Day 2 Jazz Festival and My Own Little Room

I'm pooped and Jazz Festival hasn't even started. It's work, man, being here, I tell ya'. So many decisions. Do I wear a skirt or a sundress today?  Eat gumbo or crawfish? Listen to the Rebirth Brass Band or Trombone Shorty? Yeah, so cry me a Mississippi River. But you know the saying how you have to take a vacation from your vacation.

 Today I spent an hour unpacking all my bling and outfits, lining up stacks of shirts and skirts and dresses that I will fling all over the room every day as I get dressed for JF. I went to the Super Dome and bought tix, then to lunch near Susan's office, then visited Susan's office on Canal Street, then walked for two miles in and out of galleries while I waited for Susan and took 353 photos all over the Quarter, including the (2012 Grammy for best regional roots album) Rebirth Brass Band and entourage; the Daisy Divas; Tanya and Dorise, amazing classical with wild flair duo (watch for them) http://tanyandorise.com/. I worked out with Susan,

helped make dinner and tried to 

take night pictures of Charles' fish in his tank in the shed, 

which did not work because they are nocturnal and every time we tried to put a light on them, they hid in their hollow log home. So you know, tomorrow is Jazz Festival. It's time I finish this blog and love this little room that is also part of the New Orleans scene for me. So thankful that it's mine for  14 days a year.

Tanya, of Tanya and Dorise

"In my own little corner, in my own little room, I can be whatever I want to be" -- Cinderella.

Arrival New Orleans Jazz Festival 2012. Let's do this thing.

Arrived 4 p.m. Wednesday April 25.
Weather: Perfect. Blue skies. Crazy breezes. No humidity.
Sat outside the airport on my suitcase and tried to have a forever moment while waiting for Susan.

Felt the breezes.
Heard the traffic.
Smelled the traffic.
Saw dappled sun, girl in hot pink shorts, girl in long dress.
Felt relief, peace and happiness that I was here.
~
Susan picked me up and we picked up where we left off. Laughed til we almost peed. Went to a Turkish restaurant and wondered what was wrong with people. Drank tea. Ate salmon. Shopped for food we swear we're gonna cook, but probably won't. Sneaked dark chocolate malted milk balls out of bulk bins. And then home to my room inside the house where Mama lived and burned.  I love the little room upstairs that Susan renovated in her oh so signature style, that I get to live in for 14 days, while I'm not partying, eating, driving around taking pictures and listening to music. It is my haven for these 14 days, a respite from the weary world, which has been especially weary of late. Take that, Dr. Ninnyhammer Nutbag at the Cleveland Clinic, which is another story for another blog. Meanwhile, we finished the night by watching really stupid YouTubes and looking through pictures of Mama and the family when we were young-er. Hundreds of pictures. Hundreds, I tell you. I didn't steal a one, Susan. I promise. I drank wine and stumbled up the steep stairs to my room. Today is a brand new day, and I cannot wait to see what I see. Love this city. Love my sister. Love Jazz Festival. Yes.

My home away from home.

The search for water stops here

You know you're supposed to drink water.

So one day you put a six-ounce glass in the bathroom and another by the kitchen sink. And for a couple of days, every time you see either glass, you fill it with water, and you drink.

But then somebody in comes along and puts the glasses in the dishwasher. And you go back to forgetting water. Until one day, you come upon a plastic water-bottle sale at Target.

You buy a pretty opaque blue boy and fill it first thing in the morning.

But something's wrong.

The mouth is too big.  

And it's plastic.


You remember reading plastic is the new cholesterol.

The water bottle got lost at the soccer field anyway.

You quit again.

Next, while you're out shopping for Christmas presents, you see this really cool glass bottle at Whole Foods.

You know it's glass and it could break. But hey, it's better than plastic, at least during this news cycle, and it has this rubber protective thing around it. Ah, but it's $20, which feels a little luxurious, if not downright narcissistic. Aren't you shopping for presents for other people?

So hey, you can put it on your own Christmas list! And sure enough, one day around Dec. 20, somebody calls you and says "I'm at World Market. What was that water bottle you were talking about?"

"It was from Whole Foods, not World Market," you say.

"Oh, I'm not going there today," the person says.

Your throat is beginning to parch and your kidneys are shriveling to the size of a burnt popcorn kernel.

And then some other day you're in the little natural foods store in town.

You saunter by the clearance table, where all the weird vitamins nobody wants are sitting.

Lo and behold, shining like Darth Vader in the desert, is this: 

Sleek. Black. Stainless steel. Double-walled (whatever that means). It's curved in the middle to accommodate the curve of your hand. It has two tops, one you fill with the water and the other, that stays attached to the bottle that you pull off for drinking.The opening to the bottle is the perfect size for your little lips. You easily envision yourself holding this curved sexy thing in your hand, chugging on this 16-ounce baby, two 8-oz glasses at a time, which, you calculate, means you only have to fill it four times a day, five if you're being really good, as well you should be.


And well, it's double-walled.

