A triumphant return...

...while I never have been a serious Saints fan, even while living in NOLA, I was finally glad to see the players out on the Superdome turf after missing last season. After hearing everything that TV personalities had to say about what the Saints have always meant to the city of New Orleans, I thought I would need to offer my own perspective on things. Maybe a view from someone who has actually lived in the town where dodging a streetcar, two lost tourists and a homeless man on a bicycle, while trying to make a left on St. Charles, was a daily experience.

Pre-K, the city liked the Saints but it's not like they were selling out the Superdome every home game. Everyone was at least a casual fan, but it's not like anyone wanted to shell out some cash to go see them live. Post-K, the Saints were the only thing the city had to rally around. Sure we had the Hornets, which were another pro franchise, but they had just moved there not to long ago and not everyone is a basketball fan in the South. The Saints were something comforting and familiar that you had to look forward to. Like the Roman Candy Cart sitting on St. Charles by Audubon Park every day, a losing season and heartbreak by the Saints were something that everyone could count on and look forward to every fall. Last year, some things changed. This year some things changed. Benson is still a prick when it comes to ownership. The Roman Candy Cart has a new horse (God bless the old nag - she deserved to go in a better way). The Saints are now 3-0. Just like how no one knows what NOLA will be like after this year, we don't know how the Saints will fare the rest of the seaon. But I do know this, regardless of what happens, NOLA and the Saints will find a way to remind us of what makes the city great and break our hearts at the same time.

It's nice to see that a Cat 5 hurricane can't change everything.

How to feel old in 3 days...

Well, it happened. I finally had a birthday celebration that made me feel old. It was bound to happen at some point. I won't go too far into the details but here are some pictures if you're interested:

http://vanderbilt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032355&id=4709559&l=7e409

To make a long story short, a three day party that included beer pong, college football and a pro football game was about all my body could handle. I really need a weekend from the weekend to recover.

My gifts were great. Not that I need gifts to have a good birthday but it's always nice to be thought of. Everything was something that I wanted or really liked. My parents got me a nice shirt from Burberry and a tie from Vineyard Vines - although I suspect my sister had something to do with the tie as well. She also got me a Piggly Wiggly shirt from Urban Outfitters. Funny thing is that when I saw the shirt, I thought of the Piggly Wiggly that inspired her to get the shirt in the first place. LSH got the iPod Sport Kit for my Nano which was really awesome and a mixed CD of songs from a previous post. I have to admit, the Sport Kit was really handy since it's a gadget that gets my fat and lazy butt to the gym.

Aside from the weekend's festivities, I'm back in the office working hard for once - but obviously taking some time to blog - and starting to wonder if teaching for TPR is something that I still have time to do. I still love teaching the kids but since weeks have gotten busier, I can't teach on the weekends as much anymore and that is really affecting how much I can contribute there. I guess it's hard for me to let go of that job since I really don't think of it as a job anymore but it's become more a part of my daily life. I guess I'll have to end up making a (harder than expected) decision soon enough since MCAT classes will be starting soon as well.