It's pretty f*cking awesome to be able to walk through the French Quarter during lunch!

[fleur-de-lisa]

First, I must admit that alcohol was involved. I've been fighting a migraine all day, and alcohol sometimes helps, when all else fails, so at 1:00 PM I left my Warehouse District office and walked toward the French Quarter in New Orleans. A block from my building I stopped for Abita Amber #1. Migraine starts to slide away.

Ten minutes later, I'm walking through Jackson Square watching a City Sanitation worker perform his own personal second line to the musical stylings of a brass band made up of a bunch of young guys. Pretty fucking sweet, both the music and the dancing.

Then I make my way to the French Market, stopping to purchase Abita Amber #2, and there I talk to a Kenyan guy who runs a stall in the market. I bought a beautiful carved wood container that I plan to use as a stash box. Been looking for one for a while.

I stop to talk to a couple gutter punks, as they refer to themselves, and I give them a few bucks. One guy is from Slidell, the other from Iowa. They have two beautiful dogs with them.

Then I wander through Jackson Square again so I can walk my favorite street, Pirate's Alley, right next to the Cathedral. I always wanted to live there, above the Olde Absinthe House. No one would ever be able to find me.

I make my way up Royal Street, stopping to wander through a couple art galleries, before purchasing Abita Amber #3. The bar tender apologizes for the fact that my tab is $6.66. I laugh and laugh. People here are so superstitious! I ain't sceeered!

Then on the way back to my office, I pass a couple of young people standing on a corner trying to hand out Planned Parenthood material. We talk for a while and I am awestruck that they are not aware of a Planned Parenthood rally scheduled for this Friday at New Orleans City Hall! 'Meetup' planned the event and they had not heard of it yet. We exchange info and I am on my way back to work.

So I'm back at the office and the migraine is coming back. FUCK!

The morale of this story: For migraine relief, walk the French Quarter, drink, enjoy the music, but DON'T GO BACK TO THE FUCKING OFFICE !!!

[In_The_Wind]

1. Take the afternoon off. You are sick, need fresh air.

[Phoenix61]

2. I love Jackson Square, especially on the weekend

I haven't been there in years but as soon as I'm able to travel again it is definitely on the list.

[irisblue]

4. watching the feral cats come to the Squsre at dusk is pretty cool.

[irisblue]

3. I am a migrainer. I am sorry for your pain,

I am very very jealous you are in the vicinity of the French Quarter.

[fleur-de-lisa]

5. Thank you, irisblue. I've been trying to treat migraines without medication . . .

I bought an e-book by a neuroscience Ph.D., who is herself a migraine sufferer. She writes about migraine being caused by a sodium-potassium imbalance. It took me several months to get a handle on her theory, and I still get at least one per week that I can't seem to shake without drugs. But I have found that by paying attention to my body and what I eat/drink, I can cut down on the number and the severity. The paragraphs below are from the Amazon review website. I think the e-book cost me about $4.00.

"In her book Fighting the Migraine Epidemic: How to Treat and Prevent Migraines without Medicines: An Insider’s View (2014), Angela A. Stanton, Ph.D. (neuroscience), focuses on how migraines “start at the cellular level” (15-16) and proposes that migraines result from biochemical imbalance within the cells.

Stanton reports that nearly all migraineurs (except smokers) have low blood pressure (BP) (13, 24, 89, 108). She infers that they do not consume enough salt (89, 123), since "too little salt in one’s diet decreases blood pressure" (89). Since salt can help cells retain water (89), she suspects that low BP among migraineurs derives from "inadequate hydration" of their cells (194). When a cell is dehydrated, it retains less water and thus "tak[es] up less space than it should and weighs less" (90). As a result, "the heart pumps with less pressure to get the blood up to the head. Thus a low blood pressure … actually can mean problems for the brain of a migraineurs" (90). "Someone who is severely lacking in sodium would experience low blood pressure and then potentially a sodium-potassium pump malfunction as a result of the neuron’s inability to create the necessary voltage differentials" (73)."

[irisblue]

6. too little salt huh?

The last time I bought table salt was likely 4 yes ago. I almost never cook with it. And cuz my roomie has elevated BP, I read the labels & usually get the low sodium choice. Thanks I will check this out.

[hibbing]

7. I don't know you at all...but you rock n/t

[fleur-de-lisa]

9. I assure you, I'm actually pretty boring.

It was just an interesting walk, as is usually the case in the FQ. But thank you for the kind words!

[nolabear]

8. Whooo Baby you make me homesick!

There is nothing like the Quarter. When I lived up on Esplanade I roamed it all the time. I still have to spend time there. Actually the Warehouse District is pretty fine too any more.

I haven't been back for Mardi Gras in years but I do get down for Halloween and Dias de los Muertas when I can.

I miss my nola.

[NightWatcher]

10. I miss living in NOLA. I'd eat an early lunch at Crescent City Brewhouse

Stumble down to the French market, go up a couple of blocks to Pat O Briens for a foot of Hurricane, then get a cigar and walk the whole afternoon off. I'd drive back to my apartment, stopping first at the New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood drive thru.

I need an excuse to get back there.