You are afraid to look at the price tag.

But it's on the clearance table...You see it's $12.49, marked down from $13.69!

And now.. guess what?

It's been a whole month and I'm still taking my new sexy friend everywhere I go. I fill him on some days four times, sometimes three, more often two and a half. But I'm doing it. I am creating a water habit

Here's a link to the bottle online. Unfortunately, it's $20 plus shipping, instead of $12.69. But don't ignore the fact that your liver is growing cactus and your gall bladder needs a lint cleaner. And drinking water can reinvigorate your ability to leap over tall buildings.

Vegan, vegetarian and raw: What do the doctors say?

It's January. Must be diet time, and here come all the Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers commercials. Here come, also, two mainstream studies championing vegetarian, vegan and even raw-foot eating as paths to a healthy body. Macrobiotic eating is also mentioned in one of the studies, but it doesn't get as many kudos. Both studies rank several diets according to weight-loss success, nutritional completeness, health benefits and ease. Regardless of rankings -- and whether you support popular media or not -- it's nice to see mainstream health professionals publicly supporting lifestyles that start with no meat and go from there.  Bravo, U.S. News and World Report. Bravo, Yahoo! 

http://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-overall-diets. 
This ranking by U.S. News and World Report puts vegetarianism at 10 out of 25 best diets and veganism at 14 out of 25. Vegetarianism is touted for "nutritional completeness" while veganism gets lower marks because it "doesn’t offer built-in social support, and may not provide enough of some nutrients." As for the macrobiotic way of life: "Following the plan is a challenge. It’s an extreme change from the standard American diet. And it’s awfully strict."

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/weight-loss/photos/best-diets-weight-loss-2012#0. The Yahoo! study likes veganism (plain old vegetarianism isn't mentioned) more than the first study, placing it at 6 out of 16. The only caveat is that "vegans must be very committed." Veganism is a hard lifestyle to stick to, given what Americans are surrounded with and how much time and planning go into preparing meals, say the Yahoo! experts.  This study -- get this all you raw foodies out there -- ranks the raw-food lifestyle as second best, tied with Jenny Craig and second only to 1st-place dueling favorite Weight Watchers and Biggest Loser!!! 

Smoothie in community with friend and raw-food coach
Erin Maroney LaBelle. Smoothie made with
spinach, persimmon, apple, kale, carrot (tops, too)
and strawberry.

"Raw foodism traces back to the late 1800s, when Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a doctor, discovered he could cure his own jaundice by eating raw apples. Thus began a series of experiments testing the effects of raw food on human health, and the diet has continued to evolve. Most who follow the plan consume only half the calories they would eat on a cooked diet. What the experts say: The diet can deliver both short- and long-term weight loss, experts concluded, since raw foodists typically eat fewer calories than most other people. But such a restrictive, labor-intensive diet certainly isn’t for everyone."


Keep in mind, when these analysts are considering ease and convenience that not everybody lives in a town like Kent, Ohio, where there is a large community of vegan/vegetarian/raw foodies who support each other in lots of ways -- farm markets, Facebook, green smoothie happy hours, recipe sharing and vegan/vegetarian potlucks. Happy New Year!

This is "cheese," made with raw, soaked almonds.
"Chips" are thin-sliced Japanese turnips.
Made by vegan/raw expert and friend, Molly Aubuchon.

Non-festival photos, New Orleans Jazz Festival, 2011

New Orleans Jazz Festival Photography Application 2012

Every year I go to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Every year, I shoot thousands of photos. This year, I chose to apply for one of 150 coveted volunteer photographer slots. This is not photographer exploitation, like I know all about with give-away writing these days. The JF actually treats its artists right: If I am chosen, I get a $50 ticket and all-access stage passes every day I shoot. I only have to provide three images each day. And I get rights to all my images. Everybody wins. Of course, I don't know if I will get a slot. I'm just happy that I applied and that I had enough pictures I thought worthy to submit: I have crashed so many hard drives and have lost so many original photos. I'm so glad I had these six to send, a hodgepodge, including not just musicians, but atmospherics of a culture, like they wanted. Fingers crossed.  

1. ESPERANZA SPALDING    Jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding was 24 and two years away from receiving a Best New Artist Grammy (2011) when she came on the scene of the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Here, she appears transcended as she likewise mesmerizes a Jazz Tent crowd with a rare coupling of seasoned talent and youthful elegance.

MARDI GRAS INDIAN, POST-KATRINA
Many of the Mardi Gras Indian tribes remained displaced from their homes as they yet returned to the New Orleans Jazz Festival to parade around the fairgrounds for the first Fest post-Katrina. I asked this particular man to look into my camera for a moment as he processed. The sadness in his eyes is profound.

LET THE JAZZ FEST BEGIN
One of my favorite moments of the Jazz Festival is the afternoon before it actually begins, with the Rebirth Brass Band in the French Quarter and attendant Indians, dancers and musicians. This picture suggests the expectation and excitement of another Jazz Festival about to begin.

