Mardi Gras has begun.

Last night (Friday), was day one for me. Or night one. After work, I came home, had a glass of red wine and waited around for a bit for parade time.

Around six, I wandered down St Charles to meet a couple of my friends. The destination... one of Anne Rice's houses. She evidently owns a house on St Charles just to use as a hangout for her family, staff, friends and whoever else (that would be the category into which I fall) during Mardi Gras. A friend of mine got me onto the guest list this year (thanks, Brian!).

So, we had a base to watch parades from that came with clean accessible bathrooms, kingcake and all the wine, beer, water and soft drinks we cared to consume. And it was pretty decently stocked with cute gay guys thanks to her son, Chris.

We watched Hermes and Krewe D'Etat roll down St Charles in weather that grew colder and colder with each passing float. The beer and wine helped there. By the end of the evening, I outgrew my natural standaloneishness and was pretty darn chatty with all the cute rich gay boys/men.

After the parades ended, we got invited to the real Rice house (mansion?estate?complex?) to hang out for a bit. I must say that the Rices have an extremely nice living room. And a hell of a lot of security. We managed to not wake them up, as far as I know. Although, I did wind up sitting in a camelia bush in the front yard a bit later in the evening... Grrrr...

Today, I woke up early to go watch Iris. Iris is the all female Mardi Gras krewe and their parade is one of my favorites. Guys get lots of beads at Iris! I got lots of beads at Iris. Then Tucks rolled right behind it. After a few hours of this, I came home and crashed.

Now, I'm off to the Quarter in a bit... Let the madness ensue...