And So Forth

Good-bye for now

2009-09-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

At one point in my life, I kept up three blogs. "And So Forth" was my catch-all blog, where I wrote about politics, music and whatever else suited my fancy.

I would love to have the time to do that now, but I just don't. So for the moment, my blogging output is going to be limited to my main blog: La France Profonde.

I hope to see you there.

The future of the press: magazines

2009-05-09T23:46:00.000-07:00

I can't quite read the date on this Business Week cover, but I wonder how much the editors were thinking about themselves when they put it to press.

"Blogs will change your business...catch up...or catch you later."

Well, blogs have certainly changed the paper press business, and I have already blogged about the sad, progressive demise of the American newspaper.

Of course, magazines are facing some of the same problems, although they may have a little more going for them: they aren't dailies, they're easier to handle on planes and beaches, and they have a more attractive allure than those somewhat grubby newspapers.

A lot of people really love their glossies: they like showing them off on their coffee table, they appreciate the feel of them, they enjoy browsing the magazine section of stores and maybe making a few impulse buys.

But despite what they have going for them, magazines are facing the same difficulties as newspapers: declining advertising revenue, sinking readership, and the overall problem of "if I can read everything online, why buy a magazine?"

A recent article in TechCrunch tackles the issue of how business magazines can survive, and suggests a rather draconian, but perhaps necessary, new business model. I think the author's ideas give food for thought to all magazine companies, writers...and readers.

What do you think?

Rock and roll: catch up or give up?

2009-04-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you ever stop by this little-frequented blog, you will know that I am quite a music fan.

And I'm not closed-minded. I have the requisite eclectic tastes: jazz, classical, la chanson française...But I'm quite sure you know what I know: ROCK AND ROLL RULES.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let me also tell you I used to be a fountain of rock knowledge. I could tell you the original names of a ton o' groups, knew which albums were coming out when, and was the type of person who could hold my own in A-side vs. B-side debates. Of course that was about 25 years ago, but I like to think it counts for something.

But it doesn't count for being "up on things." So, a year or so back, I decided the Internet would be my route to Catching Up With Rock and Roll Since 1990. I mean between Deezer, Allmusic, and unlimited access to cool people's playlists, how hard could it be?

Unfortunately, it's proving to be very hard indeed. Sure, I write down group names, log in dutifully to Deezer planning on checking them out, and end up listening to my splendid Jackson Browne playlist, or doing a little more research on the many cover versions of "Hallelujah," even though I know Jeff Buckley's is the best.

As for Allmusic, it's a great place; I'm always going there to refresh my memory on burning and oh-so-current questions like "Did Highway 61 Revisited come out before or after Bringing It All Back Home?"

Don't get me wrong. I'm not totally ignorant. I can wail "Smells Like Teen Spirit" with the best of them -- oops, that's not really new anymore, is it? It's, like, from the last century? Oh well.

A few groups do keep coming back on my "must listen to" lists: The White Stripes, The Hives, The Strokes. I know they're out there! But I have come to realize that I will never listen to these groups if someone doesn't just stick a CD into my hand. And that never happens to people my age, right?

Yes, it does! I was at a school Christmas party this year, and one of my students came up to me and handed me a White Stripes playlist he had put on a CD. "I made this for you, I thought you might like it."

He was right. I liked it very much. Maybe I should "get into" this group.

But then again, there is so much music from 1960-1990 that I am ignorant of. And I've started to forget some of those "fun facts to know and tell," like the differences between UK and US releases of 60s albums. One can only keep up with so much.

So what's the best choice: to try to catch up, or just to give up?

Unconscious Mutterings 325

2009-04-19T03:31:00.001-07:00

I really would like to get this blog moving with more frequent posts, but life is just too busy.

In the meantime, there's always Unconscious Mutterings 325:

Lease :: on life

Dead :: Grateful

Removed :: Uplifted

Broke :: Back

Lips :: Flaming

Flight :: 324

Three hours :: That's all we've got

Give :: and take

Technical :: Whirl

Hurry :: up, hurry up and wait

Too late for April Fool's, but still funny

2009-04-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

I'm sure many of you have seen this, but if you haven't -- don't miss it! Very clever:

When the ship comes in...???

2009-04-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

If you're reading this at work, congratulate yourself!

2009-04-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

Surreptitious employees who use Internet for personal reasons at work will be thrilled with new research suggesting that workers are actually more productive when allowed to surf the Web freely during office hours.

According to Dr. Brent Coker of the University of Melbourne, "People who do surf the Internet for fun at work - within a reasonable limit of less than 20% of their total time in the office - are more productive by about 9% than those who don’t."

These results intrigue me but don't really surprise me. And while I'm not going to read the entire study to examine if it establishes true causality, I wonder if some other factors don't come into play here.

First, perhaps the type of person likely to be Internet-savvy and "linked in" is, also, the type of person who would be more productive at work anyway. I tend to find that my friends who are "into" the Internet are also keen on activities like time management, list-making, and just general geeky organization. It seems to me that these are qualities that make for productive work .

Second, work-life borders blur quickly online -- in many cases, in the employers' favor. I am scrupulous about limiting any non-work related online time to official breaks and lunchtime, and yet have found myself in plenty of situations where something that comes across a personal inbox turns into productive work.

Take a concrete example. I decide to forego a session of coffee-break jabber and stay quietly in my office to check my personal email instead. Imagine there's not much there except a New York Times technology alert with some interesting articles about, say, adults' increasing use of Facebook.

Hey, wouldn't this be great material for one of my classes? Quick read...it sure would...print...go to the copy machine to get my article...hmmm, which class should I use it for? Oh, and yeah, what break?

Finally, I am convinced the work-life blur goes both ways. The same wired staff members who take a few quick personal surfs at work probably do plenty of work-related Internet research and email-checking at home too, which also contributes to their productivity.

Funny how companies aren't investing in any filters to stop that...

Huge news for Kinks fans!

2009-04-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

This just came across one of my Kinks newsletters, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

The Kinks have always had a greater, more faithful following in the USA than in the UK, so what better event to stage their long-awaited reunion than the Super Bowl!

"The Miami Sports Zone has reported that the 60's British Rock band, The Kinks will reunite for Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010, in Miami Florida. The Kinks will perform 5 songs during a 20 minute halftime set under the lights at Dolphin Stadium. Just as Bruce Springsteen the year before, The Kinks are expected to perform some of their own hits such as Lola, You Really Got Me and Tired of Waiting. This will be the first live performance of the group since both Ray and Dave Davies set out on their own solo careers over a decade ago. Ray and Dave Davies are both avid soccer fans, but understand the ritual of Super Bowl Sunday. Come Dancing with The Kinks, Super Bowl Sunday, 2010."

Five favorite song lyrics

2009-03-28T01:17:00.001-07:00

This is another fun idea from Elisabeth, who got it going on Facebook. I posted a pared-down, lyrics-only version there, but thought I'd add a few explanations on this post.

I did this more or less off the top of my head, because anything definitive would take me, say, the rest of my life? So these are just lyrics that I think are particularly well done and that mean a lot to me.

I noticed that three ended up being about the theme of youth and age; none were love-angst lyrics: appropriate enough for where I'm at in my life.

1. Now that you've found your paradise
Is this your kingdom to command
You can go outside and polish your car
Or sit by the fire in your Shangri-la.

(Shangri-la, The Kinks)

The opening to one of The Kinks' most beautiful songs; I could have chosen other extracts from the same song, because there are so many touching passages. Also, it's not directly a "lyrics" issue, but Ray's pronunciation/accent on "command" makes me go to pieces.

2. Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, make me feel dizzy
Taxi lights shine so bright

(Waterloo Sunset, The Kinks)

This one is more or less here by definition: it's the opening lines to my favorite song in the world. Maybe it is kind of a love song for me, because I thought I would never fall in love again, but then I went back to London a few years back and became enamored of the city.

3. Good and bad, I defined these terms
So clear, no doubt somehow
But I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

(My Back Pages, Bob Dylan)

It always amazes me how young Dylan was when he wrote this sort of thing.

4. And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their world
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware what they're going through.

(Changes, David Bowie)

In other words, the reason why most younger people, including myself "back then," won't really get the lyrics of "My Back Pages" until later down the road.

5. Six o'clock - TV hour. Don't get caught in foreign tower. Slash and burn,
return, listen to yourself churn. Lock him in uniform and book burning,
blood letting. Every motive escalate. Automotive incinerate. Light a candle,
light a motive. Step down, step down. Watch a heel crush, crush. Uh oh,
this means no fear - cavalier. Renegade and steer clear! A tournament,
a tournament, a tournament of lies. Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives
and I decline.

(It's the End of the World As We Know It (and I feel fine) R.E.M.

When I was coaching high school debate in the USA, the rumor got around that this song was about cross-examination debate. At that time, REM lyrics were pretty much unavailable, so I remember my team transcribing the lyrics and being very excited to think that they were, indeed, about debate. I have read about this interpretation on the Internet, and it is "debatable," but this song and particularly this passage, will always remind me of my four wonderful years coaching and the crazy, caffeine-pumped atmosphere at the tournaments...of lies.

Feel free to give this a try, and tell me if you do...

My Album Cover, or another bloggy thing from Facebook

2009-03-21T01:40:00.001-07:00

One nice thing about Facebook is that it is giving me some ideas for this momentarily purposeless blog.

The last Facebook fun I got tagged for was called "Album Cover."

Ok, so mine turned out looking like a cassette -- possibly even an 8-track cartridge, the shame, the shame! And I also had to get my daughter to help me put the text on the photo, so the whole thing was amusing, but left me feeling a little older.

So here are the rules:

1. Go to Wikipedia's random article function, on the upper left sidebar: the title of your article is your band's name. Were I playing this game today, this would be my band's name. I much prefer Ausa Family.

2. Go to Wikiquote, a place I had never gone. Once again, there is a "random page" function. Take the last four or five words of the random page -- there's a little liberty here -- and create your album name.

I don't know about you, but Unprejudiced Minds of Sufficient Grasp is just an awesome album name in my book. I've been feeling proud of it all week, as if I had actually come up with it and the music to go with it to boot!

3. Now for the album cover. I must admit I don't really care for my glam-gal image, but this is what I got and I didn't cheat. Go to Flickr, Interesting photos from the last 7 days. The third photo is your cover, whether you like it or not.

Put it all together with something like Photoshop, or just ask your kids to do it....

I won't tag anyone, but this is kind of a kick if you want to give it a try.

Bye, Bye Miss American Newspaper?

2009-03-14T01:17:00.000-07:00

Dear Olympian,

Please don't go away -- just get a business model, and fast!