GIRL WITH THE YELLOW FEATHER EARRING
As much as I love shooting musicians, I love photographing people at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. This brightly bedecked festival-goer turns to scan the crowd as she waits for John Legend to come on. I liked the light, the shadows and once again, the expectation.

BIG SAM'S FUNKY NATION COMES TO KENT           I love it when my favorite hometown New Orleans funk music comes to a stage near me. This is Big Sam's Funky Nation, playing for a small crowd at the Kent Stage, December, 2011.

JOHN LEGEND, 2011 NEW ORLEANS JAZZ FESTIVAL          John Legend gets into it, like he always does, at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. I had to work my way to the front of a packed crowd to respectfully nudge my lens between two people to grab this shot.

New Year's lucky healthy food

Can't believe it's been three months since I blogged, considering I hoped to blog every day. Yeah, rite. Not even going to make a New Year's resolution about this. Meanwhile, friends have been asking for recipes for a few vegan dishes I made for various holiday dinners: African Groundnut Stew, a traditional West-African recipe I got at a vegan-cooking class at the Mustard Seed a couple of years ago, which I made for a Christmas dinner and for New Year's Eve. The second recipe is an Asian wilted cabbage -- look, ma, no bacon drippings -- salad I made up for New Year's Day to replace lucky cabbage cooked in animal fat. The last is yummy, robust, luscious black-eyed peas I made for New Year's in place of traditional Southern-style Hoppin' John, normally also heavy with ham hocks. I gotta tell you, nobody around the table today missed the meat. Yum, yum, eat 'em up, y'all, and Happy New Year!!!!!! 

African Groundnut Stew

Serves 4-6

1 small head cauliflower, cut into large florets (3 cups)

4 tablespoons olive oil

salt

1 small onion (1 cup), diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced, peeled ginger

1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1/2 pound (1 cup) turnip, peeled and large chunks

2 medium carrots, large chunk (1 cup)

1 celery stalk, cut in 2.5-inch pieces

2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped into chunks

2 tablespoons shoyu or tamari or soy sauce.Best is shoyu or tamari

2 cups water

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut large chunks (1 1/4 cups)

1 pound acorn or other delicate squash, halved, seeded, peeled and cut into large chunks (4 cups)

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter mixed with 1/2 cup warm water

2 tablespoons ginger juice (can make your own by grating a few large chunks of ginger, then squeeze the juice out of the grated ginger, using your hands)

2-3 green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

1/4 cup cilantro, plus more for garnish

pinch cayenne

1/2 cup chopped, roasted, unsalted peanuts, for garnish

Arugula for garnish.

Toss cauliflower in bowl with 2 tablespoons of oil, sprinkles with salt. Spread on baking sheet and roast in oven for 30 mins. Can stir halfway through, or ok if not. Heat 2 T oil in large pot. Add onions and cook med-low for five mins. Add garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and cook another 5 mins. Add turnips, carrots, celery, tomatoes and shoyu and cook uncovered over med heat, stirring occas., for five mins until tomatoes are reduced and thickened. Add water. Cover pot. Bring to boil on high. Lower heat, simmer, partially covered, 10 mins. Add potato, squash and 1 tsp. salt and cook another 15 mins until vegs tender. Stir in roasted cauliflower and peanut butter mixture and cook for just a few minutes, stirring occas to keep stew from sticking to bottom of pot. Add ginger juice, green onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, adjust salt, add a bit of cayenne. If stew is too thick, add water. Serve with peanuts and cilantro and arugula. Serve over brown rice or couscous. Divine.

DL’s Wilted Asian Cabbage Salad

1/2 large head of cabbage, sliced and chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 red pepper sliced and chopped

1/2 cup peanuts or cashews

1/4 cup veggie broth

3 cups water
1/2 - 1 teaspoon raw organic cane sugar

2 T toasted sesame oil

2 T red wine vinegar

salt

cracked pepper

Boil water with veggie broth. While water is boiling, chop cabbage. Pour boiling water over cabbage. Let sit 10 mins. While cabbage is wilting, chop carrots and pepper. Drain cabbage. Run cold water over to cool cabbage a bit. Mix all vegs together. Drizzle on oil. Ditto vinegar, then salt, cracked pepper, sugar, and nuts. Stir. Chill. Voila.

DL’s Alternative to Meat-Based Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Eve

3 cups dried black eyed peas

1/2 onion

1/2 sweet red pepper

3 large clove garlic

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

salt

olive oil

veggie broth

Soak beans overnight. On New Year’s Day, get up if you can and put beans on to boil with veggie broth in several cups of water. The amount is personal preference. I’d say 8-10 cups water and 1/2 cup powdered veggie broth. As beans begin to boil, chop veggies. Put olive oil in saute pan. Throw in onion, then pepper, then garlic, then pepper flakes. Saute for a few mins. Add to beans. Cook uncovered til beans have soaked up water. Add brown rice. Really yummy. Almost gone. See: