Before I saw this on the news, a friend sent me a link to this article, New Orleans Pelicans Reveal Stunning ‘King Cake Baby’ Mascot.
It’s creepy and all I can think is someone or someones had waaaaayyyyy too much to drink when this idea was hatched. Now those who know me know how proud I am to be from New Orleans. I think growing up in New Orleans in a large, Catholic, Italian family gave me a perspective on life that probably can’t be learned any other place, really. It has also made me the person I am today. I find that my childhood, adolescent, and very young adult experiences are very different than my partner’s and close group of friends and really almost anyone not from New Orleans. That being said, towns and cities all over the US and the world have their own uniqueness and traditions, and I am lovin’ learning about areas of the countries through friends that I have had very little exposure. I find it hysterical, also, that I married someone from the midwest (Indiana), and the friend I have known the longest in my life just moved to Michigan during one of the coldest winters to date.
I have just about lived outside (Lafayette, LA; summers in Mentone, AL; Atlanta, GA; and Greenville, NC) of New Orleans for as long as I lived in New Orleans. Perhaps I’m becoming a bit of an outsider cause seeing that life-size king cake baby doesn’t scream New Orleans fun and eccentricity to me, it yells a type of desperation on the part of the pelicans, and don’t get me started with that name or logo. But perhaps I am misreading it. Perhaps I am developing an outsider perspective.
But I do love thinking about how growing up in New Orleans gives me a unique perspective on food, fun, alcohol, friends, family, ethnicity, education, race, religion, culture, social class, weather, risk, gender, politics, and PARTIES! The time spent living outside New Orleans has afforded me the opportunity to reflect on these experiences and issues and also be open to other perspectives that are not my own.
If you haven’t seen the following, it’s a good one especially for the food references.