Good - a 3-day weekend spent visiting dear friends whom I hadn't seen in far too long. Actually, scratch good and make that fabulous.
Bad - a dreadful sore throat, and generally feeling phlegmy and achey and tired. Silver lining: drinking loads of grog this evening in an effort to nip it in the bud.
Ugly - a deadline looming at work, a big project that needs to be wrapped up by June 28th. Wouldn't be too bad except that my boss is a first-class procrastinator (trust me, it takes one to know one) and therefore nothing is at the stage where it should be by now.
Tuesday, May 29
Friday, May 25
The joys
... of living with a smart-ass.
S, coming back from the supermarket:
- I got asparagus soup, the other choices were tomahto and mushroom.
- Oh good, cause I don't like tomayto soup.
S, completely deadpan:
- This was tomahto.
S, coming back from the supermarket:
- I got asparagus soup, the other choices were tomahto and mushroom.
- Oh good, cause I don't like tomayto soup.
S, completely deadpan:
- This was tomahto.
Wednesday, May 23
Playing tag
...as per the lovely JB.
Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.
1. Just about the only place in the world I'm not particularly interested in travelling to is sub-saharan Africa, and I don't like admitting it because I'm afraid that makes me seem racist. Is that silly?
2. I'm over loving my (not so) new job. In fact, I'm over working. Considering how many years I have left before retirement, and the unlikelyhood of winning the lottery, or marrying rich, this may be problem.
3. One of my plants died today; or rather, I decided today it was beyond saving. OK, so it's only a plant and not a pet, but it still feels sad. And the spot where it lived seems so empty.
4. I'm torn between yearning for minimalism and being a pack-rat at heart.
5. S just got tickets to go see Pirates 3 later on tonight and I'm absurdly excited.
6. I'm intrigued by sitemeters, but think that if no one reads my stuff I'd rather not know!
7. One of my co-workers gave a great big "awwwwww", looking at something behind me in a restaurant, and I turned around, honestly expecting to see a great dog face. But it was a baby. Go figure...
I tag Cookie, Machiruda, Y, Iggy, Pickychick, Kimono Hime, and Livingin Oz.
Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blog seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.
1. Just about the only place in the world I'm not particularly interested in travelling to is sub-saharan Africa, and I don't like admitting it because I'm afraid that makes me seem racist. Is that silly?
2. I'm over loving my (not so) new job. In fact, I'm over working. Considering how many years I have left before retirement, and the unlikelyhood of winning the lottery, or marrying rich, this may be problem.
3. One of my plants died today; or rather, I decided today it was beyond saving. OK, so it's only a plant and not a pet, but it still feels sad. And the spot where it lived seems so empty.
4. I'm torn between yearning for minimalism and being a pack-rat at heart.
5. S just got tickets to go see Pirates 3 later on tonight and I'm absurdly excited.
6. I'm intrigued by sitemeters, but think that if no one reads my stuff I'd rather not know!
7. One of my co-workers gave a great big "awwwwww", looking at something behind me in a restaurant, and I turned around, honestly expecting to see a great dog face. But it was a baby. Go figure...
I tag Cookie, Machiruda, Y, Iggy, Pickychick, Kimono Hime, and Livingin Oz.
Tuesday, May 22
Wednesday, May 16
Tuesday, May 15
Wish list - part 1 of a series
Of course what I would really like is a Nikon reflex, but then I would want to faff around with different lenses and the next thing you know, woosh, I'd be in debt. So this little Panasonic bridge would do me just fine, thanks.
Saturday, May 12
Miss Bluebell, Margaret Kelly-Leibovici
"Her life was the subject of a BBC miniseries, ''Bluebell,'' in 1986, but Miss Kelly complained that the film's eight hours could scarcely begin to tell her story. She was abandoned as an infant; grew up poor; danced her way across the cabaret stages of Europe as a teenager; worked with Maurice Chevalier, Josephine Baker and Edith Piaf; was interned during World War II; saved her husband from the Nazis; raised four children; could still dance the cancan in her 60's; smoked a pack of cigarettes every day of her adult life; and was awarded the French Legion of Honor and the Order of the British Empire."
