Hoop Performances and Bicycles.

I woke myself up the next day refreshed and ready to take on the city. I decided on three missions to accomplish. The first one was walk around the French Quarter and find a place that had a map for me. Google is not with me all the time! The second was to hula hoop in a park for a bit. I hadn't done that for a little while. The third was to show up at a show called plan b and get a bicycle as my transportation. It was ladies only day, and they were open 2-6. So with all this in mind, I strapped my hula to my back, purse on, belt on, and hopped out the door.

I made it two very short blocks or so to the grocery store where there was a circus band playing. They had juggling, hat tricks, singing, and a good vibe! I took my hoop out of the nylons i am using as a quill-like device, and was a little too nervous to just go up and ask to hoop. One of the guys saw my hoop in pieces though and knew what it was. He asked if I wanted to hoop with them. I said sure, but I was nervous and hadn't hooped for a crowd before! I've had people stop and stare after starting, but there was already a bunch of people watching the show plus they introduced me and everything.



I dropped it a few times, and felt a bit shaky. I got compliments on it afterward, but I really could have done a lot better. My trick with taking one leg out and back in while it's around my knees failed both times I tried... that one usually goes over really well. It was still fun though! It made me want to warm up and do it some more!

I walked down to historic Jackson Square. There were another group of musicians playing, so this time instead of being in front of them and on concrete/asphalt I hooped in the fenced and raised grass/park area behind the band. This way I was not in the limelight as much, and I could be a little more relaxed.

This session was the best I think. The leg trick was working well, I was having fun, lots of old people were staring while sitting on benches. I noticed at least one person taking photos of me doing my thing.

I was much more in my groove after this session, so I crossed the park and went across the street to the Mississippi side of things, beside Cafe Du Monde. There was a grungy looking dude playing some amazing music with buckets, pot lids, and pots. It sounded like drum and bass sometimes! I watched, tipped (this guy really was crazy good) then asked if I could hoop to a song for him. He was traveling from LA and was constantly asking for tips, so I assumed this was how he might be surviving out here. I offered and he said sure. This was a very visible area. almost like a stage, plus there was traffic and all the tour horse carriages park on the opposite side of the street. So this was a very visible show. I have kinda learned now that it is much easier to just pretend that it isn't, and not act like you are putting on a show. Who cares if they think it is boring; I would rather have it not fall off me then try to do tricks too fast and then have it fall down.

So I hooped, and wished the dude well. Since I was right next to Cafe Du Monde, it seemed perfect that I do the tourist thing and have my Cafe Au Lait and Beignets. They were yummy :)
I was wearing the backless shirt too so between the tattoo and the hula hoop I was frequently being approached and talked to, which was nice :) One guy asked me if I spoke English after I told him I was from Canada (in English haha).

I kept walking down decatur street on my way to the bike place, although I had half an hour to get there. There was a girl selling tribal type jewelery on the side of the road, and some of them were feather earrings. I stopped to chat, and ended up there for probably an hour. She asked me to come back after getting the bike, so I took off and found plan b in Marigny.

The way plan b works is simple. They want to teach you to build a bike, not make one for you. It's a community bikes joint - it's all about teaching people. If you want something fixed on your already existing bike, they will teach/tell you how to do it (they provide tools and grease and stuff), but they won't just repair it. If you want a cheap bike then, you come in and pick the frame, find parts, etc, then learn how to put it together. On the website it said it would cost 35-75 for a bike. Nice and cheap.

I really lucked out. All the frames looked like junk at first, plus the girl working admitted that they had a really horrible selection right now. She also said it was going to take a really long time (as in a week) to get most of them workable. Craigslist might have been a better option.

There were two biked that looked intact, and I asked what was wrong with them. One had iffy brakes, but one there was seemingly nothing wrong with it except that it was really ugly. I took it for a test spin, and it rode fine, good brakes, had the suspension things on the front tires... the girl said it was actually 25 for bikes too, so I put oil on the chain and it was good to go!

I did want to learn to make a bike, but it would have taken so long I was super relieved to find one already made amongst the crappy frames. She sold me the bike and a U lock for 30 bucks. I was STOKED! U locks themselves normally cost 30! New bike!

I rode it back to the jewelery stand and showed it off. We talked for a bit (oh yeah this girl is named Michelle) then I took off for a spin!



I rode all over the French Quarter, up Canal Street quite a ways, back down, along the Mississippi, back into the Marigny, then French Quarter, and stopped back at Michelle's stand. This punk guy kept walking by that looked really familiar. By the third time he passed the stand I recognized him. He was the passed out dude from the day before.

I asked if he remembered being at a dog park the day before, and he vaguely did. He had no idea what happened to him. Apparently he woke up from the blackout in the ambulance. He was walking by because he wanted to get his friend's dog for him, cause now some other dudes across the street (I didn't recognize them from the park at all - diff punks) were getting arrested.

Apparently if you are arrested with a pet, they hold it for a little while, and charge you to get it out, so if you cant afford to get it out or you are in jail for too long... they put your pet down. Crappy, but it makes sense, the police cant take care of dogs forever. They got the dog thankfully, so everyone left (also thankfully, punks are bad for business).

This place is kinda small town. You run into the same people everywhere.

A friend of Michelle's stopped by on a tall bike. She was a juggler, part of the circus scene. We all talked and then decided to get some food. I hopped home first to drop off the hoop and get a better coat. I also managed to decorate the bike from Minka's fabric shelf! I put white furry stuff on the seat, purple silky stuff on the frame, and blue and white striped fabric on the handles. I will take a photo. It's not ugly anymore yay!

I sped to Frenchmen Street. Food was good, then there was a show at the place the juggler bartends at. We biked down there and watched. It was an excellent show - I learned that the singer, Merry go Round, held the record for most hula hoops hooped at one time! Crazy! I was feeling shy at first here, but I warmed up after a couple people talked to me, so that was relieving.

good times!