I just wrote a lengthy comment to a post by Marjorie at Interior Designs and decided to turn it into a post of my own, since it's a subject that is near and dear to my heart and one that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I used to proudly point out that Americans read three times as many newspapers as the French. I'm not sure this statistic is up to date, and even rather doubt it considering the number of newspapers that are on the verge of extinction in the USA.

And apparently, as Marjorie points out, many Americans don't really care.

Well, I care deeply about the local paper that I grew up with, but also feel that the US newspaper industry has been ridiculously dinosaur-like and, well, out and out stupid (dinosaurs did have small brains, right?) in their harnessing of the Internet.

For example, The Olympian, which is a long-standing and high-quality daily, moved years ago -- like so many other papers -- from a "key news" Internet approach to an "all the news" site.

I remember thinking at the time that this was not a good idea. Sure, I was happy to be able to read everything from local sports news to obituaries from my European home, but somehow it didn't feel right. And it doesn't seem to be working out, either.

So, now, I've been reading The Olympian's content online for free for years and all that time I would have been perfectly willing to pay to do so. I'm sure many Olympians living outside of the area would have happily done the same, and those online subscriptions would have added up to a tidy sum by now.

What were they thinking? Who is going to pay for something that they can get for free?

And what a financial boon it would have been to tap into all of the potential Olympian readers all over the world -- from the get-go.

Unconscious Mutterings 319

2009-03-08T01:37:00.000-08:00

Mourning :: Funeral
Approval :: Rating

Lotion :: Motion

Perspire :: Sweat

Language :: Learning

Defection :: Artists

Play :: or go

Graphic :: Design

Spicy :: Tabasco

In love :: with a wonderful guy

I've decided to use the number system that corresponds to the Unconscious Mutterings site; thus the jump from Number 11 to Number 319.

Ray Davies: A Well Respected Man, at last?

2009-02-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

Maybe I'm just taking the time to dissect my Ray Davies Google Alerts, but it seems like my man is finally getting some of the long-elusive respect he so rightly deserves.

First, his musical comedy Come Dancing, the one my daughter and I took off on a crazy cross-Channel weekend to see, won the What's On Stage award for the best off-West End production of 2008.

Now, his name is suddenly popping up all over the press. To wit, take a look at the high-flung praise that just the last three days has brought through my wires:

[In 1968] "There was terrific music wherever you turned, including The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society - Ray Davies' concept album about pastoral England..." Canada.com, February 28 2009
"As a kid, Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger would listen to Kinks records and dream about the places they describe.

One of his favorites, 'Waterloo Sunset,' may be about a dirty London subway station, but songwriter Ray Davies finds a way to romanticize the ordinary...

Since the mid-'90s, Schlesinger and his songwriting partner, singer and guitarist Chris Collingwood, have upheld Davies' proud tradition." Hartford Courant, February 26, 2009
"Brooklyn's Mitch Friedman has just released his fourth album of idiosyncratic, funny, original quirky pop - GAME SHOW TEETH...Even Ray Davies, song-writing legend and lead singer of The Kinks [Am I really reading this? "Even" Ray Davies?], has become a fan of Friedman's unique skills as a wordsmith. Having attended a Davies song-writing course in England, Friedman took the advice of the sixties legend that every song must have a clear structure and composed 'This Is a Song' - an amusing tribute to the simple formula that can be found in so many beautiful pieces of pop. (Top40-charts.com, February 26, 2009)
"'There have been a million records that tell you a straight story and, really, is anybody going to do it better than Ray Davies?'" he [Bryan Poole, guitarist for Of Montreal] says."(WAtoday.com.au, February 27, 2009)

Kinks fans, be of good cheer. Our day has come!

The 15 most significant albums in my life

2009-02-24T10:46:00.003-08:00

So, I got this idea from my big blog buddy Elisabeth. Except I first did it on Facebook.

Has anyone else noticed how bloggy things are happening on Facebook? All of the sudden it's all tags and memes. Well, at least I prefer that to inane quizzes.

Anyway, I like this list concept because it's not a list of "My Favorite Albums." There's a big difference between favorite and significant.

So, with no further ado, minimum linkage, and in order at least for the first seven or so:

1. Schoolboys in Disgrace by The Kinks:

This is anything but the best Kinks album. In fact, many would argue it's one of the worst. But it's the first one I owned and the one that really got me interested in the Kinks as purveyors of more than singles. The rest is history: my history.

2. My Aim is True by Elvis Costello:

I saw the future of British rock and roll and his name was Declan McManus. I also saw his first US tour at the Waldorf in San Francisco. His part of the concert lasted 28 minutes.

3. Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen:

I saw the future of American rock and roll and his concerts lasted four hours.

4. Reckoning by REM:

When I was teaching in the USA and wondering whatever I was going to listen to, other than Bruce Springsteen, now that New Wave was dying out, one of the people tagged in this article suggested I try REM. I took his suggestion.

5. Meet the Beatles:

Because my mom brought it home on vinyl and I'll always remember how it looked sitting in our living room. Plus it has a song from the Music Man on it, which is pretty cool.

6. Squeezing Out Sparks by Graham Parker:

Well, it's the only autographed album I own because I went to a record-signing and met Graham Parker. And it's just so bloody brilliant.

7. Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan:

OK, I admit, this is here because it's my favorite Dylan album. So by definition, it's significant.

8. Singles Going Steady by The Buzzcocks:

Maybe it's not cool to include greatest hits albums, but I think this is about all one really needs of the Buzzcocks. Call it distilled genius.

9. Face to Face by The Kinks:

Or the one where I became konvinced that The Kinks were, and always will be, better than the Beatles.

10. Live at the Roxy by Michel Polnareff:

It's a family affair.

11. Straight Up by Badfinger:

At one point, Badfinger was my number two group. Given their tragic history (two suicides), now I just feel sad when I listen to them, especially to the song "Name of the Game" by Pete Ham (1947-1975) which is on this album.

12. Late for the Sky by Jackson Browne:

The beauty of song.

13. Parallel Lines by Blondie:

Pure pop for now guys and gals, in all its glory.

14. Stop Making Sense by The Talking Heads:

Because it doesn't.

15. Le Fou Chantant en Public by Charles Trenet:

Recorded in 1987, this fabulous concert by the then 74-year-old Trenet is a gem. I'll always regret not seeing him in concert in the early 90s, when I had two opportunities to do so. But I take some comfort in the fact that apparently he was a totally odious person in real life.

I would love to read anybody else's lists, but especially Randall's, Holly's, Joe's, spacedlaw's, and one from the guy who is playing an all-Kinks show on WCBN-FM as I write.

Unconscious Mutterings 11

2009-02-21T01:46:00.000-08:00

Be mine ::

tonight

Ecstatic ::

like

Orderly ::

hospital

Sebastian ::

Belle

Sore ::

Neck

Don’t need ::

this

Rockstar ::

Oh, yeah

Tinfoil ::

AluMInium as the British say

Addiction ::

to love

Where? ::

or when?

Click here for this week's Unconscious Mutterings. It's really a lot of fun to do!

Listography, or organizational geekiness headquarters

2009-02-14T02:17:00.000-08:00

(I would like to credit this photo but can't quite figure out where it comes from.)

Somehow as I was creating my 101 things to do in 1001 days list, which I have finally finished, I ran into the site Listography. As its name implies, it's a place to write lists. And it is cool, as well as extremely easy-to-use.

They even have something a simplified html-like system that allows you to check, cross off, italicize and more without having to write type characters like the one I just tried to write, but that wouldn't show up on this post because it was html.

There is a lot more to do with Listography then I have done so far, but if you want to take a look at my incipient geeky lists, feel free.

Unconscious Mutterings 10

2009-02-07T03:36:00.001-08:00

Take :: a break, take it easy

350 :: days

Stand :: By Me

Raspberry :: my grandma

Turnstile :: Métro

Infomercial :: Yuk

Dejected :: Rejected

What’s the word? :: in English for...

Awestruck :: Starstruck

Smashed :: Pumpkins

Random photo linked to item 1 courtesy of Design for Mankind, which looks like a pretty cool blog if you're into modern design and fashion. These two kitties are definitely taking it easy.

Click here for this week's Unconscious Mutterings.

General update: bracing myself for February

2009-02-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

I really don't care for February whatsoever. As I turn the calendar, I hate to say I don't have a lot to look forward to. Lots of work, dreadful weather, the feeling that winter will never end...

While I'm at it, let me throw in March, then I won't have to whine about that other disappointing month when I next turn the calendar.

March has absolutely nothing to recommend itself to me. I used to be tricked by its "harbinger of spring" quality, but, at least where we live, it's usually more of the same: lots of work, dreadful weather...and so forth.

At least I have finished my 101 Things to Do in 1001 Days list. I was right -- just doing the list took me a month. Maybe it will give me some much-needed oomph. I must admit it has already helped me focus better on what I want to do with my time.

Unconscious Mutterings 9

2009-01-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

Arrival :: Departure

Vomit :: And when they said sit down, I threw up

Fit :: As a fiddle and ready to...

Stutter :: Stammer

Lifestream :: What's that?

Tread :: Water

Desire :: Wish

Freezing :: Now

Permit :: Allow

Crinkle :: Wrinkle

Click here for this week's Unconscious Mutterings -- and why not play yourself?

Two...one....

2009-01-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

(AP photo by Charles Darapak, found in a slideshow on the home page of today's Huffington Post)

My Bush countdown widget seems a little off to me -- as I write this at 6:20 am EST on Sunday the 18th, don't we still have more than two days to go? Maybe the clock just counts down to Inauguration Day itself.

WHATEVER! I've been feeling bitter the past weeks about how Bush and his historically horrible cronies are getting off the hook so easily.

But I'm going to focus on the positive for the next few days -- we may never pass this way again.

Unconscious Mutterings 8

2009-01-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Resolution :: New Year's, now is that ever NOT original

Break :: Spring

Tied :: and Bound

Suffering :: in silence

Instead :: of doing

Slash :: and burn

Divorce :: what law

Cough :: Syrup

Happy :: Man

Sniffle :: Sniff

Wow, number 9 is kind of scary...

By the way, remember that I decorate each Unconscious Mutterings post with the first legally usable image that comes up when I do a Google Image search for the first word association on the list. It adds another fun, random aspect to this activity.

This week, I'd like to give a little recognition to the royalty-free cartoons on sangrea.net.

Click here for more of this week's Unconscious Mutterings.

The end of the Bush era: mixed feelings

2009-01-10T06:13:00.000-08:00

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

I found myself laughing pretty hard at the clever satire in the above video. But as my mother said, it's funny -- sort of.