From obit by Margalit Fox, NY Times, found on the web here. Photo of her grave in Montmartre cemetery.
Rue Caulaincourt
Part of the "vide grenier" on rue Caulaincourt, but such a quirky image on its own.
Vide grenier means "empty attic". I guess elsewhere it would be called a garage sale, but I like the idea of having an attic full of junk that I would half-heartedly try to get rid of once a year or so, on a sunny day, using the event as an excuse to sit out on the sidewalk and watch the world go by.
Wednesday, May 9
Shamelessly pinched
... from Jo and Machiruda.
1. PICK OUT A SCAR YOU HAVE, AND EXPLAIN HOW YOU GOT IT.
Scars upon scars on my knees. Used to run around and fall over a lot as a kid. Don't anymore.
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Hmm. Bedroom, a painting by my mother. Living room, a painting I bought in St Paul de Vence and 2 black and white photos by an old flat-mate/friend who I've since lost touch with.
3. WHAT DOES YOUR PHONE LOOK LIKE.
Mobile is black. Landline is grey.
4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
At the moment ? All the Roadrunning, the live album, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Over and over and over. A few old Tom Waits albums (early Waits, not the later stuff). Over and over and over. The soundtrack to Elizabethtown. Over and over and over. Yes, I get a bit obsessive. Oh, and whatever S choses to put on the stereo, but it doesn't really register with me. It's all what I call young people's music, except that it was young people's music back in the early nineties, but I didn't even listen to it back then when I was a young person.
5. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT DESKTOP PICTURE?
A Picasa collage of photos of S and I. Say awwwwww. Or feel free to puke !
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
Knowing what I want to do when I grow up. And having it be an attainable goal.
7. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GAY MARRIAGE?
I believe in equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation. So yeah.
8. WHAT TIME WERE YOU BORN?
Uh. Dunno.
9. ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL TOGETHER?
My father's dead. They were until then. Not 100% sure they still would be today if he hadn't died, but who knows.
10. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Soundtrack to Elizabethtown. Ha. See above.
11. DO YOU GET SCARED OF THE DARK?
I don't like the dark and never close shutters / pull curtains all the way.
12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
Probably some film director, I'm a great cinema weeper. A real person ? My grandmother, seeing her weak and helpless and not recognizing her own family. (She's doing a bit better now, though, yay !)
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME?
Depends on a lot of things. Mood. Season. Time of day.
Fracas is my favorite sexy scent. Un Jardin en Méditerrannée is great for a summer day, as is Eau de Campagne. Féminité du Bois is warm and spicy, good for winter. So is Clair de Musc and most Lutens scents. If I had to pick only one, probably Narciso Rodriguez for her - a good all-rounder. Honey and orange blossom, but with a light musky base so it's not too sweet or flowery.
14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOUR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Not bothered.
15. DO YOU LIKE PAIN KILLERS?
No. I've taken them when necessary, but that's all. They helped with pain but didn't make me high or anything. Which is probably a good thing.
16. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Yes.
17. FAVE PIZZA TOPPING?
Mmmm pizza... Pancetta. Anchovies. Capers. I'll eat pizza with anything except pineapple, really.
18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Sushi.
19. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU MADE MAD?
My boss. And Nicolas Sarkozy. (Not mad enough to burn any cars though. Don't look at me, I didn't do it.)
Ha - just realized, after reading Dragon Girl's post, that I totally misunderstood this question and replied the wrong way around... that assumption probably says something about me - "moi, make someone mad ? impossible!"
Anyway, after last weekend, the answer would probably be my mother - whichever way around the question is !
20. IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU?
Yes.
1. PICK OUT A SCAR YOU HAVE, AND EXPLAIN HOW YOU GOT IT.
Scars upon scars on my knees. Used to run around and fall over a lot as a kid. Don't anymore.
