The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

And the survey says...

I need your help. I am working on a special project and need to hear from Bold Soul readers who are "still single" and over 40, or approaching 40 within the next few years (the 35 and older crowd). Whether you are male or female, straight or gay, have children or don't have them, it doesn't matter... as long as you meet the criteria of "single" (meaning never married, married but separated from your spouse, divorced or widowed) and you meet the age criteria, I want to hear from you. You can take the survey anonymously or provide me with your name and email address if you are open to discussing your responses further. I absolutely guarantee NOT to give anyone else your contact information or the details of your responses. I can't share all the details of my special project right now, but suffice to say I am working on something that -- if it works out -- will provide us single over-40s with some much-needed support. Your timely participation in this quick survey (only 11 questions) will help me build my case. So please -- if you're single and 40-ish, take the survey right now. And if you're... Read more →

Eee-Eye-Eee-Eye Oh

First seeds a-sprouting. Tiny lettuce growing in our tiny veggie garden... someday soon it will become a mesclun salad, topped by the tomatoes growing nearby. Read more →

Rocking the Rock at 7

How completely awesome and awe-inspiring is this kid -- at 7 years old he is now the youngest person ever to swim from Alcatraz across San Francisco bay, a distance of 1.4 miles of the choppiest rip-tides known to long-distance swimming. The closest I would ever come to this is the San Francisco Triathalon JACKET I bought while visiting San Francisco about a decade ago. It's a cool jacket... but anyone who knows me knows I am as likely to ever do a triatholon as I am to become the President of the United States. Ain't never gonna happen. Congrats to young Braxton Bilbrey for making his bold dream come true! You totally rocked The Rock! Read more →

Code, schmode -- it's good entertainment

As promised, I did go to see The DaVinci Code this weekend. Without giving it all away, here's my review, in case you have been on the fence about seeing it. (And by the way, it's safe to read all of this post - I am not giving away much so it won't spoil the suspense.) First of all, the so-called professional film critics were a bit hard on the movie... I suspect a number of them were not as unbiased about the religious controversy as they'd like us all to think, and some of them may have had an ax to grind with the storyline. Because really, can Ron Howard and Tom Hanks make a BAD movie? I don't think so. Plus I don't really trust those professional film critics anyway -- I'm convinced they're puffed up by their own egos so that when they give a review, they care more about how clever they sound than about tapping into the energy of the film itself. And they don't necessarily share the same perspective as the masses anyway (as evidenced by the financial success of the film's opening weekend world-wide). So I went into it prepared to like the... Read more →

Sisterhood

Last night, while celebrating my recent birthday at a casual family dinner (Mom made stuffed shells!) before we all went out to see The DaVinci Code, I opened my cards and gifts... and got a wish granted that I hadn't realized I was wishing for. I have one sister and no brothers. My sister and I are close... in age; we're less than two years apart. We're also geographically close to one another and we certainly get along well, but for a long time I have realized that we're not really that close in other ways... or at least, not as close as I would have wished we could be. In fact I have friends I'm closer to on an emotional level. And for whatever reason, we literally never spend time alone together doing anything fun. Either we're doing something with other family members or we sort of see each other "in passing", like if I'm giving her daughter a ride home from some after-school thing or one of us is dropping something off at the other one's house. First of all, my sister and I are almost complete opposites. I'm the "big" sister and she's the "little" sister, and... Read more →

Scribblings: Three Wishes

Coming on the heels of my 45th birthday, the Sunday Scribblings prompt for Three Wishes seems serendipitous. The first wish came to me without hesitation: I wish I were living in Paris already, right this minute. I'm tired of thinking about it and longing for it and talking about it and wishing for it, so my wish is that it just IS in the here and now, rather than something I want to do "someday soon". Then, knowing I only had two wishes left (and that we're not allowed to wish for more wishes) I found myself debating about it. Should I wish to be thin? To get a 6-figure book deal and be a famous writer? For world peace and no more hungry, suffering children? Should I wish for good health for me and my loved ones? Can my wishes be entirely selfish, or shouldn't I be wishing for something big for someone else who really needs it - like for some peace of mind for my best friend who has had a really rough year? I realized I had the proverbial angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other. The annoying cherubic angel is urging... Read more →

I don't look a day over 40

This is me, five years ago, the day after my 40th birthday, in front of a pristinely clean and (for once) scaffold-free Notre Dame. She never looked better. (I, on the other hand, look quite the American tourist, n'est-ce pas?) I look pretty good for being 40 + 1 day. And being jet lagged. And having had my wallet stolen. Of course, I was in my own personal "happiest place on Earth" and it was a gorgeous day, what's not to be happy about? Read more →

At the mid-point

Oh, lordy. It's official. As of the very moment this is being posted -- I turned 45 years old. On May 19th, 1961, at 2:50am Eastern Time, I came into the world. It was a Friday then, also. I almost can't get my mind around it. 45. Forty-five? Quarante-cinq! Zut! When did THAT happen? It can't be possible. Assuming I could easily live to age 90, this means I am at the mid-point of my life. The pinnacle. The summit. Metaphorically speaking, it's all downhill from here. And I can't help thinking: "Is this all there is? Is this really the top? Because I bloody well still feel like I'm CLIMBING, and with great effort. I'm no where near the top of the hill, much less OVER it!" When I was in my "youth" (which to me is every year before 40) I thought 45 was such a long way off. I had ideas about what it meant to be in one's mid-40's, that it meant you were really mature (although not "old") and settled down. Everyone I knew who was in their 40's was married or divorced and all of them had children. They were settled into their careers,... Read more →

Lightbulb Moment (or, How a criminal taught me to see the light)

Five years ago today, I was in Paris to celebrate my 40th birthday (which is tomorrow). It was a good trip -- but nothing like what I expected it to be. See, you can plan and plan and plan for something, but sometimes the Universe has plans of its own. I was about to get a very powerful reminder of that. [Warning: long post alert. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables and seat backs in the upright and locked position.] Turning 40 in Paris was something I had promised myself I would do, as far back as I can remember, so actually keeping that promise felt like a real accomplishment. My first trip to Paris, three years earlier, was such a joy -- everything I expected and more -- that I couldn't wait to go back. I had a picture in my head of what that 40th birthday trip would be like. It was my second time in Paris and I felt like I knew my way around a little bit. I spoke enough of the language to get by pretty well. I brought my mom along -- she had been to Paris a few years earlier... Read more →

Five things...

Uh-oh, I've been "tagged" by Paris Parfait; check the names at the end to see if you're one of the "it" people! Five items in my fridge: Skim milk Tuna salad Orange juice Iced green tea (sugar free) Cold cuts Five items in my closet: Red Liz Claiborne kid leather ankle boots Terracotta blazer Green hoodie Fireproof box of important papers An endless supply of black pants and chemises Five items in my car: A small, red, stuffed crab, souvenir from road trip to Annapolis, Maryland (crab country!) Maps Spare change for tolls Selection of CDs (I think the soundtrack to "Chicago" is in the CD player) Dust on the dashboard Five items in my purse: Cell phone Pink wallet Lipstick Breath spray or mints Advil Five people who are "it" now: Maria @ BelieveStreet Greg, Displaced Kiwi (instead of "purse", perhaps tell us what's in your wallet?) La Page Française Mrs. B Vivi Read more →