Tour Diary: I Am Become Hipster, The Destroyer Of Fashion

(July 6, 2012) NEW ORLEANS, LA — A low-key and enjoyable day in New Orleans today, followed by an even lower-key and enjoyable night spent relaxing on a couch.

I started off today in search of a small notebook. I have a larger one that I use every day, but I wanted a small Moleskine to slip into my pocket for days when I don’t carry my backpack. The small one I brought is just about full, so I looked on the Moleskine website for sellers and walked from the Marigny over to the French Quarter to find the store.

I guess the site hadn’t been updated in a while, though, because the store wasn’t there. So I decided just to stroll around again. I looked in a few used bookstores and found one — Crescent City Books — that also serves as the location of Black Widow Press. I bought Caveat Onus, a book of poems by Dave Brinks, one of the leading lights of the New Orleans poetry scene. This was stupid for two reasons: I can’t afford to be buying books and I have no way to carry extra stuff in my backpack. But I bought it anyway. I like supporting small presses and I love supporting local poetry. I may end up mailing the book to Brooklyn to be stored in my UHaul space, but I’ll at least read it once before I leave New Orleans.

I asked the guy in the bookshop to recommend a place to sit and read. He sent me to Napoleon House, an old restaurant at the corner of Chartres and St. Louis. The place had tons of character, with peeling walls, lived-in tables and white-shirted, aproned waiters. I had some iced tea and read for a while before heading out on my next errand.

Last night, Jeff Albert told me about Meyer The Hatter, a hat shop on St. Charles Avenue that’s been in business since the 1890s. It reminded me a lot of J&J Hats in New York, where I used to by my fedoras back when I wore them about a decade or so ago. I had no intention of buying a hat, but Jeff said I should at least check it out if I’m into hats, which I am.

Well, I think it took all of two minutes before I was trying on caps. The clerk (like everyone working there, part of the Meyer family), walked me through several different models of cap. He really liked the very first one I tried on, and so did I. But I went through quite a few more, trying different patterns and also trying a couple Kangols. I can’t make a Kangol work at all, and most of the patterned hats made me look too much like an elderly golfer. I thought getting something was a good idea, though, because I’m constantly walking in the sun and getting really burnt and probably a bit sunstroked, too. I ended up going with an Italian-made linen cap. Here it is:

I’m not sure I needed any help in completing my journey toward the dark side of hipsterdom, but this cap has certainly pushed me over the edge. Ah well. Why fight it? As I pointed out once on Twitter, there was a moment when I was reading Kerouac and listening to 50s jazz while wearing sandals and traveling the country by bus. I’m a walking cliche.

After the bookstore and the hat shop it was time to head back. Just in time, too, because storm clouds were gathering and the thunder was rumbling. There’s been a thunderstorm every day here since I arrived on Monday. That’s my favorite kind of weather, so I’m not complaining. It got darker and darker as I walked up Royal all the way back to Port Street, where I’m staying. I don’t know how I beat the rain, but I did by a few minutes. It started pouring just after I reached the apartment.

I did some work on the tour, primarily scheduling interviews with New Orleans musicians. I’m trying to get a real cross-section of players from the modern jazz, free jazz and traditional jazz worlds, with some non-jazz folks thrown in for good measure.

The rest of the night I just relaxed, watching movies and reading. Sometimes I just need a domestic night. My host was working tonight so I had the place to myself, and I decided to stay in and enjoy it.

(If you’d like to support my tour, you can make a one-time donation and get great thank-you gifts HERE. If you’d like to become a member of The Jazz Session and make recurring monthly or yearly payments, you can do that HERE.)