New Orleans.

Wow.

I never thought I’d call The Big Easy home.

Hell, if you told me after I graduated from the University of Delaware that within the next eight years I’d live in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Texas, Georgia and Louisiana, I wouldn’t have believed you. Life takes you where it damn well pleases.

So what have I been up to since I moved a little more than one month ago?

Primarily I’ve been trying to adjust to the 9-to-5 lifestyle — not so much in the sense of waking up earlier compared to newspapers and such, but the “extra” time. While I know 40-hour weeks are 40-hour weeks, working 9 to 5 frees up a lot more time in my mind than working in newspapers ever did. Maybe it’s because I have weekends off for the first time in my career — or that it’s still bright out when I leave the office.

With all of that ‘free time’ at my disposal, I’ve tried to put myself out there as much as possible and hit a groove socially — and that doesn’t mean I’m spending every waking hour on Bourbon Street even though I live four blocks from there. By the way, mix the smells of urine and bad decisions and that’s the odor of Bourbon St.

For the first few Thursdays I found a group that played pickup dodgeball in a rec center not too far from me. While the games were fine and I forgot how much fun dodgeball was, getting my iPhone 6 stolen the first week I was in town wasn’t fun.

Pickup dodgeball soon ended as the season geared up (I missed the signup date), so I have since transferred my talents to pickup kickball. That’s also an activity I hadn’t played since sixth grade. Soccer players really have an advantage in that I’ve found.

Where I’ve spent most of my time, especially since college football is back in full swing, is covering Tulane for a site called Underdog Dynasty. In case y’all forgot, the Green Wave is (and I really had that it’s a singular team name) awful. That’s why I take the Dr. Strangelove approach to the games and say “Tyler Covers Tulane: Or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Love Bad Football.” To be completely honest, it’s been great to be back in a press box again. I also love the thrill of covering a game and while I don’t have a ‘deadline’ since I’m writing for online, I pressure myself to get it done as soon as possible. That doesn’t make game nights much fun — but I love to write and it keeps me out of trouble. In my opinion, one of the best articles I wrote so far for Underdog Dynasty was this piece: From Goat to Hero: The Ballad of Tulane WR Devon Breaux. That’s also the first game I caught Green Wave Fever.

So yeah, I’m trying to find things to do — but more importantly, I’m trying to find my groove. They say, “You don’t call New Orleans. It will call you.” Baby, I’m listening.