I am really sad that I'm missing Mardi Gras this year.

Normally, I don't miss it, but I got a taste of it last weekend and I'm all irritable that I can't take off three days and go play in the streets.

Mark Twain: "It has been said that a Scotchman has not seen the world until he has seen Edinburgh; and I think that I may say that an American has not seen the United States until he has seen Mardi-Gras in New Orleans."