The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Visitor Snapshot, August '05

Having recently upgraded my Sitemeter service level, I've been able to discover even more about what search keywords people use to get here to the blog. Some of the funnier or more bizaare ones this week were: zoftig back pain (Brooklyn, NY) "clothing size" "catherine zeta-jones" (Fremont, OH) cocoon babysit (Netherlands) I was also interested to see a list of some of the places around the world where you - The Bold Soul visitors - are located: London, U.K. Prospect, South Australia Bowness, Alberta, Canada Haifa, Israel Bourg-la-Reine, France Santo Domingo, Domican Republic Yantabulla, New South Wales, Australia Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Wherever you are in the world, if you're taking a few minutes out of your busy day to visit with me, I welcome you, thank you, and hope you'll tune in regularly. Read more →

Prayers for The Big Easy

Things are not so easy tonight in The Big Easy. New Orleans is facing a hurricane that is already being billed as a "catastrophic event". Hurricane Katrina is set to wreak devastation on the Gulf Coast of the United States as a category 5 storm - the worst possible scenario. If you've been watching the news for the past 2 days, you've learned, as I have, that New Orleans is several feet below sea level, in a "bowl" wedged in between the Mississippi River and Lake Ponchetrain, with levees holding back the water on both sides. It is predicted the storm surge will cause the waters to breech the levees, flooding possibly the entire city under 10-20 FEET of water or more. The major of the city is predicting a total failure of the power grid, and no sewage services or clean water from city systems for a period of weeks, if not months, after the storm. It is not "hype" to say that this storm could wipe out New Orleans as we know it. Even if the storm weakens to a category 4, there is no way the city is not going to flood. I've never been to New... Read more →

Cried us a river

Today, my nephew, Steve, has gone off to college for the first time. He's going to Bloomsburg U in Pennsylvania - same school his mother (my sister) went to. I have known for a long time that I was going to get emotional when I said goodbye to him, because it goes with the territory of wearing the "emotional one" label in my family, and long ago I stopped fighting it or judging myself harshly for it. I think it's a mark of inner strength when we're not afraid to show genuine emotion -- like having someone you love go away to start a new whole life. I'm proud of him, and excited for him - he has the whole world ahead of him, new things to learn, new friends to meet. I'm also afraid for him and what lies ahead because now he's "out there" more or less on his own, and I know he's got to deal with it himself, and it won't always be easy -- and he has that lesson to learn, among others. He's had a blessed childhood and a very easy life so far - no major childhood traumas or emotional scars (unlike, for... Read more →

Googlizing

As an experiment, I checked out what sort of search engine keywords people have recently entered into Google that led to this blog, and where the visitor was from: Always look on the bright side of life (Monty Python fans from New Zealand and Belgium) Jonathan Zarate (surprised to learn that someone in Australia heard about the local murder and dismemberment of Jennifer Parks; also noticed several U.S. based searches on the same case that led to my blog. And here I thought the story wasn't getting media coverage other than local...) Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare lover in Johannesburg, South Africa) soul furniture finland (someone in Ireland - I came up 20th with these keywords, which I find quite odd) soul postcards (from the U.K. - what a lovely thought, getting a postcard from someone's soul) gift etiquette neighbor babysit (El Cajon, CA. I didn't realize I was an authority on the right way to gift a babysitting neighbor) oprah compulsive liars (Salt Lake City - can Mormons be compulsive liars? Just wondering... someone write in and let me know.) France killer rabbit (Colorado Springs - since the killer rabbit was a Brit thing, why was this person looking... Read more →

Putting up Fences: A Drop in the Bucket

Two days in the life of a rather deluded woman who thought she was going to get a few much-needed days of peace, quiet and relaxation. My mother, with whom I am living until I am ready to move to France next year, is off for a few days in A.C. (Atlantic City for you non-Jerseyans) with her friends from her nursing school days -- and may I just say how cool I think it is that these women have maintained a friendship for over 50 years -- and I thought, "Great! I will have the house to myself for three whole days." This is a rare treat: I have not been alone at home for more than 8 hours since I moved back here last November. Clearly, I was mistaken about the peace, quiet, and relaxation. I have had everything BUT. First thing yesterday (Monday), my mother informed me that the fencing contractor decided he was starting work THAT DAY on her new backyard fence project. Fortunately the contractor showed up before Mom left for A.C. so she could deal with him directly. After all, it's not MY house. An hour after my mom left, I was in the... Read more →

