Talked to the Frenchie today - he tells me to not worry, that the problems are limited to a small area, and especially, to take the police reports with a very large grain of salt.

Most of the news and commentary I've been seeing in the States has been panicky second French intifadah sort of stuff. Easy enough reaction, I guess, if you're not familiar with how things work over there (I'm not enough, the Frenchie is too much). However, there's a heck of a lot more going on than what's being allowed out to the press there and what's being filtered through here. I have a funny feeling that, like November 2005, a clear picture of what happened to precipitate the latest round of civil unrest will not be coming anytime soon (if ever).

I just hope it ends soon and that as few people are hurt as possible.

"The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing and in unstringing my instrument.
The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set; only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.
The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by.
I have not seen his face, nor have I listened to his voice; only I have heard his gentle footsteps from the road before my house.
The livelong day has passed in spreading his seat on the floor; but the lamp has not been lit and I cannot ask him into my house.
I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet."

Saw this bit of grafitti during one of my rambles around the neighborhood. What a lucky girl to have such a beautiful name.

Yeah, right. This never crossed your mind. I'm sure you never daydreamed about hollering "You sunk my battleship!" during the moment of silence after Communion, either.

Back Again.



Overstuffed turkey Be inflicting the dreaded Genie Dance on overstuffed turkey Antonio...what kitties will submit to for love.

The drive to NJ wasn't bad, though we did hit huge patches of fog the likes of which I've only seen Downeast. Dinner was the traditional one for thirteen, to which I contributed a pecan pie and a pumpkin-raisin-walnut bread. (The pumpkin was this year's jack o lantern. The walnuts came courtesy of a tree in Powderhouse park.) The weather was about as nice as it could get this time of year, so we got some good walks in, as well as the NJ Black Friday Mall Experience.

Saturday saw us at the Princeton Art Gallery, home of a happy Pasta Eater, a black Madonna, about the gayest St. Sebastian I've seen to date and yet another riff on the St. Francis Stigmata theme.

In all, a great weekend. More later, as I've got some other writing to do.

Taking Flight.



A Heron at La Bagatelle. Hidden behind a waterfall in a small grotto, we witnessed a great blue heron land, then graze. The Frenchie tells me that he's never seen a heron in the city, much less at such close range (at about 10 yards from us). How ironic that, after several years of not visiting this garden, my friend finds himself passing through several times in the past week due to the train strikes.

I apologize for my irregular posting; it's certainly not due to a lack of interesting happenings in my life. (Far from it!)

The bulk of my time at the moment is taken up with trying to get myself through a very writing-intensive course unscathed. The rest is tied up in work and doctors' appointments.

Anyway, for Thanksgiving, I'm actually staying on this side of the Atlantic, although not in New England. As was the case last year, I'm heading out to adoptive family in the Garden State. Mamasan's coming along with me, as he's been under the weather and I'm a bit worried about him. Something tells me that this might be my last holiday with him. We'll see.

Hopefully when I get back, I'll have a bit more time to spend in the smaller pursuits. So much has been going on (*so much!*) and I really feel the need to talk about it.

Back again

from a short trip across the Atlantic.



Paris as seen from the train station at Puteaux

My feelings about France will always be ambivalent. The time I spent there in school was pretty intense, and I did get to see the worst of both the government bureaucracy and the medical system. On the other hand, I learned that intrinsically French weirdness syncs well with American (or at least my own) weirdness.

Between the extortionate and ever-rising cost of living, problems with immigration, the EU constitution, and the shenanigans of the current administration, there's a lot to worry about. Being more of a provincial person, I'm not sure that I even like how much time I've been spending in and around the capital, either. However, after years of denying myself, I have to accept that I'm drawn to the place. Don't what causes this. I only know that my vibration, though not in unison with the place's, harmonizes well.

Returning to Boston was really tough this time around.

Business as usual.

The bureaucracy here is running like I try to during recurring nightmares of being chased through thigh-deep mud.

I was kind of hoping that things would be different today as I have a deadline to make and a flight to catch.

Words to note: "Un dialogue est engagé*"

Though I'm not really a betting kind of girl, I get the feeling that I should be putting money on the prospect of Chad's receiving some nifty new toys in the near future.

***

*Dialogue has been established.

Gotta Love Those Quaint Multicultural Traditions.

“Cari Luna is Jewish by heritage and Buddhist by religion. She meditates regularly. Yet when she and her husband put their Brooklyn, N.Y., house on the market this year and offers kept falling through, Ms. Luna turned to an unlikely source for help: St. Joseph.”

---

“Yet most home sellers favor the simpler three- or four- inch replicas -- most of which are made in China and often depict St. Joseph as a carpenter.”

Sounds like it was one Jewish Buddhist helping another.

-Pablo.

***

Actually, that's how my mom sold the house I grew up in. She buried a St. Joseph in the front yard under the magnolia tree. Apparently, the next viewers made an offer.

Surfacing to Breathe.

Got the brain chemistry thing settled (for now), got some good news on another (female) front.

Am now dealing with a writing-intesive course to get back into the swing of things (part of moving forward the life plan, will talk about that later), as well as a number of production deadlines at work.

Allergies! Good Lord, have they hit!

All in all, though, life's not too bad. There just doesn't seem to be enough of me to go around.