I haven't written anything about politics in a while, and I must admit to having tuned out a bit after my election-season obsession. Of course I'm still very excited about Obama's inauguration, despite all of the much-pontificated-about "challenges he'll be facing," which I know are real.

At the same time, seeing the President who really should have been impeached get off so easy makes me absolutely furious.

I imagine some of you are feeling the same way.

Unconscious Mutterings 7

2009-01-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

Confirmation :: Proclamation

Verse :: Chorus

Authorize :: Permit
Blog :: This

Thirty :: -something

Heir :: Heirloom

What are you doing? :: I'm writing this darn post

Complaint :: Réclamation

Leave :: it or love it

Tune :: Song

Click here for this week's Unconscious Mutterings.

101 things to do in 1001 days

2009-01-01T04:50:00.000-08:00

The project

101. (Who said things have to be in order?) Finish my 101 things to do in 1001 days project list 1/1

Cinema

1. Watch De-Lovely 0/1
2. Watch There Will Be Blood 0/1
3. Watch Shine a Light 0/1
4. Watch I'm Not There 1/1
5. Watch Across the Universe 0/1
6. Watch Absolute Beginners 0/1
7. Watch The Darjeeling Limited 0/1
8. Watch The Painted Veil 0/1
9. Watch one movie a week. 10/143
10. Go to the cinema on average once a month. 0/32
11. Watch some other movie to be announced because I just realized I had a double entry on this list. Okay, Milk. 0/1

Watch all of the Woody Allen movies I haven't yet seen

12. Whatever Works
13. Vicky Christina Barcelona
14. Cassandra's Dream
15. Scoop
16. Match Point
17. Anything Else
18. Hollywood Ending
19. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
20. Count Mercury Goes to the Suburbs
21. Shadows and Fog
22. Crimes and Misdemeanors
23. New York Stories
24. Another Woman

Music

25. Listen to some NPR music programs (Maybe with my new Samsung MP3.)
26. Kontinue to purchase Kinks CDs to the extent my budget can handle it. Try to komplete my kollektion. 3/28 (appx.)

Household

27. De-clutter one space a week, no matter how small 6/143
28. Do one load of laundry during the workweek to avoid weekend pile-up 7/143
29. Deal with all accumulated postal mail at least once a week 7/143
30. File away papers from orange folder 0/1
31. Put away laundry every weekend 7/143
32. Frame family photo 1 0/1
33. Frame family photo 2 0/1

Work

34. Bring more technology into my classes. For the rest of academic year 2008, think in terms of at least 3 new activities per month. 8/18
35. Plan and propose a "How to learn language" module for incoming students next school year. 0/1 (The proposal part is done.)
36. Get my new Edublog totally operational for September 2009. 0/1
37. Start vocabulary lists for my classes on Listography (started...but going nowhere)

Reading

38. Read at least parts of all of the Aveyron-related books I own
39. Read French Toast 0/1
40. Read Chagrin d'Ecole 0/1
41. Read Five Quarters of Orange 0/1
42. Read A Thousand Splendid Suns 0/1
43. Read Fast food : roadside restaurants in the automobile age 0/1
44. Finish reading X-Ray: The Unauthorized Biography 1/1
45. Increase my non-fiction reading, since that is what I'm interested in writing myself. Save novels for the summer, at least in 2009. 0/1
46. Read Please Please Me 1/1
47. Read five books I've never read from The Modern Library 100 Best Lists 0/5
48. Finish reading Blended Learning 1/1

Personal contacts

49. Have friends over for dinner on average once a month 1/32
50. Send a letter or card to someone in the USA once a month 1/32
51. Send at least an e-card for all appropriate birthdays
52. Send paper cards for all family birthdays.

Email

53. Unsubscribe to all little-read newsletters and alerts by the end of January 08 1/1 (And I don't miss them!)
54. Clear out inbox backlog on my many email accounts by the end of March 08 0/1

Blogging
55. Take some photo walks and photo outings -- New activity; count
56. Maintain posting pace for La France Profonde 12/143
57. Maintain once-a-week posting for Cuisine Quotidienne 4/143 (sadly, as of late February, I put this blog on vacation. There are so many other things to do on this list!)
58. Reduce banal commenting on other blogs -- OK, I'm commenting less but I'm also following blogs less...this is a double-edged
59. Write more about music on this blog
60. Limit comment subscriptions to threads I really want to follow -- done, but see 58

Professional Writing

61. Get my editorial calendar set up for my professional blogs every Sunday 9/143
62. Get a second professional writing gig of some sort by September 09 1/1

General online and computer life

63. Reduce my Google Reader subscriptions and go back to following sidebar blogs 1/1
64. Use Facebook on weekends only, other than to check up on family
1/1 for the most part
65. Learn how to organize my Facebook contacts and organize them 1/1
66. Reorganize my digital photos 0/49 (folders)

Cooking

67. Make an average of one homemade dessert a week for my dessert-deprived family, or buy from a local pastry-maker 6/143
68. Learn to make good pizza from scratch 0/1
69. Do a slow cooker meal once a month 1/32
70. Use bread machine on the average once a month, including some new recipes 4/32
71. Keep up my kitchen notebook 5/143

Travel and Tourism

72. Go back to California and visit my old university and meet up with a few old friends 0/1
73. Go to at least one European country other than Great Britain 0/1
74. Go to the Lodève art museum at least once a year 0/3
75.Visit Marseille 0/1
76. Go to Paris at least once other than for work 0/1
77. Visit Montauban 0/1
78. Visit Cahors 0/1
79. Visit Clermont-Ferrand 0/1
80.Go (back) to London 0/1
81.Go (back) to London again 0/1

General Learning

82. Learn more about painting -- General Progress
83. Learn more about London -- General Progress
84. Learn more about the U.K. overall -- General Progress
85. Learn more about Sweden -- General Progress
86. Learn more about French regional cooking -- General Progress
87. Consolidate my knowledge about wine -- General Progress
88. Learn more about the Aveyron and its recent history -- General Progress
89. Learn more about the history of pop and rock music -- General Progress
90. Learn more about photography -- General Progress

Outings

91. Try fifteen new (to me) restaurants 3/15
92. Go away for a weekend by myself or with a girlfriend 1/1
93. Go to two operas 0/2
94. Go to St. Geniez d'Olt, for God's sake! 0/1
95. Go to a major rock-type concert with my daughters 0/1

Languages

96. Continue my timid efforts to relearn my basic German -- General Progress

Miscellaneous

97. Join the local media library again and use it 1/1
98. Keep up on the Obama administration and stay involved from a distance
99. Join one new club or group 0/1
100. Get to the Wednesday morning or Friday evening market at least once a month 0/32

101 things to do in 1001 days

2008-12-31T04:43:00.000-08:00

The Internet takes me to strange and inspiring places.

I had just started sending New Year's greetings to some of my expat blog contacts, and I only got to the third one on La France Profonde's sidebar: Megan of An American in Provence. I was intrigued by a passage she had in her sidebar:

"101 things in 1001 days project begun July 4th, 2008 time left until April 1st, 2011 : 821 days 4 hours and 57 minutes left"

She had no link, but geek and ye shall find: a quick Google search brought me to Day Zero - The home of the 101 things to do in 1001 days project.

As a lover of lists and goals, I might just take the plunge on this one. And also, unlike New Year's resolutions, it won't have to be done by tomorrow.

Unconscious Mutterings 6

2008-12-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

Click here to play with this week's Unconscious Mutterings.

Destined : to fail

FAIL : too weird

Camping : campground

Only you : can make my life complete

Incessant : mutterings

Tomorrow : is another day

Impressive : resumé

Riches : wealth

Dislike : hate

Speaker : phone

Looking over these mutterings, it's interesting for me to see how the English (as a second language) teacher in me comes out. On 8 and 9, I just spit out synonyms, much as I do in class.

Number 3 was not so much a synonym, but a recurrent correction: the French word for campground is le camping, so students often, and rather logically, think that that must be the English word. So I'm often correcting that error. I can hear myself:

No, in English we go camping (to go camping gets written on the board) but the place we go to is called a campground (go to a campground flies up on the board as I speak...)

From business school to batik

2008-12-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

One of the miracles of the Internet is being able to keep up with all of those people I surely would have lost touch with in the pre-digital days.

As someone who loves life stories -- or life's stories -- I was tickled that electronic communication brought me back in touch with Julie, one of my former business school students, and also one of my daughters' past babysitters.

I always thought Julie's personality might take her down a different life path from the typical business route, and I was right: she is now living in Senegal and recently married batik clothing designer Omer Silé Dao Diatta. She is helping out with his business and also occasionally modeling his creations, as you can see above!

Check out Omer's website and his beautiful work here.

Unconscious (Christmas) Mutterings

2008-12-24T04:55:00.001-08:00

I decided to do this week's Unconscious Mutterings with a Christmas spirit in mind. I don't know if that's true to the idea of the activity, but it sounded like a fun thing to write.

Carpet : No Christmas ideas

Bottoms : Up

Music : Jingle Bells

Nails : Nine Inch

Watch it! : Haven't we done this one before?

Your life : Varied

Candies : Candy Canes

Chafing : Dish, I think my mom has one

Svelte : A brand

Ding : Dong, Christmas bells

Well, I didn't manage to keep the Christmas theme for all of the words, but a few worked out rather nicely!

Happy Holidays!

PS: Dear Santa, For Christmas I would like somebody to read and comment on my previous post. I guess it didn't get picked up by Google alerts because if it had, I'm sure some Kinks fans would have chimed in.

Rekonnekting with the Kinks 1: Arthur Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire

2008-12-21T04:44:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I have made up my mind to gradually purchase all or most of the Kinks' CDs in order to rediskover my favorite group.

If they're my favorite group, how, you might ask, did I end up living without them for practically two decades?

Let's just say practical considerations (Do you remember the young and innocent pre-Amazon days?) and life got in the way.

But I'm not one to sit by the fire in my Shangri-la. I can now one-click my way over to the UK and order as many Kinks CDs as I want; I got my first shipment a few weeks back.

I'm determined to take my time and savor every moment of this unstructured rediskovery.

The first album I have listened to repeatedly has been Arthur Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire. I ended up with the Castle edition, which has all sorts of extra tracks, but I'm not going to deal with those.

And I'm not going to attempt a full review, which would be great if I did this for a living, or if this were my only blog, or if anyone other than fans who get Kinks Google alerts were going to read this post...

Instead, I thought I'd have my fun categorizing the songs according to my reactions to them after a nearly twenty-year hiatus, with comments on some of the songs.

