.

Today, Pete fixed it back. So, if I could bother all who have blogrolled me (and if you haven’t, then why don’t you?) to please be sure that you have simply www.nolanotes.com blogrolled and not that pesky “/wordpress” too.

Oh, and what inspired Pete to do this today? The fact that he transferred his blog away from my website and to his own (sniff, sniff). Go check him out at www.mybigeasylife.com (and if you’ve had him blogrolled, now would be a good time to update him, too).

I apologize for the inconvenience and any trouble this may have caused! I promise it won’t change again!!

Katie over at Overflowing Brain challenged her readers to do better than her on an Eighth Grade Science test. I failed said test
The site she linked to, however, has all manner of fun quizzes. Quizzes to test whether you’d survive a zombie apocalypse (36%), how much your dead body would be worth for its parts ($4,200), your odds of eating your friends in a blizzard (33%). You know, fun stuff.

I took the geek quiz and scored only about a 30%. The hubs, however, scored 85%. I have now had the explanation of “who shot first” relayed to me twice. Errr. If you don’t what that means, it’s a good thing.

So I settled in on a quiz I thought I’d thrive at–whether I am a lush. And lo! I AM! I scored 83%. I know, big shocker! I am better at knowing my booze than, apparently, a lot of odd things. I attribute that to growing up in New Orleans. When my friend tells her daughter to grab a screwdriver, the daughter grabs OJ and vodka.

Weird that CS is more of a geek than I am a lush. Anywho, all this testing has made me thirsty. So while I go get a beer, go here and have fun with all the quizzes. I’d love to know your results!

Mishel recently left a comment to me and other bloggers asking how we come up with stuff to blog.  She’s concerned that if she wrote a blog, she’s not sure anyone would read it.  Here’s my response to her.  Any of you other bloggers have a comment to add for Mishel?

I write what I know–my beloved city, my family, my memories, my observations.  Some days, nothing strikes me and there is no post.  Other days, I have several ideas. 

Your comments on my blog have always been thoughtful and interesting.  I’d assume your blog would be likewise.  I’d say write about what you know–your family, your surroundings.  You’ll find that something will happen and you’ll say to yourself, “I gotta blog that!”  And you’ll even find your hubs saying, “Mishel, put that on your blog!”  (To which you’ll find yourself responding, “Get your own blog!”)

Sometimes I write things that I think will generate a lot of interest (like tomorrow’s post on king cakes).  Sometimes I write wholly for myself (like today’s earlier post–see how few comments?).  Sometimes I write to vent (I try to stay positive, though).  I try to avoid writing about work or personal stories of others, and I try not to write things that will make Pete blush or cringe (although sometimes I can’t resist).

I say come on in, the water’s fine!  You’ll have at least one reader.

Well, apparently it’s National De-Lurk Week. If you read here, or other blogs, and don’t comment, take a moment and leave a comment. It doesn’t have to be on this post–choose any that spark you.  I know there are blogs that I’ve lurked around without commenting, so I’ll be practicing what I preach, too!

Happy reading (and commenting)!