How to babysit when you have no kids of your own

I am just back from spending nearly 24 hours in the company of my best friend and her family, because they needed someone to babysit all day today. My friend, Wendy, is a nurse and had to work today; her husband, Steve, took their oldest daughter Brittany and a friend (both age 12) to an all day, outdoor multi-band rock concert called The Warp Tour, or something to that effect. I was called into service to stay with the three (yes, 3) younger siblings, Tyler (10), Andrew (7) and Kendal (nearly 5). I am exhausted. Let me just state for the record that as babysitting situations go, I've got it pretty easy whenever I am asked to stay with these children. I have known them since before they were born, they call me "Aunt Lisa" and I call them my honorary nieces and nephews; none of them are in diapers any more; they are easy to manage and very cooperative, and I rarely get an argument or a hard time from any of them. So believe me, as someone with years of various babysitting gigs under my belt since I was 12, I know it could be a lot worse.... Read more →

Hummer stakeout

If you thought this was going to be a story about how I went on a police stakeout driving a Hummer and eating donuts and coffee... you're going to be disappointed. Check out my first photo shoot with my new Nikon D70 digital SLR camera (which I LOVE, although it has more gadgets than the space shuttle). These are the hummingbirds who visit our feeder daily. View the entire collection HERE. Read more →

Always look on the bright side of life

There's a very good reason Monty Python's Spamalot is the hottest ticket on Broadway and that it won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical. OK, so Eric Idle, one of the original magnificent seven Monty Python comic actors, wrote the book and lyrics. And John Cleese, my favorite Python, even lent the show his voice as the voice of God (a recording, I'm sure, but it felt like he was giving the show his blessing - apropos, since he was God, after all). And the cast includes David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") and Tim Curry ("Rocky Horror") and a lot of other funny and talented actors, singers and dancers. And the sets and effects were 100% pure Python - including the cartoon hands and feet and clouds. But that's not why the show is a hit. The show won all those Tonys because you quite literally can laugh your ass off while watching it (I'm quite sure I left part of mine in the theatre), and who wouldn't love a show where you can lose part of your ass? Seriously, folks, it is just so freakin' funny. I hear it is now impossible to get tickets until some time into 2006... Read more →

Search for the Holy Grail

Tomorrow night I am going to have SUCH fun... my nephew and I have tickets to see "Monty Python's Spamalot", the hottest ticket on Broadway! I will post a full report as soon as I can on Wednesday... I'm a Monty Python fan since my high school days and it's so cool that I can have this show as an opportunity to do one last fun thing with my nephew, who is 18 and off to college in two weeks. After this, those opportunities will be rare -- he'll be out living his life and won't have the time or interest to hang out with his Aunt Lisa. And if you've never seen Monty Python and The Holy Grail or any of the other Monty Python skits (from their original British TV show)- where the hell have you been? Rent them and join in the silly fun! Life is too short not to laugh at the utterly absurd. Read more →

Defending yourself in coach class

Travelers who fly coach (like me) have increasing indignities to deal with on the airlines these days. From having to bring your own meal because the airlines aren't serving them anymore, to having to deal with your fellow passengers and all of their idiosyncrasies, air flight is necessary but practically unbearable anymore - at least domestically (you usually fare better, even in coach class, when you fly internationally on most airlines.) One of my pet peeves has always been that the seats in coach recline TOO much. In a cabin where the airlines are trying to pack in as many warm, sweaty bodies as possible to break even, you'd think they would restrict the reclining features on the seats to make things more comfortable for everyone - and that means some people won't be able to recline as much as they would like. Because you're not traveling in a vacuum - there ARE other people on board and they have rights, too. If you are stuck behind some inconsiderate slob (usually a man) who wants to recline his seatback all the way during the entire flight, you are literally trapped. You can't use your tray table comfortably. You can't get... Read more →