Attack of the flying vegetables!

So I know down here in NOLA we do things a little different.  As with every holiday we take it to the extreme.  So OF COURSE for St. Paddy's Day we are all Irish for a day.  The beer and whiskey are flowing and we are having PARADES.  Because we will find literally any reason to have a freaking parade. 

I know I know, so many cities have parades for St. Patrick's Day, we aren't special.  But we kind of are.  So like everywhere else we have marching groups and bands...and floats...that we throw stuff off of....

So like Mardi Gras a bunch of drunk people hum things off of floats at your face.  Unlike Mardi Gras those things include more than Beads, Cups, Stuffed Animals.  Here in NOLA we do something REALLY weird.  We throw VEGETABLES.  No but for real.  Where I come from, it ain't a St Paddy's Day parade unless you can make groceries while you are there. 

They throw a bit of everything but mainly cabbage, carrots, potatoes, & onions.  Its not uncommon to hear the chant "cabbage, cabbage, cabbage"...or pick a veggie, people will chant it.  This year I caught a ton of lemons and oranges.  No really, 7 cabbages, 5 Onions, 15 mutant carrots, 19 potatoes, and 22 lemons...TWENTY TWO. 

Not my Pic LINK

Don't worry nothing goes to waste.  I literally make a giant pot of veggie soup and share what we can't eat with family and friends not at the parade. Moving on. 

Yesterday was like all the rest. I got the veggies, some tiny bags of chips, and Irish Spring Soap (hahaha).  As the parade was coming to an end, a bag of brown rice landed at my feet...INTACT *what*.  As I turned to pick it up something large wacked me in the back of the head.  It hit me so hard my head flew forward.  At first I was just like...

By the end, my head was throbbing and felt a little...off. 

I probably should not have driven home.  Not because of alcohol...I am fairly certain I had a minor concussion.  By the time I got home I was dizzy, nauseous, and in pain.  I think I am okay now but all day I had a lingering headache and my neck is killing me! 

I am not sure what hit me.  Maybe a pack of beads...maybe a cabbage. 

Whatever it was hurt like a mo-fo.  At least I made it home safe.  Death by cabbage, is not something I want on my tombstone.

Lesson - NEVER LOOK AWAY FROM A FLOAT. I am a local...I should know better....

Only the good die young

Okay that's a tad dramatic but this is my first real experience with a childhood crush passing.  I am not terribly old but I am a bit younger than Luke Perry.  With that said, I had teensy...tiny...crush on him back in the day.  He was Dylan!  He was Pike! More recently, he was Fred Andrews!  My point is he meant something to me and was close enough in age. 

I watched 90210...well when I got a little older..maybe. When it first came out I was kinda young for the content BUT I still watched *shhh don't tell mom*.   I, like every other girl around, had a crush on Dylan and Brandon.

Side Note - I love seeing Jason Priestley on TV again.  Its not a bad show, check it out "Private Eyes".  

Anyways this is about Luke.   This is about a cute older actor that I totes had a crush on.  Yea, I had posters of him, yes I fangirled when I saw him on TV, YES I WAS AT BACCHUS SCREAMING LIKE AN IDIOT IN 2000. 

He wasn't that much older than me.  Well a bit but still young enough.  When I saw he had a stroke I couldn't believe it.  When I got the news alert today that he passed, I was in shock.  This cannot be.  He is 52 years old!  He is 5 years older than my current celeb fav. This.can.not.be!

I know I have dealt with my idols being lost in recent years but this isn't really an idol.  This was different.  He is close enough in age to me to freak me out.  This isn't a drug over dose or freak accident.  He had a stroke!  A stroke...at 52.  My heart is broken...especially for his family...his friends...and his fans. 

He seemed like a decent guy.  He was a good actor.  He was one of my 90's crushes.

He was Dylan...DYLAN!  Everyone's favorite bad boy.

Also, I truly did like him as Pike.  The movie was cheesy as hell but it fueled my nerdy little future even more.  I love horror, always have, but a teenage, valley girl, cheerleader VAMIPRE SLAYER...what is happening!?!??!  Teenage heart throb and vampires (NOT TWILIGHT!) Best thing EVER! 

I am so sad this has happened.  R.I.P. kind sir.  You are gone from this world way too soon.