MASTERPIECES:

Victoria: Between the unexpected lyrics and the infectious melody, this is not just a Kinks masterpiece; it's a rock masterpiece.

Shangri-la: This song will certainly move way up in my Kinks' Top Ten list when this whole re-listening project is over. When Ray Davies sings "But he's too scared to complain, 'cos he's conditioned that way," my heart just breaks.

OTHER GREAT TUNES:

Yes Sir, No Sir

Australia: This song is more intriguing to me since I saw Come Dancing, which picks up on the same theme.

Arthur

FUN SONGS:

Drivin': Along with Victoria, this is the song that my 17-year-old daughter likes the most on the album.

She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina: For the title if for nothing else.

SONGS I QUITE LIKE BUT MAYBE YOU HAVE TO BE A KINKS FAN TO AGREE:

Brainwashed

Young and Innocent Days: I always visualize this song; I think it certainly would have worked better in the original Arthur "televised rock opera" concept than it does on the album.

SONGS THAT DON'T QUITE DO IT FOR ME:

Some Mother's Son: I know a lot of fans love this song. To me, it starts out well but doesn't hold its promises, and veers dangerously towards the maudlin.

Nothing to Say: I could say the same thing.

A FORGETTABLE SONG:

Mr. Churchill Says: The category is to be taken in the first degree; I had totally forgotten this song, and may well do so again.

One final comment: Arthur Or... is without a doubt my favorite Kinks' album title.

Unconscious Mutterings 5

2008-12-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

Travel :: Uncountable

Expensive :: Stuff

Backspace :: Typing foxes

Traffic noise :: Beep

Now see here :: Missy

Vegetables :: Vegetarian

Chat :: Cat

Your calling :: Teaching

Weekly :: Reader

Oh! :: MG

Inspired by Unconscious Mutterings. Photo credit here.

Kinks Wordle

2008-12-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

(Click on photo to enlarge)

In the category of "fun things to do on the Internet," I have just discovered Wordle -- thanks to big blogging buddy spacedlaw. It's an application that turns a bunch of text into an image, featuring the most frequent words.

This is my first attempt. I'm sure one can be much more poetic and artistic, but I liked the image I got out of the content of all of my blogposts about the Kinks and Ray Davies.

Wordle seems to have a rather stringent copyright rule going which I don't quite understand, but I think it means I need to link to my actual onsite version.

Since I'm going on and on about Kinkdom, I'll mention that I enjoyed reading a fresh and well-written blog post review of Ray's December 12th concert at the Hammerstein ballroom in New York. The writer had never seen the Kinks or Ray in concert, and he managed to catch the spirit of what Ray brings to audiences as well as any of us oldies.

Kinks Koncerts

2008-12-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

I'm just passing this along. I saw this tour (or a similar version of it) in July in Seattle and it was fantastic:

"Ray Davies has 4 shows remaining on his current tour and there are still tickets available for each of the performances. By all accounts this has been an excellent tour.

The following 4 dates remain:

10 Dec, 2008: Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel, Providence, Rhode Island.
11 Dec, 2008: Higher Ground, Burlington, VT.
12 Dec, 2008: Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, New York.
13 Dec, 2008: Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, New Jersey.

You can find ticket info at Dave Emlen's Kinks site:

http://kinks.it.rit.edu/tourdates.php

If you can make it to one of the shows, please try and do so. Also let your friends know that there are still tickets available. A Ray Davies concert is a not to be missed experience. If you don't buy tickets online, call ahead to confirm seats."

Unconscious Mutterings 4

2008-12-08T12:47:00.001-08:00

Here we go again: Unconscious Mutterings 306:

Love affair :: with life

Bubble :: gum double

Pimple :: Clearasil

Knocks :: Hard

Persistent :: Pain

Infected :: Wound

Yay! :: Good class

Repaint :: a house

Daily :: Post

Quickly! :: Finish

Rekonnekting with the Kinks

2008-12-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

Last summer, my sister bought tickets for the two of us to go see Ray Davies in concert in Seattle .

Little did she know what this outing would bring about: the return of my obsession with Ray Davies and the Kinks -- a passion that has rather sadly been on standby while I have pursued being a mom, holding down a career, and basically living a grown-up's life.

It's not that music has been absent over the past years: we have plenty of CDs, and I have listened to a lot of my favorite musicians since I've lived in France. I've also gotten more into jazz, standards and French popular music.

And of course, I do own a nearly komplete kollection of the Kinks' albums: all on vinyl, sitting forlornly in my parents' basement.

Perhaps as part of my post-Obama euphoria (I'm part of Barack's generation, so I feel young again!) I have decided it is time to get the Kinks back into my listening habits. So I recently Amazon one-clicked my first Kinks CD order:

Something Else by the Kinks

Arthur or the decline and fall of the British empire

Lola vs. Powerman and the Money-go-round

Workingman's Café (a Ray Davies solo album)

And be warned -- I plan to bore you with the details of my rediskovery.

Unconscious Mutterings 3

2008-12-01T11:07:00.001-08:00

OK, I think I'm going to get addicted to this. Here are my responses to Unconscious Mutterings 305:

Sleepy :: Time Herbal Tea

Thanksgiving ::Thoughts

Fifteen :: Again

Authority :: Whatever

Bangs :: Cut

Curled :: Hair

Young man :: Oh, don't get me started, I wonder if one of my blogging friends is going to read this. He'll know what I'm talking about.

Surprised :: Often

Mistake :: Error

Handle it :: Don't get mad, get glad.

Things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

(Lovely, free image courtesy of mahalo.com)

I'm not one for touchy-feely posts, but the fact that my youngest daughter is celebrating Thanksgiving in the USA with my family this year makes me want to at least give the holiday a nod.

So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving?

1. My darling, fun, loving, and fun-loving daughters. Don't be afraid of the teenage years!

2. My bright, generous and dynamic husband. There's never a dull moment.

3. My great family in the USA: my parents, one grandmother (yes!), my sister and her family, all of whom have been willing to take my daughter in for the whole year. I miss them and love them...which leads to:

4. Summers -- which I spend in the USA.

5. My life-long best friend whom I met well over thirty years ago. My move to France hasn't changed a thing about our relationship.

6. Having a job I love every single day. (Okay, almost every single day.)

7. The Internet. Seriously! It helps me keep in touch with the people above, old friends, and also make new ones through my blogging activities.

8. Music. Especially the Kinks, REM and Bob Dylan.

9. Obama's victory. Yes, we did.

10. Being in good health. Four years ago at this time, I was in the hospital for a rather long stay. I do blame it all on Bush's 2004 victory, because I fell ill the very day of his re-election. But that's all over now.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Popularity brings Europeana site down

2008-11-25T10:31:00.000-08:00

When I read about the new Europeana site, I just couldn't wait to click by.

Culture! Europe! A lot of cool French stuff! A huge digital library!

It sounded like just the sort of site I had been waiting for:

"Europeana combines the digital resources of museums and libraries, and the information provided includes paintings, maps, videos and newspapers," reports Stephen Castle in the November 19th New York Times. "Material is free of copyright so it can be downloaded for blogs, research or schoolwork by anyone with an Internet connection."

How great does that sound?

So great that the site has been receiving 10 million hits per hour, leaving it inoperational as I write:

"We launched the Europeana.eu site on 20 November and huge use - 10 million hits an hour - meant it crashed. We are doing our best to reopen Europeana.eu in a more robust version."

I can't wait!

Unconscious Mutterings 2

2008-11-24T10:58:00.001-08:00

OK, this is addictive. I think I'll do it every week. Here is Unconscious Mutterings 304:

Spit it out :: the gum, you'll look like the American that you are.

Shadow :: Land

Database :: Access

Expression :: This

Boss :: Bruce

Baby :: I love you

Mystic :: Man

Kate :: a friend, I wanted to write her last name but did opt for her anonymity

Boobies :: What?

Raid :: Insects, bugs

10 vaguely interesting things I've done

2008-11-21T11:37:00.001-08:00

I found an interesting blog activity/meme at La Vie Quotidienne.

Of course, I was also intrigued by this blog because the name resembles my own Cuisine Quotidienne.

I couldn't resist leaving the blogger a comment about how a lot of people don't know what "quotidian" means. I hope her readers (somehow I'm sure it's a woman but I could be wrong) at least know what vie means.

But I digress.

The meme consisted of marking in bold print the things you've done out of a list of 150 activities. Yes: 1-5-0. That sounded like a pretty long undertaking, so I decided to take it differently and divide it in different categories of 10.

And that might just get me through to the end of November and NaBloPoMo!

So, here are 10 vaguely interesting things I've done:

1. Said “I love you” and meant it (are there that many people out there who say that insincerely? Hmmm...)

2. Visited Paris (for work, for family, for education, for travel...you name it)

3. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise (and even got in trouble for it...)

4. Gone to a huge sports game (Go Ms!)

5. Changed a baby’s diaper (Wait, are these interesting things... even vaguely...???)

6. Given more than you can afford to charity (I hope the Obama campaign counts here)

7. Bet on a winning horse (Yes, I've actually been to the races)

8. Had two hard drives for your computer (For sure!)

9. Taken a road-trip (from Olympia to Fort Collins, Colorado with my whole French family -- unforgettable)

10. Alphabetized your CDs (Mais of course! I wouldn't have it any other way...)

Unconscious mutterings 1

2008-11-18T11:10:00.001-08:00

I got onto this fun blog activity from some new commenter, and I can't remember who! I'm sorry because I wish I could link back to you...

The idea, presented on Unconscious Mutterings, is a kind of free association activity...just for fun; no heavy psychoanalysis going on or anything! And I'm going to try to do it without too much self-monitoring or trying to be clever. Here we go with week 303 (!) of this prompt:

Please stop :: referring to Obama as "le président noir" in France. The French are making way too big a deal out of his race.

Move over :: rover

Sweet as :: sugar, honey, sugar just couldn't be bought.

Bet :: 'cha

Mad about :: London

It’s over :: THE ELECTION

Intend to :: finish NaBloPoMo with more quirky activities like this one

Blame :: game

Jefferson :: Airplane

Heartless :: Hopeless

Well, that was decidedly fun. I think I'll have to try it again...

A tale of two Internet sites

2008-11-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

Somebody has probably come up with a definition of the Web 3.0, and somebody will probably be smart enough to tell me about it in a comment.

I haven't done any personal research on the concept, but I feel Barack Obama seems to be ushering in a whole new era of Internet use that will make the Web an indispensable and inescapable tool of democracy...could this be the Web 3.0?

