The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Packing (it in)

I'm six days away from flying back to Paris and I'm feeling anything but prepared. Being sick all of last week meant that I got no client work done and no shopping for supplies. I didn't paint my room at my mom's the way I intended. I haven't once gone for a walk. There are friends I didn't get the chance to see. This week, I've been playing catch-up. The new owners of my car are coming tomorrow night to take it away and I'll be without transportation, so I'm packing in as much as I can before I have to ask, "Hey, Mom, can I borrow the car?" -- something I haven't had to do since I was 17. I'm visiting friends, running errands, and shopping shopping shopping for things I want to bring back with me. Then I need to start packing, both the things I'm bringing on the plane, the things I'm shipping, and an extra suitcase to give to my best friend so she can bring it with her in early February when she comes over to visit for 10 days (something we are both very excited about and for which her loving husband deserves SAINTHOOD... Read more →

There's no place like home

Just realized I never linked up last week's Bonjour Paris post, There's no place like home. With the holidays just behind us, many of us (myself included) made a trip back home to be with our loved ones. Most of us think of home as the place where we grew up (our “home town”), or the house we grew up in, or wherever our parents live. But for those who live abroad, the concept of “home” takes on a whole new meaning. There are two kinds of expatriates: the temporary kind, and the permanent kind. The “temps” are those who go abroad for their jobs, or to spend a year or two having the experience of living in a place they’ve dreamed of for years. For the temp ex-pat, there is no question in their minds that after their job is over, or after they’ve “gotten it out of their systems”, they will return home again—happy to have had the experience but glad to get back to “normal”. For the temps, living abroad was never really meant to be “home”. The permanent ex-pats have a much different take on things. They are embedded in their new country; they’ve made a... Read more →

Hot Flashes and Warm Spells

We are having unseasonably warm weather here in New Jersey this week and today it feels like a balmy late-spring day. Having just watched An Inconvenient Truth yesterday, I'm more firmly convinced than ever that global warming is on the rise and it's a real crisis (much as I enjoy warmer weather in January, it's not "normal"). Do see the movie, please; don't let your personal political views about Al Gore get in the way of becoming more environmentally aware. It's a real eye-opener. WARNING: if you're a guy and don't like to hear about "women problems" then fast forward through this next part. Anyway, my body has picked this warm spell to kick into some serious hot flashes. I'm on the mend after my bout of bronchitis this week, so I don't have an actual fever; hot flashes are the only other explanation for how I am suddenly dripping with sweat (very lady-like) and then perfectly fine a half-hour later. My cycles are all out of whack, too; guess this is the REAL start of peri-menopause. What fun. In the meantime, I am taking advantage of the nicer weather; the windows are open to air out the house (we... Read more →

Lobbying

I have just enough of an ego to admit, with a touch of embarrassment, that it would be super-cool to win an award for this blog. And now I have a chance -- with your help! It's time for the 2007 Bloggies! And for me to be on the finalists ballot I need as many nominations as possible: If you're game to nominate me, here's what you do: click the image above or click here to go to the Bloggies nomination page, and scroll down to find one or more appropriate categories. (I now qualify as a European blog, and the Topical and Photography categories would work also. And I'd really be tickled to be in the finalists for Best Writing!) List me as "The Bold Soul" and the URL as "theboldsoul.com" or "www.theboldsoul.com". NOTE: you can nominate the same blog for multiple categories, but for the ballot to be accepted you have to nominate at least 3 different blogs TOTAL on the form, so you can also nominate several of your other favorite blogs at the same time. You only get one ballot per email address (that's fair) and after your ballot is accepted they will email you a... Read more →

Trop mal

Too sick to blog anything interesting today... respiratory infection... much nasty coughing... waiting for the drugs to kick in so I can get back to my LIFE. Read more →

Dispelling myths about French rudeness

One of the most asked questions I've gotten since being back in the States for the holidays is: "Aren't the French really rude? Don't they HATE Americans?" And my answer (over and over again) is: "No. And No." Are some French people rude? Well, actually yes, they can be. But so are some Americans, especially in the greater NY tri-state area in which I live. What's considered "rude" largely depends on where you're standing on the globe. I think Americans interpret the French natural emotional reserve as rudeness. With our tendency to be overly friendly to complete strangers, we automatically expect the same in return; but the French are culturally predisposed to distrust superficial friendliness, hence a somewhat chilly response to our American openness and big smiles. And in my experience, the French as a group absolutely do NOT "hate" Americans. They hate many of our government leaders and policies; but then again they hate many of their OWN leaders and policies, too. They take their politics seriously and love to debate and argue. They have probably been brainwashed with as many negative cultural stereotypes about Americans as WE have about the French (it goes both ways, you know --... Read more →

A 2007 Haiku

A new year begins; Time to look forward, inspired! What will we create? A very happy, bold and inspired 2007 to you all! Lisa Taylor Huff Read more →