employed hipster: now with 50% more hip.

Fin.

I’ve been thinking about this post for at least two weeks since my goodbye to the Nolala has been extended across several days of inebriation, bar crawling, t-shirt creating, swamp touring, go-kart loading, and drive-thru daiquiri consumption.  I’ve thrown away a metric shit ton of paper, managed to jam most of my belongings into a two-door VW Rabbit, and shipped my pink-handle-barred ten-speed to the new pad for twice the original cost of the bike (much to the lady’s chagrin, she’s quite worried that it will be stolen).  I’m finished being part of the education Gestapo, finished teaching the best and brightest of south Louisiana, and finished being a pseudo-southerner.  At this time tomorrow I will be in Memphis visiting the zoo and Graceland, and then it’s off to Nashvegas, VA Beach, and finally home.

My beautiful girl called me to say hi and see how things were going this afternoon.  I commented that it was pretty amazing that we survived the year and that I thought this was a pretty good sign.  She agreed and added enthusiastic comments about our future life and its nascent phases that begin this coming Thursday.    I remember when the countdown was months, then weeks, then days, and now we’re getting close to hours.  I couldn’t be happier to drive home and yet a wee nagging part of me will always miss this crazy ass city.  I wouldn’t have stayed a third year regardless of relationship status, but it is a place that inspires a mix of feelings, some of which can be considered akin to nostalgia.  It is a place frozen in time, poised to move forward and yet standing in its own way.  It is a little kid with brand new shoes that are just a few sizes too big, it can’t walk without falling and so it has chosen to stand still and marvel and its own glitz.

And so, in honor of this fine city, I have composed a list of things that will be missed by yours truly.  Some will be recognizable by only those who have lived here and others are universal, but they will be missed whole-heartedly none the less:

The Delachaise, Mimi’s in the Marigny, the Mimi’s bartender’s playlist, the Midcity neighborhood, swamp tours, squished gators on the spillway bridge, every student I have ever interacted with at Generic High School, drive-thru daiquiris, sunsets in Audubon Park, The Maple Street Bookshop, the cemeteries, bike excursions through the Iberville projects, Mardi Gras, coaching soccer, A & C’s hot painted lady in the Marigny, The Hookah Café (now defunct), roommate Barb and laser cat, roommate Dave-Dave and his absurdity, the total experience of living at 2421 Nashville, crawfish burrrrls, binge brunch on Bourbon St., The Clover Grill, Café Prytania, Zingo, anything involving work-wife Bizet, Soul Rebels, Galatic, The Tin Men, VooDoo, Slim Goodie’s on Magazine, Sucre champagne brunch, anything involving platonic life partner T.Ball and his amazing wife, tubing in the Bogga Chitto (sp?), bayous, City Park, Crawgator daiquiris, Frenchhman St., Pravda, Irish coffees at Molly’s, The Dirty Coast Store, Zulu coconuts, Muses, TheRiot, jambalaya, gumbo, Krewe Du Vieux, and of course all the amazing people that I have come in contact with that weren’t already mentioned who helped me become the person I am today.

All of this aside, I leave Nola a happy little girl with a bright future ahead of her.  I didn’t think I would make it these two years, but apparently I’ve got more in me than previously understood.  3 am is coming fast and the road trip is approaching…perhaps there will be pictures…perhaps not…but heretofore and until September, I am now officially…

 Ms. UNemployed Hipster.

Last day of school...

Dear Ms. EH -

You helped me out so much, you have no idea.  I was always so happy to go to 4th hour because of English class and the things we would talk about.  I never really thought I was a good writer or even that I had good ideas.  I never started thinking that until you began to talk to me and understand my ideas.  I guess, in a way, you helped me understand myself through writing.
Ms. EH, thank you for believing in my writing and telling me I do have something.  That I can make it in the world as something great.  I never thought about my writing until you told me something, I just thought it was nothing.  I will certainly miss you when you leave.

Love always,

J.

(...here's the part where I start sobbing hysterically)

Children's Tylenol without dye is...creepy...

We are clearly not in the business of educating children! What does this look like, a SCHOOL!?

Today my kids went on a field trip and I was left at school to deal with the aftermath.  Nearly all of them were supposed to attend, but suddenly a flux showed up at my door raving about how they were turned away at the last minute because of discipline write ups which were more than likely falsified in order to make room on the bus.  Lovely.  Just lovely. 

So now, instead of teaching, I am a holding tank/refugee camp for students who have nothing to do in their other classes because most of the students are gone, or who are supposed to be with the teacher who is hosting the field trip who decided that it wasn’t necessary to get a substitute for the children she left behind.

Delightful.  In theory I could use my day wisely, but instead I’m going to dick around on the intarnetz and shock this up to just another normal day at Generic High School, Louisiana.   12 more days…12 more days....*twitch, twitch*