Travis DeSimone.
Corsair.
This last weekend I found myself in beautiful New Orleans for the 57th annual South Eastern Psychology Association’s conference. Fate had it that this wonderful groups of doctors and mavericks had planned the conference for the same weekend as Mardi Gras: very fortuitous.
In 1955 the SEPA was established and originally allowed for only members of the region to attend, but due to members moving around the country they changed the policy to accept any psychologists in the nation to join in. From the SEPA website…
“The purpose of SEPA is to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare. Our mission is to stimulate the exchange of scientific and professional ideas across the diverse areas of psychological inquiry and application. The professional members of SEPA hold positions in settings such as universities, colleges, business and industry, hospitals and clinics, government, and private practice. In these and other settings, the psychologists of SEPA teach, conduct research, engage in psychological assessment and therapy, serve as administrators and consultants, and publish scholarly works on all aspects of the human experience. The student members of SEPA, from psychology undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the southeast and beyond, reflect the varied interests of their mentors in the behavioral sciences, from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations.”
Although I must say that due to the lack of sleep the night before and the fact that I was several hours away from checking into my room, I didn’t get to see as much of the conference as I would have liked too. A speech on relationships and marriage was one event I did attend, which proved to useful ( I traveled there with my Wife.). So this trip served as a honeymoon too I suppose.
Mardi Gras is french for Fat Tuesday, the day that you are supposed to eat rich food before Lent. It is a time of revelry before sacrifice. Not content with one day, we have morphed it into a season. They call it Carnivale in some places. Aside from a myriad of parades, street vendors, music, and culture there is a lot of booze. That thing about the beads isn’t a joke. I spent my night drinking frozen Daiquiris, eating Chinese food, and Hot Dogs, and meeting with the locals for cultural exchange.
Well, I’ll let the pics speak for themselves. Happy Mardi Gras!