Any doubters who thought President-elect Obama's (I love writing that) Internet strategy would slow down once enough money had been amassed to run the most brilliant presidential campaign in American history have only to click over to the uplifting, user-friendly change.gov, the new virtual "Office of the President-elect."

There's a very different feel and look going on in Obama's Web office than at the decidedly dour and user-hostile whitehouse.gov, where if you look very closely and can read tiny, light-gray print, you can figure out that President George W. Bush lives there.

The site's tab says "Welcome to the White House," but a quick scan of the content makes the visitor feel anything but. And once again, all over the site there's a clear preference for minuscule fonts -- do they really want anybody reading their garbage?

Given their own definition of the situation they're passing on to President-elect Obama, I have to think the answer is no:

"With our Nation at war, our homeland targeted by terrorist adversaries, and our economy facing serious challenges, the Administration is committed to establishing and executing a transition plan that minimizes disruption, maintains continuity, and addresses the major changes in government since the 2000 transition..."

Well, dubya, it sounds like you did a great job with your two mandates! You've got an inspiring legacy going there!

I'm thinking I don't want that much continuity maintained. Sorry.

NaBloPoMo oblige

2008-11-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

I don't really have the time to post to this blog today, nor to La France Profonde tomorrow. But I will: NaBloPoMo oblige.

As I mentioned over on La France Profonde, I signed up for this blogging extravaganza this month.

For those who don't know about it, NaBloPoMo is a type of blogging "event" to encourage bloggers to post every day for a month. As their site says:

Post every day for a month. That's all you have to do.

I got onto NaBloPoMo last November when some of my blogging buddies were doing it. (Oh, that peer pressure...) And at the time, I was under the impression that November was the one and only National Blog Posting Month.

I remember thinking "November -- what a terrible time to undertake such a project." The days are getting longer, winter energy lack is setting in, and in my case, my work schedule is getting heavier and heavier.

When I went to the site, though, I noticed that you can actually participate any month you want.

What the heck. It was November 1st, and I signed up.

Bear with me.

And with Blogger being so smart and all, why can't they figure out that I'm actually posting this on THURSDAY THE 13th at 6:30-ish AM and not on WEDNESDAY (Pacific Standard Time.)

I got up at 5:45 to make sure to have time to post, so this is counting for my Thursday post, no matter what the date says!

Where do we go from here?

2008-11-08T04:14:00.000-08:00

(Click on image to enlarge.)

A friend of mine sent me this comic from a fun-looking "Webcomic" site, xkcd, whose artist is kind enough to share his creations through a Creative Commons License.

It so reflects how I am feeling right now.

What can I do with all the Internet time I spent obsessively reading fivethirtyeight, pollster, and The Huffington Post, just to name a few?

All suggestions are welcome!

Lest we forget...

2008-11-07T11:46:00.001-08:00

Of course I am still basking in Obama's victory.

But I hope Americans will not forget the crimes of the past President.

One day more!

2008-11-03T10:59:00.001-08:00

Maybe you have to be a political junky and a musical comedy geek to appreciate this...

Maybe you have to be me!

My last word on the subject

2008-11-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

(Photo courtesy of Alice from 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera, one cool blogger I got onto during the campaign)

What a long, strange trip it's been...

Let's all hope it was worth it.

It's a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world...

2008-11-01T02:25:00.001-07:00

except for:

Lola - The Kinks

Positive energy is great -but I still can't resist this!

2008-10-29T00:34:00.000-07:00

I got a recently circulating email about how we should all calm down about McPalin and their insulting, incompetent and incendiary campaign. Instead, we should start visualizing Election Day and how wonderful it will feel when Obama wins.

In fact, we should start visualizing the next eight years. It won't be easy, said the email, but Obama will be an historically great President, and we will all feel proud to have been part of his election.

That's all well and good -- but I'll think those sweet thoughts in one week.

In the meantime, take a look at Keith Olbermann's latest blast of Palin.

Oh, and is John McCain even still running? It seems like I read next to nothing about him.

Good-bye Twitter. Chirp. Tweet. tweet.

2008-10-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

I have just chirped my last Twitter. I guess between emails, my blogs and my reasonably active Facebook account, Twitter just wasn't for me.

If you're interested in keeping in touch with me on Facebook, I'm there. I'm also hoping to organize a little Facebook election night party so I have some people to celebrate with (95.7% chance according to fivethirtyeight.com as of today) or commiserate with (4.3% chance...etc.)

(Update from Monday: make that 96.7% vs. 3.3%!)

Actually, commiserate is not a strong enough word. Let's not go there.

Could you repeat that, please?

2008-10-22T05:10:00.001-07:00

I told you John McCain had been studying at the Sarah Palin school of clarity and syntax! Or maybe the old guy is just getting tired.

I say it's time to head back to Arizona, John.

And time...goes by...so slowly....

2008-10-20T12:03:00.001-07:00

Appetite: spotty

Internet habits: fivethirtyeight.com, then news of or from my daughter in the USA

Suspense: killing me

Two. More. Weeks.

This speaks for itself...

2008-10-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

...and echoes my thoughts from my previous post.

Do something -- get out and vote!

John McCain, you are a pathetic excuse for a presidential candidate, a Senator, and a human being!

2008-10-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

Time was when I honestly thought John McCain would run a respectful campaign for the presidency -- as he promised to do, mind you.

Now I'm starting to think that just about any of his former opponents -- maybe even Huckabee! -- would have kept things a little cleaner.

Of course the press is abounding with reports of "hate" growing in the McCain-Palin crowds, and I've spent the morning reading commentary and analyzing videos.

McCain seems to be getting some sort of credit -- "extra credit," perhaps -- for trying to tone things down on the angry, racist bent of his latest crowds. But listen to the actual text above of his half-hearted "defense" of Obama, first on the question of being "scared" by an Obama presidency:

"He is a decent person, and a person that you do not have to be scared as President of the United States."

McCain is clearly ill at ease here, or else is taking lessons at the Sarah Palin School of Syntax.

After being booed, his follow-up suggests he may also be studying at the Sarah Palin School of Incoherency, G-droppin', and Folksiness:

"Now, I I just, now I just, now, now, look, I, I, if I didn't think I wouldn't be one heckuva lot better president, I wouldn't be runnin', okay?"

What does that have to do with anything? I almost feel sorry for you, Johnny, because I'm not sure you expected to end up running this type of town hall meeting. But when you play with fire, you get burned.

And you end up having to deal with inconvenient side effects, like the most horrifying question yet asked in public by anyone during this campaign:

"I cannot trust Obama. I have read about him, and he's not, he's not...he's an Arab."

First, notice McCain's nodding understanding after the first phrase. Then his supposed "high road" reaction:

"No, m'am, no m'am, he's a decent, family man citizen..."

That totally idiotic, racist question should not have been dignified with a response and McCain should have said so in no uncertain terms.

And this is being billed as defending Obama? Giving this lady the subtext that an Arab, of course, can't be "a decent family man, citizen?"

I guess he's just doing the best he can. But it's sure not good enough.

So John, why don't you save what little is left of your much-touted honor and drop out now -- and take Caribarb Boobie with you?

Oh and hey, John, can I call you Jack? Because I can't wait to see you hit the road.

You go for it, Keith!

2008-10-07T12:22:00.001-07:00

My last class was a bomb, but my reward's in heaven

2008-10-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

Sure, there are days when I feel like a suicide bomber, plowing into a class of tired students with my arsenal of pair work, debates, vocabulary sheets, and fun facts to know and tell about the present perfect.

But is my reward in heaven?

Doggone it, Sarah, I thought you couldn't make me feel any sicker than I already am. But there you go again.

And did it cross your fact-crammed brain that references to "can I call you Joe" + wife + heaven might be a little on the tacky side?

Okay, I'll give you a break there. I don't think you did it on purpose. It's hard to keep everything straight with all those Supreme Court decisions on your mind...

All analysis aside...

2008-09-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

My mind is racing after a three-hour, link-jumping orgy of watching campaign-related videos and reading post-debate analysis.

I'd love to say something brilliant, but where to begin?

So I'll just quote my 15-year-old daughter who is living in the USA this year and who saw some of the debate (before falling asleep...)

"I just remember that Obama's cute and smart.

And that McCain is NOT."

Now I really can't wait until next week's debate, when we'll get to see "cute and clueless."

With running mates like this, who needs enemies?

2008-09-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

While John McCain is trying to get time off to prepare for his presidential debate ("Oh damn! Maybe I shouldn't have said I didn't know much about economics!"), Ms. Moose is on the campaign trail, and doing quite the "job" of it. Judge for yourself in this extract from an interview with CBS News:

"Couric: You've said, quote, 'John McCain will reform the way Wall Street does business.' Other than supporting stricter regulations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago, can you give us any more example of his leading the charge for more oversight?

Palin: I think that the example that you just cited, with his warnings two years ago about Fannie and Freddie - that, that's paramount. That's more than a heck of a lot of other senators and representatives did for us.

Couric: But he's been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation, not more.

Palin: He's also known as the maverick though, taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. Trying to get people to understand what he's been talking about - the need to reform government.

Couric: But can you give me any other concrete examples? Because I know you've said Barack Obama is a lot of talk and no action. Can you give me any other examples in his 26 years of John McCain truly taking a stand on this?

Palin: I can give you examples of things that John McCain has done, that has shown his foresight, his pragmatism, and his leadership abilities. And that is what America needs today.

Couric: I'm just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.

Palin: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you."

I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you? In what form? In a 15-page research paper with footnotes?

And she has been called a powerful campaigner. I guess I just don't get it.

It'll be just like starting over

2008-09-20T00:29:00.001-07:00

I just marked 270 blog posts "as read" on Google Reader.

I must use it every day. I must. I must. Repeat 100 times.

How I plan to accomplish this:

1. Get home from work. Ignore breakfast dishes left out in the kitchen, accumulated mess strewn about the living room table, professional blog post to be written, the possibility of making yet another $25.00 donation to Barack's campaign, and the overwhelming desire to scour MySpace and Facebook for traces of what my youngest daughter is up to.

2. Get out of my faux-pro work outfit and toss on something scruffy and scroungy that reminds my husband that I am, after all, an American.

3. Get a glass of wine alone (!!) and before dinner (!!!), which reminds my husband...etc.

4. Get onto my Google Reader.

Does that sound like a plan?

Gimme shelter!

2008-09-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

I think we can safely say that we have seen way too many photos of Alaskan wildlife in the presidential campaign.

I'm not a vivid dreamer, but last night I had a nightmare that really shook me up.