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
Hmm. Bedroom, a painting by my mother. Living room, a painting I bought in St Paul de Vence and 2 black and white photos by an old flat-mate/friend who I've since lost touch with.
3. WHAT DOES YOUR PHONE LOOK LIKE.
Mobile is black. Landline is grey.
4. WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
At the moment ? All the Roadrunning, the live album, Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris. Over and over and over. A few old Tom Waits albums (early Waits, not the later stuff). Over and over and over. The soundtrack to Elizabethtown. Over and over and over. Yes, I get a bit obsessive. Oh, and whatever S choses to put on the stereo, but it doesn't really register with me. It's all what I call young people's music, except that it was young people's music back in the early nineties, but I didn't even listen to it back then when I was a young person.
5. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT DESKTOP PICTURE?
A Picasa collage of photos of S and I. Say awwwwww. Or feel free to puke !
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
Knowing what I want to do when I grow up. And having it be an attainable goal.
7. DO YOU BELIEVE IN GAY MARRIAGE?
I believe in equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation. So yeah.
8. WHAT TIME WERE YOU BORN?
Uh. Dunno.
9. ARE YOUR PARENTS STILL TOGETHER?
My father's dead. They were until then. Not 100% sure they still would be today if he hadn't died, but who knows.
10. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
Soundtrack to Elizabethtown. Ha. See above.
11. DO YOU GET SCARED OF THE DARK?
I don't like the dark and never close shutters / pull curtains all the way.
12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
Probably some film director, I'm a great cinema weeper. A real person ? My grandmother, seeing her weak and helpless and not recognizing her own family. (She's doing a bit better now, though, yay !)
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME?
Depends on a lot of things. Mood. Season. Time of day.
Fracas is my favorite sexy scent. Un Jardin en Méditerrannée is great for a summer day, as is Eau de Campagne. Féminité du Bois is warm and spicy, good for winter. So is Clair de Musc and most Lutens scents. If I had to pick only one, probably Narciso Rodriguez for her - a good all-rounder. Honey and orange blossom, but with a light musky base so it's not too sweet or flowery.
14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOUR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Not bothered.
15. DO YOU LIKE PAIN KILLERS?
No. I've taken them when necessary, but that's all. They helped with pain but didn't make me high or anything. Which is probably a good thing.
16. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT?
Yes.
17. FAVE PIZZA TOPPING?
Mmmm pizza... Pancetta. Anchovies. Capers. I'll eat pizza with anything except pineapple, really.
18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Sushi.
19. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU MADE MAD?
My boss. And Nicolas Sarkozy. (Not mad enough to burn any cars though. Don't look at me, I didn't do it.)
Ha - just realized, after reading Dragon Girl's post, that I totally misunderstood this question and replied the wrong way around... that assumption probably says something about me - "moi, make someone mad ? impossible!"
Anyway, after last weekend, the answer would probably be my mother - whichever way around the question is !
20. IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU?
Yes.
Saturday, May 5
In celebration of
...International Jedi Day, which was yesterday ("May the Fourth be with you!"), I took the Ultimate Star Wars Personality Test. Apparently, I am Queen Amidala.
Who are you ? *
*warning - link is not work safe as Star Wars theme plays when the window opens !
Who are you ? *
*warning - link is not work safe as Star Wars theme plays when the window opens !
Tuesday, May 1
There are 600000
Amsterdam B&B
We arrive in Amsterdam and head straight for the B & B to drop off our bags before heading back into the center of town. The place is lovely, as you can see - here is a shot of the bedroom, and one of the balcony. The whole place is well-appointed and cozy. The landlady runs a tight ship - if we had been looking for a party hostel this would obviously not be the right place to stay, but it suits us perfectly.I wasn't wide awake enough in the mornings to think of taking a photo of the breakfasts we were served in the room, but it was really good, and substantial - eggs, ham or bacon, yogurt, cheese, different kinds of breads, croissants, fresh fruit (strawberries one day, mango the next), freshly squeezed orange juice, and of course coffee and tea. All this for 75 € a night - excellent value, I think !
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