Art of the Odd

On my first trip to New Orleans, in the early ’90s, I sat at the Cafe Du Monde sipping cafe au lait and listening to an old jazz trumpeter accompany himself on “When the Saints Win the Super Bowl” (to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” of course). It was played for humor – the Saints had a decent team at that point (the mighty Wikipedia tells me they made the playoffs in 1990, and won their first division title in 1991), but it was still clear that this man didn’t expect his beloved team to take home the big trophy anytime soon.

I watched the game tonight with a bunch of geeks and bellydancers, at the home of a New Orleans expat, and I kept hearing that old man sing. Wherever he is, I sure hope he saw every play.

I’ve been working on this bias-knit scarf – a project stalled first by my need to order nickel-plated tips for my interchangeable needle set (the mohair-acrylic yard I used sticks to the wooden ones as though they were coated in rubber cement), and then by the need to buy two more skeins of the yarn (because the color I’m using comes in skeins half the size of the other colors in the line). My goal, though, was to have it finished in time for one of the holiday parties NovySan and I were attending – and I got it done. Granted, it was still a bit damp from blocking (I handwashed it, then dried it on low heat when I realized it would never air dry in time), and I was weaving in yarn ends this afternoon, on the way to Be the Boy and Slackmistress‘s house, but it was finished!

I do have a couple of projects in mind for the new year, which I’ll fill you in on over the next few days, but for now – may 2010 be better for than 2009, whether 2009 was an excellent year or a terrible one.

So, we just watched Breathless, which a certain young man I once had a terrible crush on told me reminded him of me. I’m no longer certain that was a compliment. I’ll hope he meant that our affair was romantic and a little dangerous, and not that I was a stupid girl in love with an asshole. (Joshua, if you’re out there – it was Breathless you were talking about?)

But that’s over now, and NovySan’s just made me a vanilla steamer (hot milk and vanilla syrup, and I see he’s added some nutmeg, too). Traci, over at 38 and Growing, introduced me to the vanilla steamer when we worked together in San Francisco, and I’ve gotta tell you guys, it’s like relaxation in a mug.

Especially when someone else makes it for you.