A bunch of raccoons were trying to break into my living room through our sliding glass door, except my house was somehow in the USA -- get it?

Suddenly, one mangy raccoon was actually running around inside and I decided it had to go.

Oh, damn, I don't own a gun! So I took a deep breath, grabbed it, and it bit my hand real hard. Even in my sleep I could feel the palin.

Then the scenario morphed into a TV debate: Sarah Palin against Barack Obama.

(I know, Republicans, I know, Palin is not running against Obama! Except if your candidate croaks, which I guess we can all start praying won't happen, or goes totally senile, which I honestly think is taking place before our eyes, we are stuck with Ms. Moose...so stop pretending you just can't understand why people would ever make such a comparison!)

And Sarah slammed Barack with some real tough-chick crack that had the whole country buzzing about something other than the economy, health care, the war, the lies, the lies, the lies....

Palin's problems: "Let's just make them all go away!"

2008-09-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

This is painfully funny, or just plain painful, depending on how you look at it:

The Great Debates

2008-09-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

"What is it exactly that a VP does every day? "

Sarah Palin

A long time ago, I thought John McCain had half a brain and that his debates with Obama might be quite interesting.

Now, after reading Big John's bizarre interview with Time magazine, and especially after his strageoid choice of a running mate, I'm starting to think he has only half a brain. And that his debates with Barack will be just plain weird.

The debate I'm really looking forward to now? Biden-Palin.

The bumper sticker of wrath

2008-07-31T09:03:00.001-07:00

A chilling tale of anger and political hatred in Lacey, Washington:

My sister and I were stuck in traffic there on our way up to a concert in Seattle.

We were in a left-turn lane, and noticed an elderly man -- at least 75 years old -- in the lane to our right. He seemed to be muttering and trying to communicate with us somehow.

We thought he might want to get into our lane, or perhaps needed directions. So we pulled up and from the passenger side, I opened my window and was about to say "Sir, do you need any directions or anything?"

I didn't even have time to let a word slip out: he yelled right at me "OBAMA SUCKS AND SO DO YOU!"

Usually quick-tongued, I was tongue-tied. This was not at all what I had expected for our good intentions.

My sister yelped out a not-so-brilliant "Well, you suck too!" - -which we later agreed could have been a better-turned phrase. But who was I to say, having remained mute through the entire incident?

To close the little exchange, the geezer yelled "FUCK OFF!" at us and drove away.

This is where I belong

2008-07-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

My sister and I went to a great concert on July 19th: Ray Davies at the Showbox in Seattle.

I used to really be part of the Kinks Kult and had seen the band plenty of times in the 70s and 80s, but I didn't know if I would cross Ray's path again.

The show was absolutely fantastic. I won't bore you with the details -- I've got the Kinks Preservation Society mailing list to do that -- but I can tell you the concert sure made me want to get back in the Kinks/Ray Davies fan line.

And I've just been thinking that Waterloo Sunset may be my favorite song ever.

Here's wishing you the bluest skies, Ray. I've missed you.

Discover The Kinks!

Having fun with Evernote

2008-07-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

In my endless quest to organize my virtual life, I ran into a cool site called Evernote.

I haven't completely explored it yet, but it seems to be a little like a personal del.icio.us -- which I never use because I can never remember where the dots are in the address -- but with a visual aspect.

I'm getting notebooks going on the interesting Internet stuff I'm finding this summer, and it seems like this platform might be just what I'm looking for.

How do you organize your Web finds?

Americana 2: Roll on, Columbia roll on

2008-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

(The Columbia River between Vantage and George, Washington)

Yes, there is a town called George, Washington. And the tiny town before it on the usual trip from Olympia to Spokane is aptly named Vantage, because it enjoys a view similar to the one above.

When I was a child, my family often stopped at Vantage on the way over to Spokane, where my paternal grandmother lived. There was an A&W hamburger joint perched over the river: arguably the best view from a fast-food restaurant in Washington State at the time, or ever.

I remember looking across the Columbia at a road that descended directly into the river. My father explained that that was where Vantage used to be, but that the town had been sacrificed to the construction of a dam -- the Grand Coulee? -- which somehow brought the water level up and put the town underwater. I knew that this was all planned and that it wasn't like a real flood, but the story still horrified me and I loved imagining that the remains of the town could be found intact underwater.

On last year's road trip from Olympia to Fort Collins, Colorado, it was interesting to see my French husband and daughters -- who had never been "East of the mountains" -- react to the drastic change in scenery once we got out of the somewhat wooded Ellensburg area.

"How can this be the same state?" they asked. "How can this still be my state?" I wondered.

Washington is often called "The Evergreen State," but obviously not all parts of the state were taken into consideration when choosing the nickname.

Americana 1

2008-07-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

An over-sized, slightly tattered American flag flies over a pancake house in Ellensburg,Washington

Since I've lived in a foreign country for almost two decades, people often ask me if I "still feel American." Of course I do, but I realize that my vision of the USA is constricted by the geographical limits of my visits here: mainly Olympia, with an occasional hop up to Seattle or down to Portland.

So for me, it's the Pacific Northwest all the way, every time.

A friend recently told me he thought Pacific Northwesterners took themselves "way too seriously." Is that the case? If so, does it explain why I still feel so at home here? And why so many bloggers I relate to seem to have a PNW connection?

Last summer I did break out of my green cocoon and took a road trip to Colorado with my family. As soon as I crossed the Cascades and got "east of the mountains," I knew I was in a different world.

A pancake house was our first stop on a short but revealing journey that reminded me to think beyond Puget Sound when I am asked about the USA.

Blog status

2008-07-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

After promises of "blogging from And So Forth" over the summer, I am finding myself with strangely little to say. But I do want to signal my return to the blogosphere after varying degrees of absence from my three blogs.

I suppose I can start with the summer status of each publication:

La France Profonde: After thinking about taking a summer break from this one, I have reconsidered and will be writing some postlets from time to time.

Cuisine Quotidienne: Officially on vacation until September, with a possible redesign in the works.

This blog: Timidly tiptoeing into uncharted territory...

Signing off until summer

2008-04-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have sorely neglected And So Forth lately, for various reasons. If you're reading this, you likely know I keep up two other personal blogs: La France Profonde and Cuisine Quotidienne. That keeps me pretty busy in the blogging department, and to top it off, my professional blogging load has just doubled.

So... I think I'm going to put And So Forth to sleep for a while. However, I plan to make it my summer place when I'm in Olympia for July and August, so I'll see you there and then.

In the meantime, feel free to add suggestions to my holiday reading list!

Good Google Reader Housekeeping

2008-04-13T03:26:00.000-07:00

Feeling a little overwhelmed by all things Internet-related, and perhaps all things period, I just undertook a major clean-up of my Google Reader.

I was trying to limit myself to 50 subscriptions, but was slipping up toward 60. Is that a lot? Not really?

I just know that I was feeling discouraged when I opened, with some dread, the Reader over the weekend (because I never managed to keep up during the week, which is supposed to be the idea, right?) and was finding upwards of 150 unread posts.

So, to get an idea of reasonable dimensions, I asked a very Internet-oriented friend of mine how many feeds he had: around 30.

Definitely time to sweep up.

The Real McCain

2008-04-05T00:31:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry the website "The Real McCain" doesn't know the difference between "less" and "fewer," but I suppose that is a pathetically minor point compared to what's at stake in the 2008 election.

If you're attracted by McCain's maverick stances, if you've always been a little tempted to jump the Democratic ship if the Republicans could come up with a seemingly respectable candidate of the center, take heed: NOW IS NOT THE TIME!

Thank you, Randall, for the link to the Real McCain site in your great post Friday -- but I'd love to see you change your endorsement logo.

Of course, nobody is perfect, especially in the world of politics. But anyone who has been criticizing the Iraq war for five years and doesn't take a stand for the candidate most likely to get us out of the mess is, in my opinion, part of the problem.

Online to-read list

2008-03-30T04:47:00.001-07:00

Do you have book recommendations for me? I am stepping up my reading pace, and thought it might be fun to put my to-read list on And So Forth. And maybe some of my readers can do just as good a job as Amazon at telling me what tomes I would enjoy.

The first entry on the list is French Toast by Harriet Welty Rochefort. I got onto it from My Inner French Girl, who is somehow much more up on everything French than I am.

In case you're wondering about my tastes, this is what I'm reading at the moment:

Since my post about reading in public, I have slipped a book into my handbag and have decided I will always have a bag-book en fraçais on me. So recommendations in French are permitted and encouraged -- but they must be slim, light volumes. This is my current French, in-the-purse, read:

My husband didn't care for it, but it was the first literally lightweight book in French that I found, so I decided to give it a try. So far, so good -- although since I don't take much public transportation, progress is markedly slow.

My current bedside volume is a third-time reread:

Not that a few books can define my tastes, but maybe it will give you some ideas!

Recommendation number two has come in from SpacedLaw:

I thank her for the reminder because I have enjoyed other books by Daniel Pennac and have meant to read this one, but kinda sorta forgot about it.

I can't wait to get more recommendations! Remember, the books don't have to be in French. I'm looking for smaller tomes in French to carry around in my handbag, and English for evening reading.

CD Pile-ups

2008-03-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

Have you stopped buying CDs? I suppose if I were 20 years old and broke, I would have by now. But both my husband and I are still attracted by the object itself, and our eclectic tastes combined with online one-stop-shopping for used CDs means our collection is burgeoning.

Today I decided to reorganize them all: the horror, the horror. Our CD storage space is overflowing and piles of CDs are strewn about different rooms of the house. The worst part of the process is discovering empty cases or homeless discs.

Then there is the classification system itself. Pop, rock and jazz CDs don't cause that much trouble: artist by alphabetical order, then title by alphabetical order. But the classical department (we have our CDs in those two basic categories: classical and the rest) proves to be more of a challenge.

The titles are in German, French or English. So for example, within Mozart, I end up having to alphabetize "Concerto pour piano," "Piano concerto," and "Klavierkonzerte." I decide it should all go under "Concerto, piano," which will precede "Concerto, violin." But somehow nothing looks right.

And what to do about opera? I decided to give it a section of its own. But do I file "Mozart Portraits" by Cecila Bartoli under Mozart or Bartoli? It's pure Mozart, but I bought it because it was by Bartoli. And now for that matter, it's only two-thirds opera -- so does it really belong in the opera section? And what about all of those classical CDs that feature works by several different composers?

All this thought and I know it will only stay in place a few months at best...

Friday's Feast

2008-03-14T11:23:00.001-07:00

I haven't done a Friday's Feast for a long time, but this one caught my fancy:

Appetizer

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as highest), how much do you like your own handwriting?

