so angry

I can't see straight - so much for Current Employer being nicer than expected about my resignation - that was too much of a good thing to last long ! Just goes to show my initial apprehension about resigning was justified...

This week I've realized just how much I've been dicked around on the subject of my departure date since the beginning and the situation is really deteriorating.

The most tempting option for me now is to be such a smart ass bitch that current boss blows a gasket and tells me to leave before he kicks me out.

Unfortunately he might also decide to wait me out and push back my departure even further. Which would not be good, and especially so for Future Employer who is waiting for me start with them as soon as possible.

Not much anyone can do about it (unless there are any specialists in French labor law out there who can give some advice, pro bono ? Or better yet, really important captain of industry bigwig types who can make a phone call or two to put pressure on Current Employer ? No ? Didn't think so !) but it feels good to get a little rant out in writing.

What I know about football

Team A and Team B both try to kick the ball into each other’s goal. Every time the ball goes in, one point is scored. The team with the most points after 90 minutes of playing, wins.

The End.

I don’t know what the offside rule is all about, even though I once read an explanation involving shoe shopping, a forgotten purse, and someone throwing her wallet over the crowd of shoppers so that her friend didn’t have to give up her place in the queue at the till. This makes no sense to me whatsoever as I prefer to shop alone and would never set foot in a shoe store without my wallet.

I don’t know what corners are all about, nor do I know what coup franc or surface de reparation are. I don’t even know what they are in English, let alone what they actually mean. Whereas a corner is un corner in French, so at least that’s nice and easy.

I do know that many footballs players, as soon as they are bumped into by a member of the opposing team, tend to fall down and writhe around on the ground in mock agony, pulling dreadful faces. Sort of like me when I get a papercut or break a nail. This is why I can safely say they are attention seeking drama queens – no offense guys, but it takes one to know one.

So why have I been watching the World Cup matches ?

Because it’s fun to watch good looking men in shorts run around, getting all sweaty. Yes, Freddie “Get your kit off” Ljundberg is but the tip of the hottie iceberg, so to speak.

Because S wants to, and I like hanging out with him in bars, smoking and drinking beer. The football is incidental.

And last but not least, because France. July 1998. That is all.

Having been here and lived through that, even the most die hard bah humbug anti-football could not care less about sports in general person cannot help but get at least a little bit excited at the thought of the World Cup.

Allez les Bleus !

Just found out today

...that not one but two of my favorite novels, Love in the Time of Cholera and Belle du Seigneur, are being adapted to the screen.

As much as I love films, I am more dubious than excited about this... Javier Bardem in Love, I can see. But Olivier Martinez as Solal ? He has the looks but not the substance. Oh dear oh dear. Je crains le pire...

Ha !

Just as I was googling for photos of hottie Freddie Ljungberg in various states of undress (thank you, Calvin Klein) he scored and won the game for Sweden !

Today...

June 14th, I saw something horrifying.

We have had no more than 10 - OK, maybe 12 - days of lovely summer weather so far, after a crappy cold spring, and today I walked past a store window featuring the new fall / winter collection. The Marina Rinaldi store on avenue Victor Hugo, if anyone is interested.

Looks like dark jewel tone colors and jeans tucked into knee-high boots are coming back in the fall. Maybe *yawn*, maybe fair enough, it's a good look.

But today is June 14th, fashion merchandizing people. Summer has barely begun. And, more to the point, the summer collections don't even go on sale yet for another good three weeks. Give us a break. We are not ready for fall. I am not ready.

It’s true what they say

…about women dressing up for other women, and not for men.

I’ve never worried much about what to wear on a date, and S certainly couldn’t care less –he’s thoughtful enough to pay compliments when I look nice, but he wouldn’t mind if I spent all my time in ratty T-shirts and sweatpants.

But the delightful Mademoiselle Julia – beautiful, sophisticated, girl crush extraordinaire - will be in town at the end of the month and I am already thinking about what to wear when we meet.

It’s the little things

...that make me happy after a long day at the office.

I actually gasped out loud with joy at the sight of Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Chunk cookies at my local supermarket. They are one of my staple purchases whenever I am in the US (others being Celestial Seasonings herbal teas and – don’t laugh – Rice a Roni – yes, yes, I know…) and were, up to now, unavailable in France.

To be honest, the cookies were not quite as good as in my memories. Perhaps it was never the cookies that were that great, but the fact that I was on vacation, seeing friends, and for a few days at least, being American me instead of French me.

But they were still pretty good.