[ click above to enlarge ]
So, a break from the politics.
Sunday afternoon as I was walking home from the French Quarter, I took a shortcut. Usually I follow Chartres Street back to the Marigny: it's pretty, and I often see friends, so there's potential for some social interaction. This week, though, I wasn't feeling chatty. I deperately needed a nap and opted instead to follow the levee wall that runs along the backside of the French Market, behind the local power station, and past several blocks of coffee roasting plants. It's not a glamorous walk, and even I--an intrepid perambulator, if I do say so--wouldn't take it at night, but it was bright and sunny, so I said, "What the hey?"
When I got to the diciest stretch--where the homeless and gutter punks sleep side-by-side--I noticed a curious flash of light reflecting off something shiny. A few steps later, I saw the source: men moving large, mylar-wrapped objects from the back of an 18-wheeler into an open minivan. A couple more paces and it was apparent that the objects in question were computers: large-ish desktop towers. I was shocked and excited to see [moderately] organized crime operating so brazenly in broad daylight. It was a total turn-on.
As I passed by, I made eye contact with the man moving the computers off the truck--a hot, hunky worker-bee who looked like he'd been doing this all his life. From the glance he shot me, it was all-too-apparent that he didn't give a damn who saw what he was doing. I don't think he would've batted an eye if I'd driven up with Wolf Blitzer and a CNN news van. But despite his gruff nonchalance, I waited half a block before I turned around and snapped a photo. I mean, I'm not stupid. Well, not much.
