New York porn in Paris

As much as Americans adore Paris, it must be said that the French
return the favor when it comes to New York. Of course, the number/
color combinations aren't all correct, but who's counting?

I know this is silly but...

... I really did do a double-take. Because why wouldn't we want to
leave the door open for the developmentally disabled?

Easter dinosaur

Happy Easter! JD brought me this Easter dinosaur. Dinosaurs are a
traditional motif in France around Eastertime. No, just kidding. But
isn't it cute? I thought it was a stegosaurus when it was in the box
but now I see that it is indeed a triceratops. Or whatever kids are
calling them these days. (I still haven't gotten over the whole
brontosaurus/apatosaurus thing. These scientists, can't they get
things right the first time?)

Happy April Fool's

Or as we used to sing at my house, "Your hair is the color of tomato soup." Yes, we were the only ones in the neighborhood who actually knew an April Fool's Day song. Something to do with mom having been a music teacher. Here in France of course they stick paper fish on people's backs. No accounting for taste!

Anyway, to brighten your April Fool's Day, here's a video of a French pole vaulter running naked through the streets of Paris (including the rue Vieille du Temple, one of my favorite places to hang out... why wasn't I there?), apparently to call attention to the fact that he hasn't got a sponsor. We're so used to people getting naked for art or charity,* it's nice once in a while to see someone going naked for good old-fashioned self-interest. That's why most of us do it, after all.

*Now I'm having flashbacks of college, where it seemed like every other week someone was naked in a play, a protest, or some wacky college tradition. Do the kids still do that stuff anymore or do they just send each other naked photos?

Spring is here

Yesterday was the first really lovely weekend day. I walked to Concorde, the first real exploring I'd done trying to connect the dots on métro line 9. Eventually I got in touch with a friend and we had a late lunch in the Jardins de Luxembourg.

Nothing special to write about, just a nice afternoon.

Valentine's Day party

We had a valentine-making party at Le Ranch* . We spent a lot of time explaining to non-Americans that yes, this is an American tradition, and no, usually it's not adults doing it. I for one found it amazing that not everyone learns how to fold a piece of paper and cut out a heart as soon as they can hold a pair of scissors... and then cut out 23 more for everyone else in the class!

Not everyone was able to come to the party and some were quite sorely missed. But we had a great time continuing the tradition that J and I started at Aberdeen (at least, we started the Aberdeen version of the tradition, though J may have started it before then elsewhere for all I know...). We made each other a lot of rather eclectic valentines, many of which are displayed below. Okay, they don't look that eclectic from far away, but we were cutting out random words from magazines in three languages, see?


I didn't get a photo of the cookies Ca helped me make... yes, my favorite cutout cookies. Lacking heart-shaped cookie cutters, we used pink glaze to draw hearts on the white glaze, with predictable results. Ju very kindly said they looked "ephemeral." That they were.

*This is what we are calling our place, outrageous French pronunciation crucial.

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