I love lamp

 I mentioned the lamp in a previous post but wanted to tell the full tale. 

When we were in New Orleans there was a shop next to our hotel that sold really pretty glass lamps and collectibles from Turkey. We browsed the store one day, and thought to ourselves that we should cruise around and see if there were dozens of these unique Turkish lamp stores in the city, or, if this was the only one. 

In one or two stores, we saw one or two of these cool lamps. But it wasn't at all like some of the shops where every five feet, there's a store selling all the same things. The day we left, Doug said we should go pick up a lamp as a gift to ourselves. If the price was good and the shipping not ridiculous. Doug usually doesn't act this way - we don't buy stuff for ourselves like this. Or he says this would be a good idea, and then we never buy it. That's just cloud talk. 

So we went into the shop to look and see what we agreed on. When we went in, there were a couple other people shopping, and a dining chair in the middle of the sidewalk, and 3 other chairs standing by the front door of an upstairs apartment access. Royal Street is exceptionally messy in places, so I was not surprised there was a chair just on its side in the middle of the sidewalk. 

There were these amazing ceiling lights that if we had a high entry way, they'd look outstanding. There were floor lamps that had 6-8 globes hanging down on chains, and they could stand in a corner or at the bend in a staircase and be amazing. That was nothing we needed. We went to the tabletop pendulum lamps, and the lamps with bases to see which one we liked most.

The shopkeeper was really nice, and very friendly. He offered us Turkish coffee, which we felt compelled to accept. He brought out these teeny tiny itty bitty coffee cups, and the liquid was brutally hot so it took awhile to get to the point where I could drink it. Thicker than espresso, and no offer of froth/milk, the coffee tastes a little like mud sifted through dirt and set on fire. It is incredibly strong (and I needed the caffeine badly after our Wednesday night trip out to a brewery). 

I guess you are supposed to put sugar in it but we asked for no sugar when he offered, and he laughed. 

Now I know why, and I know better.

A lot of the lamps had eye patterns on them. Turkish culture (and many other cultures) have a history/tradition of using the Nazar eye in art and jewelry, click here to learn a little more. 

The eye is a protection usually in the form of an amulet or charm you wear to protect you from other people's envious glares. The "Evil Eye" as it were. You can buy lots of different colored eyes, each color has special meaning. 

Doug wasn't grooving on all the eyes and eyeballs in the lamps, he thought they were creepy and looking at him. And he wouldn't be comfortable with some eyeball gawking at him while he watches "Better Call Saul." So he picked a pattern that had no eye, and there were fewer of these on the shelf. We settled on one that was mostly just clear crystal, blue, black and purple shapes in a wavy pattern.  

Doug shopped for a few other things (he ended up getting some pretty table trivets to put hot dish out onto) and the shopkeeper talked to me, and talked. And Talked. 

He has a small warehouse up here in Maryland, full of items. He's got this one shop, and is trying to get other shops around the city to also distribute his wares. I told him we saw two shops with similar lamps, he said those shops are in partnership with him, but they sell the lamps for slightly more so we came to the right place. He pays a lot of money every month for the retail space and storage. He lived in DC, but his girlfriend got kind of crazy during the pandemic, so they broke up. He always wanted to live in New Orleans so. He moved there. 

We got his whole life story.

Doug says that I have an invisible tattoo on my forehead that says "please, come talk to me and tell me everything."

We escaped when the police showed up. A guy had thrown a chair into his shop (a ha. That explains the chair!) before we arrived, so he had obviously called the police. He was calm, cool and collected. You never would have known someone caused a fracas before we came in. 

He said he needed to chat with the police, we told him we needed to mosey, shook hands, and went on our way. We heard him telling the story to the cops about a white guy "no shirt on, so skinny that he needs more than a sandwich..." and I laughed. 

Saw that guy freaking out a couple blocks away by the Walgreens cause they threw him out. There's your suspect, officer. 

The lamp arrived the other day while I was in Richmond. It is very pretty. Not easy to photograph. But I like it. He set it up in the livingroom, not where I wanted it but where the nearest outlet is. So that works. 

Here's a picture of food. This was my lunch. Digits below the omelet!

Exercise: Again, stormy rainy day lined up, I doubt we will get out there anywhere.

Blood Glucose: 

9am: 190
5pm: 150
10pm: 154

Food:

Coffee
Water
3 egg omelet with 10 leftover grilled shrimp, goat cheese, avocado. 
buffalo wings with celery & bleu cheese
wine & fresca spritzer (4)
almonds