I would have to say a three. It is small, scratchy, often unreadable, and totally unworthy of a member of the teaching profession.

Soup

Do you prefer baths or showers?

Sad to say in these environmentally-charged times, I prefer baths -- especially in the winter.

Salad

What was the last bad movie you watched?

My movie-watching time is so precious that I really don't watch many bad ones -- or if I start a lousy flick, I don't finish it. So I honestly can't remember.

Main Course

Name something you are addicted to and describe how it affects your life.

Like many Pacific Northwest natives, I'm addicted to coffee. It controls my early morning routine, and I really need my hit of java during the morning break at work. Since I live in France, people (like my husband) tend to look askance at my dragging-a-mug-around habit.

Dessert

Which instrument is your favorite to listen to?

I play the violin and the piano, so I feel like those should be my responses. But I think my real answer would have to be the human voice -- I just enjoy songs so much more than instrumental music.

Have a great weekend!

Social Networking -- Does It Work for You?

2008-03-12T12:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted much to "And So Forth" lately. But the platform carries on -- I'm not going to let go of it so quickly! And I expect to post here quite a bit this summer, from the USA, when La France Profonde and Cuisine Quotidienne won't be so relevant.

Also, I must admit that one of the reasons I haven't had much to say on this blog is that I've been playing with social networking sites.

I've held off on going there for quite a while, telling myself that if I started getting into social networking, blogging could go down the drain.

But yet these sites have tempted me. MySpace? Facebook? Linkedin? All of the above? I have reasonably lame sites on all of them. Should I just choose one?

Where do you social network online? And what do you get out of it?

If My Life Were a Movie

2008-03-02T11:35:00.000-08:00

OK, this is kind of lame but I'm trying to post more often to And So Forth. And I actually enjoy some of these silly Blogthings quizzes, as well as the way the site admits that they are "like junk food for your blog."

So, if my life were a movie, it would be...tah-dah...!

The Movie Of Your Life Is A Cult Classic

Quirky, offbeat, and even a little campy - your life appeals to a select few.
But if someone's obsessed with you, look out! Your fans are downright freaky.

Your best movie matches: Office Space, Showgirls, The Big Lebowski

I'll buy that since I'm feeling like my life is actually pretty boring at times.

Moviewise, I am definitely into some cult classics, though. My favorites are "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and "This is Spinal Tap."

What are yours?

(Here is the link to the above quiz if you want to play: If Your Life Was a Movie, What Genre Would It Be?)

I laughed, I cried...

2008-02-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

After my unconclusive experience watching Sweeney Todd in "version française," I was determined to catch Juno in English.

My daughters had both seen it here in French and had truly regretted not hearing the actors speaking "American."

So partly for this reason -- and partly for reasons much more related to shopping -- we zoomed off to Montpellier for the day for my daughters' only out-of-town outing of their two-week winter holiday. Travail oblige.

One film, two viaduct crossings, six pairs of new shoes, and twelve hours later, I can definitely say it was worth every minute.

I adored Juno.

Cross-Cultural Clichés?

2008-02-24T22:39:00.001-08:00

For a year or so, I have been receiving the expat email bulletin from Telegraph.co.uk. My British friends have admonished me about this source of information, and yes I KNOW THE GUARDIAN IS TEN TIMES BETTER! In fact, the latter updated their website not too long ago and it is quite spiffy-looking, so I highly recommend it for quality reading.

But for a mix of legitimate news and plenty of "oh yuk" and "gosh, really?" stories, The Telegraph is just great. It also offers a lot of high-hope-inducing headlines, like these National Cultural Profiles.

"National Cultural Profiles are your guide to the thinking patterns of all the world's major cultures. The resource is taken from the CultureActive cultural web programme, which is used by corporations, governments and non-government organisations."

The CultureActive program is available by subscription only, and I can only hope its information is more complete than the excerpts provided by the Telegraph:

"The Chinese truly believe that they possess a huge store of positive traits, which makes them superior to others..."

"Finnish manners in general are characterised by reserve, reticence and modesty. The sauna is a place where they relax and become more talkative."

"The French believe that they are intellectually superior to any other nationality."

"Senior Saudis, though benign, often adopt a moralistic tone to younger Westerners..."

"Greece is a tactile culture..."

Hmmm, I didn't realize "Greece" was a culture. It looks like both the journalism and the writing could use a little improvement on this piece!

Love emails, anyone? Everyone?

2008-02-17T23:38:00.000-08:00

Is anybody surprised to learn that the art of writing love letters is on the wane?

I wonder -- all right, I'm downright curious -- just how long-distance romances are managed in the age of Web 2.0. I'm sure some of you out there could tell me a thing or two.

Of course lovers can now stay in real-time touch with their distant soulmate. They can use Skype to chat free -- no more sinking realizations that their long-distance love conversation just cost about $20.00.

But what has really replaced the old-fashioned love letter: the letter written solely for the purpose of expressing romantic feelings, the letter lovers used to carry around in their purse or pockets, the letter that can still spark a wave of passion when found in a box tucked away in the attic?

Do emails really cut it for this purpose?

(Inspired by Valentine's Day, this post was written last Sunday and modified to submit to Sunday Scribblings, which announced the prompt of "Passion" Sunday February 24th. Click here to read more passionate posts.)

Take this country; come take me home again

2008-02-09T01:09:00.000-08:00

"Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun..."

Hey, these are the restuls of the caucuses in my home state (Washington) and I'm proud of them!

Barack Obama
21,629
67.6%

Hillary Rodham Clinton
9,992
31.2

Or, as my friend Dan from the Empathic Rationalist put it in the conclusion of his eloquent post Spring Fever:

"Obama and I pine for the day when we Democrats will enjoy the kind of renaissance that the Republicans enjoyed with Reagan. Republicans were optimistic. They were bold enough to dream big dreams. They got together in spiritual communities and spoke about social change. They took to the airwaves spreading their ideas. They realized how easy it is to influence Congress with orchestrated letter writing campaigns. And above all else, they realized the benefits of unity.

Sure their ideas were reactionary. But at least they had faith in ideas. And armed with that faith, they changed this country and this world.

That’s all I ask – to have our own day in the sun. It doesn’t even have to be 70 degrees. But we do have to be together. You. Me. Barack. And all the other politicians and non-politicians who are willing to get their hearts broken over and over again if that’s what it takes to change the world in a progressive direction.

Keep the faith."

I wanted to end with a clip from one of Obama's speeches, but I suppose everybody who's interested has been watching them. I ended up running into something on the creative side instead.

A little sappy? Perhaps. But don't you want to feel something other than sick to your stomach when you associate the words "U.S." and "President"?

For me, at this point, any dream will do. And Obama's is a stirring one.

Adieu Marquee

2008-01-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

If you read La France Profonde -- and if you're reading this, you probably do -- you know about my fascination for the underside of old-ish places.

I emphasize "old-ish" because prehistoric sites, Roman ruins and vestiges of medieval structures don't do it for me. Give me traces of the 20th century -- like this movie theater marquee in my home town, Olympia, Washington. It went up in 1940; it came down last week.

While plenty of Olympians apparently felt nostalgic about the loss of this downtown landmark, the local paper's photo gallery on the dismantling reveals that the marquee masked treasures: stained glass and sculptures that had been hidden from the public for almost 70 years.

"Removal of Capitol Theater marquee brings sadness but uncovers beauty," reads the headline of the article about the change. Would that all architectural changes were that way...

(Photo courtesy of Ken McIntyre. I couldn't find how to contact Ken to ask if I could use his photo, but given all of the html links he has provided on his Photobucket site, I assume he won't mind.

If like me, you are fascinated by old movie theaters, check out the theater section of cinematreasures.org.)

Fountain of Sorrow

2008-01-27T01:05:00.000-08:00

In high school and college, no singer spoke to me more than Jackson Browne. He was one of those artists that kind of dropped out of my listening habits with the years, mainly because I had all his music on (legal) cassettes.

A while back, my daughter introduced me to Deezer and I set up a Jackson Browne playlist. It's almost too painful for me to listen to, yet I keep coming back to it.

Fountain of sorrow, fountain of light...

Change I Believe In

2008-01-20T01:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted much to ASF lately, and few people have noticed since this is my least-frequented blog.

I guess one of the problems of a "catch-all" blog is what to catch!

In the meantime, you will notice from the side logo that I have made up my mind about an important issue.

I was having trouble making a commitment on this primary race, and was also feeling a strange fear of being hurt. Let's face it - -some of us have been through a lot since w's election.

But partly thanks to my college friend Daniel Spiro, author of The Creed Room and blogger at Empathic Rationalist, I managed to take a stand.

Anyway, I'm sure I'll be back rambling about something here one of these days.

In the meantime, I've been posting quite a bit to Cuisine Quotidienne and La France Profonde if you want to take a look.

Can you blame them?

2008-01-11T07:31:00.000-08:00

Considering the strong chances that Virgilio Cintron's death was preventable, can you really blame his friends for trying to cash in on one last Social Security check?

Old meets new

2007-12-27T23:53:00.001-08:00

I must admit this photo is recycled from a November 7 Wordless Wednesday post to La France Profonde, but with three blogs going, I do a bit of cross-posting when it is appropriate.

Plus things are pretty busy around here with all of that champagne to drink, all of that foie gras to eat...you can see life is tough at the moment.

And of course I'm dying to add some words to this photo!

I had noticed this odd juxtaposition for several years and on a sunny autumn evening, I finally stopped, got out of my car, and took this picture -- hoping I wouldn't be accosted by an angry farmer.

What better contrasts old and new here in the land of the Millau McDonald's incident?

(Click here for more Sunday Scribblings posts on the theme of New and Old.)

Can't I have just a little more time?

2007-12-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

This was one of my Christmas presents. And a very nice one at that.

Yet, there's nothing like one of these "definitive" volumes to make me realize what a pathetic excuse for a cultivated person I am.

I don't even want to talk about the 1001 Books edition, which I gave my husband for his birthday so he could see what a pathetic excuse...etc.

At least that volume took a more positive tack to its title translation: the French version is entitled "1001 Books You Must Read in your Lifetime." But the translation of the film volume title take on the morbidity of the original: 1001 MOVIES to see before you die.

The hour is grave. Fortunately I got one of the movies from the book as a Christmas present.

I've got to start somewhere! The alternative is too terrifying to even think about...

Christmas "news"

2007-12-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

A December 25th UPI article entitled "Wild boars run amok in France" also featured a side photo of "the 2nd annual water-skiing Santa in Washington."

