5 Mardi Gras laws I will have no problem obeying

Today's list is taken from New Orleans by Tom Downs (although the comments are my own)

"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living. All at once."
— Chris Rose, 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina

I love New Orleans. There isn't any one reason that I can point to and say, "I love New Orleans because of THIS!" (Although, yes, one of the reasons I adore the place is because I realised I was staying just down the road from a Banksy - the one attached to this post). It's not that kind of affection that I have. It's more that I see it for what it used to be, what it is, and what it's working to become. I have no illusions about her as a city. She is a mix of everything: dirty, rich in history, edgy, new, old, crazy, eclectic, cultural times a thousand, incredibly hopeful and ohsomuch more. She has all the quaint and faded beauty of a Southern belle, the kind who remains forever mysterious, full of secrets and eternal feminine guile. She keeps you coming back for more. It is the kind of place that can have you dancing in the street with hundreds of others one minute, and crying the next when you realise how hard they're trying to rebuild still. As a tourist, your own first world problems have no place here. I can't wait to get back there in *checks calendar* 11 days and counting and see how much has changed/is still the same/will never be the same again. I'm there during Mardi Gras (yes, again) and plan to visit a few more places I wasn't able to get to last time, eat a few more dishes I had no room for then, and meet a whole bunch of people I have never spoken to before. Mardi Gras might happen only once a year, but, really, I think that New Orleans itself is a living, breathing, lifelong Mardi Gras, as evidenced by the wild fusion of food, music, people and cultures. I predict good times! Well, good times but safe times. How safe, you say? You can see for yourself in today's post: 5 Mardi Gras laws I will have no problem obeying :)

5 ways I'll be celebrating Waitangi Day 2012

List by Tosca

For a lot of people, the Treaty of Waitangi is an uncomfortable and contentious issue that sees a lot of good people come away with rather polarised views. I'd like to assure you that it isn't always this way. I celebrate Waitangi Day every year, without fail. Not always in the same way, though. Some years I'll spend it with siblings discussing how things have changed for Maori (better/worse/indifferent) from the year before. Other years I'll spend it with thousands of others, listening to live music and just being in the moment and remembering that sometimes being Maori is such an incredibly positive experience. Sometimes I'll spend it listening to politicians talk about Maori in a somewhat less than celebratory manner, and come away heart heavy and soul tired. More often than not, though, it's a chance for me to do a quick 'cultural check-in' and use it as an opportunity to re-assess where I stand in relation to, well, everything else. (Big ask, I know). However I choose to celebrate it, I find that there is always room for personal growth, and that I am challenged in new and interesting ways every year. In keeping with our Auckland Libraries theme; Whakamana te Tiriti o Waitangi: Elevate and Celebrate the Treaty of Waitangi, I've decided that this year I would like to attend 4 Auckland Libraries' seminars and an outdoor gathering. Maybe, if you're looking for the same kind of experience, I'll see some of you there, too :)

How are YOU celebrating Waitangi Day 2012?