The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Oh, hell. I forgot my own blogiversary

This is a first. Saturday was The Bold Soul's 7th blogiversary. And I totally forgot about it. Until just now when I read Dooce.com's post about how today is her blog's 11th. I looked at the date on her post... and then it sunk in. I frigging missed it. February 25th was my blog's 7th. Chalk it up to coming off a week of gastro hell, and finally feeling well enough on Saturday (the 25th) to get out for the day with a friend (and two of her friends) from back home. Plus doing stuff for the rental apartment, feeding and entertaining kids, and packing and getting me and the Little Guy down here to Saint Raphael today. Either that or I really AM inheriting some senior memory issues. Which is another topic altogether. Enough about how I missed it. Let's talk about this: SEVEN YEARS, PEOPLE! We've been here together, you and I, for SEVEN YEARS. As they say in Vegas: Lucky 7!!! When I stop and think about where I was seven years ago and where I am now, how my life has changed and how *I* have changed, I am even in awe of myself. Some days,... Read more →

Metropolitan

A gorgeous, sunny day... yesterday. Read more →

Jazz @ Abbesses

Here's a short clip of some local jazz muscians we passed on Saturday afternoon while walking home through Place des Abbesses. I didn't get the complete song, an old Louis Armstrong number, but we've seen this group there before and they're not half bad, so we stopped to listen. The lady dancing is kind of a hoot; I think she's probably the wife of the trumpet player. Enjoy! Read more →

Tip

There is nothing like realizing -- too late -- that when the delivery guy brought in the oversized box containing something-or-other you've ordered, and you asked him to lean it against the wall in the living room, that there was a rack of your bras and panties drying right next to that same wall and the delivery guy definitely got himself an eyeful. Getting a euro for lugging a big box up 3 flights in the elevator? Would have been nice. Getting a peek at my zebra-print panties? Priceless. So yes, dude, that glimpse WAS your "tip". Have a nice day. Read more →

...and a screeching halt

From warp speed to a screeching halt. Just after I posted on Sunday night about our frenzy of recent apartment-related activity, and as we were getting ready for bed, I came down with the worst gastrointestinal bug I've ever had in my entire life. I think it had been brewing all day, as I hadn't felt "right" and had very low energy. Not to be indelicate (feel free to leave the room now if you've got a weak stomach!), but there's no other way to say it: I spent the entire night from 10:30pm hopping between the toilet and the sofa 5 feet away, about every 5 minutes or 10. And that is no exaggeration. The longest pause I had was probably only 30 minutes between trips. And I had it coming out both ends, as they say, which meant I was doubly miserable. Finally about 5:45am, I woke Georges up and asked him to call the SOS Médecins, the house-call doctor service, because by that time I had tried Pepto Bismol, Immodium and the French remedy Smecta (my least favorite because it's a powder you dissolve in water, and I hate the taste, but it's usually very effective). And... Read more →

Two for One

I love that TWO Smart Cars can fit in a parking space intended for ONE normal sized car. Of course in France, a "normal" size for a car is already smaller than most American cars. And yes, the cars ARE touching their bumpers, even though there is plenty of space on either side of each car. Sacrilege, you say? How dare one driver risk scratching the bumper on another's car? In Paris, bumpers are made for bumping your way into a parking space. Very few cars here have pristine, unscratched or undented bumpers. Read more →

Purple Scooter

It's not often you see a scooter in bright purple. Even less often that you see one with a sugar crate on the back. Just one of the quirky things I see when walking around Paris that makes me love this place even more. Read more →

My Funny Valentine

Valentine's Day is not such a big deal in France, but I wanted to do a little something for my fellas, so I made special Valentine's cupcakes this afternoon, inspired by a little book that has 30 recipes of desserts you can make with Haribo "Tagada" bonbons. Then I dashed down to the school for the 4:30 pickup as usual. On the way to school, I stopped in a local hardware store to buy a box of fuse cartridges because our dishwasher blew out a fuse again yesterday afternoon and we were out of them. It's the 3rd time in the past 6 months or so; in the beginning I blamed it on bad wiring in the kitchen because there seem to be an awful lot of things wrong with this apartment (see: 101 Reasons We're Moving Out Despite the Great Views). I came home and gave the Little Guy his surprise Valentine's day cupcakes for an afternoon snack (huge hit! Score!) Then I replaced the fuses, checked to see if everything was working in the kitchen again, and restarted the dishwasher because it had only gotten halfway through the cycle when the power cut out, and there was a... Read more →

Red moon a-risin'

Taken on Tuesday evening. Read more →

Where is Emily Post when we need her?

So, if you're writing a blog or reading other people's blogs, chances are you are also involved in social networking on some level, via Twitter, Facebook or some other platform, and possibly more than one. Everyone has their own reasons for doing social networking: professional networking; business marketing; gaming; or just staying in touch with old friends and former colleagues. Maybe it's all of those at the same time. With all the social networking going on, it's very easy to get sucked into it and end up spending hours in your day slogging through everyone's daily updates, isn't it? I'm sure you've already been experiencing this. For me, I'm starting to feel so innundated that I'm looking for ways to short-cut the process, to stay current with the people that matter most to me while spending less time doing it. But this then leads me to what I see as a 21st-century social etiquette dilemma: What do you do when one of your Twitter or Facebook friends is a chronic "over-poster"? This is what social networking is "supposed to" be: Awww. Cute, huh? Yet this is what is seems to have become: And worse yet, it could be like this:... Read more →