Rarely do both of my home countries benefit from such ground-breaking media coverage on the same Web page.

Personally, I'd prefer meeting up with the water-skiing Santa to having a run-in with the wild boar who "disrupted last-minute Christmas shopping in Poitiers, France."

How about you?

(Photo courtesy of waterskiingsanta.com)

Merry Christmas to all...

2007-12-25T02:52:00.000-08:00

...whether you be in the sun or in the snow!

If Only in My Dreams

2007-12-22T09:30:00.000-08:00

For this week's Sunday Scribblings prompt, "Holiday Memories," I'm going to be most annoying and do a rare post in French.

This article originally appeared in a local newspaper, Le Rouergat, which I wrote a column for in 2004 and 2005. The little weekly unfortunately shut down, so I hope there are no copyright issues involved in my republishing this article.

I suppose I should translate it into English, but I worked so hard to write it in French that I prefer to post the version originale. The general subject is how hard it can be to be so far from home for the holidays, and especially how difficult my first Christmas in France was.

Do tell me if any of you can understand it!

Les quinze années que j’ai passées en France sont jalonnées d’excellents souvenirs, pour la plupart. Quelques-uns restent, malgré tout, moins agréables. Parmi ceux-là je pourrais citer mon premier Noël français, en 1990. L’éloignement de ma famille en fut la cause principale, mais de petites différences culturelles amplifiaient quotidiennement ma tristesse. Il s’agissait pourtant de la même fête, mais les maisons manquaient d’illuminations, personne ne venait frapper à ma porte pour m’apporter des gâteaux de Noël... toutes ces petites choses constituaient pour moi le « Christmas spirit », avec notamment son enthousiasme et sa chaleur humaine propres à Noël. Expression dont on me dit qu’elle ne se traduisait pas en français.

Pour combler le vide, je passais des chansons de Noël en boucle. Bing Crosby qui entonnait « White Christmas » ou bien « I’ll be home for Christmas »… Parfois cela me remontait le moral. A d’autres moments, cela me réduisait en larmes.

Le froid, du moins, avait répondu présent pendant cet hiver albigeois. Gelée, j’arpentais les rues piétonnes en quête d’objets décoratifs pour égayer notre foyer. Je n’ai trouvé qu’un petit ensemble d’oies en bois peint…100 francs. Je l’ai acheté en dépit du prix que je trouvais exorbitant.

Avec le temps, et mon premier enfant, la situation s’est vite améliorée. Petit à petit, j’ai importé mes traditions à ma famille. Les cartes de vœux se font pour le Nouvel An ? Tant pis, je les faisais pour Noël. Et qui m’interdisait de faire mes « Christmas Cookies » et de les distribuer dans le quartier ? Personne, évidemment, et cela faisait très plaisir aux voisins !

Arrivée en Aveyron, j’ai fait la connaissance d’un groupe de collègues anglophones qui m’invitaient bien sûr à leur « Christmas Party », joyeuse fête où nous chantions à tue-tête des « Christmas Carols », devant des époux quelque peu perplexes.

Mon expérience personnelle m’a appris que Noël transcende bien sûr les différences culturelles, mais surtout que c’est à chacun de faire perdurer les traditions auxquelles il tient, et d’en créer d’autres. Désormais quand on me demande si je rentre « chez moi » pour Noël, je réponds sans hésitation : « Non, jamais, je n’aimerais pas rater Noël ici avec ma famille, et puis il fait un temps de chien en hiver là-bas! » Nous changeons vite de sujet et nous nous souhaitons de joyeuses fêtes, « Merry Christmas », j’ajoute parfois. Mais malgré la maison pleine à craquer de décorations, malgré la présence de mes enfants, malgré toute la joie que la saison m’apporte, je sais que je ressentirai toujours un petit vide le 25 décembre.

So I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.

Silent Night, Drunken Night?

2007-12-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

According to the Daily Telegraph, many British churches will be starting midnight mass on the early side to avoid problems with tipsy worshippers.

Journalist Jonathan Petre reveals that some priests are starting "midnight" mass as early as 6pm out of fear for their parishioners' safety.

"In Newcastle Upon Tyne, the Cathedral of St Mary in the heart of the city’s entertainment district, is holding its Christmas Eve Mass at 8pm because of fears of drunken louts disrupting the service," writes Petre.

Leave it to the Brits to discover the true meaning of Christmas!

Put on Your Dancing Shoes; Stop Wasting Time

2007-12-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Shall we dance, or keep on moping?

Shall we dance and walk on air?

Shall we give in to despair? Or shall we dance with never a care?

Life is short. We're growing older.

Don't you be an also ran.

You've got to dance, little lady. Dance, little man.

Dance whenever you can.

(Extract from "Shall We Dance" by George and Ira Gershwin)

(Photo courtesy of Thierry Jouanneteau)

Click here for more Sunday dances courtesy of Sunday Scribblings.

The Glamorous World of Freelance Writing

2007-12-09T06:02:00.000-08:00

On this cold and dreary Sunday, all I feel like doing is reading and/or floating around the blogosphere.

But I have an educational article due for a publishing company in Taiwan. So I must tackle the fascinating subject of Pulitzer Prize categories, carefully adjusting the vocabulary level to that of a Taiwanese senior high school student.

That's today's glimpse into the glamorous world of freelance writing...

Walking off the Train: The Road Not Taken

2007-12-02T03:59:00.001-08:00

" I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference."

For other Sunday Scribblings posts on the theme of "Walk," click here.

Friday's Feast 1

2007-11-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in a long time. The past weeks have been so work-filled that I can't come up with anything hugely imaginative, but did feel like reviving And So Forth with a post.

What could be better than Friday's Feast to get back on track? I've subscribed to their prompts on Google Reader for weeks, but never seem to get around to looking at them until Saturday.

Appetizer: What is your favorite carnival/amusement park ride?

Huge, old-fashioned carousels.

Soup:How do you react in uncomfortable social situations?

I usually stay in the background, but am capable of intervening directly if I feel the discomfrot stems from somthing really important.

Salad: On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how much do you enjoy discussing deep, philosophical topics?

Three. I got annoyed with "heavy, deep and real" conversations back in high school and haven't gotten over it yet.

Main Course: Did you get a flu shot this year? If not, do you plan to?

No. No. Is this really the main course?

Dessert: Approximately how many hours per week do you spend watching television?

Zero. We don't have a television connection, just a TV set to watch videos and DVDs.

That was fun! See you again one of these days...

So British?

2007-11-21T10:33:00.000-08:00

I just love having access to the British press on Internet.

Between reading the news on the BBC and getting in-depth information from the Guardian, I can also run into pearls like this.

Dylan's Best?

2007-11-18T10:31:00.000-08:00

I have been trying all day to listen straight through Blood on the Tracks without too many interruptions. It's 7:30 PM and I'm practically halfway into "Shelter from the Storm," so I think I'm finally going to make it.

If not, I think I can do without "Buckets of Rain." It's one of the two songs on the album that doesn't do it for me, along with "Meet Me in the Morning."

Those two songs aside, though, I don't think I will ever tire of this album. Sometimes I think it's Bob Dylan's best. And I have to disagree with Jon Landau when he wrote in 1975:

"Blood on the Tracks will only sound like a great album for a while. Like most of Dylan, it is impermanent."

So why does it ring so true 32 years later?

Hilarity from Iowa

2007-11-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

My impression of Iowa just went way up...

Ten Songs That Bring Back Memories (and why...)

2007-11-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

I get notifications for Ten on Tuesday, and it always sounds like a good idea at the time. But putting together a list of ten of anything ends up being quite a challenge.

I might be better at a blogging event called "Four if I frickin' feel like it."

I had to do this subject, though: "Ten Songs That Bring Back Memories (and why...)"

In a somewhat chronological order:

1. I Want to Hold Your Hand: This could be one of my earliest musical memories. Thanks to my mom, I met the Beatles.

2. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondelles: This was the first record I could call my very own. Naturally, I listened to it...over and over...

3. The Flintstones Theme Song: At some point in my early childhood, my parents only had black and white TV. But my grandparents, who lived across town, had COLOR TV! My great folks used to drive my sister and me over there, mid-week, to watch our favorite cartoon, which I loved all the more because it had a character named Betty. For some reason, the show was on in the evening, so we were usually put in our jammies before we left. A memory right out of history...

4. Crocodile Rock: This song was covered a lot by bands at the junior high dances I went to. I have good memories of hopping and bopping to it.

5. Stairway to Heaven: This song was also covered by a lot of bands at the aforementioned junior high dances, usually as the last "slow dance." I have bad memories of lurking on the sidelines while it was playing.

6. Gold Dust Woman by Fleetwood Mac: No comment.

7. It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine) by R.E.M.: When I was a high school debate coach in Olympia, my students introduced me to R.E.M.. Later, the word got out that "It's the End..." was actually about debate tournaments. Were we ever excited! I remember spending hours with my debate students analyzing the lyrics (which we had to transcribe...no Internet, remember?) to try to prove our theory. A debatable theory which is now all over online R.E.M. forums, of course.

8. Life During Wartime by the Talking Heads: My strongest memories of this song postdate its release by many years; I listened to it obsessively during the first weeks of the current Iraq war. "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco..." It sure ain't.

9. Let Down by Radiohead: The first time I heard this song, I listened to it about twenty times straight. A chemical reaction, I guess.

10: Unchained Melody: Undefined memories.

Sunday Morning Grace

2007-11-11T01:24:00.001-08:00

Just because I want this song on my blog. No other reason.

Temperature change: a burning issue?

2007-11-02T01:19:00.000-07:00

First, I'm going to play Miss Smarty-pants and point out that I speak both Celsius and Fahrenheit, although I'm not absolutely sure I'm spelling them right.

Apparently some Americans, however, are quite worked up about certain US weather reports' including Celsius temperatures.

Maybe they have a point...which, by the way, would be a comma if a malevolent world government forced everybody to read temperatures in French.

This could be a slippery slope situation. First Celsius, then kilometers, then kilometres...where would it end?

Holding our silverware European-style, being required to learn a foreign language, having a decent health care system?

Some changes just scream out "danger."

(Photo extracted from a site that looked like it was called Physical Science , and as such was definitely not going to be bookmarked by this blogger!

But it turns out that "Physical Science" is part of Learner.org, a pretty spiffy-looking site for teachers. Just what I need! Another bookmark!)

Coming soon...

2007-10-28T02:58:00.000-07:00

What could be better than a musical -- given the subject matter, I won't say "musical comedy" -- starring Johnny Depp? These are truly a few of my favorite things...